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APA 6th referencing style

A guide to using the APA 6th referencing style.

Using in-text references

  • In an author-date style, in-text citations usually require the last name of the author(s) and the year of publication.
  • Place in-text reference before the full stop eg. .... this week (Johns, 2017).
  • A page number is included when using a direct quote. Place a comma after the year. Use p. for single page, pp. for multiple pages eg. (Harris, 2012, p. 164) or (Lewis, 2016, pp. 56-58).
  • When you paraphrase a passage, or refer to an idea contained in another work, a page number is not required. However, it is "encouraged", especially when you are referring to a long work and the page numbers might be useful to the reader.
  • If there is no date, the abbreviation n.d. may be used eg. (Harris, n.d.)
  • if work is not yet published but published online ahead of the print, use "in press" eg. (Taylor, in press)

Works with same author(s) and same year

  • Place an a, b, c etc after the year 
  • The letters are allocated in the reference list where references with the same first author last names are organised alphabetically by title. The first reference listed uses "a", second uses "b" etc.
  • If "in press" is used, place dash between "press" and relevant letter eg. in press-c
  • Use this format each time the references are used in-text. This includes for a single reference within a parentheses or multiple works in same parentheses.

(Jordan & Kendall, 2010a)

(Jordan & Kendall, 2010b)

(Jordan & Kendall, in press-c)

Multiple works within same reference

Two or more works by different authors within same reference

  • List works alphabetically (as they appear in the reference list)
  • Separate references with a semicolon ;

(Noble, Rogers, & Bennett, 2015; Walker, 2011)

Two or more works by the same author within same reference

  • Order references by year of publication
  • Put any "in press" references last
  • Only use the author last name or groups name once then list the years

(Lewis, 2012, 2015, 2016, in press)

(Education Queensland, 2011, 2013)

(Education Queensland, 2011; Lewis, 2012, 2015, 2016, in press)

Two or more works by the same author published in the same year, in the same reference

  • Place an a, b, c etc after the year 
  • The letters are allocated in the reference list where references with the same first author last names are organised alphabetically by title.
  • Repeat each year with each letter used ie. don't put 2014a, b, c.
  • If "in press" is used, place dash between "press" and relevant letter eg. in press-c
  • Use this format each time the references are used in-text. 

(Jordan & Kendall, 2010a)

(Jordan & Kendall, 2010a, 2010b, in press-c)

(Jordan & Kendall, 2010a, 2010b; Mitchell & Clarke, 2004; Tourism Queensland, 2009)

Work with no author(s) or editor(s)

In-text reference

  First Use Subsequent Uses
Format

("First words of article, chapter title", Year)

"First words of article, chapter title" (Year)

(Title of book, journal, Year)

Title of book, journal (Year)

("First words of article, chapter title", Year)

"First words of article, chapter title" (Year)

(Title of book, journal, Year)

Title of book, journal (Year)
Example

("Social media", 2013)

"Social media" (2013)

(Social media security, 2014)

Social Media Security (2014)

("Social media", 2013)

"Social media" (2013)

(Social media security, 2014)

Social Media Security (2014)

For title of article, chapter or web page with no author, use double quotation marks ".....". 

For the title of a journal, book, brochure or report with no author, italicise the title. 

Authors with same last name

In-text reference

  First Use Subsequent Uses
Format

(First author - first name initial. last name, Year)

First author - first name initial. last name  (Year)

(First author - first name initial. last name & second author - last name, Year)

First author - first name initial. last name and second author - last name (Year)

(First author - first name initial. last name, Year)

First author - first name initial. last name (Year)

(First author - first name initial. last name & second author - last name, Year)

First author - first name initial. last name and second author - last name (Year)
Example

(J. P. Lewis, 2007)

J. P. Lewis (2007) argues that….

(R. Lewis & Morgan, 2007)

R. Lewis and Morgan (2007) stated that...

(S. Lewis, Johnson, & Edwards, 2015) found that .....

S. Lewis, Johnson, and Edwards (2015) found that .....

 

(J. P. Lewis, 2007)

J. P. Lewis (2007) argues that….

(R. Lewis & Morgan, 2007)

R. Lewis and Morgan (2007) stated that...

(S. Lewis et al., 2015) found that .....

S. Lewis et al. (2015) found that .....

Include each first author’s initials in all citations. Do this for the first author only when there are multiple authors in a single reference. 

Initials are included even if year of publication differs.

For more than two authors, use as format as required by APA 6th (see above examples)

Different authors with same last name and first initial

In-text reference

  First Use Subsequent Uses
Format

(Author - full first name last name, Year)

Author - full first name last name (Year) has argued that ....

 

(Author - full first name last name, Year)

Author - full first name last name (Year) has argued that ....

 
Example

(Jessica Lewis, 2017)

Jessica Lewis (2017) has argued that ....

(James Lewis, 2014)

James Lewis (2014) notes that ....

(Jessica Lewis, 2017)

Jessica Lewis (2017) has argued that ....

(James Lewis, 2014)

James Lewis (2014) notes that ....

Reference List

  • Use author(s) full first name in square brackets if there are different authors with the same last name and first initial
  • Place the first name after the first name initial eg. Lewis, J. [Jessica]