Study Toolbox: APA Referencing

APA is an author-date style of referencing, only the author's surname and the year of publication (and where applicable page or paragraph number) are referred to in the body of your assignment.  The rest of the source information is located in the reference list, at the end of your assignment.

Source material must be identified in the body of the assignment by citing the author(s), year of the source and where appropriate, the page or paragraph number.

All ideas and words of others must be formally acknowledged by inserting an in-text citation whenever you quote another work or when paraphrasing another work in your own words.

The reader can obtain the full source information from the reference list that follows the body of your assignment.

In-text citations can be formated two ways

1. Parenthetical citation: Both the author(s) and year (and if applicable the page or paragraph number) appear in parentheses at the end of the sentence.

• Ethics in the research context refers "to the standards of behaviour that guide your conduct in relation to the rights of those who become subject of your work or are affected by it" (Saunders et al., 2019, pp.252-253).

OR

2. Narrative citation: The author(s) are part of the sentence, the year (and if applicable the page or paragraph number) appears in parentheses immediately after the author's surname(s).

• Arcus (2008, p. 19) found state examination is "for the foreseeable future at least, firmly embedded in nursing education and culture in New Zealand".

References provide the information necessary for others (e.g. tutors) to identify and retrieve each work cited in your assignment.

Check each reference carefully against the original publication to ensure information is accurate and complete.

Consistency in reference formatting identifies the types of works you consulted and the important elements (author, date, title and source) with each.

SIT uses the APA style of referencing.  There are many APA rules that must be followed when preparing your reference list.  They include source information and the use of italics, brackets, commas and full stops.

You will lose marks in your assignments if you do not follow correct APA formatting.

References cited in the body of your assignment MUST appear in your reference list and vice versa.

Basic principles of reference list entries

A reference list entry generally has four elements: author, date, title and source.  Each element answers a question:

• Author: Who is responsible for this work?
• Date: When was this work published?
• Title: What is this work called?
• Source: Where can I retrieve this work?

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of work: Second part of title. Source information.

Author: Names are inverted, surname comes first followed by initial/s. For two or more initials leave a single space between initials.  Always use ‘&’ between the last two names in a reference, not ‘and’.

Date: Copyright or publication year in brackets, followed by a full stop.  Provide the most specific date possible, so if month and date are given, include them as well as the year e.g. (2018, September 16).

Title: Capitalise only the first letter of the first word.  For a two-part title also capitalise the first letter of the first word of the second part e.g. Small business management: Entrepreneurship and beyond.  If a proper noun (person, country, company etc) is in the title the first letter is capitalised e.g. Two people, one land: The New Zealand wars.  Most titles are also italicised, the exceptions are a journal article’s title or a chapter’s title in an edited book.

Source information: Publisher name, journal information, DOI or URL.  Do not include Inc. or Ltd as part of a publisher’s name.  Do not include a full stop at the end of DOIs or URLs.  For articles, source information includes the journal’s title, volume and issue number, page range and DOI (if the article is accessed via the MySIT page) or URL (if the article is freely available on the internet).  Capitalise the first letter of all major words in a journal’s title and italicise along with the volume number but not the issue number e.g. Journal of Business Ethics, 150(3), 961-709. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3171-1

The tabs of this box show examples of reference structures for common information sources.  Each example uses a colour code to identify the four main pieces of information a reference must include.

Wright, M. (2006). Two peoples, one land: The New Zealand wars. Reed Books.

Rudman, R. (2010). Human resources management in New Zealand (5^th ed.). Pearson.

• Please note there is no full stop or comma between the title and the edition number in brackets.  Close brackets and end with a full stop.

Shanken, E. A. (Ed.). (2009). Art and electronic media. Phaidon Press.

• Use (Ed.) for one editor or (Eds.) for multiple editors. Close the brackets and end with a full stop.

Papps, E. (2015). Cultural safety: Daring to be different. In D. Wepa (Ed.), Cultural safety in Aotearoa New Zealand (2^nd ed., pp. 36-48). Cambridge University Press.

• The chapter title is not in intalics, however, the title of the edited book is written in italics.
• Include the chapter page range.  If the book has an edition or volume number include this in the brackets before the page range.
• Write the word “In”, then the initials and last name (not inverted) of each editor. Use (Ed.) for one editor or (Eds.) for multiple editors. After the editor brackets end with a comma.

Example of a journal article from the online databases with a DOI:

Grandy, G., & Sliwa, M. (2017). Contemplative leadership: The possibilities for the ethics of leadership theory and practice. Journal of Business Ethics, 143(3), 423-440. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2802-2  

• Write the authors’ names in the order they appear in the article.
• Capitalise the first letter of all major words in the journal’s title and italicise along with the volume number (but not the issue number).
• Do not put a space between the volume number and the brackets around the issue number.
• Do not include pp. at the start of the page range.     
• Articles from online databases accessed through the library's MySIT page must include the DOI number if available. 

Example of a journal article from the online databases without a DOI:            

Mohammed, M., & Naji, F. L. (2017). Benefits of exercise training for computer-based staff: A meta analyses. International Journal of Kinesiology & Sports Science, 5(2), 16-23.

• Articles from online databases accessed through the library's MySIT page must include the DOI number.  If no DOI is listed on the article's record, end the reference after the page range.            

Lagerkvist, C. J., & Hess, S. (2011). A meta-analysis of consumer willingness to pay for farm animal welfare. European Review of Agricultural Economics, 38(1), 55-78. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=b7ff2a9a4f2b3acc0ef8db8e0cc0ec077c19c79f

• Write the authors’ names in the order they appear in the article.

• Include the URL if the article is accessible on the internet to all readers without needing to login to the website.

Blood pressure measurement.  (2022, February 18).  Lippincott Procedures: New Zealand Instance. http://procedures.lww.com

• Include both the month and date, if provided, along with the year.
• Lippincott Procedures is a subscription database accessed through the library's MySIT page.  Due to this, you cannot include the URL from the database but instead must include the general Lippincott Procedures homepage URL http://procedures.lww.com.
• The in-text citation will be formatted with the title in quotation marks and year e.g. ("Blood pressure measurement", 2022).

Paracetamol.  (2022).  MIMS New Ethicals, Jul-Dec 22(37), 203-205.

• MIMS New Ethicals is a journal published twice a year so follows journal reference formatting.
• As there is no author, the drug name is moved to the author position.
• The in-text citation will be formatted with the title in quotation marks, year and page number e.g. ("Paracetamol", 2022, p.203).

While MIMS is a journal, please confirm with your tutor the format they will accept as in some situtations tutors prefer MIMS referenced as a book.

Bersin, J. (2015, March 13). Culture: Why it’s the hottest topic in business today. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshbersin/2015/03/13/culture-why-its-the-hottest-topic-in-business-today/#54831119627f

• If the website provides the month and date include these with the year e.g. (2015, March 13).

• List the website or organisation's name for the publisher.  

Ministry for the Environment. (2021, September 30). Evidence for climate change. https://environment.govt.nz/facts-and-science/climate-change/evidence-of-climate-change/

• If no author is specified use the website or organisation's name in place of the author e.g. (Ministry for the Environment). This is known as a corporate author.  The author’s may be located on an “about us” or acknowledgements page.  As the author and website/organisation's name are the same, do not repeat it as the publisher in the source information.  

Ministry of Education. (n.d.). Innovative learning environments. TKI. https://elearning.tki.org.nz/Teaching/Innovative-learning-environments

• Do not use a date from a website footer because this date may not indicate when the content on the webpage was published but when any information across the whole website was updated. If no separate date is indicated for the webpage, treat the page as having no date.  In the date field use (n.d.).

Ministry of Health. (2020). Eating and activity guidelines for New Zealand adults. https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/eating-activity-guidelines-new-zealand-adults-updated-2020-jul21.pdf

• If no individual author is specified use the website or organisation’s name in place of the author e.g. (Ministry for the Environment).  This is known as a corporate author.  The author’s may be located on an “about us” or acknowledgements page.  As the author and website/organisation's name are the same, do not repeat it as the publisher in the source information.  Just include the document's URL.

https://extras.apa.org/apastyle/basics-7e/?_ga=2.183941029.2072941113.1602723313-185554434.1602723313#/

This tutorial helps writers understand and implement basic elements of APA style including format, academic writing style, grammar, bias-free language guidelines, mechanics of style, table and figures, in-text citations, paraphrasing, quotations and reference list format and order.

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references

References provide the information necessary for the reader to identify and retrieve each work quoted or paraphrased by the writer.  This webpage answers any questions you may have about referencing.

Reference Examples:

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples

This provides reference examples for the most common works that writers cite.  To find the reference example you need, first select a category (e.g. periodicals) and then choose the appropriate type of work (e.g. journal article) and follow the relevant example.

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations

In academic writing it is essential to acknowledge any ideas that are not your own.  This webpage helps writers understand the principles of citation and how to avoid plagiarism.

Basic Principles:

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/basic-principles/author-date

APA uses the author-date citation system.  This webpage explains the number of authors to include, the dates in a citation, exceptions to the basic in-text citation style and repeating a citation.

Quotations:

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/quotations

A direct quotation reproduces word for word from another source.  This webpage addresses how to format short and long quotes.

Paraphrasing:

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/paraphrasing

Paraphrasing is restating another's ideas in your own words.  It allows your to summarise information from one or more sources.  This webpage states how to cite original works you have paraphrased.

https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/tutorials-webinars

These tutorial webinars explain how to format, cite and reference correctly to APA 7th edition standards.

https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/handouts-guides

This webpage provides guides, checklists and interactive activities to improve APA formatting and writing.