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APA Referencing Guide

This online guide is an abridged version of the American Psychological Association (APA, 2020a) 7th edition manual.

 

For the standard layout of a note section please see Figures and Tables Basics.

Figure 1

Illustrations of Monkeys

An illustration of seven different species of monkeys from a physical science perspective. The illustration was scanned from a physical book.

Note. From Edinburgh Journal of Natural History and of the Physical Sciences, with the Animal Kingdom of the Baron Cuvier (Vol. 2, p. 223), by W. MacGillivray, 1839, Biodiversity Heritage Library (https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33665643#page/223/mode/1up). CC0.


In-text Citation:

(MacGillivray, 1839).

MacGillivray (1839) demonstrates that…

and

As seen in Figure One ...

(see Figure One)


Reference list entry:

MacGillivray, W. (1839). Edinburgh journal of natural history and of the physical sciences, with the animal kingdom of the Baron Cuvier (Vol. 2) [Illustration]. Biodiversity Heritage Library. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33665643#page/223/mode/1up


For more information on figures please see page 43 of the referencing guide.

 

Figure 1

Primary Healthcare in an Average Lifespan

A colourful infographic using pie-charts and cartoons to share statistical information

Note. From Primary Healthcare Infographic 2, by World Health Organization, 2022 (https://www.who.int/multi-media/details/primary-health-care-infographic-2). Copyright 2022 by World Health Organization.


In-text Citation:

(World Health Organization, 2022)

The World Health Organization (2022) showed that…

and

As seen in Figure One ...

(see Figure One)


Reference list entry:

World Health Organization. (2022, February 3). Primary healthcare infographic 2 [Infographic]. https://www.who.int/multi-media/details/primary-health-care-infographic-2.


For more information on figures please see page 43 of the referencing guide.

 

Figure 1

Guinean Anthropologist, David Niabalamou

A photograph of a man speaking to a group of people outside.

Note. From How Learning to Talk the Talk is Saving Lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, by The World Health Organization, 2020 (https://www.afro.who.int/news/how-learning-talk-talk-saving-lives-democratic-republic-congo). Copyright 2020 by World Health Organization.


In-text Citation:

(World Health Organization, 2020)

The World Health Organization (2020) showed that…

and

As seen in Figure One ...

(see Figure One)


Reference list entry:

World Health Organization. (2020). How learning to talk the talk is saving lives in the Democratic Republic of the Congo [Photograph]. https://www.afro.who.int/news/how-learning-talk-talk-saving-lives-democratic-republic-congo


For more information on figures please see page 43 of the referencing guide.

Figure 1

Illustration of Fumaria Capreolata

An illustration of Fumaria Capreolata from a botany perspective. The illustration was scanned from a physical book.

Note. From An Arrangement of British plants: According to the Latest Improvements of the Linnean System: With an Easy Introduction to the Study of Botany (Vol. 3, p. 249), 1830, by W. Withering, Biodiversity Heritage Library (https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/58200036#page/249/mode/1up). In the public domain.


In-text Citation:

(Withering, 1830).

Withering (1830) demonstrates that…

and

As seen in Figure One ...

(see Figure One)


Reference list entry:

Withering, W. (1830). An arrangement of British plants: According to the latest improvements of the Linnean system: With an easy introduction to the study of botany (Vol. 3) [Illustration]. Biodiversity Heritage Library. https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/58200036#page/249/mode/1up


For more information on figures please see page 43 of the referencing guide.

 

Figure 1

Blossom Bee: Personal Photo by Wallace Price

A photograph of a bee which is navigating towards a cherry blossom flower.


In-text Citation:

(see Figure One)

As seen in Figure One…


Reference list entry:

No reference list entry required.


For more information on figures please see page 43 of the referencing guide.

 

Figure 1

Maternal Wellbeing in Sudanese Communities

Three Sudanese women sitting on a bench outside. Two women are holding infants wrapped in blankets.

Note. From Mothers Give Birth Safely Amid South Sudan's Conflict, by USAID U.S. Agency for International Development, 2014, Flickr (https://flic.kr/p/oadtg5). CC BY-ND 2.0.


In-text Citation:

(USAID U.S. Agency for International Development, 2014)

USAID U.S. Agency for International Development (2014)

and

As seen in Figure One ...

(see Figure One)


Reference list entry:

USAID U.S. Agency for International Development. (2014, March 11). Mothers give birth safely amid South Sudan's conflict [Image]. Flickr. https://flic.kr/p/oadtg5


For more information on figures please see page 43 of the referencing guide.

 

If the license associated with clip art or a stock image states “no attribution required,” then do not provide an APA Style reference, in-text citation, or copyright attribution. For example, images from Pixabay, Canva, or clip art from Microsoft Word or Microsoft PowerPoint require no attribution. No reference list entry is required. It is optional to describe the contents of the image in the figure note.


Figure 1

A Striped Cat Sits With Paws Crossed

A striped cat sits with paws crossed.

Note. Participants assigned to the cute pets condition saw this image of a cat.


In-text Citation:

(see Figure One)

As seen in Figure One…


Reference list entry:

No reference list entry required.


For more information on figures please see page 43 of the referencing guide.

 

Figure 1

This is a Microscopic Photo of Onions Cells.

A microscopic photo displaying the blue cells of an onion

Note. From This is a Microscopic Photo of Onion Cells, by Kaibara87, 2012, Wikimedia (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Onion_Cells.jpg). In the public domain.


In-text Citation:

(Kaibara87, 2012)

Kaibara87 (2012)

and

As seen in Figure One ...

(see Figure One)


Reference list entry:

Kiabara87. (2012). This is a microscopic photo of onion cells [Photograph]. Wikimedia. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Onion_Cells.jpg


For more information on figures please see page 43 of the referencing guide.

 

References

American Psychological Association. (n.d.-a). APA stylehttps://apastyle.apa.org/ 

American Psychological Association. (n.d.-b)Student sample paper with annotations. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/student-annotated.pdf

American Psychological Association. (2020a). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

American Psychological Association. (2020b, October 21). Student paper setup guide. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/student-paper-setup-guide.pdf

American Psychological Association. (2021a, December). Sample Tables. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/tables-figures/sample-tables

American Psychological Association. (2021b, December). Table setup. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/tables-figures/tables

American Psychological Association. (2022a, July). Appropriate level of citation. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/appropriate-citation

American Psychological Association. (2022b, July). Elements of reference list entries. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/elements-list-entry

American Psychological Association. (2022c, July). Font. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/font

American Psychological Association. (2022d, July). Headings. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/headings

American Psychological Association. (2022e, July). Numbers expressed in numerals. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/numbers/numerals

American Psychological Association. (2022f, July). Numbers expressed in words. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/numbers/words

American Psychological Association. (2022g, July). Paragraph alignment and indentation. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/paragraph-format

American Psychological Association. (2022h, July). Paraphrasing. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/paraphrasing

American Psychological Association. (2022i, July). Quotations. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/quotations

American Psychological Association. (2022j, July). Sample papers. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/sample-papers

American Psychological Association. (2022k, July). Use of italics. APA Style.  https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/italics-quotations/italics

American Psychological Association. (2022l, August). Citing multiple works. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/basic-principles/multiple-works

American Psychological Association. (2023, March). About APA stylehttps://apastyle.apa.org/about-apa-style

McAdoo, T. (2023, April 7). How to cite ChatGPT. APA Style. https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/how-to-cite-chatgpt

Microsoft. (n.d.-a). Add a heading. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/add-a-heading-3eb8b917-56dc-4a17-891a-a026b2c790f2

Microsoft. (n.d.-b). Change marginshttps://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/change-the-margins-in-your-word-document-c95c1ea1-70b1-4dde-a1da-f5aa2042c829

Microsoft. (n.d.-c). Create a hanging indent. https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/create-a-hanging-indent-7bdfb86a-c714-41a8-ac7a-3782a91ccad5

Microsoft. (n.d.-d). Double-space the lines in a document. https://bit.ly/3GRcExu

PSI CHI. (2022, April 5). Webinar: So you need to write a literature review/key tasks & how to accomplish them 03/16/2022 [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/LWMf-FYOpJ8