American Psychological Association (APA) Referencing Guide

Introduction:
Explicit indication of the sources of information and ideas is one of the characteristics of academic and
professional writing. Explicit referencing of sources distinguishes academic and professional writing from
other types of writing. Academic and professional writers show where they got the information or ideas
for their texts through internationally accepted referencing system such as APA and Harvard.
The APA style is a generic author-date style for citing and referencing information in assignments,
project reports, thesis, dissertations and other publications. There are many styles which follow the
author-date convention, including the Harvard style and the Chicago Manual of Style. This guide is based
on the American Psychological Associations Publication Manual which is recommended to follow by the
IPM.
What is referencing?
Referencing is a standardized way of acknowledging the sources of information and ideas that you have
used in your assignments, project thesis, dissertations and other publications which allows the sources
to be identified.
Why referencing?
Referencing is important to avoid plagiarism, to verify quotations and to enable readers to follow up
what you have written and more fully understand the cited authors work. Accordingly referencing is
important due to the following reasons.

To respect intellectual property

To strengthen arguments by indicating the source of ideas

To demonstrate knowledge of the field in which you are writing

To establish your voice in your academic writing

To meet marking criteria

To avoid accusation of plagiarism

Page 33 of 40

Please Note that APA emphasizes to prepare your list according to the concept of references not to the
concept of bibliography. The difference between these two concepts will be taught to you by the
relevant lecturer in charge. Thus, the following two are the most important matters to be concerned.
1. In-text citations That is to insert citations at the appropriate place in the text of your
document and that should be according to author-date style. Page numbers must also be
included if you directly quote, paraphrase a passage or if you want to direct the reader to a
specific page. What is a quotation and paraphrasing will be taught by your relevant lecturer.
2. List of References That is to include a reference list which includes all in-text citations at the
end of your research project report.
The following matters are important in preparing your list of references. Further explanations
regarding the following points will be given by your lecturer.

It should be arranged alphabetically by author.

If you have more items (articles, books, chapters etc.) published by the same author, list the
items chronologically, starting with the earliest publication.

Each reference should appear on a new line.

It should be indented so that the author can clearly stand out.

References should not be numbered.

Page 34 of 40

The following tables indicate how to put in-text citations and prepare the list of reference for the
most common types among different types of sources you find.
In-text and References relating to book: (Further guidelines will be given by your lecturer)
Type
One author

In-text

Reference

Stone (1991) or

Stone, J. R. (1991). Human resource management. Australia:

Stone (1991, P.44)

John Wiley & Sons.

confirmed that
Two to five (Torrington
authors

&

Tan, Torrinton, D. & Tan, C. H. (1994). Human resource

1994) or Torrington &

management for South East Asia. Singapore: Prentice

Tan (1994) stated that

Hall.

Six or more (Bannister et al., 2005) Bannister, B. J., Chan, A. W., Mak, W. M., Ng, C. W., Bennett,
authors

or

R. & Stone, R. J. et al. (1995). Managing human resources

Bannister et al. (2005)

In Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Pitman.

explains .
Multiple

(Willmott, 2004, 2006)

Willmott, W.F . (2004). Rocks and landscapes of the national

work by the

parks of Southern Queensland. Brisbane: Geological

same author

Society of Australia, Queensland Division.

Willmott, W.F. (2006). Rocks and landscapes of the national
parks of Central Queensland. Brisbane: Geological Society
of Australia, Queensland Division.
(Order chronologically from earliest in the reference list)

Multiple

(Patel, 2002a, 2002b)

Patel, J. (2002a). Learning Styles and Reflective Practice: The

works by the

Pedagogy of Individualized Instruction. Oxford: Oxford

same

University Press.

author,

Patel, J. (2002b). Signification and Psychology in

published in

Education: A Case Study of Theory in Practice.

the

London: Rutledge.

year

same

(Order alphabetically by title in the Reference list)

Page 35 of 40

Book by an (Queensland
organization

Health, Queensland Health. (2002). Best practice guidelines for the

2002) or

management of type 1 diabetes in children and

or institution Queensland
(2002)

Health

adolescents. Brisbane: Queensland Health

recommends

that.
Editions

(Clark, 1992) or
Clark

(1992)

Clark, R. (1992). Australian human resources management:

stated

Framework and practice (2nd ed.). Sydney: McGraw Hill.

that........
Edited book

(ONeill & Kramar, 1995) ONeill, G. L. & Kramar, R. (Eds.). (1995). Australian human
or ONeill & Kramar

resources management. Melbourne: Pitman.

mentioned that
Electronic

(Pettinger, 2002)

book

Publishing. Available from NetLibrary database.

Book

(Helber, 1995) or

Chapter
an

Pettinger, R. (2002). Global organizations. Oxford: Capston

in Helber (1995) compares

edited

markets. In M. V. Conlin & T. Baum (Eds.), Island tourism:

Management principles and practice (pp. 105-113).

book

Chichester, England: John Wiley.

Chapter
from

Helber, L. E. (1995). Redeveloping mature resorts for new

(Scott, 2005)
an

electronic

Scott, D. (2005). Colonial governmentality. In J. X. Inda (Ed.)

Anthropologies of modernity (pp.21-49). Retrieved from
Wiley Inter Science database.

book
Dictionary or (Wolman, 1989)
Encyclopedia

Wolman, B.B. (1989). Dictionary of behavioral science

(2nd ed.). San Diego: Academic Press.

Page 36 of 40

In-text and references relating to journal articles: (Further guidelines will be given by your lecturer)
Type
One author

In-text

Reference

(Sweeney, 1979) or
Sweeney (1979) stated

Sweeney, J.H. (1979). A new look at promotion from within.

Personnel Journal, 58(08), 531-535.

that

Two authors

Schafer & Kang (2008)

Schafer, J.L. & Kang, J. (2008). Average causal effects from

nonrandomized studies: A practical guide and simulated
example. Psychological Methods. 13, 279-313.

Three to six (Skenderian,

authors

Siegel, Skenderian, J, Siegel, J. T., Crano, W.D., Alvaro, E.E. & Lac, A.

Crano, Alvaro, & Lac,

(2008). Expectancy change and adolescents' intentions to

2008)

use marijuana. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. 22,

563-569.

More

than (Galea et al., 2008)

six authors

Galea, L.A., Uban, K. A., Epp, J.R., Brummelte, S., Barha, C.K.,
Wilson, W. L. et al. (2008). Endocrine regulation of
cognition and neuroplasticity: Our pursuit to unveil the
complex interaction between hormones, the brain, and
behaviour. Canadian Journal of Experimental
Psychology/Revue canadienne de psychologie
exprimentale. 62, 247-260.

Article from (Wharton, 1996)

Wharton, N. (1996). Health and safety in outdoor activity

electronic

centres. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor

data base

Leadership, 12(4), 8-9. Retrieved November 10, 2007,

from ABI/INFORM Global database.

Page 37 of 40

In-text and references to web pages: (Further guidelines will be given by your lecturer)
Type
With

In-text

Reference

one (Atherton, 2005)

Atherton, J. (2005). Behaviour Modification. Retrieved

author

February 5, 2009, from

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/
behaviour_mod.htm

No author

(Behaviour

Behaviour modification. (2007). Retrieved February 5, 2009,

modification, 2007)

from http://www.educationalpsychologist.org.uk/behaviour.html

No date

(Society

of

Clinical Society of Clinical Psychology. (n.d.) About Clinical Psychology.

Psychology, n.d.)

Retrieved January 28, 2009, from

http://www.apa.org/divisions/div12/aboutcp.html

Cooperate

(Queensland

author

2008) or
As

Health, Queensland Health. (2008). Healthy start in life. Retrieved

March 10, 2009, from

stated

Queensland

by
Health

http://www.health.qld.gov.au/ph/documents/
saphs/hsil_full_doc.pdf.

(2008).

In-text and references relating to lecture notes: (Further guidelines will be given by your lecturer)
Type
Course

In-text
(Johnson, 2008)

Reference
Johnson, A. (2008). Week three: Foucault [Powerpoint

handouts/Lecture

slides]. Unpublished manuscript, BESC1001, University

notes print

of Queensland, St Lucia, Australia.

Lecture notes
Online

(Johnson, 2008)

Johnson, A. (2008). Week three: Foucault [Powerpoint

slides]. Retrieved from BESC1001, University of
Queensland Blackboard Online:
http://www.elearning.uq.edu.a

Page 38 of 40

In-text and references relating to thesis: (Further guidelines will be given by your lecturer)
Type
Retrieved
personal

In-text
from (Axford, 2007)
or

Reference
Axford, J.C. (2007). What constitutes success in Pacific
island community conserved areas? (Doctoral

institutional

dissertation, University of Queensland, 2007).

website

Retrieved from
http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:158747

Retrieved

from (Sheehan, 2007)

data base

Sheehan, L. R. (2007). Destination management

organizations: A stakeholder perspective. Retrieved
from Proquest Digital Dissertations. (AAT NR25719)

In-text and references relating to conference papers: (Further guidelines will be given by your
lecturer)
Type
Published paper

In-text
(Bohrer,

Zielke

Freiburg, 1995)

Reference
& Bohrer, S., Zielke, T., & Freiburg, V. (1995). Integrated
obstacle detection framework for intelligent cruise
control on motorways. Paper presented at IEEE
Intelligent Vehicles Symposium. Detroit, MI:
Piscataway.

Unpublished

(Bowden & Fairley, Bowden, F.J. & Fairley, C.K. (1996, June). Endemic STDs in

paper

1996)

the Northern Territory: estimations of effective rates

of partner change. Paper presented at the scientific
meeting of the Royal Australian College of
Physicians, Darwin.

Page 39 of 40

In-text and References relating to Newspapers and Magazines: (Further guidelines will be given by
your lecturer)
Type

In-text

Newspaper

(Cook, 2002)

Reference
Cook, D. (2002, January 28). All in the mind. The Age, p. 8.

article with
Author
Newspaper
article

(Meeting the needs, Meeting the needs of counselors. (2001, May 5). The

without 2001)

Courier Mail, p. 22.

author
Magazine article

(Marano, 2008)

Marano, H.E. (2008, March-April). Making of

aperfectionist. Psychology Today, 41, 80-86.

Electronic

(Sandy, 2009)

newspaper

or

Sandy, A. (2009, January 22).Cheaper to fly than hire a bike

in Brisbane. The Courier Mail. Retrieved from

magazine article

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/
0,23739,24949645-952,00.html

In-text and References relating to indirect citation: (Further guidelines will be given by your lecturer)
Type
Indirect

In-text

Reference

citation Miller (cited in Agrios Agrios, G.N. (2005). Plant pathology (5th ed.) Burlington,

or

2005) found

Massachusetts: Elsevier Academic Press.

secondary source

it was found (Miller,

(Cite the source where you found the citation)

cited in Agrios 2005).

Page 40 of 40