How to Cite Cochrane Reviews in APA Style

by Jeff Hume-Pratuch

Dear Style Experts,

How should I format a reference for an article from the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews? I have the names of the authors, the date and the title of the topic; however, there is no journal as such. Do I use "retrieved from" with the URL, or should I include the DOI?

--Anonymous

Dear A.,

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews consists of original material written by members of the Cochrane Collaboration. Its articles may be published in database form, but it functions like an online journal: Numbered issues are published 12 times a year, and each article has its own DOI. Therefore, we can modify the journal article format to fit a Cochrane Review, as follows:

Singh, J., Kour, K., & Jayaram Mahesh, B. (2012). Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors for schizophrenia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2012(1), 1–101. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD007967.pub2

Note that the year of publication does double duty as the volume number. The issue number is needed because the journal is not continuously paginated. And because we have a DOI, neither the URL nor the Cochrane-assigned ID number is needed.

Hope this helps,
--Jeff

 

APA Style Interactive Learning

Anne Gasque

Have you ever had the urge to read the Publication Manual from beginning to end? We thought not. 

It takes a special kind of stamina and devotion to approach a manual of writing guidance and style rules with the excitement a person might bring to, say, John Grisham’s latest legal thriller. To help you find your way in the manual, we’ve created an interactive online course. This course, available for continuing education credit, provides a comprehensive tour of the guidance in the Publication Manual. 

Basics of APA Style: An Online Course follows the organization of the manual and offers an in-depth overview of the types of articles used in psychological and social research, manuscript elements, heading style, reducing bias in language, punctuation, capitalization, italics, numbers, tables, figures, citing references in text, creating a reference list, and reference templates and examples. Many of the sections in the course include relevant examples to provide context, and each section ends with two or three review questions to help you learn as you go along. The course ends with 20 assessment questions and offers 4 CE credits upon successful completion. We hope you find the course a helpful tool for learning APA Style!

If you would like a broader less detailed overview of APA Style, we offer a free tutorial, The Basics of APA Style, which shows you how to structure and format your work, recommends ways to reduce bias in language, identifies how to avoid charges of plagiarism, shows how to cite references in text, and provides selected reference examples.

Got Volume?

by Stefanie

 

Just as no two snowflakes and no two people (and no two people who think they are special snowflakes) are alike, so too are no two references alike. Sometimes elements of standard reference formats are missing, and both the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, sixth edition, and we here at the blog try to anticipate those situations with advice on what to do. Today’s blog post covers just such a situation: the missing volume number on a periodical.

 

First, double-check to make sure the volume number is actually missing. Search the front, back, and spine (if there is a spine) of the journal, magazine, or newsletter, as well as the table of contents page. Also, sometimes the volume number is buried (deep!) in the publication information. For example, I just picked up from the corner of my desk a back issue of my children’s Disney Adventures magazine. On the cover is the issue month and year (September 2006) but no volume number. On page 88, in 6-point type (OK, probably 4-point type; boy, it’s small)—along with the ISSN number, publisher contact numbers, subscription information, and copyright and trademark notices—the volume and numerical issue numbers (Vol. 18, No. 7) are included. So now I can create a reference for the Miley Cyrus and Ashley Tisdale interview that completely follows Example 7 (magazine article) on page 200 of the Publication Manual!

 

Barnes, D. (2006, September). Miley and Ashley BFF. Disney Adventures, 18(7), 26–29.

 

(Note to self: I need to clean off my desk more often.)

Second, double-check whether a volume number is needed at all. Note that in the case of online newsletters, the volume number is not required (see Example 9 on p. 200 of the Publication Manual).

 

(Online version of newsletter)

Blum, E. S. (2010). Building healthier communities from the ground up. Banking and Community Perspectives. Retrieved from http://www.dallasfed.org/ca/bcp/2010/bcp1002.pdf

 

Third, consider whether the year is pulling double duty. If I have an issue number but no volume number for a publication paginated by issue and I am working from the hard copy (i.e., not the online version, or maybe no online version is available), I have a problem, because the issue number will look funny standing alone in parentheses without the volume number to anchor it. Yet, an issue number indicates that the issue is part of a larger volume. What is number of that volume? In some cases, the volume number is the year.

 

If you look at the first page of a Banking and Community Perspectives newsletter, for example, you can see that the year appears with the issue number, much as a traditional volume number would. Also, if you look at the archive for these newsletters, you can see that the archive is organized by year, and the issue numbers refer to the order in which the issues came out during each year, starting over at 1 every new year. Thus, if you are using a hard copy of a newsletter or magazine (and therefore need a volume number in the reference) and if a separate volume number is absent, the year may be pulling double duty, as is the case for Banking and Community Perspectives. If this is the situation with your publication, use the year in both places in the reference (i.e., the year position and the volume position).

 

(Hard copy of newsletter)

Blum, E. S. (2010). Building healthier communities from the ground up. Banking and Community Perspectives, 2010(2), 3–10, 12.

 

Other questions about volume numbers? Let us know in the comments or at stylexpert@apa.org! Please include examples or links to the publications or articles in question. Thank you!
 

How to Cite Recorded Music in APA Style (+ Playlist)

by Jeff Hume-Pratuch

It’s December 22, the date on which I traditionally panic about the holidays. Cards sit unwritten, unaddressed, and unstamped on my desk. Cookies are unbaked, gifts are unbought, and the house is distinctly underdecorated!

But this year I am as cool as a cup of eggnog, for I have come up with the perfect holiday playlist to accompany my last-minute flurry of activity. Don’t tell my colleagues, but certain people may be finding a mix tape in their stockings (accompanied by a reference list, of course—we are the APA Style Experts.)

The Basics
In a previous post, I showed you some examples for citing sheet music in APA Style. The format for a recorded song is similar, but it resembles a chapter rather than a book. The name of the songwriter goes in the author position:

Writer, A. (Copyright year). Title of song [Recorded by B. B. Artist].     On Title of album [Medium of recording]. Location: Label. (Date of     recording)

So, for example, where the songwriter and performing artist are the same, the reference would look like this:

Baron Cohen, E. (2010). My Hanukkah (Keep the fire alive). On     Songs in the key of Hanukkah [MP3 file]. Burbank, CA:     WaterTower Music. Fuchs, G. (2004). Light the menorah. On Eight nights of Hanukkah [CD].     Brick, NJ: Kid Kosher. Lehrer, T. (2000). (I’m spending) Hanukkah in Santa Monica. On The     remains of Tom Lehrer [CD]. New York, NY: Rhino.

Variations on a Theme
If the song is recorded by someone other than the songwriter, include the information about the recording artist(s) in brackets after the song title.

Lavin, C. (2003). A Christmas/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Chanukah/Ramadan/     Boxing Day song [Recorded by C. Lavin & the Mistletones]. On The     runaway Christmas tree [CD]. West Chester, PA: Appleseed Recordings. Page, S. (2010). Hanukkah blessings [Recorded by Barenaked Ladies].     On Barenaked for the holidays [CD]. London, England: Raisin Records.

If the recording identifies the lyricist and composer, include their roles in parentheses after the name:

Geisel, T. (Lyricist), & Hague, A. (Composer). (1966). Welcome     Christmas! On Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch stole Christmas &     Horton hears a Who [CD]. New York, NY: Rhino. Wesley, C. (Lyricist), & Mendelssohn, F. (Composer). (2006). Hark! The     herald angels sing [Recorded by the Vince Guaraldi Trio]. On A     Charlie Brown Christmas [CD]. Beverly Hills, CA: Fantasy Records.

However, it’s not necessary to note the species if performers are non-Homo sapiens:

Bagdasarian, R., Sr. (1962). The chipmunk song [Recorded by D. Seville     & The Chipmunks]. On Christmas with the Chipmunks [CD]. Los Angeles,     CA: Capitol Records. (2002) Burland, S. (1963). The chickens are in the chimes [Recorded by     S. Burland, M. Adams, & The Skipjack Choir]. On The chickens are in     the chimes [Vinyl record]. New York, NY: RCA Victor. Hayes, B., & Johnson, J. W. (1948). Blue Christmas [Recorded by S. Swine     & The Squeelers]. On John Boy and Billy’s Christmas album [Audio     cassette]. Nashville, TN: Arista Records. (1998)

Particularly with traditional holiday music, the author may be unknown. In that case, the title of the song moves to the author position:

God rest ye merry, gentlemen [Recorded by Jars of Clay]. (2007). On     Christmas songs. Vancouver, Canada: Nettwerk. I have a little dreidel [Recorded by Sister Hazel]. (2007). On Santa’s     playlist. Newark, NJ: Rock Ridge Music.

Text Citations
For music recordings, the text citation consists of the songwriter(s) and date, along with the track number (or side and band, for vinyl records):

Lehrer (2000, track 11) noted that East St. Louis was not the optimal spot for a celebration of Shavuot.

If the copyright date and recording date are different, use both dates in the text citation:

Bernard, F. & Smith, R. B. (1934). Winter wonderland [Recorded by     The Eurythmics]. On A very special Christmas [CD]. Santa Monica,     CA: A&M Records. (2006) “Winter Wonderland” (Bernard & Smith, 1934/2006, track 5)

A Very Special APA Holiday
To all of our readers, we wish you happy holidays and a prosperous new year! You can listen to the entire playlist for this article on Spotify at APA Holiday.

Should Hyperlinks Be Used in APA Style?

by Jeff Hume-Pratuch

If you’ve ever typed a paper using a popular word-processing program, you’ve probably encountered the automatic hyperlink: Type a URL, and the software immediately underlines it and changes the font color to blue (whether you like it or not).

Is this something that needs to be “fixed” in an APA Style paper? The APA Publication Manual (6th ed.) contains no guidelines about this. If a document is to be distributed and read electronically, active hyperlinks may be useful. However, common sense tells us that an active hyperlink is of no use in a document intended to be read on paper; furthermore, the default blue color for active hyperlinks usually prints as gray, making them difficult to read. The underlining is distracting as well. Therefore, it seems reasonable to avoid the use of active hyperlinks in documents that will be read in print.

In Word 2010, you can deactivate the auto-hyperlink feature by going to the File tab, clicking on Options, Proofing, and Auto-Correct Options, then on AutoCorrect As You Type. Deselect “Internet and network paths.” Bingo, no more hyperlinks when you type.

You can also eliminate the problem when cutting and pasting URLs by using the Paste Special feature. If you select the Plain Text or Keep Text Only options, the URL will not turn into a hyperlink.

In short, since there's no rule governing the use of hyperlinks, take your audience and delivery method into account when deciding whether URLs should become active hyperlinks in your paper.

Reference Twins: Or, How to Cite Articles With the Same Authors and Same Year

by Chelsea Lee

Have you ever been friends with a pair of identical twins? Twins who looked so alike that, at first, telling them apart all hinged on finding that distinguishing freckle, or hoping someone else would call them by their names so you could memorize what clothes each was wearing that day? In the social sciences, there is a longstanding tradition of twin research, but this post refers to twins of another kind: reference twins. Specifically, this post addresses how to cite multiple articles by the same authors that were published in the same year so that everyone can easily tell them apart.

A Solution for Identical Twins

In essence, the solution to the reference twin problem is not much different from how twins are told apart at birth: Just as twins are referred to as “Baby A” and “Baby B,” “twin references” are also given letters to tell them apart. Specifically, lowercase letters are added after the year (2011a, 2011b, etc.), and the references are alphabetized by title to determine which is “a” and which is “b.” Here is an example:

Koriat, A. (2008a). Easy comes, easy goes? The link between learning and remembering and its exploitation in metacognition. Memory & Cognition, 36, 416–428. doi:10.3758/MC.36.2.416

Koriat, A. (2008b). Subjective confidence in one’s answers: The consensuality principle. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 34, 945–959. doi:10.1037/0278-7393.34.4.945

In the text, citations would be styled as follows: (Koriat, 2008a) and (Koriat, 2008b).

For references that are in press or that have no date (signified by n.d., which stands for “no date”), use the following forms for the date: (in press-a), (in press-b), (n.d.-a), and (n.d.-b), and so forth.

A Solution for Not-Quite Twins

However, be careful that your references are true identical twins. That is, the method described above applies only when all author names are the same and appear in the same order. If any of the names or the order is different, then the references are distinguished in a different way: by spelling out as many author names as necessary to tell them apart.  Let’s use the following two references as an example:

Marewski, J. N., Gaissmaier, W., & Gigerenzer, G. (2010). Good judgments do not require complex cognition. Cognitive Processing, 11, 103–121. doi:10.1007/s10339-009-0337-0

Marewski, J. N., Gaissmaier, W., Schooler, L. J., Goldstein, D. G., & Gigerenzer, G. (2010). From recognition to decisions: Extending and testing recognition-based models for multi-alternative inference. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 17, 287–309. doi:10.3758/PBR.17.3.287

The first in-text citations to each of these articles would be as follows:

• (Marewski, Gaissmaier, & Gigerenzer, 2010)
• (Marewski, Gaissmaier, Schooler, Goldstein, & Gigerenzer, 2010)

Now, what about subsequent in-text citations? Usually we would abbreviate studies with three or more authors to the first author name plus et al. (Latin for “and others”); however, doing so here would produce two Marewski et al. (2010) citations, leaving the reader unable to tell which one you mean. The solution is to spell out as many names as necessary (here, to the third name) upon subsequent citations to tell the two apart: 

• (Marewski, Gaissmaier, & Gigerenzer, 2010)
• (Marewski, Gaissmaier, Schooler, et al., 2010)

Notice that for the first reference, this means that all citations to this source will include all three names. For the second reference, the two remaining names can be abbreviated to et al. (Note, however, that if only one name remains to distinguish the references, that name must be spelled out with all the rest because et al. is plural—it cannot stand for only one name. This topic will be elaborated upon in an upcoming post.)

For more information and examples of citing references in text, see Chapter 6 of our sixth edition Publication Manual (pp. 174–179). You may also be interested in our primer on how in-text citations work.

How to Determine Whether a Periodical Is Paginated by Issue

 

by Tyler Krupa

 

Per APA Style, when formatting periodical references (which include journals, magazines, and newsletters), include the issue number (immediately following the volume number in parentheses) when the periodical is paginated by issue (i.e., begins each issue with page 1). Otherwise, include only the volume number (see p. 198 of the 6th edition of the APA Publication Manual).

Therefore, in the journal article reference listed below, note that both the volume number and the issue number are included because the E-Journal of Applied Psychology is paginated by issue:

Sillick, T. J., & Schutte, N. S. (2006). Emotional intelligence and self-esteem mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. E-Journal of Applied Psychology, 2(2), 38–48. Retrieved from http://ojs.lib.swin.edu.au/index.php/ejap

Although it is rare for journals to be paginated by issue (note that all APA journals use continuous pagination), sometimes determining whether a periodical is paginated by issue is not clear. In these instances, there are two steps that you can follow to determine the pagination:

1. Compare the page range and issue number of the article. If you see that the issue number is 2 or more and the page range of your article is low, chances are that the periodical is paginated by issue, as the second and subsequent issues of a volume should contain higher page ranges if the pages of the volume are numbered continuously. In the Sillick and Schutte (2006) example above, the article is contained in the second issue but has a low page range (38–48), which should tip you off that this journal is paginated by issue. Likewise, if the issue number is 2 or more and the page range of the article is high, chances are that the periodical is not paginated by issue, as a periodical that begins each issue on page 1 should not contain articles that have high page ranges.

In instances in which you still cannot determine whether a periodical is paginated by issue by following this step (e.g., when the article is contained in the first issue of a volume or when the page range is not high or low enough for you to definitively make a decision), then completing the next step will get your answer.

2. Go to the periodical’s home page on the Internet and check the table of contents (TOC) of past issues. At a periodical’s home page, you should be able to compare the TOCs of issues within a volume and determine whether each issue begins at page 1. If you find that each issue of a volume begins on page 1, include the issue number in parentheses after the volume number in your reference. If the page numbers of issues within a volume are numbered continuously, include only the volume number in your reference.

We hope this explanation helps to clear up any confusion regarding when to include an issue number when formatting periodical references. If not, feel free to leave a comment.

How to Cite a Musical Score

by Jeff Hume-Pratuch

Sheet music may not be the first thing you think of citing in APA Style. However, there is a large body of research on the topic of music and emotion, not to mention the specialty of music therapy. And where there is research, there must be citation!

Basically, a musical score is analogous to a book. The underlying format is as follows:

Composer, A. A. (Date). Title of work. Location: Publisher.

However, you may need to include a little more information in square brackets to identify for the reader which score you used (e.g., the vocal vs. the orchestral score):

Picker, T. (Composer), & McClatchy, J. D. (Librettist). (1995). Emmeline: An opera in two acts [Score and parts]. Mainz, Germany: Schott Helicon.

Text citation: (Picker & McClatchy, 1995)

If you're using something like a Dover reprint of an old score, there’s no need to include the information about the original publishing company, but do include the original publication date:

Haydn, F. J. (2001). The creation. Mineola, NY: Dover. (Original work published 1798)

Text citation: (Haydn, 1798/2001)

Your reference should contain only the information needed to help your reader find the source you used. Aside from composer, date, title, and location, most of the necessary information can be included in square brackets after the title. However, some classical composers’ works are known by unique catalogue numbers, and these should be included as part of the title:

Mozart, W. A. (1970). Die Zauberflöte [The magic flute], K. 620 [Vocal score]. Munich, Germany: Becksche Verlagsbuchhandlung. (Original work published 1791)

Text citation: (Mozart, 1791/1970)

Do you have a baffling reference that you’re not sure how to cite? Take a look at our series on creating your own reference, or e-mail us at styleexpert@apastyle.org

Me, Myself, and I

More Tales From the Style Expert Inbox

by Jeff Hume-Pratuch

Dear Style Expert,

My professor said that if I express my own opinion in a paper, I have to cite myself in text. Do I have to put myself in the reference list too, or is it more like a personal communication? It seems kind of odd to be citing a communication with yourself.
—Irene

Dear Irene,

Although it’s a basic principle of scientific writing that “researchers . . . give credit where credit is due” (APA Publication Manual, 6th ed., p. 15) when they use the words and ideas of others, it’s really not necessary to cite yourself as the source of your own opinion. After all, your name is on the title page.

Your professor may be trying to encourage you to distinguish your opinions from conclusions you have drawn on the basis of empirical evidence. Generally, however, authors indicate their opinions by introducing them with a phrase such as “In my opinion,” “I think,” or “I believe.” (And yes, it’s perfectly OK to use first-person pronouns for this purpose in APA Style.)

In short, citing yourself as an authority on your own opinion is just not done in APA Style—or any form of serious communication. (Just ask Bob Dole.)

Hope this helps,

Jeff

Got a nagging question about APA Style? Send it to us at StyleExpert@apastyle.org!

Group Authors

by Timothy McAdoo

In 2010, the estimated number of websites was 255 million. That translates to a staggering number of individual webpages. Who’s writing all those pages? And, how should you cite them in APA Style?

In this post, I’ll focus on just one possibility: group authors.  Although the “who” element for many references is an individual author or authors, “who” can also be a group author. This is often the case for white papers, press releases, and information pages (e.g., “About Us”) on company websites.

For example, the "about" page on the American Psychological Association site (http://www.apa.org/about/) was surely written by one or more real people. But, because no individual byline is listed and because this resides on the organization’s webpage, you would reference it as a group author. That is, the “who” in your reference is a group author.

 

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). About APA. Retrieved from     http://www.apa.org/about/

Notice that the author portion still ends with a period.

References
In the reference, spell out the full group author name.  Though you may choose to abbreviate the author name in text, spell it out in the reference list.

Citations
In your text, use the author–date format for citations. In this example, the author is “American Psychological Association” and the date is “n.d.”

 

According to the American Psychological Association (n.d.), “psychology is a diverse discipline, grounded in science, but with nearly boundless applications in everyday life” (Definition of "Psychology," para. 1).

Abbreviations
If you include the citation many times in your paper, you might want to abbreviate the group author name. If so, this introduction should be included with the first use in text:

 

According to the American Psychological Association (APA, n.d., Definition of "Psychology," para. 1), “psychology is a diverse discipline, grounded in science, but with nearly boundless applications in everyday life.”

If you decide to abbreviate, do so consistently throughout the paper. Spelling out the name in some sections and abbreviating in others can confuse the reader.

Note that you are not required to abbreviate, even if the group author name appears frequently in your text. The Publication Manual (p. 176) recommends writing out the name of group authors, even if used many times in your text, if the group author name is short or “if the abbreviation would not be readily understandable.”