When to Include Page Numbers in a Reference List Entry

By David Becker

Dear APA Style Experts,

When I cite page numbers in text, does that mean I have to include them in the reference as well? If not, then when should I include page numbers in a reference?

—Laurel H.

Dear Laurel,

The quick answer to your first question is, “No.” Just because you cite one or more page numbers in text—whether you are directly quoting a source or just paraphrasing it—does not necessarily mean you need to include them in the reference list. References help readers find the work you are citing, whereas in-text citations help readers find the location of the quoted or paraphrased material within that source. Here is an example of the correct format for an in-text citation to an authored book and its corresponding reference:

In-text citation: (Moghaddam, 2018, p. 30) Reference: Moghaddam, F. M. (2018). Mutual radicalization: How groups and nations drive each other to extremes. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000089-000

Regarding your broader question about when to include page numbers in a reference, the answer depends on what type of source you are citing. A page range is included in a reference to a source that is part of a larger paginated work, such as a chapter in an edited book, an entry in a reference book, a work in an anthology, or an article in a periodical (i.e., a journal or a print magazine or newspaper). Here is a sample in-text citation and a corresponding reference to a chapter from an edited book:

In-text citation: (Lanier, 2018, pp. 288–289) Reference: Lanier, C. S. (2018). “Dreaming that I’m swimming in the beautiful Caribbean Sea”: One man’s story on surviving death row. In H. Toch, J. R. Acker, & V. M. Bonventre (Eds.), Living on death row: The psychology of waiting to die (pp. 277–300). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000084-012

If you are referencing a paginated work in its entirety—such as a technical or research report, a whole book, or a special issue of a periodical—then don’t include a page range, just like in the Moghaddam (2018) reference.

More information can be found in another APA Style Blog post about when to include page numbers in text citations. If you can’t find an answer to your question in the Publication Manual, Sixth Edition or the blog, feel free to email us at [email protected].

How to Cite Instagram in APA Style

Note: For examples and guidelines for citing Instagram (photos, videos, highlights, and profiles) in seventh edition APA Style, see the seventh edition reference examples page.

The examples here are in sixth edition APA Style.

by Timothy McAdoo

We’ve joined Instagram! Follow us for APA Style tips, FAQs, and maybe even some contests! https://instagram.com/officialapastyle

How do you cite Instagram? Whether you're citing a photo, a video, a profile page, or a highlight, just include the following in your reference:

• who (name and Instagram username),
• when (date posted),
• what (the caption, highlight title, or profile page title), and
• where (URL).

Elements of a Reference to an Instagram Photo or Video
Example References to Instagram Photos or Videos

APA Style [@officialapastyle]. (2018, December 5). Welcome to the official Instagram for #APAStyle! We’re here to help you with your APA Style questions [Instagram photograph]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq-A-dvBLiH/

Fox, M. J. [@realmikejfox]. (2018, June 5). It takes < than a min to learn how to save a life. Watch the video at handsonly.nyc #ICanSaveALife with #HandsOnlyCPR [Instagram photo]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/BjppDLDBxRF/

Public Interest Directorate [@apapubint]. (2018, May 12). Happy Mother’s Day!! “It is important for the son to have a close relationship with his mother while he is [Instagram video]. Retrieved from https://www.instagram.com/p/BirIQFnnmzd/

• in-text citations: (APA Style, 2018; Fox, 2018; Public Interest Directorate, 2018)

The Instagram username can be seen with the post. But, for the individual's surname and initials or for the official name of a brand or organization, you'll need to consult the profile page (by clicking the profile image).

Include the exact date of a post, as shown in the examples above. Instagram automatically shows the exact date for posts that are more than 1 week old. Very recent posts will give a description of the date (e.g., “1 day ago”); however, your reference should include the exact date. If viewing the post on a computer, rather than a mobile device, you can hover over the description to see the exact date.

Per our guidelines for citing other types of social media, include only the first 40 words of a caption.

 

Elements of a Reference to an Instagram Profile

Example References for Instagram Profile Pages

Because profile pages are not dated, use "n.d." in the reference. Use “Posts” as the title.

APA Style [@officialapastyle]. (n.d.). Posts [Instagram profile]. Retrieved December 10, 2018, from https://www.instagram.com/officialapastyle

Star Wars [@starwars]. (n.d.). Posts [Instagram profile]. Retrieved December 10, 2018, from https://www.instagram.com/starwars/

• in-text citations: (APA Style, n.d.; Star Wars, n.d.)

“Posts” is the default state of an Instagram profile page, but use “IGTV,” “Tagged,” “Followers,” or “Following” if you intend to cite those versions of the profile page.

Swift, T. [@taylorswift]. (n.d.). Tagged [Instagram profile]. Retrieved December 10, 2018, from https://www.instagram.com/taylorswift/tagged

• in-text citations: (Swift, n.d.)

Elements of a Reference to an Instagram Highlight

Example References for Instagram Highlights

Although each story within the highlight is dated, the highlight itself is not dated, so use "n.d." in the reference. Because the highlight can be changed at any time, with content added or removed, include the retrieval date with the URL:

APA Style [@officialapastyle]. (n.d.). FAQs [Instagram highlight]. Retrieved December 10, 2018, from https://www.instagram.com/s/aGlnaGxpZ2h0OjE3OTc2ODkwNTk5MTc5MTY1/

• in-text citations: (APA Style, n.d.)

 

In-Text Citations

As can be seen in the examples above, in-text citations for Instagram (and other social media sources) match the surname or organizational name of the author as shown in the reference, but they do not include the username. This allows the in-text citations to match the references but also to be grouped with other in-text citations for works by the same author(s).

"...to learn CPR (Fox, 2017a, 2017b, 2018)." "...from the American Psychological Association (APA Style, n.d., 2018; Public Interest Directorate, 2018)."

 

Hashtags

Hashtags may appear in the caption (and thus in your reference; see first example above). But, to discuss hashtags more generally, describe them in the text of your paper. For more, see our post on citing hashtags in APA Style.

Note: This post was edited after initial posting to update the highlight and profile references, which should include the retrieval date.

What’s in a Name? Authors With the Same Surname

Note: The guidelines for citing authors with the same surname have been updated in the seventh edition Publication Manual (see Sections 8.20 and 9.48 for details on citing these authors in the text and the reference list, respectively). This blog post describes the old sixth edition guidelines.

 by Chelsea Lee

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, right? Readers often ask us questions about how to handle repeated surnames in references. For example, how do you cite a work where some or all of the authors have the same last name? What if you want to cite separate works by people who have the same last name—how do you avoid making it seem like they are the same person? Read on to find out these answers.

Same Surname Within a Reference

Nothing special is required when a surname is repeated within a reference. Write the in-text citation and reference list entry normally.

Reference list entry:  Sue, D., Sue, D. W., Sue, D., & Sue, S. (2015). Understanding abnormal behavior (11th ed.). Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning.   In-text citation: (Sue, Sue, Sue, & Sue, 2015)

Different First Authors Share a Surname But Have Different Initials

Now imagine a surname is repeated in different references. When the first authors of multiple references have the same surname but different initials, include initials for the first authors in the in-text citations. Never include initials for second or subsequent authors in in-text citations. The reference list entries are written normally.

In the example below, note that although all three examples have an author named Jackson, only D. Jackson and M. C. Jackson are cited with initials in the text because the other Jackson is not first author. 

Reference list entries: Jackson, D. (2018). Aesthetics and the psychotherapist's office. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 74, 233–238. https://doi.org/10.1002/jclp.22576 Jackson, M. C., Counter, P., & Tree, J. J. (2017). Face working memory deficits in developmental prosopagnosia: Tests of encoding limits and updating processes. Neuropsychologia, 106, 60–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.09.003 Nelson, B. D., Jackson, F., Amir, N., & Hajcak, G. (2017). Attention bias modification reduces neural correlates of response monitoring. Biological Psychology, 129, 103–110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2017.08.059   In-text citations: (D. Jackson, 2018) (M. C. Jackson, Counter, & Tree, 2017) (Nelson, Jackson, Amir, & Hajcak, 2017)

Note: Include initials in the in-text citations only to help the reader tell apart different people. If the name of one person is presented inconsistently across works (e.g., sometimes a middle initial is present, sometimes it is missing), then reproduce the name as shown on the work in the reference list and write normal in-text citations without initials. See this post on inconsistent name formats for more.

Different First Authors Share a Surname and Initials

When the first authors of multiple references have the same surname and the same initials—but they are different people—then adding initials to the in-text citations won’t help readers tell the authors apart. So in this case (as addressed previously on the blog), include these authors’ full first names in the in-text citations. In the reference list entries, also include the full first names in square brackets after the initials. Never include bracketed names for second or subsequent authors in in-text citations or reference list entries.

Reference list entries: Green, L. [Laura]. (2009). Morphology and literacy: Getting our heads in the game. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 40, 283–285. https://doi.org/10.1044/0161-1461(2009/08-0091) Green, L. [Leonard], & Myerson, J. (2013). How many impulsivities? A discounting perspective. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 99, 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.1   In-text citations: (Laura Green, 2009) (Leonard Green & Myerson, 2013)

For more on this topic, see the Publication Manual sections 6.14 and 6.27. Got more questions? Leave a comment below.

 

References Versus Citations

by Timothy McAdoo

In the Publication Manual and in many, many blog posts here, we refer to both references and citations. If you are new to writing with APA Style, you might wonder “What’s the difference?” Like this apple and orange, they are created separately but work well together!

 

References

References appear at the end of a manuscript. They follow a who–when–what–where format. For example:

McAdoo, T. (2017, September 20). References versus citations [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2017/09/References-versus-citations

They appear (a) so you can give credit to your sources and (b) to provide a path for your readers to retrieve those sources and read them firsthand.

 

Citations

Citations appear in the body of your paper and point your reader to your references. For that reason, we sometimes call them in-text citations. They are also sometimes called simply cites. Citations can appear in a paper in two ways:

 

• parenthetically: (Becker, 2012; Lee, 2016; McAdoo, 2017) and
• narratively: Becker (2012), Lee (2016), and McAdoo (2017) wrote blog posts about APA Style.

Include them in a paper to support claims you have made and/or to provide the sources for paraphrases and direct quotations.

As shown in the examples above, citations are almost always composed of an author surname or surnames and a date. The surname(s) that appear in a citation must exactly match those used in the reference. Likewise, the year in the citation matches the year shown in the reference. When the reference has a more precise date, the in-text citation includes the year only. For example, compare the reference and the in-text citation for a tweet. For more about creating in-text citations, see Writing In-Text Citations in APA Style.

As noted above, most citations include author names; but, because some references have no author, their citations also have no author: When the reference includes no author, the citation includes the title (or a short version of the title). Also, many types of legal references do not include author names. To learn more about legal references and citations, see Introduction to APA Style Legal References.

 

Creating a Reference for a Work Published With a Typo in the Title

by Timothy McAdoo

If there’s a typo in a quotation, you use [sic] to show the reader that the error is in the original source and that you’re faithfully quoting it just as it appeared.

But, what if there’s a mistake in an article’s title? Do you add [sic] to the reference? We recommend not doing that, because it may appear to be part of the reference title. Instead, we recommend using a footnote.

First, know that typos in titles of published journal articles and book chapters are rare. If you think you’ve found a typo, there are a three things to check first:

1. Is it really a typo? Or is it a rhetorical device or an author’s creative license? For example, in a title like “It's More Than Reading, Writing and 'Rithmetic,” the author is aware of the misspelling, and you should not add a footnote. Likewise, you need not add a footnote if the title includes contractions or slang.
   
   Example article with an intentional misspelling (do not use [sic] or a footnote)
   

   DeAngelis, T. (2003). It's more than reading, writing and 'rithmetic. Monitor on Psychology, 34(9), 46–47. https://doi.org/10.1037/e319112004-036

2. Did the typo appear in the published article? Or, is it a typo only in the database, web page, or other source where you found the title? That is, let’s say you discovered an article via a search of the PsycINFO database. If you notice a typo, first determine whether the article was published that way or whether that’s a mistake in the database record only. (If so, let us know, and we’ll correct the record!)
   
   To do so: First, find a PDF or a print copy of the article. Or, check the publisher’s website. Publishers often offer a free table of contents. If you can’t track down an original, you can always contact the publisher’s office.
3. Was a correction published? If so, see our earlier post on how to cite a corrected journal article.

If the article title really included a typo, explain in a footnote, if you want to ensure that your readers know that the mistake is not yours.

Example article that published with a typo in the title (explain in a footnote)

Linn, L. (1968). Social identification and the seeking of pyschiatric1 care. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 38, 83–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1939-0025.1968.tb00558.x

1The published article includes this typo.

 

How to Create References When Words in the Title Are Italicized

by Timothy McAdoo

Although the title of a journal article or book chapter is not usually italicized, sometimes words within the title may be italicized. These include book or movie titles, letters or words as linguistic examples, statistics, scientific names for animals, and other items that would be italicized in text, per APA Style guidelines.

Examples

Corballis, M. C., & McLaren, R. (1984). Winding one's Ps and Qs: Mental rotation and mirror-image discrimination. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 10, 318–327. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-1523.10.2.318

Foulkes, D. (1994). The interpretation of dreams and the scientific study of dreaming. Dreaming, 4, 82–85. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0094402

Lai, J., Fidler, F., & Cummings, G. (2015). Subjective p intervals: Researchers underestimate the variability of p values over replication. Methodology, 8, 51–62. https://doi.org/10.1027/1614-2241/a000037

Yoder, A. M., Widen, S. C., & Russell, J. A. (2016). The word disgust may refer to more than one emotion. Emotion, 16, 301–308. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000118

If the title of the work is already italicized, as with a reference for a book, report, or dissertation or thesis, then the item that would otherwise be italicized is reverse italicized (meaning that it is in roman type within an otherwise italicized title).

Examples

Blaylock, B. (2015). Coming of age: The narrative of adolescence in David Almond’s Kit’s wilderness and Nick Lake’s In darkness (Master’s thesis). Retrieved from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 10000726)

Reichenberg, L. (2013). DSM–5 essentials: The savvy clinician’s guide to the changes in criteria. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.

 

How to Format Scientific Names of Animals

by Timothy McAdoo

When an animal name is part of a journal article title, it is conventional to provide the animal’s scientific name (genus and species). Genus is always capitalized and species is not. Notice that the scientific names are also italicized (see examples on p. 105 of the APA Publication Manual).

For example, see the following articles from APA Journals:

This convention of including the scientific name in the paper’s title is not an APA Style guideline specified in the manual; however, it is an accepted norm of scientific research. (If you have any questions about whether to include the scientific name in your paper or manuscript, ask your teacher, advisor, or editor.)

So, if you cite an article that includes a genus and species in the title, how should the title appear in your reference list? Keep the italics and capitalization of the animal’s scientific name exactly as they appear in the original title:

MacLean, E. L., Krupenye, C., & Hare, B. (2014). Dogs (Canis familiaris) account for body orientation but not visual barriers when responding to pointing gestures. Journal of Comparative Psychology, 128, 285–297. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0035742

Tu, H.-W., & Hampton, R. R. (2014). Control of working memory in rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cognition, 40, 467–476. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/xan0000030

How to Cite the UpToDate Database in APA Style

 by Chelsea Lee

The UpToDate database contains peer-reviewed medical articles that are periodically updated by experts in the field; as such, it is a popular source for writers to cite in APA Style.

Cite an article from UpToDate like you would an entry in an online reference work or chapter in an edited book. Here is an example citation:

Williams, J., & Nieuwsma, J. (2016). Screening for depression in adults. In J. A. Melin (Ed.), UpToDate. Retrieved February 1, 2017, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/screening-for-depression-in-adults

• In text: (Williams & Nieuwsma, 2016).

Here are some notes about the components of the reference:

• Use the authors of the article as the authors in the reference.
• For the year in the reference, use the year listed after “this topic last updated.”
• For the title, use the title of the article.
• Use the name of the deputy editor(s) for the article as the editor(s) of the reference work. Section editors do not need to be listed in the reference.
• Write UpToDate in italics as the name of the reference work.
• Provide a retrieval date because the content will change over time.
• Provide a URL for retrieval of the article.

 Do you have additional questions about citing the UpToDate database? Leave a comment below.

How to Cite a Twitter Moment

Note: For examples and guidelines for citing Twitter (tweets, profiles, and moments) in seventh edition APA Style, see the seventh edition reference examples page.

The examples here are in sixth edition APA Style.

by Timothy McAdoo

With Twitter moments, introduced last year, anyone can collect related tweets in one page.

These are easy to cite because Twitter provides all the necessary information—who (Twitter username), when (date), what (title), and where (URL)!

Examples

Reference: APA Style [APA_Style]. (2016, November 15). Research and writing [Twitter moment]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/i/moments/801080248762847234

In-text citation: (APA Style, 2016) or APA Style (2016).

Reference: Reuters Top News [Reuters]. (2016, November 1). Inside David Bowie's art collection [Twitter moment]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/i/moments/793575609028915200

In-text citation: (Reuters Top News, 2016) or Reuters Top News (2016).

If you need more help citing social media, see our posts about tweets, Facebook status updates, hashtags, and more!

How to Cite Quality Standards and Guidelines in APA Style

by Chelsea Lee

To cite a quality standard or guideline in APA Style, provide the author, date, title, and source of the work. After the title of the work, provide any number or identifier for the standard in parentheses without italics. Here is a template for citing a standard:

Template

Reference list: Organization That Made the Standard. (year). Title of the standard (Standard No. 1234). Retrieved from http://xxxxx In text: (Organization That Made the Standard, year).

The only exception is if the standard appears in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), because federal standards are considered legal references and follow legal style; directions for citing standards in the CFR are at the end of this post.

Here are some examples of typical standard citations and their corresponding in-text citations. Note that most of the organizations that publish standards commonly go by acronyms (e.g., OSHA for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration). The acronym is optional to use. If you do use the acronym, use it in the text only, not in the reference list entry. Spell out the name of the group the first time you cite the work and provide the acronym either in parentheses or brackets (depending on whether the written-out form is already in parentheses); for any subsequent citations or mentions, use the acronym. If you use multiple works by the same group, you only need to introduce the acronym once. How to introduce the acronym is also shown in the example citations below.

ISO Standards

International Organization for Standardization. (2016). Occupational health and safety management systems—Requirements with guidance for use (ISO/DIS Standard No. 45001). Retrieved from http://www.iso.org/iso/catalogue_detail?csnumber=63787

• In text, first citation: (International Organization for Standardization [ISO], 2016) or International Organization for Standardization (ISO, 2016).
• In text, subsequent citations: (ISO, 2016) or ISO (2016).

OSHA Standards

Occupational Safety and Health Administration. (1970). Occupational safety and health standards: Occupational health and environmental control (Standard No. 1910.95). Retrieved from https://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=STANDARDS&p_id=9735

• In text, first citation: (Occupational Safety and Health Administration [OSHA], 1970) or Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA, 1970).
• In text, subsequent citations: (OSHA, 1970) or OSHA (1970).
• Note that the date for an OSHA standard should be the effective date; for most standards, this is 1970. If you are citing multiple OSHA standards, create separate reference list entries for each one and differentiate them by using lowercase letters after the year (e.g., OSHA, 1970a, 1970b), as described in this post on “reference twins.”

NICE Guidelines

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2013). Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (NICE Quality Standard No. 39). Retrieved from https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/qs39

• In text, first citation: (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence [NICE], 2013) or National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE, 2013).
• In text, subsequent citations: (NICE, 2013) or NICE (2013).

Standard Published as a Federal Regulation

Designation of Uses for the Establishment of Water Quality Standards, 40 C.F.R. § 131.10 (2015).

• In text: (Designation of Uses for the Establishment of Water Quality Standards, 2015) or Designation of Uses for the Establishment of Water Quality Standards (2015).
• For more information on citing federal regulations, see Section A7.06 of the Publication Manual (p. 223).

The template shown at the beginning of this post should cover all types of quality standards you might want to cite in APA Style, but if you have further questions, leave a comment below!