Citation Styles and Tools

APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used in the social sciences.

The style uses in-text citations in the author-date style. For example, (Jones 1998).

Bibliography example of a citation from a journal article:

Harlow, H. F. (1983). Fundamentals for preparing psychology journal articles. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55, 893-896.

APA recently updated to the 7th edition. There were some minor key changes including:

• Et al.: “et al.” is used in the first in-text citation for works with three or more authors.
• Up to 20 authors cited: In the reference list, give the surnames and initials for up to 20 authors.
• Website names: Website names are now included as well as the webpage title.
• Publication location: The location of the publisher (i.e., city, country/state code) is no longer required.
• Ebook publisher: You no longer need to give the platform, format, or device (e.g., Kindle) for ebooks, but you do need give the publisher.
• "Retrieved from": You no longer need to write “Retrieved from” before a URL.
• DOIs: DOIs are formatted the same as URLs. You do not need to write "DOI."

The PurdueOWL has an overview of changes most relevant to students.