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APA 7th ed. Style Guide

Help with using the APA 7th ed. Style Guide for writing.

General Notice:

This page provides examples of citations from sources about which students often have questions. For additional examples of miscellaneous reference entries, see the sample papers linked on the left.

General guidelines for reviews (of books, movies, TV shows, etc.)

  • The reference format should follow the style of the source where the review was published (blog, newspaper, journal, magazine, etc.)
  • Additional information about the item being reviewed should be in square brackets
  • Inside the brackets, write "Review of the" and then the type of work being reviewed (i.e., film), its title and author
  • Apply the rules about titles within the brackets that match the type of item being reviewed (book, film, etc.)

Template:

Author. (Date). Review title. [Details of reviewed work]. Periodical information. DOI or URL.

The following example is a book review entitled "Learning by text or context?" written by B. R. Schatz published in the November 17, 2000 issue of Science magazine about a book called, The social life of information, by J. S. Brown and P. Duguid.

Example (book review):

Schatz, B.R. (2000, November 17). Learning by text or context? [Review of the book The social life of information, by J.S. Brown &

P. Duguid]. Science, 290 1304. https://doi.org/10:1126/science.290.5495.1304

General guidelines for Audiovisual Media

  • Includes audio only (e.g., music, speech recordings), visual only (e.g., artwork, PowerPoint slides, photographs), or audio and visual components (e.g., films, TV shows)
  • They follow a pattern based on whether the work stands alone (e.g., films, TV series) or is part of a greater whole (e.g., TV episodes, songs from an album)
  • Describe the audiovisual type in square brackets (e.g., [Film])

 

Template:

Author (Role). (Date). Title [Description]. Publisher. URL.

Example (PowerPoint slides or lecture notes):

Canan, E., & Vasilev, J. (2019, May 22). [Lecture notes on resource allocation]. Department of Management Control

and Information Systems, University of Chile. https://uchilefau.academia.edu/ElseZCanan

NOTE: If the slides are from a classroom website or Canvas course and your audience has access to them, provide the name of the site and its URL login page.

Example (photograph):

McCurry, S. (1985). Afghan girl [Photograph]. National Geographic. 

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/national-geographic-magazine-50-years-of-covers/#/ngm-1985-jun-714.jpg

Mobile app reference work

General Guidelines

  • For a mobile app reference work with individual authors (as shown in the example), provide the author names in the author element of the reference.
  • Provide the year of the version used in the date element of the reference.
  • Provide the title of the app in italic sentence case.
  • When the app includes an edition number (as with the example), place the edition information in parentheses without italics after the title.
  • Provide the version number of the app (which you can obtain from the app itself once it is downloaded) in a separate set of parentheses.
  • Provide the publisher of the app or the name of the app store (e.g., App Store, Google Play Store). In the example, the app was downloaded from the publisher’s website, so the publisher (F. A. Davis Company) is provided in the source element of the reference. If you downloaded the app from the App Store instead, use “App Store” instead of “F. A. Davis Company.”
  • Provide a URL when possible.

Example (Reference work mobile app):

Vallerand, A.H., & Sanoski, C.A. (2018). Davis's drug guide (16th ed.) (Version 1.31) [Mobile app]. F.A. Davis

Company. https://www.unboundmedicine.com/products/davis_drug_guide

Entry from a mobile app reference work

General Guidelines

  • To cite an entry in a mobile app reference work, follow the format for an edited book chapter.
  • Provide the author of the app in the author element of the reference. In the example, the company that produces the app (Lexicomp) is treated as a group author.
  • Provide the date year of the app version that you used in the date element of the reference.
  • Provide the title of the entry in the reference work in the title element of the reference.
  • In the source element, provide the name of the app in italics (which in the example happens to be the same as the author), the version of the app used in parentheses, the description “[Mobile app]” and the publisher or app store from which the app was obtained.
  • Provide a URL when possible.

Example (Entry in a mobile app reference work):

Lexicorp. (2019). Amoxicillin. In Lexicorp (Version 5.1.1) [Mobile app]. App Store.

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/lexicomp/id313401238

Examples

See the sample papers below for examples of listing additional types of sources such as:

  • Code of ethics
  • Conference sessions
  • Data sets
  • Dictionary entries
  • Government reports
  • Manuals
  • Maps
  • Measurement instruments 
  • Webpages