Skip to Main Content

Undergraduate Research and Source Evaluation

APA Reference List

Archival Materials

Basic Format for Archival Documents

Author, A. A.  (Year, Month Day of Publication).  Title of document or [Description]  Source (elements of the source),  Location as City, State, Country or where it is located. 

 

Frank, L. K.  (1935, February 4).   [Letter to Robert M. Ogden]  Rockefeller Archive Center (GEB Series 1.3, Box 371, Folder 3877),   Tarrytown, NY, United States. 

Note:

  1. Use italics for titles of archival documents and collections; if the work does not have a title, provide a description in square brackets without italics.
  2. As with any reference, the purpose is to direct readers to the source, despite the fact that only a single copy of the document may be available and readers may have some difficulty actually seeing a copy.

Audiovisual Media

Basic Format for Online Videos

Refer to the tabs for examples of citations for different types of audiovisual content.
Last, F. M.  (Date of Publication).  Title of video [Video].  Name of Site.  URL 

 

YouTube Videos

Rutgers University.  (2021, March 23).  Discover Rutgers University [Video].  YouTube.  https://youtu.be/AaGU6corHJQ 

 

Note:

  1. The person or group who uploaded the video is credited as the author to aid retrieval, even if they did not create the work.

Film or Movie

Provide the director in the author element of the reference, followed by the notation “(Director).” In APA 7, it is not required to list the producers.Provide the production company or companies in the source element of the reference. Separate multiple production companies with a semicolon.

Cameron, J.  (Director).  (1997).  Titanic [Film].  Paramount Pictures. 

 

Film or Movie in Another Language

If the original title of the work is a language different from that of the paper you are writing, provide a translation of the title in square brackets after the title and before the bracketed description and period.

Alfredson, T.  (Director).  (2008).  Låt den rätte komma in[Let the right one in] [Film].  EFTI; Sveriges Television (SVT); Filmpool Nord; Sandrew Metronome; WAG; Fido Film; The Chimney Pot; Ljudligan. 

 

Basic Format for a TV Series

Writer, W. W.  (Writer),  & Director, D. D.  (Director).  (Date of broadcast or copyright).  Title of broadcast [Television broadcast or Television series].  In P. Producer   (Producer).  City, state of origin: Studio or distributor. 

 

TV Series

Crane, D. & Kauffman, M.  (Producers).  (1994-2004).  Friends  [TV show].  Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions; Warner Bros. 

 

Notes:

  1. Provide the executive producer(s) in the author element of the reference.
  2. When there is one executive producer, use the notation “(Executive Producer)."
  3. When there are multiple executive producers, provide the notation once after all the producers’ names, the same as you would the notation “(Eds.)” for an edited book: “(Executive Producers).”
  4. Provide the year(s) during which the series aired in the date element of the reference. If the series is still airing at the time you are writing the paper, replace the second year with “present”: (2017–present).
  5. Provide the production company or companies in the source element of the reference. Separate multiple production companies with a semicolon.

 

Episode of a TV Show

Martin, G.R.R.  (Writer).  & Kirk, B.  (Director).  (2011, May 1).  Lord snow (Season 1, episode 3) [TV series episode].  In D. Benioff & D.B. Weiss  (Producers),  Game of thrones.  HBO; Television 360; Grok! Studios; Generator Entertainment; Bighead Littlehead. 

 

Notes:

  1. Include the writers and directors for the episode. Include the contributor’s role in parentheses after each name.
  2. If one person performed multiple roles, combine the descriptions with an ampersand.
  3. Provide the season number and episode number after the title in parentheses.
  4. Provide the production company or companies in the source element of the reference. Separate multiple production companies with a semicolon.

Song with an Associated Album, with Multiple Music Labels

Coldplay & BTS.  (2021).  My universe [Song].  On Music of the spheres.  Parlophone; Atlantic. 

 

Song without an Associated Album

BTS (featuring Megan Thee Stallion).  (2021).  Butter (Remix) [Song].  BigHit Music. 

 

Song or Track Recorded by an Artist Other Than the Original Artist

Smith, A.  (2015).  I put a spell on you [Song].  On Nina revisited: A tribute to Nina Simone.  Legacy. 

 

Classical Song or Track

Beethoven, L. van.  (2012).  Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major [Song recorded by Staatskapelle Dresden].  On Beethoven: Complete symphonies.  Brilliant Classics.  (Original work published 1804) 

 

Artwork in a Museum or on a Museum Website

van Gogh, V.  (1889).  The starry night [Painting].  The Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY, United States.  https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/vincent-van-gogh-the-starry-night-1889/ 

Notes:

  1. Use this format to cite all types of museum artwork, including paintings, sculptures, photographs, prints, drawings, digital art, crafts, and installations.
  2. List the artist as the author of the work.
  3. Always include a description of the medium or format in square brackets after the title. The description is flexible (e.g., a general description such as “[Painting]” or a more specific description such as “[Oil painting]” or “[Oil on canvas]”).
  4. For untitled artwork, include a description in square brackets in place of a title.
  5. The name and location of the museum appear in the source element of the reference.
  6. Provide a link to the artwork on the museum website if available.

 

Art Exhibition

Design for eternity: Architectural models from the ancient Americas [Exhibition].  (2015-2016).  The Met Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, United States.  https://www.metmuseum.org/exhibitions/listings/2015/design-for-eternity 

 

Martinez, J. L., & Douar, F.  (2018-2019).  Archaeology goes graphic [Exhibition].  The Louvre, Paris, France.  https://www.louvre.fr/en/expositions/archaeology-goes-graphic 

 

Notes:

  1. Provide the curator(s) of the exhibition in the author element of the reference.
  2. When the curator is unknown, move the title of the exhibition to the author position of the reference.
  3. The year or range of years of the exhibition appears in the date element of the reference.
  4. The name and location of the museum appear in the source element of the reference.
  5. Provide a link to the exhibition on the museum website if available.

 

Informational Museum Plaque

[Plaque with background information about American Gothic].  (n.d.).  Art Institute Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States. 

Notes:

  1. Provide a description of the plaque in square brackets rather than the name of the artwork or item so it is clear that you are citing the plaque itself.
  2. If the plaque itself is dated, use that date. If the plaque is not dated, use “n.d.” Do not use the date of the artwork or item being described.
  3. Information on a plaque is likely consolidated from other sources, making the plaque a secondary source. If possible, cite the same information from a primary source that your readers will be able to retrieve.

Books

Basic Format for Books

Refer to the tabs for examples of citations for different types of book content.

 

Author, A. A.  (Year of Publication).  Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle.   (edition if numbered).  Publisher.  DOI if available 

 

Notes:

  1. Name of author must be arranged in sequence of last name, first name and middle name. Initials only for the first and middle name.
  2. Use "n.d." if no publication date is given.
  3. The title and subtitle (if any) must be italicized.
  4. Capitalize only the first letter of a book title, the first letter of a subtitle, and any proper nouns.
  5. Do not include the location of the publisher.
  6. APA 7 requires a DOI for all works that have one — whether print or digital.

Books by One Author

Block, P.  (2008).  Community: The structure of belonging.   Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 

 

Books by Two Authors

Wheatley, M., & Frieze, D.  (2011).  Walk out walk on: A learning journey into communities daring to live the future now.   Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 

 

Books by Three or More Authors

Dean, A., Johnson, J., & Luhmann, S.  (2019).  Feminist praxis revisited: Critical reflections on university-community engagement.   (1st ed.).  Wilfred Laurier University Press. 

 

Boggs, C.  (2021).  Fugitive Politics: The struggle for ecological sanity.   Taylor and Francis.  https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003197461 

 

Note:

  1. When citing an ebook that you have found in a research database (e.g. ProQuest Ebook Central, EBSCOhost Ebook Collection) and there is no DOI, simply follow the same format as for print books

An edited book is made up of chapters written by different authors. If you are citing only a single chapter from an edited work, follow the citation format for a book chapter.

Editor, E.E. (Ed.).  (Year of Publication).  Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle.   (edition if numbered).  Publisher.  DOI if available 

 

Kepner, S.F. (Ed.).  (1996).  The lioness in bloom: Modern Thai fiction about women.   University of California Press. 

 

Edited Book with a DOI

Domina, T., Gibbs, B. G., Nunn, L., & Penner, A. (Eds.).  (2019).  Education and society: An introduction to key issues in the sociology of education.   University of California Press.  https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvpb3wn0. 

 

Note:

  1. The DOI (digital object identifier) is a unique string of characters identifying a digital work. It should be presented as a URL in the form https://doi.org/xxxx

The examples below show how to format a citation for a chapter in an edited book, compilation, or anthology (i.e. a book with chapters written by different authors).

For a chapter in an authored book, create a reference for the entire book and provide the chapter number with the in-text citation only.

 

Author, B. B.  (Year of Publication).  Title of chapter.  In E. E. Editor & F. F. Editor (Eds.),  Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle   (pp. pages of chapter).  Publisher.  DOI if available 

 

Chapter in an Edited Book

Palmquist, S. R.  (2015).  Kant’s Lectures on Philosophical Theology–Training-Ground for the Moral Pedagogy of Religion?  In R. R. Clewis (Ed.),  Reading Kant’s lectures   (pp. 365-390).  De Gruyter.  https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110345339-031 

 

Armstrong, D.  (2019).  Malory and character.  In M. G. Leitch & C. J. Rushton (Eds.),  A new companion to Malory   (pp. 144-163).  D. S. Brewer. 

 

Notes:

  1. When you list the pages of the chapter or essay in parentheses after the book title, use "pp." before the numbers: (pp. 1-21). This abbreviation, however, does not appear before the page numbers in periodical references.
  2. List any edition number in the same set of parentheses as the page numbers, separated by a comma: (2nd ed., pp. 66-72).
Author, A.A.  (Year of Publication).  Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle.   (T. Translator, Trans.).  Publisher.  (Original work published year)  DOI if available 

 

Plato  (1989).  Symposium   (A. Nehamas & P. Woodruff, Trans.).  Hackett Publishing Company.  (Original work published ca. 385-378 BCE) 

 

Note:

  1. When you cite a republished work, like the one above, in your text, it should appear with both dates: Plato (385-378/1989)

Dissertations

Published Dissertation or Thesis

Apostol, C. L.  (2017).  Dissident education: socially engaged art from Eastern Europe (1980-present) [Doctoral dissertation, Rutgers University-Graduate School-New Brunswick].  RUcore: Rutgers University Community Repository.  https://rucore.libraries.rutgers.edu/rutgers-lib/53081/ 

 

Kabir, J. M.  (2016).  Factors influencing customer satisfaction at a fast food hamburger chain: The relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (Publication No. 10169573) [Doctoral dissertation, Wilmington University].  ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. 

Notes:

  1. A dissertation or thesis is considered published when it is available from a database such as ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global or PDQT Open, an institutional repository, or an archive.
  2. If the database assigns publication numbers to dissertations and theses, include the publication number in parentheses after the title of the dissertation or thesis without italics.
  3. Include the description “Doctoral dissertation” or “Master’s thesis” followed by a comma and the name of the institution that awarded the degree. Place this information in square brackets after the dissertation or thesis title and any publication number.
  4. In the source element of the reference, provide the name of the database, repository, or archive.
  5. The same format can be adapted for other published theses, including undergraduate theses, by changing the wording of the bracketed description as appropriate (e.g., “Undergraduate honors thesis”).
  6. If the database or archive requires users to log in before they can view the dissertation or thesis, meaning the URL will not work for readers, end the reference with the database name.

Journals

Basic Format for Journal Articles

Refer to the tabs for examples of citations for different types of periodical content.

 

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C.  (Year of Publication).  Title of article.  Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number),  pages.  https:doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy 

 

Journal Article with a DOI

Rousseau, L.  (2021).  Interventions to dispel neuromyths in educational settings-a review.  Frontiers in Psychology, 12(719692).  https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.719692 

 

Journal Article without a DOI (use URL)

Furey, W.  (2020).  The stubborn myth of “learning styles”: State teacher-license prep materials peddle a debunked theory.  Education Next, 20(3),  8-13.  Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A628405045/AONE?u=anon~e4e65c1f&sid=googleScholar&xid=f8ea0956 

Notes:

  1. Do not use "et al." in your reference list. If there are 20 or fewer authors, all must be listed out. If there are 21 or more authors, list the first 19 and then separate the 19th from the last named author with an ellipsis ("...").
  2. Capitalize only the first letter of the title and the first letter of the subtitle.
  3. Capitalize the first letter of all words in the title of the periodical.
  4. The periodical title and the volume number are italicized.
  5. Include the DOI if available, otherwise use the URL of the website from which you are retrieving the periodical.

Magazines will follow the basic form for periodicals, but the date may include the month and day (the date of publication)

Jackson, M.  (2022, February 28).  When I Did Time, I Was—Technically, Legally, Constitutionally—a Slave.  Esquire.  https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a39252495/prison-slavery-13th-ammendment-essay/ 

Newspaper articles will follow the basic form for periodicals, but the date will include the month and day (the date of publication), and the page number may include the section letter

Newspaper Article from an Online Newspaper

If the newspaper article is from an online newspaper that has a URL that will resolve for readers, include the URL of the article at the end of the reference. If volume, issue, and/or page numbers for the article are missing, omit these elements from the reference.

Carey, B.  (2019, March 22).  Can we get better at forgetting?  The New York Times.  https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/health/memory-forgetting-psychology.html 

 

Newspaper Article from a Print Version

If you used a print version of the newspaper article, provide the page or pages of the article after the newspaper title. Do not include the abbreviations “p.” or “pp.” before the page(s).

Harlan, C.  (2013, April 2).  North Korea vows to restart shuttered nuclear reactor that can make bomb-grade plutonium.  The Washington Post, A1, A4. 

 

Newspaper Article from an Academic Research Database

If the newspaper article is from an academic research database, provide the title of the newspaper and any volume, issue, and/or page numbers that are available for the article. Do not include database information in the reference. If the article does not have volume, issue, or page numbers available, the reference in this case ends with the title of the newspaper.

Stobbe, M.  (2020, January 8).  Cancer death rate in the U.S. sees largest one-year drop ever.  Chicago Tribune. 

 

Article from a News Website

Use this format for articles from news websites. Common examples are BBC News, BET News, Bloomberg, CNN, HuffPost, MSNBC, Reuters, Salon, and Vox. These sites do not have associated daily or weekly newspapers.

Bologna, C.  (2019, October 31).  Why some people with anxiety love watching horror movies.  HuffPost.  https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anxiety-love-watching-horror-movies_l_5d277587e4b02a5a5d57b59e 

 

Toner, K.  (2020, September 24).  When Covid-19 hit, he turned his newspaper route into a lifeline for senior citizens.  CNN.  https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/04/us/coronavirus-newspaper-deliveryman-groceries-senior-citizens-cnnheroes-trnd/index.html 

Websites

Basic Format for Websites

Author, A. A.  (Publication Date).  Title of work.   Name of Website.  URL 

Webpage on a News Website

Refer to above "newspaper" section, or click HERE.

Pulcinella, M.  (2022, March 4).  N.J. property tax relief program could expand to nearly 2 million residents — including renters.   WHYY.  https://whyy.org/articles/nj-anchor-program-property-tax-rebate/ 

 

AP News.  (2022, March 4).  Sorting fact, disinformation amid Russian war on Ukraine.   https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-business-europe-media-c35dd0f30eb55d831e81cd222cc34c07 

Webpage on a Government Agency Website

National Institute of Mental Health.  (2018, July).  Anxiety disorders.   U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health.  https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml 

Notes:

  1. For a page on a government website without individual authors, use the specific agency responsible for the webpage as the author.
  2. The names of parent agencies not present in the author element appear in the source element (in the example, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health).
  3. Provide as specific a date as possible for the webpage.
  4. Italicize the title of the webpage.
  5. End the reference with the URL.

Webpage on an Organization's Website

World Health Organization.  (2018, July).  The top 10 causes of death.   https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/the-top-10-causes-of-death 

Notes:

  1. For a page from an organization’s website without individual authors, use the name of the organization as the author.
  2. Provide as specific a date as possible for the webpage.
  3. Italicize the title of the webpage.
  4. Because the author of the webpage and the site name are the same, omit the site name from the source element to avoid repetition./span>
  5. End the reference with the URL.

Webpage with an Individual Author

Schaeffer, K.  (2021, October 1).  What we know about online learning and the homework gap amid the pandemic.   Pew Research Center.  https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/10/01/what-we-know-about-online-learning-and-the-homework-gap-amid-the-pandemic/ 

Notes:

  1. When individual author(s) are credited on the webpage, list them as the author in the reference.
  2. Provide as specific a date as possible for the webpage.
  3. Italicize the title of the webpage.
  4. Provide the site name in the source element of the reference.
  5. End the reference with the URL.

Webpage with a Retrieval Date

When contents of a page are designed to change over time but are not archived, include a retrieval date in the reference.

U.S. Census Bureau.  (n.d.).  U.S. and world population clock.   U.S. Department of Commerce.  Retrieved January 9, 2020.  from https://www.census.gov/popclock/ 
Rutgers University Libraries
169 College Ave
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1163

Contact Us Giving to the Libraries

Staff Resources

About Rutgers University Libraries
Contact the Libraries
RUTGERS.EDU | SEARCH RUTGERS.EDU

© , Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Rutgers is an equal access/equal opportunity institution. Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to direct suggestions, comments, or complaints concerning any accessibility issues with Rutgers websites to accessibility@rutgers.edu or complete the Report Accessibility Barrier / Provide Feedback form.