Education World ® - Lesson Planning Skills Page: American Psychological Association (APA) Style

American Psychological Association (APA) Style

"The citation for a Web document often follows a format similar to that for print, with some information omitted and some added."

Editor's Note: The style descriptions and examples are written using the appropriate capitalization, punctuation, type style (italics, etc.), underlines, and date style called for in that style.

E-mail
"E-mail communications from individuals should be cited within the text as personal communications. �Personal communications are not cited in the reference list. �"

Sender's name (personal communication, date of message).

Example:
Starr, Linda (personal communication, January 1, 2000).

Listservs
Author's Last and First Names or author's e-mail or logon name. Year, Month, Day of Posting. Subject Line. Discussion List. [Online posting.] Available e-mail: [Month, Day, Year Accessed].

Example:
Jameson, Mary. 1999, January 28. MLA Outline Form for Citing Resources. FYI. [Online posting.] Available e-mail: [email protected] [June 20, 1999].

Newsgroups
Author's Last and First Names or author's e-mail or logon name. Year, Month, Day of Posting. Subject Line. Newsgroup name. [Online posting.] Available Usenet: address. [Month, Day, Year Accessed].

Example:
Gunn, Michael P. 1999, June 6. Education Quote of the Day. K12.chat.teacher. [Online posting.] Available Usenet: K12.chat.teacher. [June 20, 1999].

WWW Sites
Part of Site
Author's Last Name and First Name or Initial. (Year, Month, Day of Publication). Title of Complete Work or Site. Title of Work Cited. Retrieved Month, Day, Year from the World Wide Web: Complete URL.

Example:
Halse, John, and Walkowiak, Karen. (1998, September 26). SchoolWorld Projects. The Great Debate Project. Retrieved January 1, 2000, from the World Wide Web: http://www.schoolworld.asn.au/debate.

Entire Site
"To cite an entire Web site, � it's sufficient to give the address of the site in the text." (Provide a complete URL.)

Example:
(http://www.schoolworld.asn.au/debate)

Online Publications
Books
Author's Last Name and First Initial. (Year, Month, Day of Publication) Title of Work Cited. Print Publication Information. [Type of Medium]. Available: Site Name and URL (Month, Day, Year Accessed).

Example:
Clough, G. B. (1998, November 3) A Short History of Education. Ralph Holland & Co., London, 1904. [Online]. Available: The History of Education Site http://www.socsci.kun.nl/ped/whp/histeduc/clough (June 20, 1999).

Poems
Author's Last Name and First Initial. (Date of Publication, if Available) Title of Poem. Title of Work Cited. Print Publication Information. [Type of Medium]. Available: Site Name and URL (Month, Day, Year Accessed).

Example:
Silverstein, S. Ickle Me, Pickle Me, Tickle Me Too. Where the Sidewalk Ends. Harpercollins Juvenile Books, 1974. [Online]. Available: Where the Sidewalk Ends http://www.ezy.net/~quix/ickleme.html (June 6, 2000).

Journals, Magazines, and Newspapers
Author's Last Name and First Initial. (Year, Month, Day of Publication) Title of Article. Name of Journal, Magazine, or Newspaper [Type of Medium], volume, if applicable, paging or indication of length. Available: Site Name, URL, path, and directories followed (Month, Day, Year Accessed).

Example:
Jacobson, L. (1999, June 16) Effects of Child Care Linger in Early Grades. Education Week on the Web [Online], Vol. 18, number 40, page 3. Available: Education Week on the Web http://www.edweek.com/ew/current/40care.h18 (June 20, 1999).

Electronic Databases
Author's Last Name and First Initial, if Known. Date of Publication. Title of Work. Source, Publication Information, if Available. Retrieved Month, Day, Year Accessed from Source (online database) Database Name, item number, if applicable, on the World Wide Web: URL.

Example:
Balas, A. K. 1998, January. Science Fairs in Elementary School. ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education DIGEST. Retrieved June 20, 1999, from ERIC Clearinghouse for Science, Mathematics, and Environmental Education (online database) on the World Wide Web: http://www.ericse.org/digests/dse98-1.html.

Electronic Reference Sources
Author's Last Name and First Initial, if Known. Year, Month, Day of Publication. Title of Work. Source, Publication Information, if Available. Retrieved Month, Day, Year from Database Name, item number, if applicable. Complete URL, if applicable.

Example:
Updated 1999, April 3. The Gettysburg Address. Encarta 97 Encyclopedia, Microsoft Corporation, 1993-96. Retrieved June 20, 1999, from Encarta 97 Encyclopedia. CD-ROM.

References Within Text
(Author's Last Name, Publication Date)

Example:
(Jacobson, 1999)

From:
http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html Electronic Reference Formats Style Recommended by the American Psychological Association