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PBHL2950: Disparities in Health: APA Citations

APA Style

APA Style

APA (American Psychological Association) style is commonly used at William Paterson University to cite your sources when writing a research paper.  

It uses a set of rules to format information in a specific way.  To get you started, we've provided some examples of the types of sources you might be citing for this class.  Use the tabs below to see examples of Journal Articles, TV Shows, and TV Episodes.  Hover over the different parts of the citation for tips.

A good rule of thumb is to compare your own references and citations against the examples provided.

Reach out to the Library (973-720-2116 or refdesk@wpunj.edu) with questions or you can find additional information on the Library's Citation Resources page or the Purdue OWL website's APA Formatting and Style Guide. 

General APA Rules

General Reference List Guidelines

  • Add your References at the end of your paper.

  • Label the page, References.

  • Arrange sources alphabetically.

  • You used the hanging indent format

  • Double space.

  • Include only sources that you've cited.

Number of Authors

The number of authors (or writers, directors, executive producers) determines how you cite:

  • When a source has one author, include the author's last name every time you cite
    example: (Martin, 2009)
  • When a source has two authors, include both authors' last name ever time.  Use an ampersand (&) between the names.
    example: (Martin & Smith, 2007)
  • When a source has three or more authors, use only the first author's last name, followed by et al.
    example: (Martin et al., 2009)

Let's Try This

Journal articles follow a standard format.  Below are two examples to compare your own references to.  Be careful when generating references with websites or databases, as they may need corrections.

Mooney, A. C., Giannella, E., Glymour, M. M., Neilands, T. B., Morris, M. D., Tulsky, J., & Sudhinaraset, M. (2018). Racial/ethnic disparities in arrests for drug possession after California Proposition 47, 2011–2016. American Journal of Public Health, 108(8), 987–993. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2018.304445

In-Text Citatons: (Mooney et al., 2018) or (Mooney et al., 2018, p. 988)
If there are three or more authors, use only the first author and 'et al.'  Include page number(s) when quoting.

Denney, M. G. T., & Valdez, R. G. (2021). Compounding racialized vulnerability: COVID-19 in prisons, jails, and migrant detention centers. Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, 46(5), 861–887. https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-9156019

In-Text Citatons: (Denney & Garibaldo Valdez, 2021) or (Denney & Garibaldo Valdez, 2021, pp. 880-881)
If there are one or two authors, use their names each time you cite.  Include page number(s) when quoting.

When creating a reference for an entire TV series, you may need some information that is not readily available. Use thetvdb.com or imdb.com to locate more specific information.

Simon, D., Colesberry, R. F., & Noble, N. K. (Executive Producers). (2002-2008). The wire [TV series]. Blown Deadline Productions, HBO.

In-Text Citation: (Simon et al., 2002-2008)
Because quotations would come from a single episode, it is unlikely that you would provide a quotation from an entire series.  Include the entire range of the series in your in-text citation.

IMDB Links

Television episodes may require you to locate information from an external source.  When viewing, look for something that looks like S03E22.  This indicates the Season and Episode number of that particular episode.  Use thetvdb.com or imdb.com to locate more specific information.

Hover over parts of each citation to see what you should watch out for:

Zorzi, W. F. (Writer), & Hemingway, A. (Director). (2006, October 29). Unto others (Season 4, Episode 7) [TV series episode]. In N. K. Noble, D. Simon, & R. F. Colesberry (Executive Producers), The Wire. Blown Deadline Productions; Home Box Office (HBO).

In-Text Citation: (Zorzi & Hemingway, 2006) or (Zorzi & Hemingway, 2006, 0:20:33)
Use just the year when citing an episode.  Use quotation marks and the timestamp if quoting.

IMDB Links

In-Text Citations

Use in-text citations in your paper, whenever you use someone else's ideas or when referring to a specific part of a recording.

Citations are based on your References (see above) and should be used when quoting (using the exact words of someone else) or paraphrasing (putting someone's ideas into your own words).

APA style uses an author-date format for in-text citations.

Quoting:

  • Include quotation marks around the text you're using.
  • Use the author(s) last name, year, and page number in your in-text citation.
  • Follow this basic format when you're first learning: 
    "quoted text" (Author, Year, p. ###).
  • If quoting from a TV episode or recording, use the timestamp instead of a page number:
    "quoted text" (Simon, 2004, 0:45:22)

Paraphrasing:

  • Use the author(s) last name and year in your in-text citation.
  • Follow this basic format when you're first learning: 
    paraphrased text (Author, Year).

Things to Consider

Hover over the citations to see a list of things to watch out for.

See Citation Guides for more information.

Article Title
  • Does the article title use ‘sentence’ capitalization?
Authors:
  • Do all authors use LastName, F. M. format?
  • Do all of your authors have at least one initial?
  • Is there a comma between the last name and initials?
  • If more than one author, is there an ampersand (&) before the last one?
Source Information
  • Does the journal title use ‘title’ capitalization?
  • Is the journal title in italics?
  • Does the article have both a volume and issue number, listed as 45(3), with the volume number in italics?
  • Is there a page range with both a starting and ending page (except for single page articles)?
  • Is a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) available? If not, leave this blank
  • Have you removed any URLs that include wpunj.edu?
Date
  • Does the journal have a publication date?
  • Is the date listed as just the year?
  • Is the publication year wrapped in parentheses?
Writers and Directors:
  • Have you included the writer(s) and director(s) using LastName, F. M. format?
  • The Writer(s) and Director(s) have their roles in parentheses following their names.
  • Do the writer(s) and director(s) each have at least one initial?
  • Is there a comma between the last name and initials?
  • Is there an ampersand (&) before the last name?
Date
  • Does the episode have release date?
  • Is the episode date listed in the following format: YYYY, MMMM DD?
  • Is the episode date enclosed in parentheses?
Episode Title & Sequence
  • Does the episode title use ‘title’ capitalization?
  • Are the season and episode listed in parentheses after the title and formatted as: (Season #, Episode #)?
  • Does the episode title include the following note before the period: [TV series episode]?
TV Series Information (source)
  • Because the episode is part of a series, does the source information begin with the word 'In'?
  • Are the names of the executive producer(s) written using F. M. LastName?
  • Is there an ampersand (&) before the last name?
  • Is there a parenthetical note after the last executive producer indicating their role(s) as: (Executive Producer)?
  • Does the show title use ‘title’ capitalization?
  • Is the show title in italics?
  • Are the studio(s) listed with 'title' capitalization and separated by semi-colons?
Executive Producers
  • Are the executive producer(s) are listed using LastName, F. M. format?
  • Is there a parenthetical note after the last executive producer indicating their role(s) as: (Executive Producer)?
Date Range
  • Is the date presented as a range, listing the start and end dates of the series, and wrapped in parentheses: (1999-2003)?
TV Series Name
  • Does the show title use ‘sentence’ capitalization?
  • Is the show title in italics?
  • Does the show title include the following note before the period: [TV series]?
TV Studios (source)
  • Are the studio(s) listed with 'title' capitalization and separated by commas?

Title vs. Sentence Format

APA references use a combination of sentence and title capitalization, depending on the type of source you're presenting.

Using the right type of capitalization is important to properly referencing a source.

With Title Capitalization, always capitalize:

  • The first word & the first word of subtitles
  • Major words (not words like, 'a,' 'the,' 'and,' etc.)
  • The first word after certain punctuation (colon, dash, exclamation point, question mark, period)
  • Words that are normally capitalized (names, places, products, acronyms)

With Sentence Capitalization, only capitalize

  • The first word & the first word of subtitles
  • The first word after certain punctuation (colon, dash, exclamation point, question mark, period)
  • Words that are normally capitalized (names, places, products, acronyms)
  • Otherwise, everything else is lowercase.