An overview of the four reference elements can be found here
A reference list entry generally has four elements: the author, date, title, and source. You can think of them as the 4 Ws: Who, When, What, Where.
If any of this information is missing, follow this template
For more extensive information provided by APA go here
For ONE author list the author’s last name, followed by initial(s) only.
EXAMPLE:
Creese, G. L.
For TWO to TWENTY authors, put them in the order in which they appear in the work. Begin the entry with the last name of the first author, followed by a comma and initial(s). Follow this with any further authors in the same way and use an ampersand (&) before the last author. For more than twenty authors, see here
EXAMPLES:
Tellis, G. J., & Ambler, T.
Brown, M., Rees, P. R., & McGee, F.
Singh, H., Horn, S., Carlston, M. J., & Peterson, D.
If there is NO author, skip the author element, and start the citation with the title
EXAMPLE:
Good Housekeeping.
An author can also be a group (organization, association, company, etc.). For more on GROUP AUTHORS see here
EXAMPLE:
Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Note: the term author is used loosely. It refers to any main person(s) of a source, such as: editor(s), creator(s), director(s), performer(s), translator(s), etc. Add the respective word in parentheses after the name(s). Example:
Green, W. A., & Moss, T. B., (Eds.)
For more extensive information provided by APA go here
EXAMPLE PRINT BOOK:
Dawson, M. (2018). Selling out or buying in?: Debating consumerism in Vancouver and Victoria 1945-1985. University of Toronto Press.
EXAMPLE PRINT MAGAZINE ARTICLE:
Proudfoot, S. (2019, September). What does it mean to be working class in Canada? Maclean's, 50-53.
EXAMPLE TWEET:
KPU Library [@KPULibrary]. (2016, August 8). New study out of Yale: People who #read live longer. [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/KPULibrary/status/762744957492867072
For more extensive information provided by APA go here
The title identifies the work, and you must ALWAYS include this element in a citation. Titles are given in full as they appear in the source. If there is a subtitle, it follows after the main title, separated by a colon and a space.
Italicize titles of works that are stand-alone, such as books, reports, webpages, movies, TV series, a CD, etc. Use sentence case for capitalization.
EXAMPLE PRINT BOOK:
Dawson, M. (2018). Selling out or buying in?: Debating consumerism in Vancouver and Victoria 1945-1985. . University of Toronto Press.
Neither italicize nor use "quotation marks” for a work that is a part of a larger work, such as a chapter in a collection of works, an article in a journal/magazine/newspaper, a posting on a website, an episode of a TV series, a song on an album, etc. Use sentence case for capitalization.
EXAMPLE PRINT MAGAZINE ARTICLE:
Proudfoot, S. (2019, September). What does it mean to be working class in Canada? Maclean's, 50-53.
If there is no title, give a generic description of the source in normal typescript (i.e. neither italicized nor enclosed in quotation marks). Use sentence case for capitalization.
EXAMPLE PHOTOGRAPH:
Couleur. (2017). [Photograph of a young Polar Bear]. Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/photos/polar-bear-predator-animal-white-1888038/
For more extensive information provided by APA go here
The source indicates where readers can retrieve the cited work. Sources can be: works that are part of a greater whole and works that stand alone. The source for a work that is part of a greater whole (e.g., journal article, edited book chapter) is that greater whole (i.e., the journal or edited book), plus any applicable DOI or URL.The source for a work that stands alone (e.g., whole book, report, dissertation, thesis, film, TV series, podcast, data set, informally published work, social media, webpage) is the publisher of the work, database or archive, social media site, or website, plus any applicable DOI or URL.
EXAMPLE PRINT BOOK:
Dawson, M. (2018). Selling out or buying in?: Debating consumerism in Vancouver and Victoria 1945-1985. University of Toronto Press.
EXAMPLE PRINT MAGAZINE ARTICLE:
Proudfoot, S. (2019, September). What does it mean to be working class in Canada? Maclean's, 50-53.
EXAMPLE JOURNAL ARTICLE FROM A DATABASE:
Frideres, J., & Dalhouse, M. (1996). Intergenerational congruency: The role of the family in the political attitudes of youth. Journal of Family Issues, 17(2), 227-248. https://doi.org/10.1177/019251396017002005
EXAMPLE WEBPAGE:
Bruce, I. (2019, November 21). Sustainable transport key to tackling the climate crisis. David Suzuki Foundation. https://davidsuzuki.org/expert-article/sustainable-transport-key-to-tackling-the-climate-crisis/