There are many different types of references (e.g. books, journal articles, websites). Click on the type you require below to see the components of the reference with an example.
| Book | E-book | Book Chapter |
An e-book retrieved from an academic database that does not have a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is referenced as though it were the print version, as above. (A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string that identifies content and provides a persistent link to its location on the internet. DOIs can be found in database records and the reference lists of published works).
Books with a URL or a DOI can be referenced like this:
Author(s) (Surname, Initials)
(Year of publication)
Title of article
Title of journal (in italics, first letter of each word should be capitalised, except for words such as and, of, the)
Issue information (volume, issue, pages) (volume in italics)
Journal articles retrieved from databases without a DOI can be referenced like a print journal, as above.
List the first nineteen authors followed by three spaced ellipsis points (...) and then the last author's name.
“Pre-print”, “In press” and “advanced online publication” usually refer to articles that have been accepted for publication, but may not yet have been assigned to a publication volume/issue. These articles can be cited using the year of online publication and the DOI.
arXiv is a collection facility for scientific 'e-prints'. Some of them have been published and some have not. APA recommends updating your references when you're close to finishing your assignment. If you've cited a preprint that has since been published, cite the published journal article.
In the example below, you will see that the title is in italics. This is because it hasn't yet been accepted in a journal and is, therefore, considered a stand-alone work.
If the journal article has an article number instead of a page range, include the word “Article” and then the article number instead of the page range.
| Webpage | Blog | LinkedIn Profile | TikTok | Wikis |
If no date can be established, use n.d. to indicate no date in the citation and the reference.
Tips:
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Author and/or [screen name]
(Year posted, month day)
Content of the post (up to the first 20 words, in italics)
[Photograph/Video/Story]. (description of post)
Instagram.
URL
Wikipedia is a free online encyclopaedia, created and edited by volunteers around the world. It is not a scholarly source, so your lecturer may not be happy for you to use it as a source in your assignments. Scholarly assignments should generally rely on peer-reviewed and other scholarly work vetted by experts in the field. However, it may be a good starting point for you in your research to find citations to original source materials that you do want to use.
Wikipedia is a constantly changing site, so cite an archived version of the page, if you can (select 'view history' and then the date of the version you used). If it doesn't have a permanent link to an archived version of the page, include a URL for the entry and the retrieval date.
| Newspaper article (print) | Newspaper article (online) |
| Dataset | Government Publication | Company Report |
| Conference Paper (in edited book) | Conference Paper (Journal) | Conference Paper or Poster Presentation |
[Paper presentation or Poster presentation or Conference presentation]
DOI or URL
| Images, illustrations, photos (print) | Image, illustration, photo or table (online) | Photographs (online collection) | Painting | Map |
If you are citing an illustration, figure, diagram or table, start with the source in which it appeared. For example, if you are referencing an image printed in a book, you first mention the image in-text, indicating the name and creator of the image, and the book in which it can be found, along with the page details. The reference list entry will be for the whole article or book.
In-text citation:
Reference List:
In the reference list, you list the book in which the image is found:
When you include an image or photo in your text, as well as citing the source, you will also need to include a caption and list it in a Table of Figures (click here for more information). Images you created yourself don't have to be cited, but should still be included in the list of figures.
Image, illustration, photo or table (online)
Hosting service (e.g. Instagram, Flickr)
If you viewed an image in person rather than online (e.g. in a museum or gallery), the source information is different. You will need to include the name and location of the institution where you viewed the image.
Location
If you haven't seen the artwork in person and saw it online, add the website URL at the end of your reference.
It can often be hard to find accurate information about images accessed online. However, if you do need to cite an image with no author, date or title listed, there are ways around this. For untitled images, include a description of the image, in square brackets, where the title would usually go. If there is no publication date, add “n.d.” in place of the date, and add the date that you accessed the image.
| Exhibitions | Exhibition Catalogue |
When the curator is unknown, move the title of the exhibition to the author position of the reference.
| Film | Film (from streaming service) | Online Video | TV Programme | Episode of a TV Series | Radio Programme (Online) | Podcast |
Only specify how you watched a film (e.g. Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, HULU, etc.) when it is important to indicate a specific version. Put this information in square brackets following the word, "Film" and a semicolon.
Hosting Website
Executive Producer(s) (Executive Producer(s)).
(Years - it aired, use present if still airing).
Title (in italics) [TV series].
Production Company;
Broadcaster name
(Series number, episode number) (in round brackets)
Name of announcer
(Year, Month Day of broadcast).
Title of programme (in italics)
[Description i.e. Radio broadcast].
Name of site that published the broadcast
URL of broadcast
Name of host (Host)
(Dates) Provide the span of years during which the podcast aired here; if ongoing give the year of first broadcast and word “- present”.
Title of podcast (in italics)
[Audio or Video Podcast]
Publisher/production company
URL
For specific ‘Podcast episodes’, provide the precise date on which the podcast episode first aired. Supply the episode number after the episode title, if available, in brackets. Indicate the type of podcast episode in square brackets, e.g. [Audio podcast episode] or [Video podcast episode]. Write the word “In” and then the title of the podcast in italics. Give the Publisher or Production company and the URL.
| Lecture Notes | Lecture Notes or Powerpoint slides (Online) | Recorded lectures/Talks | Open educational resource |
Notes you took during a lecture or class handouts that are not posted online are not retrievable by someone else, so do not belong in your reference list. Instead, you treat them like personal communication and just refer to them in your text.
Title of item [Class handout or PowerPoint slides]. (in italics).
Platform or Institution (e.g. ATU).
URL
Name of Speaker
(Date) (in round brackets) (Provide as specific a date as possible; in the example, only the year and month are available.)
Title of video (in italics)
[Video]
TED Conferences
URL
When the TED Talk is on YouTube, list the owner of the YouTube account (here, TED) as the author to aid in retrieval. Credit YouTube as the publisher of the TED Talk and then provide the URL. When the speaker is not listed as the author, integrate their name into the narrative if desired:
Author (Surname, Initial(s))
(Year of publication)
Title of course (in italics)
[MOOC]
Site that holds the course
URL
A lecture from an online course cites the instructor for the particular lecture in the author part of the reference and the names of all the lecturers in the source element. The URL given should be to the main page of the course.
| Music on CD or Vinyl | Music Streaming |
