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Referencing and Citation Styles: APA 6th

References in the body of your essay

The APA in text reference is in the format (author, date). When directly quoting from a text you must include a page number in the citation as given in the examples below. Including page numbers in all other circumstances is not required however, it is best practice to do so when referring to part of a work (e.g. a paragraph or chapter in a book). When referring to an entire work that covers a single topic (e.g. a journal article) it is not required.

Referencing an idea
  • Anxiety and depression have been identified as more commonly in children and adolescents with long-term physical conditions (Dantzer, 2003; Pinquart & Shen, 2011).

OR

  • Dantzer (2003), Pinquart and Shen (2011) all state that anxiety and depression has been identified as more commonly in children and adolescents with long-term physical conditions.
Referencing a quotation
  • Indeed, one researcher commented that “technological innovations have saved or extended the lives of many patients” (Lumby, 2001, p. 44).
Citing a source within a source

Where your source quotes or refers to another source, for example Unsworth refers to previous work by Halliday on linguistics, the citation might read thus:

  • (Halliday, as cited in Unsworth, 2004, p. 15)

Only Unsworth will appear in the Reference list at the end of your assignment

Reference List

Your reference list should be ordered alphabetically by author and then chronologically by year of publication. The APA 6th style requires the references to be indented as illustrated below in the examples.

For instances of multiple articles with the same authors and years of publication, please check the APA publication manual or Academic Writer. If you have the DOI for the journal article, you should include it in the reference, otherwise, it is not necessary.

Book
  • De Vaus, D. A. (2014). Surveys in social research. Sydney, Australia: Allen & Unwin.
Book chapter
  • McKenzie, H., Boughton, M., Hayes, L., & Forsyth, S. (2008). Explaining the complexities and value of nursing practice and knowledge. In I. Morley & M. Crouch (Eds.), Knowledge as value: Illumination through critical prisms (pp. 209-224). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Rodopi.
Journal article
  • Cheung, J. M. Y., Bartlett, D. J., Armour, C. L., Laba, T. L., & Saini, B. (2018). To drug or not to drug: A qualitative study of patients’ decision-making processes for managing insomnia. Behavioral Sleep Medicine, 16(1), 1-26. doi:10.1080/15402002.2016.1163702
Webpage with an author
HealthTimes. (2015). The future of aged care nursing in Australia. Retrieved from https://healthtimes.com.au/hub/aged-care/2/news/nc1/the-future-of-aged-care-nursing-in-australia/495/
Webpage with no author
$250m funding boost for malaria vaccine. (2003). Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2003-09-22/250m-funding-boost-for-malaria-vaccine/1482220
Newspaper article
  • Fellner, C. (2019, April 7). Time bomb: Two new cases as NSW faces worst measles outbreak in years. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au
Government publication
  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2018). Physical activity across the life stages. Canberra, Australia: Author.
  •  
  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2018). Physical activity across the life stages.  Retrieved from https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/physical-activity/physical-activity-across-the-life-stages/contents/table-of-contents
Company and Industry Reports
  • Vuong, B. (2018, November). IBISWorld industry report OD5381. Coffee shops in Australia. Retrieved from IBISWorld database.

APA 6th Tool

Academic Writer is APA's tool fully integrated with Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.).

  • Learn - see quick guides and video tutorials which help you master academic writing in APA Style. 
  • Learn -- Sample References - find examples of references such as, books, book chapters, journal articles, technical or research reports, conference proceedings, audiovisual materials, web resources, etc. 

Note:

  • Remove library ezproxy link from the URL of the reference eg. ezproxy1.library.usyd.edu.au
  • Academic Writer is optimised for Chrome, Firefox and Safari. Internet Explorer is not recommended.

FAQs

How to cite secondary source?

How to cite references in text such as one work by 3 authors or more?

How to reference different authors with the same surname?

How to reference multiple authors and group authors (e.g. NHMRC)?

How to reference video, YouTube video, video podcast, etc?                                                Click Sample References -- Search video

How to reference website, web page?           Click Sample References -- Search web         See also APA Style Blog - Websites

Additional Resources

APA Style blog

The APA Style Blog is the official companion to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition. It explores what APA Style is and how it works in a variety of areas, including reference citations of every sort, grammar and usage, the publication process, and social media.

 

Frequently Asked Questions About APA Style

This web page helps to clarify frequent areas of confusion.

Quick Links

This guide provides an overview of the APA 6th referencing style.

For up-to-date information on referencing websites, please refer to this page on the APA Style Blog.

APA 6th Guide