American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Instructions

Include a reference list (headed "References") at the end of the TESL-EJ article that documents your sources and provides the necessary information to identify and retrieve each source. References must include only the sources that were used in the research and preparation of the article. A reference list cites specific works that support a particular article. A bibliography cites works for background or for further reading. APA journal style requires reference lists, not bibliographies.

Please note that the examples used in this document are for illustration only, and should not be used for actual citations. Many are fictional or partly fictional. Check all your sources carefully.

I. In-text Documentation

Citation within the text of a document refers the reader to an alphabetical reference list at the end of the article. APA format uses the author-date method of citation. The surname of the author and the date of publication are inserted at the appropriate point in the text.

If the name of the author appears in the text, cite only the year of publication in the text. Do not include suffixes such as Jr.

O'Hannon's (1989) linguistic analysis....

Otherwise, place the surname of the author and the year of publication with a comma separating the two.

...lead to successful language learning (Minton, 1988).

Within a paragraph you need not repeat the references to an author's work as long as it cannot be confused with other work cited in the article.

When a work has two authors, always use the surnames of both authors in all citations. Join the two names by an ampersand (&) within parentheses, or by "and" within the text.

...or simply read it (Will & Tarry, 1988).

... or as Will and Tarry (1988) state...

When a work has 3-6 authors, use the surnames of all authors in the first citation. In subsequent citations, include only the surname of the first author followed by "et al."

...process the text hierarchically (Little, Baker, & Showe, 1984)....

When a work has more than six authors, use only the surname of the first author followed by "et al."

...on a test with exclusively open-ended questions (Willets et al., 1988).

When a work has no author, cite the first two or three words of the reference list entry followed by the year. The first entry is usually the title. Underline the title of a periodical or book and use double quotation marks around the title of an article or chapter.

...on language use ("World languages," 1992).

... in the book (Language Use, 1991).

D. Specific parts of a source

To cite a specific part of a source, include the page, chapter, figure, table, or equation in the citation. The words "page" and "chapter" are abbreviated in such citations (see Abbreviations).

...and rewriting what is read (Freire, 1983, p. 11).

F. Personal communications

Letters, memos, telephone conversations, etc. are not included in the Reference List, thus are cited in the text only. Include the initials as well as the surname of the author and provide as exact a date as possible.

...according to D.B. Cooper (personal communication, April 15, 1969).

G. References in parenthetical material

If a reference appears within parentheses, use commas (not brackets) to set off the date.

...the second level (see Figure 1 of Powell & Goss, 1992, for full explanation.)

II. Reference List

The reference list should be in alphabetical order by author's surnames. With names including "de", "von", etc., those names should be alphabetized according to the rules of the language from which they originate. Each entry should be indented five spaces from the second line forward ("hanging indent"), and there should be a blank line between entries.

1. Periodicals

   Doyle, W. (1977). Learning the classroom environment: 
        An ecological analysis. Journal of Teacher 
        Education, 28, 51-55. 

2. Books

   a. Entire books

   Bishop, A. J., & Whitfield, R. C. (1982). Situations in 
        teaching. London: McGraw-Hill.

   b. Article or chapter within a book

   Heath, S. B. (1989). The learner as culture member, In M. L. 
         Rice & R. L. Schiefelbusch (Eds.), The teachability of 
         language (pp. 333-350). Toronto: Paul H. Brookes. 

3. Technical and research reports

    Cummins, J. (1981). The role of primary language
         development in promoting educational 
         success for language minority students. In California 
         State  Department of Education (Ed.), Schooling 
         and language minority students: A theoretical framework. 
         Los Angeles: California State University, 
         Evaluation, Dissemination, and Assessment Center. 

4. Proceedings of Meetings and Symposiums

   Olson, D. R., & Hildyard, A. (1980). Literacy and the comprehension 
         of literal meaning. Paper presented at the Conference  
         on the Development and Use of Writing Systems, 
         Biefefeld, Germany.

5. Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

   Besnier, N. (1986). Spoken and written registers in a 
         restricted-literacy setting. Unpublished doctoral  
         dissertation, University of Southern California, 
         Los Angeles.

6. Unpublished Manuscripts and Publications of Limited Circulation

   Parry, J. (1982). Popular attitudes towards Hindu  
         religious texts. Unpublished manuscript.

7. Translations and Non-English Text
   • Translation:

     Freud, S. (1920). A general introduction to psychoanalysis
          (J. Riviere, Trans.). New York: Pocket Books. 

   • Non-English Text:

     Raynaud de Lage, G. (1975). Introduction à l'ancien francais 
          (9e ed.). [Introduction to Old French (9th ed.)].
          Paris: Société d'Edition d'Enseignement Superieur. 

8. Reviews and Interviews

   Reviews should indicate the medium (book, film, etc.) being reviewed within the bracketed information.

   • Book review:

     Rea, P.M. (1984). [Review of the book Issues in Language 
           Testing by Charles Alderson and Arthur Hughes, Eds.].  
           Language Learning 34, 3, 175-188. 

   • Published interview:

     Smith, D. (1998). [Interview with Wu Leong]. English  
           Yesterday 10, 5, 57-90. 

9. Nonprint Media
   • Film:

     Kirosawa, A. (Director & Producer). (1970). Dodes 'kaden
           [Film]. Tokyo: Films Ltd. 

   • Audio Recording:

      Carter, B. (Speaker). (1977). The growth of English  
           (Cassette Recording No. 222). New York: Audio
           Associates. 

10. Electronic Media

• Computer Programs:

   Sandford, J.A. & Browne, R.J. (1985). Captain's log: Cognitive 
        Training System (Version 1.3) [Computer program]. Indianapolis: 
        Psychological Software Services, Inc.

• Online databases:

  The educational directory [Online]. (1992). Available:  
        Knowledge Index File: The Educational Directory (EDUC6).

• Abstract on CD-ROM

  Albee, I. (1998). The great adventure [CD-ROM]. Adventuring 
        Spirit 9, 34. Abstract from: JSTOR 234567.

• Online Periodical

  Martin, G., Knappen, S., & Dorr, J. (2003). Role of accent in 
        the selection of international teaching assistants 
        [Electronic version]. Journal of ITA Research, 5, 11-13.

  If you are referencing an online article that has been changed (e.g., the format is different from the print version or the page numbers are not indicated) or that includes additional information, add the date you retrieved the document and the URL.

  Martin, G., Knappen, S., & Dorr, J. (2003). Role of accent 
       in the selection of international teaching assistants 
       [Electronic version]. Journal of ITA Research, 5, 11-13. 
       Retrieved October 21, 2003, from http://jstor.org/articles.html

• Article in an Internet-only journal

  Sherman, B. D. (2001, May 17). The use of pronominal reference in Urdu.
        Urdu Linguistics, 13, Article A1. Retrieved November 2, 2001, from 
        http://journals.org/urdu/volume22/131a.html 

• Stand-alone document, no author identified, no date

GWU's 9th English language survey. (n.d.). Retrieved August 8, 2003, 
      from http://www.gwu.org/usersurvey/survey2000/

If the author of a document is not identified, begin the reference with the title of the document.

Citations in Text of Electronic Material

The following is excerpted from the 5th edition of the APA Publication Manual. Some elements of the fifth edition's style guidelines for electronic resources differ from our previously published guidelines.

To cite a specific part of a source, indicate the page, chapter, figure, table, or equation. Give page numbers for quotations. The words page and chapter are abbreviated in text citations:

(Cheever & Williams, 1991, p. 32)
(Simon, 1989, chap. 12)

For electronic sources that do not provide page numbers, use the paragraph number, if available, preceded by the paragraph symbol or the abbreviation para. If neither paragraph nor page numbers are available, cite the heading and the number of the paragraph following it to lead the reader to the location of the material.

(Bayers, 2002, ¶ 3)
(Statler, 2001, Introductory section, para. 3)