School of Nursing and Midwifery - APA 6th Edition Referencing Style

Manual
For citation and referencing examples, click on links below. To return to contents list, click any Return to top link or click to go back
on browser.

In-text citations
One author
Two authors
Three to five authors
Six or more authors
Group, organisational or corporate author, no individual author identified
No author identified or author anonymous
Multiple works cited together in parentheses
Secondary sources
Personal communications

Reference list
General forms of journal, book and book chapter reference list entries
Journal article, one author, retrieved online, DOI available
Journal article, one author, retrieved online, DOI unavailable
Journal article, one author, print version, DOI unavailable
Journal article with DOI, two authors
Journal article with DOI, three to seven authors
Journal article with DOI, eight or more authors
Journal article, journal paginated by issue, with DOI
Journal article, abstract only

Book, print version

Book, online electronic version
Book, subsequent or revised edition
Book, corporate author or author as publisher
Book, entire, edited
Chapter or article in edited book

Online encyclopedia entry, author identified; not Wikipedia

Online dictionary entry, editor identified

Web page, individual author and authorship date; not a journal article
Web page, corporate or no author, no date of authorship; not a journal article
Wiki; including Wikipedia
Course notes from vUWS, including lectures, tutorial notes or unit learning guide
Podcast

Technical and research reports

Conference presentations and poster sessions
Dissertations and theses
Translated works
 Quotations
Indirect quotations
Direct quotations, less than 40 words
Block quotations, more than 40 words

Extra information
About DOIs
Setting out the reference list
Links to further resources
Online information quality
About APA style
About this document

In-text citations

When you mention another author’s ideas in the main text of your document, you must identify that author (by
surname only) and the publication year of the document you have consulted. In this way you acknowledge the original
author and their work, and enable readers to locate the source of information in the alphabetical reference list at the
end of your document. This section of the style manual shows how to present in-text citations.

One author; in-text citation

First and subsequent in-text citations

Smith (2010) found that training significantly improved performance.

Smith's (2010) research found that training significantly improved performance.
Training significantly improved performance (Smith, 2010).

Return to top

Two authors; in-text citation

First and subsequent in-text citations

Smith and Jones (2010) found that training significantly improved performance.
Smith and Jones's (2010) research found that training significantly improved performance.
Training significantly improved performance (Smith & Jones, 2010).

Return to top

Three to five authors; in-text citation

First in-text citation

Smith, Jones, and Brown (2010) found that training significantly improved performance.
Smith, Jones, and Brown's (2010) research found that training significantly improved performance.
 Training significantly improved performance (Smith, Jones, & Brown, 2010).

Subsequent in-text citations

Smith et al. (2010) found that training significantly improved performance.

Smith et al.'s (2010) research found that training significantly improved performance.
Training significantly improved performance (Smith et al., 2010).

Four or five authors - add surnames to the authors list. A comma goes before "and" or "&" in the author list. Use "et al." for
subsequent citations.

Smith, Jones, Brown, Green, and Black (2010)...

...(Smith Jones, Brown, Green, & Black, 2010).
Smith et al. (2010)...
...(Smith et al., 2010).

Return to top

Six or more authors; in-text citation

First and subsequent citations

Smith et al. (2010) found that training significantly improved performance.

Smith et al.'s (2010) research found that training significantly improved performance.
Training significantly improved performance (Smith et al., 2010).

Return to top

Group, organisational or corporate author, no individual author identified; in-text citation

First and subsequent citations

According to the NHMRC's (2007) National Statement on Ethical Conduct of Research...

...according to the National Statement on the Ethical Conduct of Research (NHMRC, 2007).

Return to top

No author identified or author anonymous; in-text citation

Cite the title of the work followed by the year. If no title, cite the first few words of the document. Article, chapter or web page titles
should be surrounded by double quotation marks. Periodicals (journals or magazines), books, pamphlets or reports should be
italicised without quotation marks.

...web site information about managing chronic conditions ("Health Guidelines," 2010).
...according to the Health Guidelines report (2010).

Return to top
Multiple works cited together in parentheses; in-text citation

Citations of two or more works should appear in reference list order (i.e., alphabetically by first author's name). Separate each cited
work by a semi-colon.

Guidelines are available (Ng, 2010; Nguyen et al., 2009).

Return to top

Secondary sources; in-text citation

Secondary sources are where one work is cited from within another. For example, in a book by Goldberg you read about
Abdullah's research, and you want to cite Abdullah without having read Abdullah's original work, instead reading Goldberg only.

...Abdullah's (2009) research (as cited in Goldberg, 2010).

...according to the recent research (Abdullah, 2009, as cited in Goldberg, 2010).

Avoid excessive reliance on secondary sources. It is better to locate and read original material, especially when writing
for a postgraduate degree.

Return to top

Personal communications; in-text citation

Personal communications include private conversations, letters, emails and other nonrecoverable messages. Give the initials of the
person who provided the information, and the date of the communication.

J. Gillard (personal communication, January 1, 2010).

(J. Gillard, personal communication, January 1, 2010).

Personal communications do not appear in the reference list. Use personal communications as citations sparingly, and
preferably not at all.

Reference list entries

The reference list at the end of a work must provide sufficient information for the reader to identify and retrieve every
source that was cited in the main text. All references cited in the main text must appear in the reference list, and all
entries in the reference list must be cited in the main text. The text citation and reference list entry must be consistent
so that no confusion can arise between a text citation and its reference list entry. For example, publication years, author
lists and spelling of names must be identical for a given main text citation and its reference list entry.

Each reference list entry usually contains: author, year of publication, title, and publishing data, that is, all the
information necessary for unique identification. Check each reference carefully against the original publication to
ensure accuracy.

General forms of journal article, book and book chapter reference list entries

Journal article

Author, A. B., Author, C. D., & Author, E. F. (Year). Article title. Journal Title, xx, pp-pp. doi:xxx.xxx.xxx
 Article title first word, formal titles (names, places, organisations etc.) and the first word after a colon should be
upper case; otherwise the article title is in lower case.
Journal title is upper case except for minor words such as of, in, etc.
xx stands for the volume number. Do not write vol or similar.
Omit the issue number unless the journal page numbers restart at 1 for each issue, which is rare. Click here for
how to reference journals paginated by issue.
pp stands for page number range. Write the numbers only, not pp or similar except for page ranges of chapters or
articles in edited books.

Book

Author, A. B., Author, C. D., & Author, E. F. (Year). Book title. City, State: Publisher.

Chapter in edited book

Author, A. B., Author, C. D., & Author, E. F. (Year). Chapter title. In G. Editor, H. Editor, & I. Editor (Eds.), Book
title (pp. xx-xx). City, State: Publisher.

Return to top

Journal article, one author, retrieved online, DOI available

Sturdy, D. (2010). Best practice for older people in acute care settings. International Journal of Nursing
Practice, 47, 1-2. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2009.10.009

The digital object identifier ("DOI"), when available, is usually found on the first page of the article or on the article's
database entry.

Return to top

Journal article, one author, retrieved online, DOI unavailable

Give the journal's home page link for older articles retrieved online and not having a DOI.

Cullen, D. (2001). A family's perception of a public hospital. Contemporary Nurse, 11, 243-246. Retrieved from
http://contemporarynurse.com/

Most recent articles will have a DOI. Older articles may not have a DOI. Avoid citing older articles containing
information that is out of date.

Return to top

Journal article, one author, print version, DOI unavailable

No retrieval link or DOI can be given. Use this example only if you obtained the article from the library shelves.

Folkman, S. (1982). An approach to the measurement of coping. Journal of Occupational Behavior, 3, 95-107.
Printed versions of recent articles will typically have a DOI, which should be included. Cite older articles only if their
information has major, lasting importance.

Return to top

Journal article, two authors

Retrieved online with DOI available.

Ferns, T., & Meerabeau, E. (2009). Reporting behaviours of nursing students who have experienced verbal
abuse. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 65, 2678-2688. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2009.05114.x

Return to top

Journal article, three to seven authors

Retrieved online with DOI available.

Griffiths, R., Horsfall, J., Moore, M., Lane, D., Kroon, V., & Langdon, R. (2009). Building social capital with
women in a socially disadvantaged community. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 15, 172-184.
doi:10.1111/j.1440-172X.2009.01742.x

For up to seven authors, give the name of every author.

Return to top

Journal article, eight or more authors

Retrieved online with DOI available.

Chang, E., Hancock, K., Harrison, K., Daly, J., Johnson, A., Easterbrook, S.,... Davidson, P. (2005). Palliative
care for end-stage dementia: A discussion of the implications for education of health care professionals. Nurse
Education Today, 25, 326-332. doi:10.1016/j.nedt.2005.02.003

In this article, Davidson is the last of nine authors.

Return to top

Journal article, journal paginated by issue, no DOI

When a journal is paginated by issue, its page numbers restart at 1 for every issue of the journal. Articles referenced from these
journals must include the issue number in brackets after the volume number.

Bridges, J., Flatley, M., & Meyer, J. Nursing Older People, 21(10), 18-21. Retrieved from
http://nursingolderpeople.rcnpublishing.co.uk/

If the journal is paginated by volume, the page numbers start at 1 for every new volume, which usually happens once a
year. Most journals are paginated by volume, so the issue number is not needed. The journal Nursing Older People
does not use DOIs so retrieval data are given. Notice how the above article has low page numbers (18-21) even though
the article appears in Volume 10 of the journal. That's because the page numbers start at 1 for every issue.
Most journals are paginated by volume, so the issue number is rarely needed.

Return to top

Journal article, abstract only

When only the abstract of the article has been read.

Johnson, A., Chang, E., & O'Brien, L. (2009). Nursing the dying: A descriptive survey of Australian
undergraduate nursing curricula [Abstract]. International Journal of Nursing Practice, 15, 417-425.
doi:10.1111/j.1440-172X.2009.01790.x

Return to top

Book, print version

For when the same author or authors have written the whole book.

Stringer, E., & Dwyer, R. (2005). Action research in human services. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

Only the first letter of the book title is capitalised. Proper nouns (formal titles of people, places or organisations) would
also be capitalised.

Return to top

Book, online electronic version

Includes electronic books available online from the UWS library.

Townsend, M. C. (2008). Nursing diagnoses in psychiatric nursing: Care plans and psychotropic medications
(7th ed.) [Adobe Digital Editions version]. Retrieved from http://lib.myilibrary.com/browse/open.asp?
id=115378&loc=

The above example is an electronic version of a book that's also available in printed form. Notice how the retrieval
information (web link) is sufficient, without the publication city and publisher name. State the electronic format that is
used to display the book. Not all electronic books will be in Adobe Digital Editions format.

Return to top

Book, subsequent or revised edition

Many books are published repeatedly under the same title with modifications to the text. Revised publications of the same title are
referred to as editions.

Salkind, N. J. (2009). Exploring research (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Where the new edition is revised but not numbered, put (Rev. ed.) rather than the edition number. Do not confuse
editions with a reprint or an impression, which refers to further printing of the same book and need not be mentioned
in a reference citation.
Return to top

Book, corporate author or author as publisher

The author is an organisation, or the book is published by its author.

American Psychological Association (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
(6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Return to top

Book, entire, edited

The reference is to the entire edited book, not just a chapter or chapters within it.

Minichiello, V., & Kottler, J. A. (Eds.). (2009). Qualitative journeys: Student and mentor experiences with
research. Thousand Oaks, DC: Sage.

The editors have collected chapters written by various other appointed authors. The collected chapters are published as
a book, under the one title.

Return to top

Chapter or article in edited book

Only a single chapter or article within the edited the book is referenced.

Usher, K., & Fitzgerald, M. (2008). Introduction to nursing research. In S. Borbasi, D. Jackson & R. W.
Langford (Eds.), Navigating the maze of nursing research: An interactive approach (pp. 3-27). Chatswood,
NSW: Mosby/Elsevier.

Return to top

Online encyclopedia entry, author identified; not Wikipedia

Electronic encyclopedias articles where author is identified. See wikis for how to reference Wikipedia and other wikis.

Biemel, W. (2009). Phenomenology. In Encyclopedia Britannica online academic edition (2009 ed.). Retrieved
from http://search.eb.com/eb/article-9108681

The above example seeks an encyclopedia article about phenomenology from the online version of Encyclopedia
Britannica. The link specifically targets the entry for phenomenology. The author of the entry is identified.
Encyclopedia Britannica editors are not listed in Encyclopedia Britannica's online edition, and so are omitted from the
reference. See next entry below for how to include editors for an online reference work.

Return to top

Online electronic dictionary entry, editor identified

Includes electronic dictionaries where the author of the entries is not identified, but the editors for the entire reference work are
identified.
 Phenomenology (n.d.). In C. Soames & A. Stevenson (Eds.), The Oxford dictionary of English (Rev. 2nd ed.).
Retrieved from http://www.oxfordreference.com/views/SEARCH_RESULTS.html?
y=9&q=phenomenology&category=t140&x=19&ssid=379121829&scope=book&time=0.643053149820172

The above example seeks a dictionary definition of phenomenology from the online version of the Oxford Dictionary
of English. No author is identified for the definition in the dictionary. The dictionary editors are listed. The link is to
the entry for phenomenology. The "n.d." stands for no date.

Return to top

Web page, individual author and authorship date; not a journal article

General form for web page with author is given below in red, followed by examples.

Author, A. B., & Author, C. D. (Date). Title of work. Retrieved from [path].

Dodgson, M. (2009, December 9). Acrobatics in the citation circus. Retrieved from
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/higher-education/acrobatics-in-the-citation-circus/story-e6frgcjx-
1225808384468
Dewey, R. A. (n.d.)Welcome to Psych Web! Retrieved December 15, 2009 from http://www.psychwww.com/

Where no authorship date is specified, use "n.d."

Return to top

Web page, corporate author or no author, no date of authorship; not a journal article

Corporate authors, where identifiable, take the authorship position in the citation. Where there is no author at all the reference entry
begins with page title in italics.

The next two examples have corporate authors.

The Cochrane Collaboration. (n.d.) The Cochrane Collaboration. Retrieved December 15, 2009, from
http://www.cochrane.org/
The Joanna Briggs Institute. (n.d.) Welcome to the Joanna Briggs Institute! Retrieved December 15, 2009 from
http://www.joannabriggs.edu.au/about/home.php.

The next example has no author.

edict presents Functional Grammar! (n.d.) Retrieved December 15, 2009 from
http://www.edict.com.hk/vlc/funcgrammar/

Return to top

Wiki, including Wikipedia

Wikipedia entry on Husserl's philosophy of phenomenology

Phenomenology (philosophy). (n.d.). Retrieved December 18, 2009, from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_(philosophy)

No author is identified, so the reference entry commences with the title of the article. The article is undated.

Wikipedia should not be considered as an authoritative source. Use Wikipedia sparingly, if at all, especially for
postgraduate writing.

Return to top

Course notes from vUWS, including lectures, tutorial notes or unit outline

Examples show PowerPoint lecture notes and a PDF tutorial guide

Hillege, S. (2009). Changing practice through research. [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from University of
Western Sydney School of Nursing and Midwifery vUWS web site:
http://vuws.uws.edu.au/webct/urw/lc5116001.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct
Jirojwong, S. (2009). Week 5 topic: Budget and management considerations in nursing research [PDF
document]. Retrieved from University of Western Sydney School of Nursing and Midwifery vUWS web site:
http://vuws.uws.edu.au/webct/urw/lc5116001.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct

Return to top

Podcast

Example from vUWS learning site

Jirojwong, S., & Hillege, S. (Producers.) (2009, August 17). Guide to complete the assessment item 2 [Audio
podcast]. Retrieved from http://vuws.uws.edu.au/webct/urw/lc5116001.tp0/cobaltMainFrame.dowebct

Return to top

Technical and research reports; not journal articles

General form of technical report reference entry

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Report title (Report No. 123). City, State: Publisher.

There are so many types of technical and research reports that the general form is a better guide than an example.

Return to top

Conference presentations and poster sessions

General forms of conference paper (oral) presentations and poster presentations.

 Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year, Month). Title of conference presentation. In D. D.
ChairpersonName (Chair), Conference title. Paper presented at the Nth International conference of
OrganisationName, City, State.

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year, Month). Title of poster session. In D. D. ChairpersonName
(Chair), Conference title. Poster session presented at the Nth International conference of OrganisationName,
City, State.

Next example is a conference abstract retrieved online

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year, Month). Title of oral presentation or poster session. In D.
D. ChairpersonName (Chair), Conference title. Poster session presented at the Nth International conference of
OrganisationName, City, State. Abstract retrieved from [path]

General forms are given because there is so much variety among possible examples.

Return to top

Dissertations and theses

General forms of published and unpublished dissertations and theses

Author, A. B. (Year). Doctoral or master's thesis titl. (Doctoral dissertation / Master's thesis). Retrieved from
DatabaseName. (AccessionNumber).

Author, A. B. (Year). Doctoral or master's thesis title. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation / master's thesis).
InstitutionName, Location.

The above two examples are a guide. For advanced examples see the APA style manual as there are many sources of
dissertations and theses.

Return to top

Translated works

You may occasionally need to reference works published in a foreign language or translated into English from another
language. This can happen:

1. Where the original source that you read and cite is published in a language other than English. An example of a
book would be an edition of Freud published in the original German. You, the student, read the German.

2. More commonly, where the original, published source that you read and cite is in English but has been translated
by somebody else (not you, the student) from a foreign-language original document. An example of a book
would be an edition of Freud translated into English by somebody else, and therefore you read and cite the
English translation.

The APA style manual has only a few examples of translated works. Below are examples that extend what's in the
Publication Manual
Foreign-language article in a foreign-language journal. The original article that you read is published in a periodical (journal) in a
language other than English.

Author, I., & Author, I. (Year). Title of article in language other than English [Translation of the article title into
English]. Journal Title in Foreign Language, xx, xx-xx.

Mozart, W. A., & Johannes, S. B. (2009). Erfahrungen der Kursteilnehmerkrankenschwestern. [Experiences of

the student nurse]. Krankenpflegejournal, 10, 100-120.

The above example is imaginary. The foreign-language journal article title should be reproduced in the original
language and followed by an English translation of the title in square brackets. Where the foreign-language journal
provides a translation of the article title into English, that translation should be used; otherwise you should provide
your own translation of the article title into English.

Foreign-language book published in the original foreign language. The published book that you read is in a language other than
English.

Author, I., & Author, I. (Year). Title of book in language other than English [Translation of book title into
English]. City: Publisher.

Piaget, J, & Inhelder, B. (1951). La genèse de l'idée de hasard chez l'enfant [The origin of the idea of chance in
the child]. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.

The original, non-English title of the book should be given, followed by an English translation of the title in square
brackets. Note the preservation of accented French characters in the French title.

Foreign-language article in a journal already translated into English.

The foreign-language article, including title and text, is translated by somebody else (not you, the student) and
published in English in an English-language journal. In this case, reference the English translation of the journal article
as per normal. See reference list entries.

Foreign-language book already translated into English. The published book that you read is in a language other than English.

Author, I., & Author, I. (Year of translated publication). Title of book in English [I. Translator & I. Translator,
Trans.). City: Publisher. (Original work published Year).

Laplace, P.-S. (1951). A philosophical essay on probabilities (F. W. Truscott & F. L. Emory, Trans.). New York:
Dover. (Original work published 1814).

Chapter from a book, translated into English and reprinted

Piaget, J. (1988). Extracts from Piaget's theory (G. Gellerier & J. Langer, Trans.). In K. Richardson and S.
Sheldon (Eds.), Cognitive development to adolescence: A reader (pp. 3-18). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum. (Reprinted
from Manual of child psychology pp. 703-732, by P. H. Mussen, Ed., 1970, New York, NY: Wiley.).

Cite the English translation of the non-English work used as the source. In the main text, cite as (Piaget, 1970/1988) if
using parentheses.

Further comments on referencing foreign-language works.

 All capitalisations, accents and diacritical marks (e.g., à, é, ç, ñ, ø, ü) in the original foreign language should be
preserved. Diacriticals and other foreign-language characters such as the Greek alphabet (often used in statistics)
are available in the Windows extended character set, accessible through the "Character Map" utility, typically
accessible under Start => Programs => Accessories => System Tools. Alternatively, in Word you can choose
from the top menu the following commands: Insert => Symbol =>Symbols, making sure you set the Font field to
"Normal text."

Classical and ancient works, including major titles from ancient Greece, Rome and religious scriptures require
no entries in the reference list. For in-text citations of very old works for which a year of publication is
inapplicable, cite the year of translation preceded by trans or the version of the work preceded by version. Use
the exact publication year if known.

There are other citation and referencing possibilities for translated works, including multi-volume sources,
reprints and republications of translations from other sources. The APA Publication Manual 6th edition provides
only limited examples for translated or non-English works. For instance, there is no stated policy on the
rendering of Asian scripts or alphabets other than the standard Roman alphabet that is used for English (e.g., no
policy on when original Thai alphabetical or Chinese characters should be preserved). When this style manual or
the APA Publication Manual does not show you how to cite or reference a translated or foreign-language work,
please consult your tutor, lecturer or supervisor for advice. The general principle will be that, except under
special circumstances and as governed by the relevant School and University policies, your assignment or thesis
should be fully accessible to someone who reads only English.

Return to top

Quotations
Indirect quotations

The wording is changed from the original source. You are quoting the source in your own words (paraphrasing).

According to American Psychological Association (2010), authors should maintain historical acccuracy in their
writing while not perpetuating biased and demeaning assumptions and attitudes towards people.

No page reference is given for indirect quotations. Nor are quotation marks used.

Ensure that indirect quotations match the intended meaning of the orginal source.

Direct quotations, less than 40 words

The exact wording of the original source is presented. Double quotations marks must be used and the page reference given.

"Authors are encouraged to avoid perpetuating demeaning attitudes and biased assumptions about people in their
writing. At the same time, authors need to avoid historical and interpretative inaccuracies" (American
Psychological Association, 2010, pp. 76-77).

Block quotations, direct quotations of 40 words or more

The exact wording of the original source is presented without quotations marks in a separate, indented paragraph.
Authors are encouraged to avoid perpetuating demeaning attitudes and biased assumptions about people in their
writing. At the same time, authors need to avoid historical and intepretive inaccuracies. Historians and scholars writing
literature reviews must be careful not to misrepresent ideas of the past in order to avoid language bias. (American
Psychological Association, 2010, pp. 76-77)

In all direct quotations:

Use single quotations marks within double quotation marks to mark out direct quotations within the original
source (quotations within the quotation).
Full stops and commas are placed within adjacent quotation marks.
The first letter of the first word in a quotation may be changed to a capital or lowercase letter.
The punctuation at the end of a sentence may be changed to fit the syntax.
When omitting material within a quotation, use three ellipsis points (…) within a sentence. Use four ellipsis
points (....) where you omit text between two more or more sentences, that is, where the omitted text contains at
least one end and beginning of a sentence.

Return to top

Extra information
About DOIs

DOI stands for "digital object identifier," which is a number or alpha-numeric value uniquely assigned to almost every
recent journal article. The DOI enables quick access to the article. For more information about DOIs click here for an
external link.

Your browser may show DOIs in this document as underlined links, depending on the browser settings. In your printed
essays or reports, DOIs should not be underlined or otherwise indicated as links.

Setting out the reference list

Arrange entries in alphabetical order by the surname of the first author.

Alphabetise letter by letter. Remember, however, that "nothing precedes something": Brown, J.R. will precede
Browning, A.R.
Alphabetise Mc and Mac as they are spelled (i.e., do not treat Mc as Mac) and disregard apostrophes in names
beginning with such as O’.
Alphabetise entries with numerals as if the numerals were spelled out. Therefore, 8th goes before 6th. (The
sorting function in your word processor may not do this correctly.)
Alphabetise corporate or group authors, including associations or government instrumentalities, by the first
significant word (i.e., ignoring The).
Use full, official names, for example, University of Western Sydney, not UWS. Parent bodies precede
subdivisions, for example, University of Western Sydney, School of Nursing and Midwifery.
Only if the work is signed "Anonymous" should Anonymous be used as if it were a true name.
If there is no author, the title moves to the author position and the entry is alphabetised by the first significant
word of the title.

Links to further resources

UWS library APA style guide This guide covers citations, references and quotations.
American Psychological Association style site With links to other helpful materials.

Online information quality

You are urged to consider online information critically. Peer-reviewed journal articles aside, there may be no editorial
scrutiny over the information you are downloading. You may simply be reading worthless propaganda. Use only
authoritative sources to support a line of argument. Peer-reviewed journal articles and published books can be
considered authoritative. The quality of your academic arguments depends, in part, on the quality of the references
used to support those arguments. It is not acceptable to copy information from Web sites or other electronic sources
and present it as your own work. Software exists which can detect such copying.

About APA style

A fundamental principle of academic writing is that all sources of information other than the author's original ideas
must be identified, both in the main text of the document (a citation) and more comprehensively in a list at the end of
the document (references). Over time, various styles have been developed. These styles show how citations and
references lists must be formatted and listed. The UWS School of Nursing and Midwifery uses the citation and
referencing styles of the American Psychological Association ("APA style") which you, as a student are expected also
to use. As well as being the standard for the School, APA style is used extensively in academic journals and other
technical writing in nursing, social and behavioural sciences. Students undertaking advanced degrees should familiarise
themselves with the American Psychological Association's Publication Manual because the Publication Manual is
more comprehensive than the School's style manual. Click here for the APA's own web site about APA style (although
the site doesn't show the complete Publication Manual). The Publication Manual is held in UWS libraries. The call
numbers for the Publication Manual at UWS campuses start with R808.02.

About this document

This is the citation and referencing style manual for the UWS School of Nursing and Midwifery. It shows you how to
cite sources of your ideas within the main text of your academic writing and how to set up the reference list for those
sources at the end of your document. The rules for citing and referencing are taken from the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association (6th ed.) (2010). Please note that other principles and rules apply to setting out an
essay or thesis. This web document advises you only about citations and referencing. See your unit outline (learning
guide) or ask your lecturer, tutor or supervisor about other requirements for presenting your written assignments.
Examples in this style guide are for illustration only, and may not always refer accurately to genuine references.

This edition of the School Style Manual was completed 2 March, 2010 by John Bidewell, Professional Officer
(Research), School of Nursing and Midwifery.

Return to top