Most library databases provide you with a citation for their articles. They're a good starting point, but they usually have some errors. Most errors are have to do with incorrect capitalization, so they're easy to fix.
I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the basic APA citation rules (see the next section on this page) so you know what needs to be corrected.
Here's an example of an incorrect citation, from the Education Source database:
In the citation, most of the words in the article title are capitalized, which is not correct.
Note: the journal in this example has a volume number, but no issue number. This is becoming more common as more journals become online-only!
Most APA citations have two parts:
In-text citations should have:
There are two ways to do in-text citations:
Parenthetical citations – all citation information is in parentheses
Ex. Some studies have found that students with disabilities are not always encouraged to go to college (Elmore, Veitch, & Harbor, 2018).
Narrative citations – citation information is split up
Ex. Elmore, Veitch, and Harbor (2018) found that students with disabilities are not always encouraged to go to college.
General rules for in-text citations:
Most things in reference list citations should be lowercase - the exceptions are:
"There are more valuable things in life than safety and comfort. Learn. You owe it to yourself" (Okorafor, 2011, pp. 228-229).
Okorafor, N. (2011). Akata witch. Viking.
Note: The general format of book citations is:
Example #1
Elmore, Veitch, and Harbour (2018) argue that "Going to college with a disability is an incredibly unique experience" (p. 19).
Note: Notice that I'm using the "narrative" style of in-text citation here. Because I'm using the narrative style, I write out the word "and" before the last author's name.
Example #2
Some studies have found that students with disabilities are not always encouraged to go to college (Elmore, Veitch, & Harbor, 2018).
Note: In this example, I use the "parenthetical" style, so I use an & (ampersand) instead of the word "and".
Elmore, K., Veitch, H., & Harbour, W.S. (2018). The lived experiences of college students and recent college graduates with disabilities. In M. Grigal, J. Madaus, L. Dukes III, & D. Hart (Eds.), Navigating the transition from high school to college for students with disabilities (pp. 19-42). Routledge.
Note: The general format for book chapter citations is:
Masta (2018) notes that participants in her study were "most at ease interacting with other Native American students" (p. 29).
Masta, S. (2018). Strategy and resistance: How Native American students engage in accommodation in mainstream schools. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 49(1), 21-35.
Note: The general format for article citations is:
Lederman (2018) notes that although OER can save students money, in many cases, "the institution itself is picking up the costs that were formally borne by the students, through some combination of direct subsidies to instructors to create the content and a loss of textbook revenue to a campus store, among other costs".
Note: In most cases, websites don't have page numbers, so you'll leave them off.
Lederman, D. (2018, July 25). Calculating (and acknowledging) the costs of OER. https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/07/25/community-college-confronts-costs-open-educational-resources
Note: The general format for website citations is:
When putting together a reference list in APA style, the first line should be normal, but all other lines should be indented. This is called a hanging indent. Here's how you can do it.