In 2020, the American Psychology Association (APA) issued updated guidelines for citing and referencing sources in academic texts. This page presents a range of examples, to help you prepare your APA reference list with the greatest of ease (or at least with less difficulty).
Please pay special attention to punctuation, capital letters, and italics.
If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact me via email or WhatsApp.
Article from peer-reviewed journal – Examples
| No. of Authors | In-Text Citation | Bibliography / Reference List |
| 1 | El Hadari (2022)
Or: (El Hadari, 2022) |
El Hadari, T. (2022). The acquisition of the English temporal system: A developmental perspective. Journal of Language Teaching, 2(8), 8-17. https://doi.org/10.54475/jlt.2022.009 |
| 2 | Milton and Hopwood (2022)
Or: (Milton & Hopwood, 2022) |
Milton, J., & Hopwood, O. (2022). Vocabulary loading in the Studio textbook series: A 40% decline in the vocabulary input for French GCSE. The Language Learning Journal, 50(6), 667-683. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2021.1916572 |
| 3 or more | Levitzky et al. (2019)
Or: (Levitzky et al., 2019) |
Levitzky, T., Laufer, B., & Goldstein. Z. (2019). The new computer adaptive test of size and strength (CATSS): Development and validation. Language Assessment Quarterly, 16(3), 345-368. https://doi.org/10.1080/15434303.2019.1649409 |
In-text highlights:
- For three authors or more, only write the name of the first author, followed by et al. (with a period/full stop after the “al”)
Bibliography highlights:
- For the article name, only use a capital letter at the beginning of the title and after a full stop (period) or colon (:)
- For the journal name, use a capital letter at the beginning of each word (except for prepositions)
- The journal name and volume must appear in italics
- For up to 20 authors, write each individual name in the reference list
- Add a DOI/URL for the text whenever possible (preferably beginning with https
Book or book chapter – Examples
| Authors and Editors | In-Text Citation | Bibliography / Reference List |
| Book with authors | Burkill and Eaton (2014)
Or: (Burkill & Eaton, 2014) |
Burkill, B., & Eaton, R. (2014). Developing teaching and learning: The textbook for the Cambridge international certificate for teachers and trainers. Cambridge University Press. |
| Chapter in book with editors | Harsch and Malone (2021)
Or: (Harsch & Malone, 2021) |
Harsch, C., & Malone, M. E. (2021). Language proficiency frameworks and scales. In P. Winke, & T. Brunfaut (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and language testing (pp. 33-44). Routledge |
In-text highlights:
- For three authors or more, only write the name of the first author, followed by et al. (with a period/full stop after the “al”)
Bibliography highlights:
- For the chapter name and book name, only use a capital letter at the beginning of the name and following a full stop (period) or colon (:)
- The book name must appears in italics
- For the publisher’s name, use a capital letter at the beginning of word (except for prepositions)
- Add page numbers for a chapter from a book with editors
- For up to 20 authors, write every name in the reference list
