APA-REFERENCING-7 _20230922 Page 3 of 9
APA REFERENCING
7
th
Edition
© Student Learning Support Service, 2023
ORGANISATION AS
AUTHOR
If the author is a government agency or organisation, name the organisation in the signal phrase or in the
parenthetical citation in the same way you would if it were a person.
According to the Language Research Centre (2000), linguistic research with apes has led to new methods
of treating humans with learning disabilities such as autism and dyslexia.
If the organisation has a familiar abbreviation, you may include it in brackets the first time you cite the
source.
The national guideline for alcohol consumption is for no more than two standard drinks per day (National
Health and Medical Research Council [NHMRC], 2009).
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC, 2009) advises that people under the age of
18 should not drink alcohol.
TWO OR MORE
WORKS IN THE
SAME PARENTHESES
When your parenthetical citation names two or more works, put them in the same order that they appear
in the reference list (i.e. alphabetically), separated by semicolons.
Researchers argued that the apes in the early language experiments were merely responding to cues
(Sebeok & Umiker-Sebeok, 1979; Terrace, 1979).
CHAPTERS WRITTEN
BY DIFFERENT
AUTHORS IN AN
Some books are put together by an editor or editors and consist of chapters written by different authors.
In this case, cite the author(s) of the chapter, not of the book. So, if you used a particular chapter which was
written by Facelli which was part of a book edited by Conran and Duckhouse in 2015, the reference would
be Facelli (2015).
SECONDARY
SOURCES
If you use a source that was cited in another work (a secondary source), name the original source in your
signal phrase. If the date of the original work is known, include that too. In parenthesis, list the secondary
source (the one you found it in) and its date, preceded by the words "as cited in". List the secondary source
in your reference list. Secondary sources should be used sparingly, as it is best to find the original work if
at all possible. In the following example, Carey & Stefaniak is the secondary source (i.e. the source that
you have direct access to):
Learner satisfaction increases with goal attainment which in turn increases self-efficacy perceptions (Schunk
1991, as cited in Carey & Stefaniak, 2018).
Schunk (1991, as cited in Carey & Stefan
iak, 2018) suggests learner satisfaction increases with goal
attainment which in turn increases self-efficacy perceptions
PERSONAL
COMMUNICATION
Interviews, letters, e-mail, and other person-to-person communications should be cited as follows:
One of Patterson's former aides, who worked with the gorilla Michael, believes that he was capable of
joking and lying in sign language (E. Robbins, personal communication, January 4, 2000).
Note: personal communication is not included in the reference list.
TRADITIONAL
KNOWLEDGE OR
ORAL TRADITIONS
OF INDIGENOUS
PEOPLES
The manner of citing Traditional Knowledge or Oral Traditions of Indigenous Peoples varies depending on
how the information has been accessed. If the information has been recorded (e.g. book, audio, interview
transcript), cite in-text and include a reference list entry according to the appropriate source type.
If the information has not been recorded, a variation of personal communication may be used. As much as
possible, provide: full name, Indigenous nation or group, location, personal communication, and date of
correspondence.
We spoke with Anna Grant (Haida Nation, lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, personal
communication, April 2019) about traditional understandings of the world
by First Nations Peoples in
Canada. She described . . .
Be sure to maintain the integrity of Indigenous perspectives. Ensure information is accurate and appropriate
to share before citing. Terms related to Indigenous Peoples must be capitalised (e.g. Kaurna, Wurundjeri,
Traditional Custodian).
Note: as this is a form of personal communication, it is not included in the reference list.
QUOTING
RESEARCH
PARTICIPANTS
Within the text, state that the quote is from a research participant. Protect the identity of the participants
by referring to them by pseudonyms or nicknames, roles, descriptive phrases, or case numbers. For
formatting, follow the same guidelines as other quotations.
One participant, “Jane”, a forty-year-old nurse from Townsville, noted that she felt “overwhelmed by the
number of new cases this year.”
Note: as participants are part of original research, they are not included in the reference list.