APA 6 Writing Rules

APA 6 Writing Guidelines

APA (American Psychological Association) 6th edition is a commonly used citation style in academic writing. Below are the detailed guidelines and examples for referencing different types of sources.

1. Book References

1.1. General Format for Books
Basic format:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. City, Country: Publisher.

Example:

Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2016). Marketing management (15th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.

1.2. Book Chapters in Edited Books
Basic format:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xx-xx). City, Country: Publisher.

Example:

Miller, P. H. (2005). Theories of developmental psychology. In J. W. Santrock (Ed.), Children (pp. 45-67). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.

1.3. Edited Books
Basic format:

Editor, E. (Ed.). (Year). Title of book. City, Country: Publisher.

Example:

Black, J. (Ed.). (2019). Crime and justice: A guide to criminology. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

1.4. Translated Books
Basic format:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book (Translator, Trans.). City, Country: Publisher. (Original work published Year)

Example:

Freud, S. (2010). The interpretation of dreams (J. Strachey, Trans.). New York, NY: Basic Books. (Original work published 1900)

1.5. Reprinted Books
Basic format:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. City, Country: Publisher. (Original work published Year)

Example:

Darwin, C. (2009). On the origin of species. New York, NY: Harvard University Press. (Original work published 1859)

2. Journal Article References

2.1. Articles with DOI
Basic format:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, volume(issue), page range. doi:xx.xxx/yyyy

Example:

Smith, J. (2020). The impact of social media on mental health. Journal of Social Psychology, 59(3), 123-145. doi:10.1016/j.spsd.2020.03.002

2.2. Articles without DOI
Basic format:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, volume(issue), page range.

Example:

Doe, J. (2019). Innovative approaches in education. Educational Sciences Journal, 34(2), 56-78.

2.3. Articles with More than Seven Authors
Basic format:

First 6 Authors, ..., Last Author. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, volume(issue), page range.

Example:

Yılmaz, H., Demir, E., Kaya, R., Öz, S., Çelik, A., ..., Koca, B. (2020). Effects of remote learning. Education and Science, 45(3), 200-225.

2.4. In-Press Articles
Basic format:

Author, A. A. (in press). Title of article. Journal Name.

Example:

Çetin, D. (in press). Artificial intelligence and ethics. Journal of Science and Technology.

2.5. Blog Posts
Basic format:

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of blog post. Blog Name. URL

Example:

Thompson, R. (2021, March 15). Digital marketing strategies. Marketing Blog. https://www.marketingblog.com/digital-marketing

3. Theses and Dissertations

3.1. Master’s Theses
Basic format:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of thesis (Unpublished master’s thesis). University, City, Country.

Example:

Jones, M. A. (2019). The impact of climate change on coastal cities (Unpublished master’s thesis). University of California, California, USA.

3.2. Doctoral Dissertations
Basic format:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of dissertation (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University, City, Country.

Example:

Smith, J. (2019). Advances in artificial intelligence (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA.

4. Conference Presentations

4.1. Unpublished Presentations
Basic format:

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of presentation. Conference Name, City, Country.

Example:

Smith, J. (2020, May 5). New approaches in education. 15th National Education Conference, Istanbul, Turkiye.

4.2. Published Presentations
Basic format:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xx-xx). Publisher.

Example:

Miller, P. H. (2005). The impact of flavor perception on consumer behavior. In J. W. Santrock (Ed.), Proceedings of the 12th International Gastronomy Congress (pp. 45-67). McGraw-Hill.

5. Website References

5.1. Authored Websites
Basic format:

Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of webpage. Website Name. Retrieved from URL

Example:

Kotler, P. (2016, April 21). Healthy eating guide. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/21/healthy-eating-guide

5.2. Websites without Author or Date
Basic format:

Organization Name. (n.d.). Title of webpage. Retrieved [Month Day, Year], from URL

Example:

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Nutrition advice for adults during COVID-19. Retrieved December 7, 2024, from https://www.who.int/nutrition/covid-19

5.3. Reports
Basic format:

Organization Name. (Year). Title of report (Report No. xxx). Publisher.

Example:

World Health Organization. (2020). Global health estimates 2020 (Report No. WHO/HIS/HSI/20.1). WHO Press.