APA 7th Edition - Citing Sources (Arnold Bernhard Library)

• Ebooks and paper print books are cited the same! It is not necessary to note which you used. 
• If there is no DOI, leave off that part of the reference. 
• If the book was retrieved online, but NOT out of an academic database, include a retrieval URL. Do not use the words "retrieved from." If the book was found in an academic database (through the library), do not include the URL.

• Whole Authored Books & Ebooks
• Whole Edited Books
• Book Chapters

If there is no DOI, leave that attribute out of the citation. Make a good faith effort to find the DOI. It can usually be found online in the article record, but it is also often printed on the first or last page of the article.

Detailed information on journal citations can be found in Chapter 10 of the 7th edition of the APA manual (pp. 316-319).

• Journal Articles

The above example is for a magazine article that appears in print. Detailed information on magazine citations, including how to cite magazine articles found online, can be found in Chapter 10 of the 7th edition of the APA manual (p. 320).

• Magazine Articles

Detailed information on newspaper citations can be found in Chapter 10 of the 7th edition of the APA manual (p. 320).

• Newspaper Articles

• Artwork & Art Exhibitions
• Blog Post
• ChatGPT / Large Language Models
• Conference Presentation
• Conference Proceedings
• Data Sets
• Dictionary (Online and In-Print)
• Dissertation or Thesis (Published)
• Dissertation or Thesis (Unpublished)
• ERIC Database
• Fact Sheet
• Film & Television
• Images (Clip Art or Stock Images)
• Legal Resources:
  • In most cases, the APA defers to The Bluebook, a reference for legal citations.
• Open Educational Resource (OER)
• Personal Communications (i.e. Email)
• Podcast
• PowerPoint Slide or Lecture Note
• Press Release
• Report by a Government Agency
• Report with Individual Authors
• Social Media:
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Online Forum (i.e. Reddit)
  • TikTok
  • X [formerly Twitter]
  • YouTube
• Tables & Figures 
  • See also: Table & Figure Style Guidelines for how to format your own data
• TED Talk
• Webpage on a Website
• Whole Websites

Important Note on Citing Business Resources:

While the APA offers specific guidelines for citing common publication formats, certain business-related materials may contain details that deviate from standard APA style. As always, check with your professors to verify their preferences for APA citation formatting!

The examples provided below reflect QU Library's interpretation of APA rules. Remember to include a hanging indentation for subsequent lines in your References list.

From Database:

Microsoft Corporation. (2024, July 30). Form 10-K. Mergent Intellect.

From SEC / EDGAR Website:

Microsoft Corporation. (2024, July 30). Form 10-K. https://www.sec.gov

From Company's Website:

Microsoft Corporation. (2024, July 30). Form 10-K. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/investor/sec-filings

Dun & Bradstreet. (2024, July 22). Computer software [Industry profile]. D&B First Research.

General Format:

Author(s). (Year). Title of case study: Subtitle of case study. HBS No. number of case study. City, State abbreviation or Country of publication: Publisher. Optional URL

Examples:

Eisenmann, T., & Herman, K. (2006). Google, Inc. HBS No. 9-806-105. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Groysberg, B., & Connolly, K. (2015). BlackRock: Diversity as a driver for success. HBS No. 415-047. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.

Faber, T. (2023, November). Software publishing in the US: US Industry Report 51121. Retrieved October 18, 2024, from IBISWorld.

IBISWorld. (n.d.). Microsoft Corporation: US Company Benchmarking Report 348519. Retrieved October 18, 2024, from IBISWorld.

Dun & Bradstreet. (n.d.). Microsoft Corporation [Company report]. Retrieved October 21, 2024, from D&B Key Business Ratios.

Dun & Bradstreet. (n.d.). SIC: 5734 - computer and software stores [Industry report]. Retrieved October 21, 2024, from D&B Key Business Ratios.

FTSE Russell. (2024, October 17). Microsoft Corporation [Company profile]. Mergent Market Atlas.

Mergent. (n.d.). Microsoft Corporation [Company profile]. Retrieved October 18, 2024, from Mergent Intellect.

Euromonitor International. (2024, September). Where consumers shop for consumer appliances [Industry report]. Passport.

Euromonitor International. (2024, September). Travel in Mexico [Country report]. Passport.

Microsoft. (2024, July 30). Microsoft's annual revenue worldwide from FY 2002 to FY 2024 (in billion U.S. dollars) [Graph]. Statista.

Statista includes citations for all its content. Look for the quotation mark (") icon to find the citation generator. You may need to manually adjust the citation to adhere to proper APA formatting. See example above.

Seibert, J.E., III. (2024, August 2). Computer software [Industry report]. Value Line.
Uckert, K. (2024, August 2). Microsoft [Company report]. Value Line.

• Begin the reference list on a new page. The word 'References' is bolded and centered on the first line.
• Alphabetize references by the last name of the first author.
  • In the case of authors with multiple papers, use the publication date to order those papers. HOWEVER, if the order of the authors is different, use that to order papers first.
  • If there is no author, use the title of the work.​
• Provide surnames and initials for up to and including 20 authors. 
  • When there are 21 or more authors, list the first 19, insert an ellipses (...) and then add the final author's name. 
• A group author may be included as an author. This could include government agencies, associations, non-profit organizations, hospitals, task forces, etc. A group author may publish on its own or in conjunction with individuals or other groups.
  • Spell out the full name of the group author in the reference list followed by a period: American Music Association. 
  • When there are multiple layers of, for example, government agencies listed as the author, use the most specific agency as the author in the reference list entry. Only use the parent agency if it would cause confusion to use the most specific agency.
    • The names of the parent agencies can appear as the publisher if that is part of the reference list entry. ​
• The entire reference list should be double-spaced.
• The first line of a reference should have normal alignment. All subsequent lines of a single reference should have a hanging indentation (indented .5 inches from the margin).
• Use a comma before the ampersand, even with only two authors (Lerner, R. C., & Lerner, C. G.)
• Each work cited in the text must appear in the reference list, and each work in the reference list must be cited in text.

For an example of a reference list, please visit: 

• Annotated student paper - Final two pages have a reference list example

What Is a DOI?

Some electronic content like journal articles are assigned a unique number called a Digital Object Identifier (DOI). The DOI allows things to be uniquely identified and accessed reliably. With a DOI, you know what you have, where it is, and others can track it too.