REFERENCING WITH APA STYLE

APA style uses an author-date citation to cite works of others and it requires both in-text citation and a reference list.
 In-Text Citation (In the body of text) - This style of citation enables readers to locate the source of
information in the alphabetical reference list.
 Reference List (At the end of paper) - Reference list provides the information necessary to identify and
retrieve each source.

BOOKS

(i) ONE AUTHOR

In-Text Citation
Haig (2001) examined the effects…..
…..transform business globally (Haig, 2001).

Reference List
Author’s Name. (Year). Title of book (Edition). Place of publication: Publisher.

Haig, M. (2001). The B2B e-commerce handbook: How to transform your business-to-business global
marketing strategy. London: Kogan Page.

(ii) TWO AUTHORS

In-Text Citation
Boone and Kurtz (2001) explained the impact…..
…..environment and culture (Boone & Kurtz, 2001).

Reference List
1st Author’s Name, & 2nd Author’s Name. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle of book (Edition). Place of
publication: Publisher.

Boone, L. E., & Kurtz, D. (2001). Contemporary marketing (10th ed.). Forth Worth, TX: Harcourt Colleges
Publishers.

(iii) THREE TO FIVE AUTHORS

In-Text Citation
Allen, Kania and Yaeckel (2001) assessed relationship marketing…..
……called mass customization (Allen, Kania, & Yaeckel, 2001).

Reference List
1st Author’s Name, 2nd Author’s Name, 3rd Author’s Name, 4th Author’s Name, & 5th Author’s Name.
(Year). Title of book: Subtitle of book (Edition). Place of publication: Publisher.

Allen, C., Kania, D., & Yaeckel, B. (2001). One-to-one web-marketing: Build a relationship marketing
strategy one customer at a time (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley.

(iv) SIX OR SEVEN AUTHORS

In-Text Citation
Harrison et al. (2005) compared two records…..
…..in the bank (Harrison et al., 2005).

Reference List

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 1st Author’s Name, 2nd Author’s Name, 3rd Author’s Name, 4th Author’s Name, 5th Author’s Name, 6th
Author’s Name, & 7th Author’s Name. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle of book (Edition). Place of
publication: Publisher.

Harrison, W. T. Jr., Horngren, C. T., Ismail, Z., Chng, C. K., Samad, F., & Mak, Y. T. (2005). Financial
accounting in Singapore and Malaysia. Singapore: Prentice Hall.

(v) EIGHT OR MORE AUTHORS

In-Text Citation
Barrett et al. (2012) listed all the…..
…..the title page (Barrett et al., 2012).

Reference List
The first six (6) authors’ names should be included follow by using ellipsis points (...) before citing last
author’s name.

1st Author’s Name, 2nd Author’s Name, 3rd Author’s Name, 4th Author’s Name, 5th Author’s Name, 6th
Author’s Name, ... Last Author’s Name (Year). Title of book: Subtitle of book (Edition). Place of
publication: Publisher.

Barrett, J. M., Smith, V., Wilson, R. T., Haley, V. A., Clarke, P., Palmer, N. B., … Fraser, D. (2012). How to
cite references in APA style. Christchurch, New Zealand: University of Canterbury Library.

(vi) EDITED BOOKS

In-Text Citation
Duncan and Brooks-Gunn (1997) related the poor…..
…..and poor people (Duncan & Brooks-Gunn, 1997).

Reference List
Editor’s Name (Ed). (Year). Title of book: Subtitle of book. Place of publication: Publisher.

Duncan, G. J. & Brooks-Gunn, J. (Eds.). (1997). Consequences of growing up poor. New York: Russell
Sage Foundation.

(vii) BOOKS WITH CORPORATE AUTHOR

(a) Corporate Author as Publisher (Without Abbreviation)
In-Text Citation
 American Psychiatric Association (1994) outlined psychiatric mental…..
 …..mental health needs (American Psychiatric Association, 1994).

Reference List
Corporate Author’s Name. (Year). Title of book (Edition). Place of publication: Author.

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.).
Washington, DC: Author.

(b) Corporate Author (Without Abbreviation)

In-Text Citation
 Institute of Financial Education (1982) predicted the financial…..
 …..managing funds personally (Institute of Financial Education, 1982).

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 Reference List
Corporate Author’s Name. (Year). Title of book (Edition). Place of publication: Author.

Institute of Financial Education. (1998). Managing personal funds. Chicago: Midwestern.

(c) Corporate Author (With Abbreviation)

In-Text Citation
 Ministry of Health [MOH] (2012) revised the policy…..
 …..with thorough examination (Ministry of Health [MOH], 2012).

Subsequent citations
 MOH (2012) stated …..
 ….. (MOH, 2012).

Reference List
Corporate Author’s Name. (Year). Title of book (Edition). Place of publication: Publisher.

Ministry of Health (2009). Guidelines for resuscitation training in Ministry of Health Malaysia hospitals
and healthcare facilities. Putrajaya, Malaysia: Author.

(viii) CHAPTERS IN BOOKS

In-Text Citation
Smith (2006) developed complementary methods…..
…..the conventional methods (Smith, 2006).

Reference List
Author’s Name. (Year). Title of chapter: Subtitle of chapter. In Editor’s Name, Title of book: Subtitle of
book (Edition, pp. first page–last page of the chapter). Place of publication: Publisher.

Smith, M. L. (2006). Multiple methodology in education research. In J. L. Green, G. Camilli, & P. B.

Elmore (Eds.), Handbook of complementary methods in education research (pp. 457-475).
Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

(ix) ELECTRONIC BOOKS

(a) Without Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
In-Text Citation
Miller (2008) stated the careers…..
…..the nature lovers (Miller, 2008).

Reference List
Author’s Name. (Year). Title of book. Retrieved from URL

Miller, L. (2008). Careers for nature lovers & other outdoor types. Retrieved from
http://www.ebscohost.com

(b) With Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

In-Text Citation
Chaffe-Stengel and Stengel (2012) compared the working…..
…..they are exploring (Chaffe-Stengel & Stengel, 2012).

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 Reference List

Author’s Name. (Year). Title of book. URL / DOI.

Chaffe-Stengel, P., & Stengel, D. (2012). Working with sample data: Exploration and inference.
http://dx.doi.org/10.4128/9781606492147

UNPUBLISHED DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS AND MASTER’ S THESES

(i) UNPUBLISHED DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS AND MASTER’ S THESES

In-Text Citation
Maddigan (2010) found women in…..
…..of career development (Maddigan, 2010).

Reference List
Author’s Name. (Year). Title of doctoral dissertation / master thesis: Subtitle of doctoral dissertation /
master thesis (Unpublished doctoral dissertation/ Unpublished master’s thesis). University Name,
Place.

Maddigan, P. (2010). Women and career advancement: A case study in the Australian Federal Police
(Unpublished master's thesis). Victoria University, Melbourne, Australia.

(ii) DOCTORAL DISSERTATIONS AND MASTER’ S THESES IN PROQUEST DISSERTATIONS

AND THESES DATABASE AND OBTAINED FROM UMI

In-Text Citation
Wehnert (2009) concluded that TQM…..
…..implementation of TQM (Wehnert, 2009).

Reference List
Author’s Name. (Year). Title of doctoral dissertation /master thesis: Subtitle of doctoral dissertation /
master thesis. (Doctoral dissertation/ Master’s thesis). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and
Theses Database. (UMI No.)

Wehnert, U. E. (2009). Implementing TQM cross-culturally: A mediated model of national culture

dimensions, TQM values and organizational performance. (Doctoral dissertation). Available from
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Database. (UMI No. 3361225)

ARTICLES IN PERIODICAL (JOURNAL, NEWSPAPER, MAGAZINE)

(i) PRINT JOURNAL ARTICLES

In-Text Citation
Freeman (2000) supported the view…..
…..of Malaysian market (Freeman, 2000).

Reference List
Author’s Name. (Year). Title of article in the journal. Title of Journal: Subtitle of Journal, Volume(Issue),
first page-last page of the article.

Freeman, S. (2000). Industry environment: Influence on performance of small-medium sized enterprise in

Asia-Pacific markets. Asian Academy of Management Journal, 5(2), 96-113.

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(ii) JOURNAL ARTICLES IN PRESS*
*In press means that a paper has been accepted for publication by a journal.

In-Text Citation
Gary (in press) rated customer satisfaction…..
…..achieve higher rate (Gary, in press).

Reference List
Gary, J. L. (in press). An empirical study on the effects of job satisfaction on behavioral intentions. Journal
of Satisfaction Studies.

(iii) ELECTRONIC JOURNAL ARTICLES

(a) Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
In-Text Citation
Kenneth (2000) investigated the issues…..
…..their human right (Kenneth, 2000).

Reference List
Author’s Name. (Year). Title of article in the journal. Title of Journal: Subtitle of Journal, Volume(Issue),
first page-last page of the article. Retrieved from URL

Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human right. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 8.
Retrieved from http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html

(b) Database
In-Text Citation
Dabney and Tzeng (2013) identified dimensions of…..
…..service quality dimensions (Dabney & Tzeng, 2013).

Reference List
Author’s Name. (Year). Title of article in the journal. Title of Journal: Subtitle of Journal, Volume(Issue),
first page-last page of the article. Retrieved from Database

Dabney, B. W., & Tzeng, H. (2013). Service quality and patient-centered care. MEDSURG Nursing, 22(6),
359-364. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier Database

(c) Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

In-Text Citation
Juárez (2014) contrasted the findings…..
…..financial statement analyses ( Juárez, 2014).

Reference List

Author’s Name. (Year). Title of article in the journal. Title of Journal: Subtitle of Journal, Volume(Issue),
first page-last page of the article. DOI.

Juárez, F. (2014). Review of the principles of complexity in business administration and application in
financial statements. African Journal of Business Management, 8(2), 48-54. doi:
10.5897/AJBM2013.7274x.

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(iii) NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
In-Text Citation
Romann (2014) commented on the…..
…..and Singapore government (Romann, 2014).

Reference List
Author’s Name (Year, Month Day Published). Article title. Newspaper Title, first page-last page of the
article.

Romann, A. (2014, January 10-16). Mixed outlook for Asian currencies. China Daily, p. 11.

(iv) NEWSPAPER ARTICLES (DISCONTINUOUS PAGES)

In-Text Citation
Schwartz (1993) wrote about the…..
…..and social problems (Schwartz, 1993).

Reference List
Author’s Name (Year, Month Day Published). Article title. Newspaper Title, first page, subsequent pages of
the article.

Schwartz, J. (1993, September 13). Obesity effects economic, social status. The Washington Post, pp. A1,
A4.

CONFERENCE PAPERS

(i) CONFERENCE PAPERS (PRINT)

In-Text Citation
Prayag and Ramjee (2009) related the research…..
…..in poultry production (Prayag & Ramjee, 2009).

Reference List
Author’s Name. (Year). Title of conference paper. In Editor’s Name (Ed.), Title of Conference/ Published
Proceedings (first page–last page of conference paper). Place of Publication: Publisher.

Prayag, I. L., & Ramjee, R. (2009). The impact of Newcastle disease control on smallholder poultry
production in Mauritius. In R. G. Alsers, P. B. Spadbrow, & M. P. Young (Eds.), Village chickens,
poverty alleviation and the sustainable control of Newcastle disease: Proceedings of an
international conference held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 5-7 October 2005 (pp. 132-134).
Canberra, ACT: Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

(ii) CONFERENCE PAPERS (ONLINE)

In-Text Citation
Tunon and Jensen (2012) recognized the importance…..
…..effective web-based presentation (Tunon & Jensen, 2009).

Reference List
Author’s Name. (Year). Title of conference paper. In Editor’s Name (Ed.), Title of Conference/ Published
Proceedings (first page–last page of conference paper). Place of Publication: Publisher. Retrieved
from URL.

Tunon, J. &, Jensen. J. (2012). Free and easy web-based presentation and classroom tools. In T. J. Peters
(Ed.), Proceedings of the 15th annual Distance Library Services Conference, Mempis, TN.

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 Retrieved from http://ocls.cmich.edu/conf2012/

(iii) UNPUBISHED CONFERENCE PAPERS

In-Text Citation
Portman (2000) reviewed the effectiveness…..
…..playing computer games (Portman, 2000).

Reference List
Author’s Name. (Year, Month). Title of conference paper. Paper presented at the Title of Conference:
Subtitle of Conference, Place.

Portman, J. (2000, May). Teaching learners English using video games. Paper presented at the 3 rd
International Conference on Computer-Assisted Language Learning, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

PERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS

(i) The initials as well as the surname of the communicators are usually provided as exact a date as possible
Personal communications such as e-mail, letter, memos, personal interviews, telephone conversations are
not included in the reference list because they do not provide recoverable data.

In-Text Citation
 J. J. Tommy (personal communication, November 15, 2013) described university education …..
 ….. the undergraduate students (J. J. Tommy, personal communication, November 15, 2013).

Reference List
N/A

SECONDARY REFERENCED PAPERS

(i) Secondary referenced papers are papers where the work of an author is learnt from the work of other
author(s).

In-Text Citation
 Stake (as cited in Cano, 2012) pointed out the…..
 …..and primary schools (Stake, as cited in Cano, 2012).

Reference List
Cano, E. V. (2012). Mobile learning with Twitter to improve linguistic competence at secondary schools.
The Educational Review, 29(3), 134-147.

QUOTATION OF SOURCES

(i) A short quotation has fewer than 40 words and the quotation should be enclosed with double quotation
marks.

In-Text Citation
 They stated, “The four scales that can be applied to the measurement of variables are the nominal,
ordinal, interval, and ratio scales” (Sekaran & Bougie, 2009, p.148).
 Sekaran and Bougie (2009) highlighted that “the four scales that can be applied to the
measurement of variables are the nominal, ordinal, interval, and ratio scales” (p. 148).

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 Reference List
Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2009). Research Methods for Business: A skill building approach (5th ed).
Chichester, West Sussex: Wiley.

(ii) A quotation of 40 or more words should be displayed in a freestanding block of typewritten lines and the
quotation marks must be omitted. Start such a block quotation on a new line, and indent the block about 0.5
in. (1.3 cm or five spaces) from the left margin. The entire quotation should be double-spaced.

In-Text Citation
 Sekaran and Bougie (2009) explained the following:
A Pearson correlation matrix will indicate the direction, strength, the significance of the
bivariate relationships among all the variables that were measured at an interval or ratio
level. The correlation is derived by assessing the variations in one variable as another
variable also varies. (p. 321)

Reference List
Sekaran, U., & Bougie, R. (2009). Research Methods for Business: A skill building approach (5th ed). West
Sussex: John Wiley & Son Ltd.

AUTHORS WITH SAME SURNAME

(i) The first author’s initials have to be included in all text citations, even if the year of publication differs

In-Text Citation
 C. Oliver (1990) and R. L. Oliver (1980) classified satisfaction as…..
 …..customer satisfaction models (C. Oliver, 1990; R. L. Oliver, 1980).

Reference List
Oliver, C. (1990). Determinants of interorganizational relationships: Integration and future directions.
Academy of Management Review, 15, 241-265.
Oliver, R. L. (1980). A cognitive model of the antecedents and consequences of satisfaction decisions.
Journal of Marketing Research, 17, 460-469.

AUTHORS WITH TWO OR MORE PAPERS IN THE SAME YEAR

(i) Lower case letters have to be used to differentiate between papers published in the same year this author.

In-Text Citation
 Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1991a) and Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry (1991b)
proposed the model…..
 …..of service quality (Parasuraman, Zeithaml and Berry, 1991a; Parasuraman, Zeithaml and
Berry, 1991b).

Reference List
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1991a). Refinement and reassessment of the
SERVQUAL scale. Journal of Retailing, 67, 420-450.
Parasuraman, A., Zeithaml, V. A., & Berry, L. L. (1991b). Understanding customer expectations of service.
Sloan Management Review, 32, 39-48.

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 MALAY, CHINESE, INDIAN & SIKH AUTHORS

(i) MALAY AUTHORS

For example, Raja Ahmad bin Ramli, Tun Zaidi Zainuddin and Datin Julilah binti Harun (1999)
In-Text Citation
 Raja Ahmad Ramli, Zaidi Zainuddin and Julilah Harun (1999) examined the strategies…..
 …..of diversification strategy (Raja Ahmad Ramli, Zaidi Zainuddin, & Juilah Harun, 1999).

Reference List
Raja Ahmad Ramli, Zaidi Zainuddin, & Julilah Harun (1999)…..

(ii) CHINESE AUTHORS

For example, Ooi Kee Seng, Lew Fook, Wang Su-Ling and Jenny Saw Lian See (2001)
In-Text Citation
 Ooi, Lew, Wang and Saw (2001) distinguished between the.....
 …..humorous and silly (Ooi, Lew, Wang & Saw, 2001).

Reference List
Ooi, K. S., Lew, F., Wang, S., & Saw, J. L. S. (2001)…..

(iii) INDIAN & SIKH AUTHORS

For example, Sharmila d/o Subramaniam, Ranjit Singh, Harvinder Kaur and Balakrishnan s/o Arokiasamy
(2000)
In-Text Citation
 Sharmila, Ranjit, Harvinder and Balakrishnan (2000) related the material.....
 …..in your life (Sharmila, Ranjit, Harvinder & Balakrishnan, 2000).

Reference List
Sharmila, S., Ranjit, S., Harvinder, K., & Balakrishnan, A. (2000)…..

ANONYMOUS AUTHOR

(i) ANONYMOUS AUTHOR

Cite in the text as “Anonymous” when the work’s author is designated as “Anonymous.”

In-Text Citation
 Anonymous (1994) explained the needs…..
 …..juniors and seniors (Anonymous, 1994).

Reference List
Anonymous. (1994). Where’s the beef? College seniors evaluate their undergraduate experience. Change,
26, 29-32.

ONLINE LECTURE NOTES / PRESENTATION SLIDES

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(i) (a) PDF
Use the abbreviation “n.d.” for “no date” when the date is not specified in the source.

In-Text Citation
 Hallam (n.d.) reorganized the theories…..
 …..of the theories (Hallam, n.d.).

Reference List
Author’s Name (n.d.). Title [PDF format]. Retrieved from URL

Hallam, A. (n.d.). Duality in consumer theory [PDF document]. Retrieved from Lecture Notes Online Web
site: http://www.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ501/Hallam/
index.pdf

(b) POWERPOINT SLIDES

In-Text Citation
 Roberts (1998) compared the environment…..
 …..of the regulations (Roberts, 1998).

Reference List
Author’s Name (Year). Title [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from URL

Roberts, K. F. (1998). Federal regulations of chemicals in the environment [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved
from http://siri.uvm.edu/ppt/40hrenv/index.html

WIKIS

(i) In-Text Citation

 Discrimination (n.d.) is defined as…..
 …..group or category (Discrimination, n.d.).

Reference List
Title (n.d.). In Wiki. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from URL

Discrimination. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 10, 2014, from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination

BLOG POST

(i) In-Text Citation

 Ewing (2014) stated that women…..
 …..poetry without inspiration (Ewing, 2014).

Reference List
Author’s Name (Year, Month Day). Title of article /post. Title of Blog [web log]. Retrieved from URL

Ewing, K. (2014, March 10). Celebrating inspiring women around the world. Google [web log]. Retrieved
from http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

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References

A beginner’s guide to the APA 6th ed. referencing style [PDF format]. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://library.ucol.ac.nz/~upload/Library%20Documents/APA_Beginners_Guide_6th_edition.pdf

American Psychological Association. (2012). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th
ed.). London: Author.

Concordia University Libraries. (2014). APA citation style. Retrieved from

https://library.concordia.ca/help/howto/apa.php

McAdoo, T. (2009). How to cite Wikipedia in APA style. Retrieved from

http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2009/10/how-to-cite-wikipedia-in-apa-style.html

Online Learning Lab. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

Swansea University. (2013). Referencing according to the APA 6th style [pdf FORMAT]. Retrieved from
https://blackboard.swan.ac.uk/bbcswebdav/pid-1044761-dt-content-rid-
1099009_4/institution/LibraryISSResources/Referencing%20Guides/Full%20APA%20referencing
%20guide.pdf

University of Canterbury Library. (n.d.). Referencing according to the APA 6th style [html FORMAT]. Retrieved
from http://library.canterbury.ac.nz/services/ref/apa/books.shtml

http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/apa_examples.cfm#e-books

University of Maryland University College. (n.d.). APA citation examples [html FORMAT]. Retrieved from
http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/apa_examples.cfm#e-books

Victoria University. (2014). APA referencing: A brief guide [html FORMAT]. Retrieved from
http://guides.library.vu.edu.au/content.php?pid=270421&sid=2230820

Zaiton, O, Abtar, K., Sharipah Hanon Bidin, Halimatolhanin Mohd Khalid, Harvinder, K., Hazna Ahmad, & Thami
Minusah Mohd Yusoff (2008). OUMH1103 Learning skills for open distance learners (1st ed.). Kuala
Lumpur: Open University Malaysia.

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