Recently, the American Psychological Association (APA) released an update to its publication manual. It seems to be more streamlined with fewer exceptions and has lots more examples. Note that we don’t need to start using it until spring 2020.
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). American Psychological Association.
A Few Highlights
Omit the Publisher’s Location
When citing a book there is no need to include the publisher’s location. Quite often it was a puzzle, as there could be more than one place mentioned on the title page.
Wood, C. (2014). Yardsticks: Child and adolescent development ages 4-14 (4th ed.).
Turners Falls, MA: Center for Responsive Schools.Wood, C. (2014). Yardsticks: Child and adolescent development ages 4-14 (4th ed.). Center for Responsive Schools.
Include the First Author’s Name and “et al.” for Three or More Authors
This is what it would look like when you cite three or more authors in the body of your assignment for the first and subsequent mentions. It’s not until you look at the reference list that you know how many authors there are. In the example below there are four.
In-Text Narrative
McNerney et al. (2020)In-Text Parenthetical
(McNerney et al., 2020)Reference List
McNerney, K., Carritt, D., Dealey, H., & Ladbury, G. (2020). Using a scientific enquiry framework, focusing on questions, to promote enquiry skills in early childhood. Early Child Development & Care, 190(1), 30–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2019.1653549
Omit the The Label “DOI:”
McNerney, K., Carritt, D., Dealey, H., & Ladbury, G. (2020). Using a scientific enquiry framework, focusing on questions, to promote enquiry skills in early childhood. Early Child Development & Care, 190(1), 30–42.
DOI: 10.1080/03004430.2019.1653549
Format DOIs the same as URLs.
Adding the prefix https://doi.org to a DOI (digital object identifiers) makes DOIs more useful to a reader, and takes them directly to the publisher’s website.
McNerney, K., Carritt, D., Dealey, H., & Ladbury, G. (2020). Using a scientific enquiry framework, focusing on questions, to promote enquiry skills in early childhood. Early Child Development & Care, 190(1), 30–42. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2019.1653549
Omit “Retrieved from,” from URLs
Only use this if a retrieval date is needed (e.g., for blog posts and wikis). Include the website name unless it’s the same as the author’s.
Cherry, K. (2019). Child development theories and examples.
Retrieved fromhttps://www.verywellmind.com/child-development-theories-2795068Cherry, K. (2019). Child development theories and examples. verywellmind. https://www.verywellmind.com/child-development-theories-2795068
Stay tuned – more to come!