APA Citation Guide

The Radford University Marketing Department has adopted the citation style established by the American Psychological Association (APA) for documenting sources used in papers assigned by departmental faculty. APA style requires both in‐text citations and a reference list. For every in‐text citation, there should be a full citation in the reference list and vice versa. The examples provided are for the most common types of sources used in student‐based research. For additional examples or more detailed information about the APA citation style, you may refer to the following sites:

If you are unsure about something, ask the professor for the class in which you are preparing the paper.

Reference Citations in Text

There are two types of in‐text citations:

  1. Direct quotations where you use the author’s exact words.
  2. Paraphrasing where you are using an idea from another work.
    In APA style, in‐text citations are placed within sentences and paragraphs so that it is clear what
    information is being quoted or paraphrased and whose information is being cited.

Quoting Directly from a Work

If you are quoting directly from a work, you need to include the author, year of publication and the page number for the reference (preceded by “p.”). If you are citing from an electronic source that does not provide page numbers, use the paragraph number, if available, preceded by the paragraph symbol (¶) or the abbreviation “para.”. If there are no paragraph numbers, cite the heading and the number of the paragraph following it to direct the reader to the location of the material.

Examples of Citation in Short Quotations from a Printed Source

According to Stanton (2006), “Marketing is good stuff” (p. 35).
“Marketing is good stuff” (Stanton, p. 35).

Example of Citation in Long Quotations (more than 40 words) from a Printed Source – these quotes should be in a free‐standing block without quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented five spaces from the left margin. The parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.

As Al‐Khatib, Stanton & Rawwas noted (2005):
Suspicious Shoppers believe that others may take advantage of them if the situation were to present itself. This group also tends to think that morality may be situational‐specific. Interestingly, though, Suspicious Shoppers are quite idealistic. They do not wish to do anything that might hurt others. While it seems that this idealistic tendency is in conflict with their relativistic beliefs, it more clearly delineates this group’s lack of trust. While Suspicious Shoppers are not likely to engage in unethical actions themselves, they may choose to not be completely forthright in their disclosures with others for fear of being exploited. (p. 239)

Paraphrasing from a Work

Works by a Single Author

The last name of the author and the year of publication are inserted in the text at the appropriate point.

Marketers must design products that are globally focused (Tong, 2001)

If the name of the author or the date appears as part of the narrative text, cite only the missing
information in parentheses.

Examples:

Tong (2001) believed that………
In 2001 Tong asserted that…….

Works by Multiple Authors

When a work has two authors, always cite both names every time the reference occurs in the text.
When the names of the authors are enclosed in parentheses, join the names with an ampersand (&)
rather than the word “and”.

…..as occurs in theory (Taylor & Tong, 1999)

If the name of the author appears in the text, be sure to include the year the article was published in
parentheses and join the names with the word “and”.

…..as Taylor and Tong (1999) demonstrated…..

If a work cited has three or more authors, cite all authors at the first mention. In all subsequent
citations, include only the surname of the first author followed by “et al.” (this is Latin for “and others”)
along with the year of publication.

Example of First Mention: Bienstock, Stanaland, & Stanton (2004) found……..

Example of Subsequent Mention: Bienstock, et al. (2004) found……..

Works with No Author

If you are citing a work with no author listed, use the first two or three words of the work’s title
(omitting any initial articles such as The, A, An, etc.) as your text reference, capitalizing each word. Place
the title in quotation marks if it refers to an article/chapter in a book or a document/page on a web site.
Italicize the title if it refers to a book, periodical, brochure, or report.

Example of chapter/article in book/web page: ….marketing is everyone’s business (“Marketing
is Everywhere,” 1999)

Example of book/report/periodical/brochure: Consumer behavior is grounded in psychological
principles (Guide to Consumer Behavior, 2002).

Creating a Reference List

Some overall guidelines:

  1. Order: Reference entries should be arranged in alphabetical order by authors' last names.
    Sources without authors are arranged alphabetically by title within the same list.
  2. Authors: Write out the last name and initials for all authors of a particular work. Use an
    ampersand (&) instead of the word "and" when listing multiple authors of a single work. e.g.
    Smith, J. D., & Jones, M.
  3. Titles: Capitalize only the first word of a title or subtitle, and any proper names that are part of
    a title.
  4. Pagination: Use the abbreviation p. or pp. to designate page numbers of articles from
    periodicals that do not use volume numbers, especially newspapers. These abbreviations are
    also used to designate pages in encyclopedia articles and chapters from edited books.
  5. Indentation: The first line of the entry is flush with the left margin, and all subsequent lines are
    indented (5 to 7 spaces) to form a "hanging indent".
  6. Underlining vs. Italics: It is appropriate to use italics instead of underlining for titles of books
    and journals.

A couple of specifics for online resources:

  1. Website URL: A stable URL should be included and should direct the reader as close as possible
    to the actual work. If the URL is not stable, as is often the case with online newspapers and
    some subscription‐based databases, use the home page of the site you retrieved the work from.
  2. Date: If the work is a finalized version published and dated, the date within the main body of
    the citation is enough. However, if the work is not dated and/or is subject to change, use the
    abbreviation (n.d.) and include the date that you retrieved the information.

References for Printed Articles (Paper Version) in Journals, Magazines and Newspapers

References to periodical articles must include the following elements: author(s), date of publication,
article title, journal title, volume number, issue number (if applicable), and page numbers.

Journal Article

Tong, H., & Taylor, R. J. (2008). Marketing lessons that will help shape the future. Journal of Marketing,
33 (2), 189‐196.

Magazine Article

Thakkar, M. (2007, March 27). Online retailing adventures. Business Week, 171 (4), 54‐60.

Newspaper Article

Thorton, T. (2009, January 7). RU’s doctor of nursing practice gets state OK. The Roanoke Times, pp. B3, B12.

Newspaper Article (no author)

Whatever happens in 2009, it will definitely not be a boring year for the economy. (2009, January 2). The
Wall Street Journal, p. A9.

Newspaper Article (article contained on multiple, discontinuous pages)

Delaney, K. J., Karnitschnig, M., & Guth, R. A. (2008, May 5). Microsoft ends pursuit of Yahoo, reassesses
its online options. The Wall Street Journal, pp. A1, A12.

References for Printed Books

References to an entire book must include the following elements: author(s) or editor(s), date of
publication, title, place of publication, and the name of the publisher.

No Author

Merriam‐Webster's collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (2003). Springfield, MA: Merriam‐Webster.

Authored Text

Lollar, J. G., & Schirr, G. R. (2006). Professional selling in the pharmaceutical industry: A primer (2nd ed.). Boston: McGraw‐Hill/Irwin.

Edited Book

Stanaland, A. J. S., & Webster, L. (Eds.). (2004). Corporate communication and marketing promotions.
San Francisco: Josey‐Bass.

Essays or Chapters in Edited Books

References to an essay or chapter in an edited book must include the following elements: essay or
chapter authors, date of publication, essay or chapter title, book editor(s), book title, essay or chapter
page numbers, place of publication, and the name of the publisher.

Stanton, A. D., & Rao, C. P. (2000). Macrosegmentation schemes for the emerging eastern European and former soviet countries. In E. D. Hunnicutt & J. B. Ford (Eds.) Globalization and its managerial implications (pp. 127‐143). New York: Quorum Books.

References for Online/Internet Sources

The APA states two guidelines that should be followed when citing online/Internet sources:

  1. The reader should be directed as closely as possible to the information being cited – this means
    you should use the URL for the specific page from which you find the information rather than a
    site’s home page.
  2. Make sure the URLs provided work.

At a minimum, references for online/Internet sources should include:

  • The document title or description
  • The date the document was published or the date of retrieval
  • The URL/web address of the page from which the work was cited

Many URLs are long and may exceed the end of a line. Do NOT hyphenate a URL; instead, break them
either before a period or after a slash.

Internet Article Based on a Print Source ‐ using the online version of an available in‐print journal,
periodical, magazine, etc. retrieved directly from the source’s web site. You should include the names of
the authors, date of publication, article title followed by [Electronic version], title of publication, volume
number and page numbers.

Artis, A. B. (2008, August). Improving marketing students’ reading comprehension with the SQ3R
method [Electronic version]. Journal of Marketing Education, 30, 130‐137.

Article from an Online‐Only Journal, Magazine, etc.

Lanier, Jr., C. D., & Saini, A. (2008). Understanding consumer privacy: A review and future directions.
Academy of Marketing Science Review, 12. Retrieved January 6, 2009, from
http://www.amsreview.org/articles/lanier02‐2008.pdf.

Electronic Copy of a Journal Article Retrieved from a Database – you should use this format when you
retrieve a journal article from a library database.

Ozeum, W., Howell, K. E., & Lancaster, G. (2008). Communicating in the new interactive marketspace.
European Journal of Marketing, 42 (9/10), 1059‐1083. Retrieved January 5, 2009 from
ABI/INFORM database.

Newspaper Article Retrieved Online

Johnson, R. (2009, January 4). Economic survival guide: How to make a budget. The Roanoke Times.
Retrieved from http://www.roanoke.com/wb/xp‐190003.

Electronic Book – you should use this if the book is only available online.

De Huff, E.W. Taytay’s tales: Traditional Pueblo Indian tales. Retrieved from
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/dehuff/taytay/taytay.html

Web Document, Web Page or Report ‐ you should list the author (if no author is available, the name of
the web site), date of publication (if not listed, use n.d. for no date), title of document or web
page, the retrieval date and the URL from which the source was retrieved.

Quiznos. (n.d.). Our History. Retrieved October 16, 2006. Retrieved from
http://www.quiznos.com/corporate/history.asp.