How to cite using APA in the Health Sciences

The APA Publication Manual has specific formatting requirements. Always check your work, and consult the APA webpage for paper formatting and mechanics of style for additional clarification on formatting details such as:

• Paper Format: Check with your instructor if they have specific formatting requirements for your paper or prefer that you follow APA guidelines.
• Punctuation: Do not overuse punctuation such as commas and dashes.
• Spelling:  Be consistent, whether you choose American or British (Canadian) English spelling. Check with your instructor if you are unsure. If using a direct quote, always keep the original spelling.
• Spacing: Ensure there is only one space after punctuation. 
• Capitalization/italics: What terms do/don’t need to be capitalized/italicized?
  • TIP!   Capitalize only:
    • The first letter of the first word,
    • Proper names,
    • Names of clinical trials or study groups
    • Abbreviations that are ordinarily capitalized (eg, DNA, EKG)

Sentence Case

• Capitalize proper nouns and the first letter in a title or subtitle (after a colon)
• Lowercase everything else
• When to capitalize:
  • the first word of the title or heading even if it is a minor word such as “The” or “A”
  • the first word of a subtitle even if it is a minor word such as “The” or “A”
  • the first word after a colon, dash, or end punctuation in a heading
  • nouns followed by numerals or letters in a title
  • proper nouns (such as the names of racial or ethnic groups, places, etc.)

Title Case

• Capitalize major words
  • Major words: Nouns, verbs (including linking verbs), adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and all words with four letters or more 
• Lowercase minor words
  • Minor words: Short words (three letters or less) such as conjunctions, articles, and prepositions
    • Common minor words:
      •  “and,” “as,” “but,” “for,” “if,” “nor,” “or,” “so,” “yet” (short conjunctions)
      • “a,” “an,” “the” (articles)
      • “at,” “by,” “for,” “in,” “of,” “off,” “on,” “per,” “to,” “up,” “via” (short prepositions)
• When to capitalize:
  • The first word of the title or heading, even if it is a minor word such as “The” or “A”
  • The first word of a subtitle 
  • The first word after a colon, dash, or end punctuation in a heading
  • The second part of hyphenated major words (e.g., “Self-Analysis,” not “Self-analysis”)
  • Words of four letters or more (e.g., “With,” “Between,” “From”)

Remember, an author can be an individual, multiple people, a group (institution, government agency, organization, etc.), or a combination of people and groups.

If you are missing author information, do not use "Anonymous"; refer to Missing Reference Information. Only use "Anonymous" as the author if this is the information provided by the publication.

In-Text

For individual authors

• Use only the author's last name.
• If they go by one name only, use it.

For multiple authors

• For more than one author, list the authors as they appear in the publication information.
• For two authors in a parenthetical citation, use an ampersand.
  • e.g. (Chen & Bezan, 2014)
• For two authors in a narrative citation, use the word "and".
  • e.g. Chen and Bezan (2014)
• Always use an ampersand between names in tables and figures, regardless of the citation type.
• For a work with three or more authors, only include the name of the first author followed by "et al."

For group authors

• Some groups can have their names abbreviated in-text.
• If the group name is first mentioned in-text without a citation, include the abbreviation in parentheses following the mention, and use the abbreviation in-text as well as in any citations that follow.
• If the group name is first mentioned in a parenthetical citation, include the abbreviation in square brackets, followed by a comma and the year.
  • e.g. (American Psychological Association [APA], 2019)
• If the group name is first mentioned in a narrative citation, supply the abbreviation in parentheses, followed by a comma and the year.
  • e.g. American Psychological Association (APA, 2019)

Reference List

For individual authors

• Use the author’s last name followed by their initial(s). If there is more than one initial, add a period immediately after the initial and then use one space before the next one. Omit the space before a hyphen.
  • e.g. Mannis, L.
• Retain original capitalization and hyphens.
  • e.g. Parker, M.-J.
  • van den Huy, R.C.
  • nichol, bp
• For authors who go buy a single name, use this name.

For multiple authors

• When listing multiple authors, name them in the order that they appear in the work's publication information.
• Include the last names and initials for up to 20 authors.
• Separate each author by a comma, and include an ampersand (&) before the last author's name.
  • e.g. Maher, M.P, & Walla, M.
  • e.g. Dyck, R., Garcia, L., Pulaski, G, & Benedictson, P.
• For 21 or more authors, include Include the last names and initials of the first 19 authors, add an ellipsis (...) and then add the final author's name. Omit the ampersand.

For group authors

• Include the full name of the group.
• Do not abbreviate or provide the acronym in brackets beside the group name.
  • e.g. American Psychological Association
  • e.g. Canadian Nurses Association

• Citations are placed inside of periods and commas and outside of colons and semicolons
• The exception is in a block quote, where citations appear outside of the final period.
• A passage can contain more than one citation
  • In a parenthetical citation, arrange in alphabetical order and include a semi-colon between each source. 
    • e.g. Patients with various kinds of glaucoma have been found to have normal aqueous humor production (Bakur 2021; Rosser et al., 2019).
  • There is no specific order in a narrative citation
    • e.g. According to Rosser et al. (2019) and Bakur (2021), patients with various kinds of glaucoma have been found to have normal aqueous humor production.

• The reference list must start on a new page, with a centered title, "References" in bold.
• Align the reference list to the left (flush left)
• Format the second line of an entry, and every line in it after, with a hanging indent
• Arrange the references alphabetically by the author name
• If there is more than one author, list them in the order they appear in the publication information
• Double space your reference list but do not add additional spaces between items
• There is never a period after the URL/DOI
• View the example reference list 

Sourced from the APA webpage, "Missing Reference Information"

Information on this page was adapted from contents on the APA webpage, "Style and Grammar Guidelines".