How to cite using APA in the Health Sciences

Elements for a Drug Monograph

Author. (Date). Title [Drug information]. Database. Retrieved date, from log-in URL 

Example 

Canadian Pharmacists Association. (2022). Acetaminophen [Drug information]. CPS. Retrieved February

24, 2024, from https://cps.pharmacists.ca/

Elements for a Topic

Author. (Date). Title. Specific Database, Site name. Retrieved date, from log-in URL 

Example 

Kendrick J. (2022). Allergic rhinitis. Products for Minor Ailments, CPS. Retrieved September 2, 2022,

from https://cps.pharmacists.ca/

Formatting for Drug Monographs

• CPS Drug Monographs are formatted like the drug information example on the APA website.
• Author: Treat the copyright holder of the article as the author. For CPS Drug Monographs, this is the Canadian Pharmacists Association.
• Date: Use the most recent year of publication/revision/update.
• Title: Provide the title of the drug information (usually the name of the drug) in italic sentence case. Include "Drug information" in square brackets (not italicized) after the title.
• Source: Provide "CPS" as the database source. 
• Include a retrieval date because the content is designed to change over time and versions of the page are not archived.
• Provide a URL for the drug information. Do not add a period at the end.

Formatting for Topics

• CPS Topics refer to any other article found on CPS that isn't a Drug Monograph. Topics are formatted like the UpToDate article example on the APA website, with the addition of the specific database to indicate precisely where information was sourced.
• Author: Treat the copyright holder of the article as the author. Topics usually have various authors.
• Date: Use the most recent year of publication/revision/update.
• Title: Provide the title of the topic in sentence case.
• Source: Italicize the source information. Specify which database you retrieved the information from (e.g. "Products for Minor Ailments", "Therapeutic Choices", etc.) Provide "CPS" as the site. 
• Include a retrieval date because the content is designed to change over time and versions of the page are not archived.
• Provide a URL for the drug information. Do not add a period at the end.

What is the difference between sentence and title case? Find out in Formatting Tips.

In ClinicalKey, there are two main locations to find information on what specific database you are using.

On Search Page

On Article Page 

Don't leave it blank! Find out how to properly indicate that information is missing from one of your reference elements by reading more about missing information.

Information on this page was adapted from "Chapter 10: Reference List", in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), as well as the APA webpage, "Reference Lists".