APA 7
APA 7th Edition is the most commonly used referencing style here at the University of Portsmouth. Below you will find general guidance on how to reference and cite using APA 7th Edition, as well as examples for the specific sources you are likely to use in your assignments.
Your department or lecturer may prefer you to reference sources differently from the guidance given here. Always follow the requirements of your department or lecturer.
External visitors are welcome to use this guide, but note that your institution's requirements may differ from those suggested here.
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Print book with a single author
Reference
Author, Initials. (Year of publication). Title (Edition number if it is not the first edition). Publisher.
Moloney, E. (2007). A secret history of the IRA (2nd ed.). Penguin.
In-text Citation
For information about the use of page numbers within in-text citations, please see our guidance here.
It could be argued that… (Moloney, 2007).
Moloney (2007, p. 98) states that...
For examples of books with multiple authors please click 'more' below.
more
Print book with two authors
Reference
Author, Initials., & Author, Initials. (Year of publication). Title (Edition number if it is not the first edition). Publisher.
Barber, P., & Robertson, D. (2015). Essentials of pharmacology for nurses (3rd ed.). Open University Press.
In-text Citation
For sources with two authors, you should use both authors' surnames in each citation. If the citation is inside brackets, use an ampersand (&) between the names. If they are in the text of your work, use 'and' between them.
For information about the use of page numbers within in-text citations, please see our guidance here.
It is recommended that… (Barber & Robertson, 2015, p. 94).
Barber and Robertson (2015, p. 94) state that...
Print book with more than two authors
Reference
Author, Initials., Author, Initials., & Author, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of book (Edition number if it is not the first edition). Publisher.
Gaspari, R. J., Sierzenski, P. R., & Fox, J. C. (2006). Emergency ultrasound: Principles and practice. Mosby Elsevier.
In-text citation
For sources with three or more authors, you only need to state the name of the first author, followed by 'et al.'
'et al.' is plural, meaning "and others".
For information about the use of page numbers within in-text citations, please see our guidance here.
It could be suggested that… (Gaspari et al., 2006).
Gaspari et al. (2006, p. 78) demonstrate that…