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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For short quotations (fewer than 40 words)
You should incorporate the quotation into the text of your work and enclose within double quotation marks. If the quotation appears at the end of a sentence, close the quoted passage with quotation marks and cite the source in brackets immediately after the quotation marks, for example:
Although there is little law that affects the appraisal process "it can nevertheless have an indirect impact in that individual appraisal records inform decisions in the fields of promotion, payment, dismissal, access to benefits and access to training opportunities" (Taylor, 2002, p. 259).
He stated, "the relative importance of the systems may nevertheless remain in approximately the same proportion" (Gardner, 1973, p. 41).
Smith (1991) found that "there is no evidence that chimpanzees can produce a drawing and discern the object represented in it" (p. 84).
For longer quotations (40 or more words)
You should place the quotation in a separate block of text, omit the quotation marks and start on a new line. Indent the block by 1.3cm (0.5 inches ) from the left margin. The quotation should be double-spaced. At the end of a block quotation, cite the quoted source and the page number in the brackets after the final punctuation mark, for example:
In practice, the law does not intervene to any great extent in the performance appraisal process itself, but it can nevertheless have an indirect impact in that individual appraisal records inform decisions in the field of promotion, payment, dismissal, access to benefits and access to training opportunities. (Taylor, 2002, p. 259)
Quotations with part omitted or material inserted
Use ellipses to indicate that you have left out material from a quotation. Type three full stops, with a space before and after each full stop, if the omitted words are within a sentence:
"Irrespective of which . . . is examined, clear evidence was obtained" (Roughan, 2000, p. 72).
Type four full stops to indicate omitted material between two sentences (a full stop for the sentence, followed by three spaced full stops . . . . ). Use square brackets to enclose material inserted in a quotation by some person other than the original writer:
"where [their own and others'] behaviours were analysed individually" (Roughan, 2000, p. 72).