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. 

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These sources can include definitions from dictionaries, and entries in thesauri, encyclopaedias and directories (both online and in print format).

Online entries

You should not give a publication date for this type of entry. You should instead give a retrieval date for when you looked at it, as entries are updated frequently.

 

Without author(s)

Reference

Title of entry. (n.d.). In Title of website. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL

Serial killer. (n.d.). In Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved May 11, 2021, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/serial-killer

 

In-text Citation

The title of the entry should be placed in double quotation marks within the citation.

If you want to cite a specific part of an entry, if you're using a direct quote for example, you can use paragraph numbers in your citation. You should use the abbreviation para. 

They can commonly be defined as... ("Serial killer", n.d.).

The definition of "Serial killer" (n.d., para. 1) includes... 

 

With author(s)

Reference

Author of entry, Initials. (n.d.). Title of entry. In Title of website. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL

Gordon Melton, J. (n.d.). Wicca. In Britannica. Retrieved May 11, 2021, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Wicca

 

In-text Citation

If you want to cite a specific part of an entry, if you're using a direct quote for example, you can use paragraph numbers in your citation. You should use the abbreviation para.

Wicca can be defined as ... (Gordon Melton, n.d.).

Gordon Melton (n.d., para. 1) defines Wicca as... 

 

With an organisation as the author

Reference

Author of entry. (n.d.). Title of entry. In Title of website. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (n.d.). Atropine sulfate. In British National Formulary. Retrieved December 31, 2022 from https://bnf.nice.org.uk/drugs/atropine-sulfate/

 

In-text Citation

If you want to cite a specific part of an entry, if you're using a direct quote for example, you can use paragraph numbers in your citation. You should use the abbreviation para.

If the organisation is known by an acronym, you can use this in your second or subsequent citation by following this guidance.

Atropine sulphate can be used for ... (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, n.d.).

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (n.d., para. 3) explains that... 

 

If you are referencing information from Credo, you are not required to include a 'retrieved from' date as these URLs are more stable than reference works on websites.

 

With author(s)

Reference

Author of entry, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of entry. In Initials, Editor(s) (Ed./Eds.), Title of reference work (Edition if any). Publisher. URL

Arnold, D. G. (2015). Business ethics. In R. Audi (Ed.), The Cambridge dictionary of philosophy (3rd ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/cupdphil/business_ethics/0?institutionId=129

 

In-text Citation

If you want to cite a specific part of an entry, if you're using a direct quote for example, you can use paragraph numbers in your citation. You should use the abbreviation para. 

It can be observed (Arnold, 2015) that... 

Arnold (2015, para. 4) defines this as... 

 

Without author(s)

Reference

Title of entry. (Year of publication). In Initials, Editor(s) (Ed./Eds.), Title of reference work (Edition if any). Publisher. URL

Marginalisation. (2017). In S. Butler (Ed.), The Macquarie dictionary (7th ed.). Macquarie Dictionary Publishers. https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/macqdict/marginalisation/0?institutionId=129

Portsmouth. (2005). In J. Ayto, I. Crofton, & P. Cavill (Eds.), Brewer's Britain and Ireland. Chambers Harrap. https://search.credoreference. com/content/entry/ orionbritainireland/ portsmouth/0?institutionId=129

 

In-text Citation

The title of the entry should be placed in double quotation marks within the citation.

If you want to cite a specific part of an entry, if you're using a direct quote for example, you can use paragraph numbers in your citation. You should use the abbreviation para.

It can be observed ("Marginalisation", 2017) that... 

"Portsmouth" (2005, para. 2) is defined as...

 

If the entry has a named author and is in a book with editor/s, please follow the guidance for a chapter in an edited ebook.

 

Entry with no named author in an edited ebook

Reference

The name(s) of the editor(s) of the book which appear within the reference need to be formatted slightly differently, with their initial before their surname.

Title of entry. (Year of publication). In Initials. Editor of book (Ed.), Title of book (pp. page numbers of chapter/section). Publisher. https://doi.org/ or URL

 

In-text Citation

The title of the entry should be placed in double quotation marks within the citation.

If the entry doesn't have any page numbers you can use paragraph numbers in place of pages if you need to use them. You should use para. in place of p. to show this is what you are doing. For information about the use of page and paragraph numbers within in-text citations, please see our guidance here.

 

Entry with a named author in an ebook without author(s) or editor(s)

Reference

Author of entry, Initials. (Year of publication). Title of entry. In Title of book (Edition if any, pp. start and end page numbers of entry if any). Publisher. https://doi.org/ or URL 

 

In-text Citation

Use the author of the entry and the year of publication to create this citation.

If the entry doesn't have any page numbers you can use paragraph numbers in place of pages if you need to use them. You should use para. in place of p. to show this is what you are doing. For information about the use of page and paragraph numbers within in-text citations, please see our guidance here.

 

Without author(s)

Reference

Title of entry. (Year of release). In Name of App (Version number) [Mobile app]. Publisher or App Store. URL.

Electrical injuries. (2019). In JRCALC Plus for Android (Version 1.2.4) [Mobile app]. Class Professional Publishing. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.co.classprofessional.cpg.ukascpg.jrcalcplus&hl=en

 

In-text Citation

The title of the entry should be placed in double quotation marks within the citation.

This can be defined as... ("Electrical injuries", 2019).

JRCALC describes "Electrical injuries" (2019) as... 

 

With author(s)

This is not likely to be common. Most mobile apps will not give an author for a reference entry.

 

Reference

Author, Initials. (Year of release). Title of entry. In Name of App (Version number) [Mobile app]. Publisher or App Store. URL.

 

In-text Citation

This can be described as... (Author, Year)

Author (Year) describes...

 

Print entries

If the entry has a named author and is in a book with editor/s, please follow the guidance for a chapter in an edited book.

 

Entry with no author or editor

Reference

Title of entry. (Year of publication). In Title of reference work (Edition if any, pp. start and end page numbers of entry if any). Publisher. 

Contagious. (2006). In Collins School Dictionary (3rd ed.). Collins.

 

In-text Citation

The title of the entry should be placed in double quotation marks within the citation.

If the entry doesn't have any page numbers you can use paragraph numbers in place of pages if you need to use them. You should use para. in place of p. to show this is what you are doing. For information about the use of page and paragraph numbers within in-text citations, please see our guidance here.

The definition describes... ("Contagious", 2006)

The definition of "Contagious" (2006) includes... 

 

Entry with no author in a book with editor(s)

Reference

Title of entry. (Year of publication). In Initials, Editor(s) of book (Ed./Eds.), Title of reference work (Edition if any, pp. start and end page numbers of entry if any). Publisher.

 

In-text Citation

The title of the entry should be placed in double quotation marks within the citation.

If the entry doesn't have any page numbers you can use paragraph numbers in place of pages if you need to use them. You should use para. in place of p. to show this is what you are doing. For information about the use of page and paragraph numbers within in-text citations, please see our guidance here.