Updated: Dec. 18, 2019
To ensure consistency for students, modifications to citation examples are made
only between semesters.
This guide is representative of the 6th edition Publication Manual of APA.
APA examples are not exhaustive and focus on referencing and citations. Assistance from your professor and/or Writing Centre is suggested for clarification.
Users are responsible for interpretation of APA style guidelines and to seek further assistance when necessary.
Effective October 1, 2019.
Georgian will be adopting the 7th edition Publication Manual of APA in September 2020. (posted February 24, 2020)
Web-based news sources can sometimes be tricky to cite. Check out:
What to do if information (such as date or author) is missing for your APA citation.
Learn how to find the author, date, title and publication information.
Reference page entry:
Powell, B. & Gillis, W. (2016, June 16). Task force calls for modernized police model. Toronto Star, pp. A1, A6.
In-text citation:
(Powell & Gillis, 2016)
Note: When a newspaper article spans multiple non concurrent pages in a paper, use "pp" instead of "p".
Here is an example of an article found on the Toronto Star website.
Screenshot source: Powell, B. & Gillis, W. (2016, June 15). Police task force calls for hiring freeze, division mergers. Toronto Star. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/06/15/toronto-police-task-force-urges-hiring-freeze-to-trim-budget.html
Reference page entry:
Powell, B. & Gillis, W. (2016, June 15). Police task force calls for hiring freeze, division mergers. Toronto Star. Retrieved from https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2016/06/15/toronto-police-task-force-urges-hiring-freeze-to-trim-budget.html
In-text citation:
(Powell & Gillis, 2016)
Reference page entry:
Powell, B. (2016, June 13). Potential fixes and areas of focus for the police force. Toronto Star. Retrieved from http://www.torontostar.com/
In-text citation:
(Powell, 2016)
Note: APA guidelines state that if a DOI is not available, you must use the URL of the homepage where the article is available by a search - to avoid adding a URL that won't work for your reader. However, in some cases, this is problematic. The exact article mentioned here is *NOT* available on the publicly searchable Toronto Star website. In this case, this article was only available through the library database. We recommend asking your professor if an alternate APA citation would work. For more details, see the APA Style Website
Possible Alternate APA citation notes Library database (verify with your Professor before using):
Powell, B. (2016, June 13). Potential fixes and areas of focus for the police force. Toronto Star. Retrieved from Canadian Reference Centre.
The above parts go together in the following way to create an APA reference page entry:
Subapriya, K. K. (2009). The importance of non-verbal cues. ICFAI Journal of Soft Skills, 3(2), 37-42.
DOI is the short form for "Digital Object Identifier", a unique number (eg: 10.1037.a0034500) given to SOME resources, designed to help find a particular items quickly. DOIs are sometimes used in citations.
In library databases, look for the DOI in your results list:
If a DOI is available, you do not need to use "Retrieved from..." in your citation, just use the DOI.
Article on a regular webpage:
For a regular webpage, you can usually copy & paste the URL from your browser for the "Retrieved from" URL.
Library Databases:
APA guidelines state that if a DOI is not available, you must use the URL of the homepage where the article is available by a search - to avoid adding a URL that won't work for your reader.
Caution: When searching in Library databases, do not copy & paste a link from the browser URL / address bar. - These links are temporary and may not work if you come back to them later!
MultiSearch, August 2016
