University of KwaZulu-Natal UKZN APA 6th Referencing
This guide reflects the basic style of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition.
WHAT is referencing?
When doing an assignment, details about the sources of information used need to be provided.
WHY is referencing important?
•to acknowledge the work or words of others
•to avoid plagiarism (using someone else‟s ideas as if they were your own). Plagiarism is a serious offence
•to indicate the range of sources used for an assignment; how up-to-date the sources are and whether relevant material was used
•to enable others to trace the sources listed in order to find further information.
More is preferable to less! The bottom line: when you are paraphrasing, summarising, quoting or copying from anywhere, you must indicate where this information came from.
There are two parts to referencing an assignment:
1.within-text referencing: brief details of sources of information used to acknowledge where a particular piece of information came from, are written within the body of the assignment
2.list of works cited (also called Bibliography, Reference list): full details of sources of information used within the assignment are provided at the end of the assignment.
1.Within the text of the assignment, brief details are given about the sources of information used. Basic format: (Surname of the author followed by year of publication – and page or paragraph number – when you are providing a direct quote).
a)Here is an example of in-text referencing of a direct quote:
“As was inevitable in such circumstances, a whole set of other inequalities were perpetuated by apartheid even if they were not legally enshrined” (Robertson, 2004, p. 20).
b) Here is an example of in-text referencing of summarized information
Robertson (2004, p. 6) indicates that the effects of apartheid on South African society were all encompassing; from employment to education, health and poverty.
c)Here is an example of in-text referencing of a source within a source:
Smith (as cited in Robertson, 2010) notes that health services needed urgent attention.
NB Where there are more than 3 authors, provide all authors the first time and thereafter give only the first and then use et al: (Smith et al., 2010)
2.The List of works cited or bibliography at the end of the assignment provides full details about all the sources of information used and is written in alphabetical order by surnames. (Where an author is not obvious, use the title).
Double spacing is used between lines of a reference and lines other than the first are indented
a) Here is an example of a reference to a book in a list of works cited:
Adams, H. F. (1912). Advertising and its mental laws. New York: Macmillan.
EXAMPLES OF HOW DETAILED CITATIONS FOR DIFFERENT SOURCES SHOULD BE WRITTEN FOR A LIST OF WORKS CITED
Certain basic details must be given and they must be written down in a particular way. Adhere to the punctuation requirements
A) – including dictionaries and encyclopedias
Basic format:
Surname(s) of author(s) or editor(s), Initials. Year of publication. Title of book. Edition (only when edition is other than the 1st). City of publication: Name of publisher.
∙Titles of books are in italics with minimum capitalisation.
∙If more than one place of publication is given, use the first. Place is always a city not a country
∙If more than one publisher is given, choose the first.
Examples:
Book by single author
Shotton, M.A. (1989). Computer addiction? A study of computer dependency. London, England: Taylor & Francis.
Books by several authors (up to 7 authors, put them all in, separated by commas)
Coon, D., & Mitterer, J. O. (2011). Psychology: a journey (4th ed.). Belmont: Cengage.
Books that are edited
Venter, A. & Landsberg, C. (Eds.). Government and politics in South Africa (4thed.). Pretoria: Van Schaik.
No author: begin with the title
Chapters in books where different authors are responsible for the chapters (details of chapter first then details of book in which chapter appears and inclusive page numbers of the chapter. Put „Ed‟ in brackets, short for editor, after his/her name/s. The title of the book is in italics).
Dugard, J. (1994). International human rights. In D. Van Wyk (Ed.), Rights and constitutionalism: the new South African legal order (pp.33-54). Kenwyn: Juta.
Corporate bodies as authors – companies, institutions, organizations, etc.
International Committee of the Red Cross. (1993). International review of the Red Cross: humanitarian law and human rights. Geneva: International Committee of the Red Cross.
Entry in a reference book such as an encyclopedia
Similar to a chapter in a book but add edition, volume number and pages after the title of the reference work, before publisher details. If the entry has no author, start with the title.
Triandis, H. C. (2004). Cyberpsychology. In C. D. Spielberger (Ed.), Encyclopedia of applied psychology (Vol. 1, pp. 561-568). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Reports and financial statements of companies
African Oxygen Limited. (1990). Financial statements 1989. Johannesburg: African Oxygen.
Conference / symposium papers – published: treat like a chapter in a book. Proceedings that are published regularly can be treated like journal references
Where the proceedings have a title other than the name of the conference, put the title in italics, not the details about the conference / symposium. Add in the full title, date and place of the conference. At the end of the reference put in the pages for the paper. Publication details are provided where applicable.
Nass, C. (2001, September). Why researchers treat on-line journals like real people. In S. P. Katashev & S. Katashev (Eds.), Annual meeting of the Council of Science Education (pp122-134). San Antonio: Council of Science Education.
Morner, C. J. (1995). Measuring the library research skills of education doctoral students. In R. AnRhein (Ed.), Continuity & transformation: The promise of confluence. Proceedings of the Seventh National Conference of the Association of College and Research Libraries, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (pp. 381-391). Chicago, IL: Association of College and Research Libraries.
B) – including journals, magazines and newspapers
∙Because all issues of a periodical have the same title, the volume, issue and page numbers are vital in order to identify the exact location of an article (if they are provided). Volume number is written before the issue/part number (if there is one)
∙The details of the article are written down first, the details of the journal in which the article appears come last
∙Titles of periodicals are in italics and each proper word starts with a capital letter
∙Publisher details are not required for periodical references
∙For newspapers, use the day and month instead of volume and part number.
Basic format:
Surname(s), initial(s) of author. Year of publication. Title of article. Title of the journal, volume number, which is also in italics, (issue or part number): inclusive page numbers
∙For magazine articles, include the month of publication and day if relevant
∙For newspapers, include the month and day after the year.
Examples:
Journal articles
Mellers, B. A. (2000). Choice and the relative pleasure of consequences. Psychological Bulletin, 126(6), 910-924.
Magazine articles
Wilson, D. S., & Wilson, E. O. (2007, November). Survival of the selfless. NewScientist, 196(2628), 42-46.
Newspaper articles (with and without an author)
Sparks, A. (2012, January 14). The danger of Obama‟s rightist challengers. The Mercury, pp.11.
Cruise liner fuel leak fears. (2012, January 17). Daily News, pp. 3.
C)
Provide the same details as for a book and also provide the report number immediately after the title of the report
Tayama, T. (2006). Velocity influence on detection and prediction of changes in color and motion direction (Report No. 38). Sapporo, Japan: Psychology Deaprtment, Hokkaido Unviersity.
D) 
– including theses, lecture notes, interviews and personal communications
(i)Theses and dissertations
∙Immediately after the thesis title add format of thesis and degree
Basic format:
Surname(s), initial(s) of the author. Year. Title of thesis Format and degree. Institution
Subban, C. R. (2011). A gender analysis of music videos on MTV Base Africa (Unpublished masters thesis). University of KwaZulu-Natal,Pietermaritzburg.
(ii) Lecture notes
After the title of the notes, note the unpublished format of the notes or other format eg ppt, and then course code and institution.
Williams, B. (2008). Introduction to management. Unpublished lecture notes, HRMG2HR, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg.
(iii) Conference/meeting/symposia contributions: unpublished
Add month of conference to the year of publication. After the title of the paper describe the situation and give the details of the meeting
Jodell, F., Russell, F., & Todd, P. (2009, September). Reactions of post-graduates to academic careers. Poster session presented at the International Congress of Medical Educators, Brisbane.
(iv)Other unpublished material (includes items submitted for publication, pre-printseg ERIC database papers). Exclude the name of the journal or publisher
After the title, describe the item ie „Unpublished manuscript‟; „Manuscript in preparation‟ etc. and institution
Smith, J. J. (2009). Mental health help-seeking patterns in university students. Unpublished manuscript, Department of Psychology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
E
Commissions of inquiry and government committees
Chairperson of the commission or committee is the author.
Example:
Katz, M.M. (1994). Commission of Inquiry into certain aspects of the tax structure of South Africa: interim report. Pretoria: Government Printer.
Reports of government departments
South Africa. Department of Justice. (2002). Annual report. Pretoria: Government Printer.
Statutes and acts of parliament (South Africa). Arranged alphabetically in a separate list.
Basic format:
Name of country. Name of act Number of act, Year.
South Africa. Companies Act 61,1973.
White papers
South Africa. Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. (1996). White paper: the development and promotion of tourism in South Africa. Pretoria: Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism.
F) (Cases) (South Africa). Arranged alphabetically in a separate list.
∙The names of the parties involved are italicized.
∙No punctuation is necessary apart from a full stop at the end.
Basic format:
Party v Party Year (Volume number) Abbreviation of Law reports series name followed by starting page number and (Court division).
Smith v Hughes 1996 (4) SA 340 (O).