cite research report apa 7

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APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition)

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In-Text Citations

Resources on using in-text citations in APA style

Reference List

Resources on writing an APA style reference list, including citation formats

Other APA Resources

APA 7th referencing style

About APA 7th
Printing this guide
In-text references
Direct quotations
Reference list
Author information
Additional referencing information
Using headings
Book chapter
Brochure and pamphlets
ChatGPT and other generative AI tools
Conferences
Dictionary or encyclopaedia
Government legislation
Journal article
Lecture notes and slides
Legal sources
Newspaper or magazine article
Other web sources
Patents and standards
Personal communication
Press (media) release

Abbreviating groups as authors

Government report, industry/corporate report.

Secondary source (indirect citation)
Social media
Software and mobile apps
Specialised health information
Television program
Works in non-English languages
Works in non-English scripts, such as Arabic or Chinese
Group authors can be an organisation, professional association, company, government department
Include the full name of the group the first time it is used. The abbreviation is included in square brackets.
If the abbreviation is well known, it can be included for subsequent uses.

In-text Example:

United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund ([UNICEF], 2018)

(United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund [UNICEF], 2018)

The full group name should be used in the reference list.

Elements of the reference																														Author(s) - last name, initial(s) or company name - use & for multiple authors. (Year). (Report number - if available). Publisher - include if different to author. Web address - if available
In-text reference																														(Queensland Department of Innovation and Tourism Industry Development, 2016) Queensland Department of Innovation and Tourism Industry Development (2016) found that ....
Reference list																														Queensland Department of Innovation and Tourism Industry Development. (2016). https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/advancing-tourism/resource/df997cf7-14fc-47b1-ac99-ddc7f0975967
EndNote reference type																														Report

Elements of the reference																														Author(s) - last name, initial(s) or company name - use & for multiple authors. (Year). (Report number - if available) Publisher - include if different to author Web address - if available
In-text reference																														(The Coca-Cola Company, 2017) The Coca-Cola Company (2017) has found that ....
Reference list																														The Coca-Cola Company. (2017). http://www.coca-colacompany.com/content/dam/journey/us/en/private/fileassets/pdf/2017/2016-sustainability/2016-Sustainability-Report-The-Coca-Cola-Company.pdf
EndNote reference type																														Report

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Last Updated: May 8, 2024 1:31 PM
URL: https://guides.library.uq.edu.au/referencing/apa7

Generate accurate APA citations for free

Knowledge Base
APA Style 7th edition

How to Cite in APA Format (7th edition) | Guide & Generator

This citation guide outlines the most important citation guidelines from the 7th edition APA Publication Manual (2020). Scribbr also offers free guides for the older APA 6th edition , MLA Style , and Chicago Style .

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Apa in-text citations, apa references, formatting the apa reference page, free lecture slides, frequently asked questions.

In-text citations are brief references in the running text that direct readers to the reference entry at the end of the paper. You include them every time you quote or paraphrase someone else’s ideas or words to avoid plagiarism .

An APA in-text citation consists of the author’s last name and the year of publication (also known as the author-date system). If you’re citing a specific part of a source, you should also include a locator such as a page number or timestamp. For example: (Smith, 2020, p. 170) .

Parenthetical vs. narrative citation

The in-text citation can take two forms: parenthetical and narrative. Both types are generated automatically when citing a source with Scribbr’s APA Citation Generator.

Parenthetical citation: According to new research … (Smith, 2020) .
Narrative citation: Smith (2020) notes that …

Multiple authors and corporate authors

The in-text citation changes slightly when a source has multiple authors or an organization as an author. Pay attention to punctuation and the use of the ampersand (&) symbol.

Author type	Parenthetical citation	Narrative citation
One author	(Smith, 2020)	Smith (2020)
Two authors	(Smith & Jones, 2020)	Smith and Jones (2020)
Three or more authors	(Smith et al., 2020)	Smith et al. (2020)
Organization	(Scribbr, 2020)	Scribbr (2020)

Missing information

When the author, publication date or locator is unknown, take the steps outlined below.

Missing element	What to do	Parenthetical citation
Author	Use the source title.*	( , 2020)
Date	Write “n.d.” for “no date”.	(Smith, n.d.)
Page number	Either use an or omit the page number.	(Smith, 2020, Chapter 3) or (Smith, 2020)

Scribbr Citation Checker New

The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

Missing commas and periods
Incorrect usage of “et al.”
Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
Missing reference entries

APA references generally include information about the author , publication date , title , and source . Depending on the type of source, you may have to include extra information that helps your reader locate the source.

Reference examples

Citing a source starts with choosing the correct reference format. Use Scribbr’s Citation Example Generator to learn more about the format for the most common source types. Pay close attention to punctuation, capitalization, and italicization.

Generate APA citations for free

It is not uncommon for certain information to be unknown or missing, especially with sources found online. In these cases, the reference is slightly adjusted.

Missing element	What to do	Reference format
Author	Start the reference entry with the source title.	Title. (Date). Source.
Date	Write “n.d.” for “no date”.	Author. (n.d.). Title. Source.
Title	Describe the work in square brackets.	Author. (Date). [Description]. Source.

On the first line of the page, write the section label “References” (in bold and centered). On the second line, start listing your references in alphabetical order .

Apply these formatting guidelines to the APA reference page:

Double spacing (within and between references)
Hanging indent of ½ inch
Legible font (e.g. Times New Roman 12 or Arial 11)
Page number in the top right header

Which sources to include

On the reference page, you only include sources that you have cited in the text (with an in-text citation ). You should not include references to personal communications that your reader can’t access (e.g. emails, phone conversations or private online material).

Are you a teacher or professor looking to introduce your students to APA Style? Download our free introductory lecture slides, available for Google Slides and Microsoft PowerPoint.

Open Google Slides Download PowerPoint

When no individual author name is listed, but the source can clearly be attributed to a specific organization—e.g., a press release by a charity, a report by an agency, or a page from a company’s website—use the organization’s name as the author in the reference entry and APA in-text citations .

When no author at all can be determined—e.g. a collaboratively edited wiki or an online article published anonymously—use the title in place of the author. In the in-text citation, put the title in quotation marks if it appears in plain text in the reference list, and in italics if it appears in italics in the reference list. Shorten it if necessary.

When you quote or paraphrase a specific passage from a source, you need to indicate the location of the passage in your APA in-text citation . If there are no page numbers (e.g. when citing a website ) but the text is long, you can instead use section headings, paragraph numbers, or a combination of the two:

(Caulfield, 2019, Linking section, para. 1).

Section headings can be shortened if necessary. Kindle location numbers should not be used in ebook citations , as they are unreliable.

If you are referring to the source as a whole, it’s not necessary to include a page number or other marker.

The abbreviation “ et al. ” (meaning “and others”) is used to shorten APA in-text citations with three or more authors . Here’s how it works:

Only include the first author’s last name, followed by “et al.”, a comma and the year of publication, for example (Taylor et al., 2018).

APA Style usually does not require an access date. You never need to include one when citing journal articles , e-books , or other stable online sources.

However, if you are citing a website or online article that’s designed to change over time, it’s a good idea to include an access date. In this case, write it in the following format at the end of the reference: Retrieved October 19, 2020, from https://www.uva.nl/en/about-the-uva/about-the-university/about-the-university.html

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APA Style 7th Edition: Citing Your Sources

Basics of APA Formatting
In Text Quick View
Block Quotes
Books & eBooks
Thesis/Dissertation
Audiovisual
Conference Presentations
Social Media
Legal References
Reports and Gray Literature

Standard Format

Formatting rules, various examples.

Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
Additional Resources
Reference Page




Author, A. A. & Author, B. B. Name of Group Author, C. C. [username] Username.	(year). (year, month date).	(Report No. #). [Description].	Publisher Name.	https://doi.org/xxxx.... https://xxxx...

Adapted from American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

Italicize report titles
First word of the title and first word of the subtitle capitalized
Capitalize proper nouns
Every other word is lower case
Shorten long URLs or DOIs: When a DOI or URL is long or complex, you may use shortDOIs or shortened URLs if desired. Use the shortDOI service provided by the International DOI Foundation ( https://shortdoi.org/ ) to create shortDOI.

Business Report with shorten URL	Nelson, G., & Goon, X. J. (2019). CFRA. http://bit.ly/2vbZVCu
Section of Government Report	Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (2018). Maternal, infant, and child health. . U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Government Report accessed online	Paschall, P. (2013). . The National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. http://www.thetaskforce.org/downloads/reports/reports/move_analyisis_2012_elec_obama.pdf.
Government Report (print)	National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). U.S. Government Printing Office
White Paper	Furst, M., & DeMillo, R. A. (2006). [White paper]. Georgia Tech College of Computing website: http://www.cc.gatech.edu/sites/default/files/Threads%20Whitepaper.pdf

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Last Updated: Jun 13, 2024 1:51 PM
URL: https://libguides.usc.edu/APA7th

Report with Individual Authors References

This page contains reference examples for reports with individual authors.

Baral, P., Larsen, M., & Archer, M. (2019). Does money grow on trees? Restoration financing in Southeast Asia . Atlantic Council. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/does-money-grow-on-trees-restoring-financing-in-southeast-asia/

Stuster, J., Adolf, J., Byrne, V., & Greene, M. (2018). Human exploration of Mars: Preliminary lists of crew tasks (Report No. NASA/CR-2018-220043). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20190001401.pdf

Parenthetical citations : (Baral et al., 2019; Stuster et al., 2018)
Narrative citations : Baral et al. (2019) and Stuster et al. (2018)
If the report has a report number, include it in parentheses without italics after the report title.
Provide the publisher of the report and its URL in the source element of the reference.

Report references are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 10.4 and the Concise Guide Section 10.4

COMMENTS

How to Cite a Report in APA Style | Format & Examples - Scribbr
To reference a report with an individual author, include the author’s name and initials, the report title (italicized), the report number, the organization that published it, and the URL (if accessed online, e.g. as a PDF).
APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition) - Purdue OWL®
General Format. In-Text Citations: The Basics. In-Text Citations: Author/Authors. Footnotes and Endnotes. Reference List: Basic Rules. Reference List: Author/Authors. Reference List: Articles in Periodicals. Reference List: Books. Reference List: Other Print Sources.
Report - APA 7th referencing style - Library Guides at ...
Elements of the reference. Author (s) - last name, initial (s) or company name - use & for multiple authors. (Year). Title of report - italicised (Report number - if available). Publisher - include if different to author. Web address - if available. In-text reference.
How to Cite in APA Format (7th edition) | Guide & Generator
Citing a source starts with choosing the correct reference format. Use Scribbr’s Citation Example Generator to learn more about the format for the most common source types. Pay close attention to punctuation, capitalization, and italicization. Generate APA citations for free.
Reports and Gray Literature - APA Style 7th Edition: Citing ...
APA Style 7th Edition: Citing Your Sources. Standard Format. Adapted from American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000. Formatting Rules. Italicize report titles. Utilize sentence case for report titles:
Report with Individual Authors References - APA Style">Report with Individual Authors References - APA Style
Report references are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 10.4 and the Concise Guide Section 10.4