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APA 7th Edition Referencing Guide1

A Wintec Library guide to referencing in APA 7th edition style

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Referencing works with multiple authors

  • Reference list entries for books, journal articles, or any resource with multiple authors can include up to 20 authors' names before it is necessary to abbreviate.

  • For resources with 21+ authors, use the names of the first 19 authors, followed by ellipsis (...) and the name of the final author (i.e., there should be a maximum of 20 authors included in the reference list entry). 

Number of authors to include in text

In-text citations for works with three (3) or more authors can be shortened to the name of the first author and 'et al.' (and page/para. number as usual). 


Important
When abbreviating in-text citations with the use of et al., take care to avoid ambiguity. For example:

(Smith, Jones, & Brown, 2018).
(Smith, Jones, Brown, Anderson, Williams, Wilson, & Andrews, 2018).

Both citations above refer to different works published in the same year. Both could be shortened to simply (Smith et al., 2018), thereby creating confusion as to which work is being cited. To avoid ambiguity, the names of as many authors as necessary to distinguish the sources should be used in each citation before abbreviation with et al. For example:

(Smith, Jones, & Brown, 2018).
(Smith, Jones, Brown, Anderson et al., 2018).


Examples

Referencing a book with two authors

The example below shows how to reference a book with two authors and indicates the different elements needed.

Surname, A., & Surname, A. (Copyright date). Title: Subtitle in italic sentence case (edition number if applicable.). Publisher.

Dawson, J., & Lucas, R. (1993). Lifestyles of New Zealand forest plants (4th ed.). Victoria University Press. 

Example

Reference list entry

Dawson, J., & Lucas, R. (1993). Lifestyles of New Zealand forest plants. Victoria University Press.

In-text citations

Page/paragraph numbers are optional for paraphrased information.

Narrative
Dawson and Lucas (1993) argue that ... (p. 67).

Parenthetical
... (Dawson & Lucas, 1993, p. 67).


Referencing a work with three or more authors

In-text citations for works with three (3) or more authors can be shortened to the name of the first author and 'et al.' (and page/para. number as usual). 

Reference list entry

Stillings, N. A., Weisler, S. E., Chase, C. H., Feinstein, M. H., Garfield, J. L., & Rissland, E. L. (1995). Cognitive science: An introduction (2nd ed.). The MIT Press.

In-text citations

Page/paragraph numbers are optional for paraphrased information.

Narrative
Stillings et al. (1995) argue that ... (p. 67).

Parenthetical
... (Stillings et al., 1995, p. 67).


Referencing a work with 21+ authors

List the first 19 authors in correct APA style, followed by an ellipsis (three consecutive dots), then the last author's name in APA style.

Reference list entry

Kalnay, E., Kanamitsu, M., Kistler, R., Collins, W., Deaven, D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, S., White, G., Woollen, J., Zhu, Y., Chelliah, M., Ebisuzaki, W., Higgins, W., Janowiak, J., Mo, K. C., Ropelewski, C., Wang, J., Leetmaa, A., ... Joseph, D. (1999). The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bulletin of the American Meterological Society, 77(3), 437–471. https://doi.org/fg6rf9 

In-text citations

Page/paragraph numbers are optional for paraphrased information.

Narrative
Kalnay et al. (1996) outline ... (p. 438).

Parenthetical
... (Kalnay et al., 1996, p. 438).

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