How to Reference Single and Multiple Authors in APA Format

APA format establishes a number of clear rules for how to list reference works using author information. How you reference different sources varies depending on the number of authors to whom the source is attributed. For example, the way that you reference a single author will differ somewhat from how you reference a source with multiple authors.

Before you create a reference section for a psychology paper, it is important to know how to properly list books, articles, and other sources as well as in-text citations in APA format. The following guidelines can help you prepare a reference section for your APA format paper.

APA Format for No Author

Articles and other works that do not provide an author attribution should begin with the title of the work in sentence case. If the title is a book, list the title in italics. The volume number, issue number (if available), and page numbers should follow journal titles, while book titles should be followed by the publisher's name. For example:

Journal

• A student guide to APA format. (1997). Psychology Weekly, 8, 13-27.

Book

• The ultimate APA format guidebook. (2006). Student Press.

For in-text citations or those referenced within the body of the text, you will also use the title, either in quotation marks (for articles) or in italics (for books). For example:

Journal

• I am using the proper APA format right now ("A student guide to APA format," 1997).

Book

• I am using the proper APA format right now (The ultimate APA format guidebook, 2006).

APA Format for One Author

Works by a single author should list the author's last name and initials. The date of publication should be enclosed in parentheses and followed by the title of the article or book in sentence case. Books and journal titles should be listed in italics. The volume number, issue number, and page numbers of the article should follow journal titles, while book titles should be followed by the name of the publisher. For example:

Journal

• McCrae, R. R. (1993). Moderated analyses of longitudinal personality stability. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(3), 577-585.

Book

• Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Prentice-Hall.

Single-author in-text citations should include the surname and the date of publication in parentheses. For example:

• As Bandura (1997) mentions... or (Bandura, 1977).

If you cite different authors with the same last name, include the first initial in your in-text citations to distinguish them. For example:

• The outcomes of the research comparing intervention X with placebo were negligible (A. Alper, 2004). However, intervention Y proved to be more effective than placebo (B. Alper, 2005).

APA Format for Multiple Authors

The APA format for multiple authors varies depending on how many authors a publication has.

Two Authors

Works by two authors should list the last names and first initials separated by a comma and an ampersand (&) instead of "and."

These names should be followed by the date of publication enclosed in parentheses. After the authors and date are listed, the rules are the same as for single authors.

For example:

• Kanfer, F. H., & Busemeyer, J. R. (1982). The use of problem-solving and decision-making in behavior therapy. Clinical Psychology Review, 2(2), 239-266.
• Buss, A. H., & Pomin, R. (1975). A temperament theory of personality development. Erlbaum.

In-text citations of works by two authors should include the surnames of both authors separated by the word "and" or by an ampersand if using parenthesis. For example:

• Studies by Buss and Pomin (1975) support... or (Buss & Pomin, 1975).

Works with Three to Twenty Authors

According to APA 7 guidelines, works by three to 20 authors are cited by listing the last names and first initials of each author separated by commas and an ampersand (&) before the last author's name. Author names should be followed by the date of publication enclosed in parentheses.

After the authors and date are listed, the rules are the same as for single authors. For example:

Journal

• Abma, J. C., Chandra, A., Mosher, W. D., Peterson, L. S., & Piccinino, L. J. (1997). Fertility, family planning, and women’s health: New data from the 1995 National Survey of Family Growth. Vital and Health Statistics, 23(9), 1-67.

Book

• Alper, S., Schloss, P. J., Etscheidt, S. K., & Macfarlane, C. A. (1995). Inclusion: Are we abandoning or helping students? Corwin Press.

In-text citations for works by three or more authors should list the first author's name, followed by "et al." in every citation. For example:

• Abma, et al. (1997) supports...or (Alper, et al, 1995).

However, if you are citing multiple works by similar groups of authors, you may need to include multiple names to avoid confusion. For example: Alper, Schloss, Etscheidt, et al. (1995) discovered...or (Alper, Schloss, Etscheidt, et al., 1995).

More Than 20 Authors

When a work is credited to more than 20 authors, the reference lists the last names and first initials of the first 19 authors separated by commas before the last author's name followed by an ellipsis ( . . . ) and then the final author. (Note: there was no ampersand in this listing). The remainder of the reference follows the same format as that for 20 or fewer authors. For example:

Journal

• Pegion, K., Kirtman, B. P., Becker, E., Collins, D. C., LaJoie, E., Burgman, R., Bell, R., DelSole, R., Min, D., Zhu, Y., Li, W., Sinsky, E., Guan, H., Gottschalck, J., Metzger, E. J., Barton, N. P., Achuthavarier, D., Marshak, J., Koster, R., . . . Kim, H. (2019). The subseasonal experiment (SubX): A multimodel subseasonal prediction experiment. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 100(10), 2043-2061.

Book

• Arlo, A., Black, B., Clark, C., Davidson, D., Emerson, E., Fischer, F., Grahmann, G., Habib, H., Ianelli, I., Juarez, J., Kobayashi, K., Lee, L., Martin, M., Naim, N., Odelsson, O., Pierce, P., Qiang, Q., Reed, R., Scofield, S., . . . Thatcher, T. (2001). Instructive falsehoods: Examples and sources. Thommel-Reed.

In-text citations should list the first author's name, followed by "et al." in every citation.

• Pegion, et al. (2019) supports...or (Arlo, et al, 2001).

You can read more about a few different aspects of referencing sources in APA format if you have book references, article references, and electronic sources.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I cite an author with two last names?

If an author has two surnames (with or without hyphens), include them both exactly as it is published in the book or journal. For example:

• As reported by Rivera-Gutierrez (2015)... or (Rivera-Gutierrez, 2015).

How do I cite an author with a particle before their name?

If the surname begins with a particle such as de, de la, der, van, von), include it with the surname. For example:

• In his book Foolproof, van der Linden (2023) claims...

How do I cite an author with a suffix at the end of their name?

Suffixes (example: Jr., Sr., II, III, etc.) should be included with the author's surname on the References list. However, suffixes are not included along with the surname in the in-text citation. A simple last name with the year will suffice. For example, an author with the name of John J. Williams Jr will look like:

• Reference list: Williams, J. J., Jr. (2015).
• In-text: (Williams, 2015)

How do I cite an author listed as "anonymous"?

If the author is actually signed as "Anonymous," then you will use that as the name of the author in the citation, followed by the year in parentheses. For example:

Anonymous. (2024). Journey through the mindfield. Brainy Publishers.

How do I cite a website with no author in APA format?

If a website has no author, use the title (or the first few words of the reference list entry) followed by the date of retrieval. APA website citations will also include the website name and URL. For example:

• Depression facts. (2024, November 3). National Alliance for Mental Illness. https://www.hopefordepression.org/depression-facts/

How do I cite a publication with no author in APA format?

If there's no author, the title of the work is listed first followed by the volume number, issue number (if available), and page numbers. If it's a book, the title should be in italics and followed by the publisher's name. For example:

• Language learning with the unique language used today. (2019, August 20). Psychological Review, 1-15. http://www.psychologyreview.org/language_learning_as_language_us