Remember that the specific format for references varies depending on the type of source. The general format for references and citations are as follows:
Reference
In-text Citation
1-2 Authors
For sources with 1-2 authors, list all authors in the references page.
Follow this example for in-text citations:
3-5 Authors
For sources with 3-5 authors, list all authors in the references page.
Follow these examples for in-text citations:
6-7 Authors
For sources with 6-7 authors, list all authors in the references page.
Follow this example for in-text citations:
8 or More Authors
Provide the first 6 authors followed by a comma and ellipses in place of the following authors' names (,...) then provide the final author's name. For example:
Smith, R. J., Jones, B., Brown, A. J., Duncan, P., Roberts, T., Singh, K. L.,... Santa Mina, M. R. (2009). Twitter in academic environments: A study of student engagement with course material. Technology in Education, 12(4), 325-327. doi:12.345/678900012345
For in-text citations of 8 or more authors, provide the first author's name followed by et al.:
When a corporate entity is the author of a source, use the corporate name:
Public Health Agency of Canada. (2012). Curbing childhood obesity: A federal, provincial and territorial framework for action to promote healthy weights. Retrieved from http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/hp-ps/hl-mvs/framework-cadre/pdf/ccofw-eng.pdf
There may come a time when you have multiple sources that are published by the same author and in the same year.
In these cases, you will add a References entry for each source. Assign lower case letters in the date field to distinguish them, starting with a. The letters are assigned alphabetically, by title.
Reference
Public Health Agency of Canada. (2012a). Biosafety and biosecurity. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/services/health/biosafety-biosecurity.pdf
Public Health Agency of Canada. (2012b). Food safety. Retrieved from https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/food-safety.pdf
Include the letters in your in-text citation:
APA Guide, 6th Edition by Centennial College Libraries is licensed under a CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0 license unless otherwise stated.
APA requires a Retrieved from statement for all online sources.
Library Databases
If there is a DOI include the doi number in place of the retrieved from statement.
If there is no DOI include the database name in the retrieved from statement.
Websites
Include the web URL in the retrieved from statement.