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APA Referencing (APA 7th edition)

This guide shows students and staff how to reference using the APA Referencing style.

General rules

In text citations
  • In text citations follow the same basic rules for all resources - work the name of the author (as specified below)  and the year of publication into the body of your work.
  • For more information, refer to the In-text citations page of this guide

Examples of in-text citations: 

Kelly's lyrics (2019)

OR

Drawing inspiration from a diverse range of sources, Kelly's Thirteen ways to look at birds (2019) is an example of...

 

Reference lists
  • Rules for sound recordings depend on whether you are referencing a standalone item (such as a song) or a collection (e.g. an album or series)

  • The 'author' of the work depends on its format, but is usually the person with primary responsibility for the idea or intellectual content of the item. 

  • The format is shown in square brackets after the title, e.g [Album], [Song], [Audio podcast].

  • It is not necessary to specify how the content was accessed (e.g. CD, Spotify etc)

  • If a date cannot be found, use (n.d.) in the date field

  • Reference lists should be arranged in alphabetical order by author. All lines after the first line in each individual reference should be indented by 1.25cm. For more information on setting out your reference list, refer to the 'Reference List Example' page of this guide.

  • URLs and DOIs can be presented either as hyperlinks (usually blue font, or blue font underlined) or as plain text, not underlined.

Albums

Author

For classical music, use the work's composer as the author. The particular version of the work that you are referencing appears in the format field of the reference.

For modern works, the recording artist or group is credited as the author.

 

The reference list entry for a classical album consists of:

Composer. (year of publication). Album title [Album performance details]. Label.

Mozart, W.A. (2010). Clarinet concerto: Clarinet quintet [Album performed by Thea King, with the English Chamber Orchestra]. Hyperion.

 

The reference list entry for an album of modern music consists of

Artist. (year). Album title [Album]. Label.

Kelly, P. (2019). Thirteen ways to look at birds [Album]. Decca.

You can include additional information inside the square brackets, if this is necessary to identify a specific version of an album.

Songs

Author

For classical music, use the work's composer as the author. The particular version of the work that you are referencing appears in the format field of the reference.

For modern works, the recording artist or group is credited as the author.

 

Songs

If you are referring to an individual song, your reference should include details of both the song, and the album that it comes from. (If the song is not from an album, omit that part of the reference).

For classical recordings, you again use the composer as the author, and provide details of the specific recording that you are referencing in the format field. 

 

The reference list entry for a classical album consists of:

Composer. (year of publication). Song name [Song recording details]. On Album title in italics. Label.

Glass, P. (2016). Mad rush [Song recorded by July 2014 at the Concert Hall, Drew University]. On Four studies: Honest music; Nico Muhly; Mad rush; In the summer house. Harmonia Mundi USA.

 

The reference list entry for a modern album consists of:

Composer. (year of publication). Song name. On Album title in italics. Label.

Wilco. (2019). Quiet amplifier [Song]. On Ode to joy. dBpm Records.

Podcasts

A reference for a podcast series is different to that for an individual podcast episode. 

The author of a podcast is the host. If the host is not known, you can use the executive producer.

 

Podcast series

The reference list entry for a podcast series is:

Hosts surname and initials. (Host). (Years the podcast ran for). Title in italics [Audio podcast]. Production company.URL

Crabb, A., & Sales, L. (2014- present). Chat 10, Looks 3 [Audio podcast]. Chat 10 Looks 3. https://www.chat10looks3.com/podcast

 

Episode of a podcast

The reference list entry for a podcast series is:

Hosts surname and initials. (Host). (Years , month day). Episode title (Episode number)  [Audio podcast episode]. In Series title in italics. Production company.URL

Mann, A. (Host). (2020, March 24). State secrets (7) [Audio podcast episode]. In The Eleventh. ABC Radio. https://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/the-eleventh/

If the URL of a podcast is unknown (for example, if you accessed it via an APP, omit this section of the reference.)