APA Referencing Guide

A dictionary or encyclopedia entry is treated in much the same way as a chapter of an edited book, only you do not include page numbers. If the entry has an author, then attribute the entry as per normal. If it does not have an attributed author, the publisher jumps into the first position, and is referenced in text instead of an author's name.  

See When the Author Isn't a Person.

Notes:

• If you are using an online dictionary which does not have dates for the individual entries, and only a copyright date that is consantly updated, use (n.d.) as your date and include a retrieved date before the URL.

If you are using information from a map, but not reproducing the map as an image or a figure, just use the advice below.

If you are reproducing the map in your work, you also need to check the information on our Images and Figures page.

• If the author not known, use the copyright owner of the map.
• If the author of the map is also the publisher, omit the publisher.
• Because dynamically created maps (e.g., Google Maps) do not have a title, describe the map in square brackets, and include a retrieval date.

Personal communication is used for any information that is given to you "in person".

It covers sources such as (but not limited to):

• A conversation or interview between you and your source
• A copy of someone's notes given to you or sent to you, but not available to anyone else unless given or sent to them.
• A personal email or letter
• Any information sent via instant messaging or in a format that can only be seen by the person who sent it, and the person who received it.

If you aren't sure if what you have is personal communication, ask the following question:

"Can it be retrieved (that is, can anyone find it if they know where to look), or does it have to be given?"

IMPORTANT: Personal communication is not recorded in your reference list. You only refer to it in text.

For example:

...it is normally expected that the writer will consider the topic objectively (H. Hooper, personal communication, February 14, 2013).

As Scott Dale noted, Ray Bradbury is a male author (personal communication, February 9, 2018).

A thesis is an unpublished document produced by student as part of the requirements for the degree. They come at various levels (e.g. Honours, Masters, PhD, etc). Check with your lecturer before using a thesis for your assignment.

Single programs vs episodes

Notes:

• The year used is the year the film or episode was produced, not the date it was screened.
• The format of how the film or document is watched (e.g. DVD, television or streaming) does not need to be included unless the specific format includes special features that are being cited. Include the format information after the format description. e.g. [Film; special extended DVD]
• If more than one studio or production company is listed separate each with a semicolon.

In Text citations:

• For in-text citations of direct quotes, you use a time stamp in the format of minutes:seconds instead of a page number.
  e.g. The presenter stated "the mice disappeared within minutes" (Frogmouth, 2014, 0:45).

Who is the author?

Notes:

• If the director is unknown use the name of someone in a similar role with a description of the role. e.g. (Presenter), (Host) or (Producer).

Films and movies

TV programs or series

TV series episodes

Documents that are not formally published or do not neatly fit into another category can be cited using the Generic reference.

In the Generic reference, you include however much detail is available to try to fill in the pattern, but you might not have all of the information. Where necessary, the description fields can assist with clarification.

Notes:  There will be occasions that not all the information required for a reference is available - skip any missing information.

• If there is no date, use the abbreviation n.d. (for "no date").
• If the date is known, but not recorded on the document, use ca. (for "circa") in front of the date (ca. 2023).
• If the resource has no title, skip the title and give a more informative description in the [square brackets].
• The description of the material should be as succinct and accurate as you can make it, in order to give the reader the best idea of what the material is without taking up too much space.
• When the publisher is the same as the author, omit the publisher name from the reference.
• If the resource is a print source, or the URL cannot be accessed by anyone outside of the organisation, omit the URL.

How you cite your own work depends on what it is, and whether or not it has been published.

Published work

If you are citing a published work, you cite it as per normal for the work (e.g., photograph, book chapter, etc). For the citation (both in-text and in the reference list) you refer to yourself by name just as you would any other author. When discussing your work in-text, the general convention is to talk about yourself in the third person, but make it clear that it is your own work you are discussion:

Previous research undertaken by this author has shown... (Bloggs, 2018).

But it may be appropriate to refer to yourself using first person pronouns, particularly if you are writing a reflective piece, so check with your lecturer.

In my previous research I found... (Bloggs, 2018)

Unpublished work

If the work can be found or sourced online by the public, it is informally published and should be treated as a web page. If it cannot be found by the public and can only be accessed by people who have been given access to the private link or sent a copy in person, then it is an unpublished work.

Photographs, illustrations, art

Unpublished photographs and works of art created for the assignment (or appearing only in the assignment/paper and no where else) are not cited - so they do not have a formal in-text citation or an entry in the reference list. Treat it as a figure, and add any necessary details in the Note section under the image.

Add "Own work" to the image if you feel it needs to be made clear that this is an image you created yourself.

Figure 1

Hong Kong before 2019/2020

Note. Photograph of Hong Kong taken in early 2000s. Own work.

If you are using your own image for an illustration in a PowerPoint presentation, you don't have to cite it, but you can put "Own work" on or under the image somewhere unobtrusive if you wish to avoid confusion.

When referring to your own artistic work in text, you need to make it clear that you are talking about your own work, but you do not cite it.

Previous assignments

Assignments submitted for other subjects are regarded as unpublished manuscripts, and are cited as such.

Reference list:

In text:

(Bloggs, 2020).

However, your past assignments are not usually considered to be a scholarly source, and most lectures do not want you to cite your previous assessment. You should only refer to past assignment work if you have been explicitly asked to do so (e.g. for a reflective assignment).

It would be much better to update your research and conclusions from the past assignment (and use new words to express your thoughts) than to refer to it or cite it.