Library Guides: APA Guide : FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions about APA

Do I need to include a page number if I am citing an idea and not including a direct quote?

You need only include the page number if you are quoting directly from a source.

What comes first in the paper, the References List or the Appendices?

According to APA 7, the References list comes before the Appendices in your APA formatted paper.

What if there is a source cited within the resource (book, article, etc.) that I am using and I wish to cite that original source? Do I cite the resource in-hand or the original source?

Let’s say you are reading an article by Sayer (2024) which includes the following quote that you would like to use in your paper: “Bakshi (1981) stated that, in his view, the Muppets were honest in their testimony.” Who should you include in your in-text citation - Bakshi or Sayer?

The APA Style blog notes that there are two types of sources: a primary source (in this case, the article by Bakshi) which reports original content and a secondary source which refers to this primary content (in this case, the article by Sayer). Here is what to do:

Try to find the original source, read it and then cite it directly. (In our example, this would be the article written by Bakshi).
Cite and reference this primary source.

If you cannot find the primary source:

Provide an entry for the secondary source (e.g., the article by Sayer) in your reference list
In the body of your paper, note the primary source and write “as cited in” the secondary source.
If you know the year of publication of the primary source, include it in the in-text citation. If you are not able to find the year of publication of the primary source, do not include it.

Example:

When you have the year of publication of the primary source (parenthetical approach): The Muppets were thought to be honest in their testimony (Bakshi, 1981, as cited in Sayer, 2024).
When you do not have the year of publication of the primary source: The Muppets were thought to be honest in their testimony (Bakshi, as cited in Sayer, 2024).

When do I need to include “retrieved from” and the date within my reference for an electronic resource?

Include the retrieval date “when the page’s content is likely to change over time” (Purdue Online Writing Lab, n.d.). For example, a website or Wikipedia webpage may change over time, whereas an online journal webpage likely will not.

Do I need to state the database in which the article was found, for example, "Business Source Premier", within my reference entry?

According to the APA Style website, in the majority of cases, you do not need to identify the database where you found the article as most articles can be found in a variety of databases and/or in print. The reader can find the article by searching for it. Instead of including the name of the database where you found the article, include the Digital Object Identifier (DOI). The DOI is a unique identifier for the article and looks like a URL, starting with https://doi.org/ You can find it when you copy a citation from a database. If there is no DOI, end the reference after the page range. Here is an example of an article reference with a DOI:

Frog, K. (2012, Feb 16). The importance of lily pads to frog health. Journal of Muppet Communication. 20(7), 86-89. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-4321-0

Only in some cases, where the article can only be found in a particular database, do you need to include the name of the database. At Mohawk College Library, this would be the database Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews and monographs found in ERIC. In this case, include the database name and the DOI or URL. Example from Cochrane

Drahota, A., Udell, J. E, Mackenzie, H. & Pugh, M. T. (2024). Psychological and educational interventions for preventing falls in older people living in the community.Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (10). Retrieved February 13, 2025, from http://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&PAGE=reference&D=coch&NEWS=N&AN=00075320-100000000-11887.

If my resource is written by 2 or more authors, do I need to include all of their names in the in-text citation?

If there are 2 authors, include both in the citation. Examples:

In the narrative approach separate the two names with “and”: Narrative approach: Sayer and Chen (2020) illustrate…

In the parenthetical approach separate the two names with “&”: Parenthetical approach: (Sayer & Chen, 2020)

If there are more than 2 authors, include the first named author followed by “et al.” Examples:

Narrative approach: Kaur et al. (2021) state…
Parenthetical approach: (Kaur et al., 2021)

How do I order the authors if I am citing more than one work in my in-text citation?

According to the APA Style website, order the works alphabetically, if citing more than one work inside the same parenthesis. Separate each citation with a semi-colon. For example, if citing a work by Kaur and Young that was published in 2022, another work by Abbotts published in 2001 and another by Sayer and Tong, published in 2020, you would cite it like this: (Abbotts, 2001; Kaur & Young, 2022; Sayer & Tong, 2020).

If I am pulling a quote from a webpage and the webpage does not have page numbers, how do I cite the page reference?

For webpages that do not have page numbers, cite the section heading and the paragraph number (count the paragraphs from the heading.) Use “para” to indicate the paragraph. Example: (Chen, n.d., Introduction section, para. 3) See more information about how to cite materials that do not have page numbers.

Do I need to include in-text citations and references in my presentation (e.g., PowerPoint)?

Check with your professor for preferences as styles for referencing in a presentation vary. A safe approach is to include an in-text citation within the slide where you are referencing a source and include a list of References slide at the end of your presentation (similar to how you would reference in an essay.) A less formal approach is to include the source of the resource and a hyperlink (e.g., Globe Investor). In this case, you would not need a list of References at the end. Again, check with your professor so that you adhere to the assignment expectations.

Do I need to cite an image I’m using in my slide presentation, such as PowerPoint, even if it’s just decorative?

Check with your professor to determine if you must use APA format to cite images in your presentation that are used for decorative purposes only. In most cases, stock images that come included with Microsoft Word or PowerPoint do not need to be cited according to the APA Style website. If the image is not a stock image, it’s important to note the source and author of the image. The following guidance is provided by Purdue University Libraries:

Some sites, such as Creative Commons and Wikimedia, include the citation information with the image. Use that citation when available. Copy the citation and add under the image. For example, an image of a lake from Creative Commons has this citation next to it: "lake" by barnyz is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.
Include a marker, such as Image 1. or Figure 1., and in the reference section, include full citation information with the corresponding number
Include a complete citation (whatever the required format, such as APA) below the image
Below the image, include the link to the online image location
Hyperlink the title of the image with the online image location

(Purdue University Libraries, Citing images in your PowerPoint, 2025).

See also the Library’s APA Guide – Images section for guidance on how to cite images using APA