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APA (7th ed.) Reference Style

An introduction to the APA (American Psychological Association) 7th ed. referencing system with reference formats & examples.

Authors of audiovisual works

The following contributors to audiovisual works are used as the 'author'.

  • Film - Director
  • TV series - Executive producer(s)
  • TV series episode - Writer & director of episode
  • Podcast - Host or executive producer
  • Podcast episode - Host of episode
  • Webinar - Instructor
  • Classical music album or song - Composer
  • Modern music album or song - Recording artist
  • Artwork - Artist
  • Online streaming video (e.g. YouTube) - Person or group who uploaded the video
  • Photograph - Photographer

(Adapted from the APA Publication Manual, 2020, p. 341)

Audiovisual works: Reference format

The basics of a reference list entry for a film:

  • Primary contributor or contributors with their contribution identified in round brackets (e.g. the Director).
  • Year (in round brackets).
  • Title (in italics).
  • Description of work [in square brackets].
  • Publisher (e.g. the production company).
  • URL (where relevant).
  • The first line of each citation is left adjusted. Every subsequent line is indented 5-7 spaces.

 

Example: Ireland, P. (Director). (2016). Pawno [Film]. Toothless Pictures.

Audiovisual APA ref

Please note:

  • Audiovisual materials include films & documentaries, online streaming videos (such as YouTube videos), podcasts, TV shows & episodes, music albums & tracks, as well as static objects such as maps, artworks or photographs.
  • Some of the descriptions of medium are: [Film], [Video], [TV series] or [TV series episode], [Webinar], [Album], [Song], [Audio podcast] or [Video podcast], [Painting], [Photograph], [Map]. These can be adapted to best suit the material you are citing, keeping in mind you should use the description that best enables your reader to locate the material.

 

Audiovisual works: Examples

Material Type In-Text Example Reference List Example
Film

The film Pawno, directed by Paul Ireland and written by Damian Hill (2016) celebrates multicultural Footscray.

... explores what it means to be highly sensitive (Harper 2015).

Ireland, P. (Director). (2016). Pawno [Film]. Toothless Pictures.

 

Harper, W. (Director). (2015). Sensitive: The untold story [Film]. Global Touch Group.

TV show

or Series

.

(Overton, 2018)

 

 

The Good Doctor (Shore, 2017-present) follows the story of...

Overton, P. (Executive Producer). (2018, July 17).The truth about getting fit  [TV documentary]. BBC TV.

Shore, D. (Executive Producer). (2017-present). The good doctor [TV series]. ABC Studios; Sony Pictures Television.
TV show from series

Egan and Weyr (2019) portray Dr Shaun Murphy...

Egan, D. (Writer), & Weyr, T. N. (Director). (2019, October 14). Take my hand (Season 3, Episode 4) [TV series episode]. In D. Shore (Executive producer), The good doctor. ABC Studios; Sony Pictures Television.

TED talk

...celebrating the music and rhythm of everyday language (Delgado Lopera, 2019).

Lera Boroditsky explores how the languages we speak shape our minds (TED, 2018).

Delgado Lopera, J. (2019, January). The poetry of everyday speech [Video]. TEDx Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/juliana_delgado_lopera_the_poetry_of_everyday_speech

When referencing a TED talk retrieved directly from the TED website; list the presenter of the talk as the author. 

TED. (2018, May 3). Lera Boroditsky: How language shapes the way we think [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/RKK7wGAYP6k

When retrieving a TED talk from YouTube; list TED as the author (as they are the 'uploader'). Be sure to mention the presenter's name in the body of your text (see left).

YouTube video

…competing stresses of being a nursing student doing placements (Rojek, 2018).

Rojek, H. G. [Holley Gabrielle]. (2018, February 19). Stress and anxiety in nursing school: How to be in control [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/GqmX2JqjYMw

The person (or group) who uploaded the video is credited as the author.  If the uploader's real name is known, use it with the username following in [square brackets].
Podast: series

Radiolab (Abumrad & Krulwich, 2009-present) covers philosophical and scientific topics.

Abumrad, J., & Krulwich, R. (Hosts). (2009-present). Radiolab [Audio podcast]. WNYC. https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab

Podcast: episode

... plants sense without a brain (Abumrad & Krulwich, 2018).

​

Abumrad, J., & Krulwich, R. (Hosts). (2018, February 14). Smarty plants [Audio podcast episode]. In Radiolab. WNYC.  https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/radiolab/articles/smarty-plants

Include the episode number, in (round brackets) following the episode title, if relevant.
Image: Creative commons

In-text: Reproducing image:

Note. From Dementia Alzheimer's Dependent Forget Forgetfulness, by G. Altmann, n.d., Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/en/dementia-alzheimer-s-dependent-3051832). CC0 1.0.

The above citation is placed within the note under the reproduced image. The figure number and title are presented above the image. The Creative Commons license information is placed at the end of the citation within the note.

In-text: Referring to (but not reproducing) the image:

…visual representation of the experience of dementia (Altmann, n.d.).

​Altmann, G. [geralt]. (n.d.). Dementia Alzheimer's dependent forget forgetfulness [Photograph]. Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/en/dementia-alzheimer-s-dependent-3051832

Image from a library database

 

In-text: Reproducing image:

Include a Note directly below the figure. The figure number and title appear directly above the image.

Note. From Renal Arteries, by A. M. Gilroy, B. R. Macpherson, and L. M. Ross, 2008, Thieme Teaching Assistant Anatomy (https://www.thiemeteachingassistant.com/). Copyright 2008 by Thieme.

In text:  Referring to the reproduced image:

When citing a figure from your paper refer to the figure number

As shown in Figure 1 ……(Gilroy et al., 2008)

Figure 1 illustrates ….. (Gilroy et al., 2008)

Gilroy, A. M., Macpherson, B. R., & Ross, L. M. (2008). Renal arteries [Diagram]. Thieme Teaching Assistant Anatomy.        https://www.thiemeteachingassistant.com/

 Map

(Lewis County Geographic Information Services, 2002)

​Lewis County Geographic Information Services. (2002). Population density, 2000 U.S. Census by block group: Lewis County, Washington [Map]. http://maps.lewiscountywa.gov/maps/Demographics/census-popdens_2000.pdf

 

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