Among the favorite sources of information nowadays is the internet. You can find here diverse web resources and even electronic version of print publications such as books, journals, and other documents in Portable Document Format (PDF) that are highly accessible and convenient to use. It is especially useful when doing research and academic papers.
Citing PDF files is the same as how you cite a print publication, but with the inclusion of the URL or DOI. You will see what I mean when we discuss the APA PDF citation format in detail, but for now, here is a guide in listing the authors.
Table of Content
- 1 Citing the Author
- 1.1 One Author
- 1.2 Multiple Authors
- 1.2.1 Two to Seven Authors
- 1.2.2 More than Seven Authors
- 1.2.3 Corporate Author
- 1.2.4 No Author
- 2 In-Text Citation
- 3
Citation by PDF Source
- 3.1 Book
- 3.2 Periodical
- 3.3 Web Document, Web Page or Report
One Author
In-text citation | Reference list |
| Last nameMeder*Write only the last name for all in-text citations. | Last name, A. A.Meder, C. J.*Reverse the name of the author, and write only the last name and initials separated by a comma. |
Multiple Authors
Note: In listing the authors, follow the same order as it is written in the source.
Two to Seven Authors
| In-text citation | Reference list |
| Last Name A & Last name BCarlson & Lee*Use ampersand (&) instead of “and.” Up to five names can be included, but in the subsequent in-text citation for works with more than two authors, write only the last name of the first author followed by et al. | Last name, A. A., & Last name, B. BCarlson, R. G., & Lee, M. R.*Use ampersand (&) instead of “and.” |
| In-text citation | Reference list |
| Last name A et al.Davis et al.*Include only the first author’s last name followed by et al. | Last name, A. A., Last name, B. B., Last name, C. C., Last name, D. D., Last name, E. E., Last name, F. F.,… Last name, G. G.Davis, L. D., Smith, J., Anderson, H. M., Lewis, A. J., Wright, K., Adams, C. N.,… Rogers, M.*Only seven authors can be included in the reference list. After the name of the sixth author, write three ellipsis points followed by the last author’s name. |
| In-text citation | Reference list |
| Name of the organization or groupAmerican Psychological Association | (same as in-text) |
| In-text citation | Reference list |
| Title of the article or work“Lifestyle Disease and Mortality”*For works with short titles, write the full title in the in-text citation, whereas for long titles, include only the first few words enclosed in double quotation marks. | Title of the article or workLifestyle Disease and Mortality |
This part will show you the guidelines, elements and examples for both in-text citation and reference list. For the reference list, not all the elements listed may be present in a specific reference. You only need to include the available information from the source.
In-Text Citation
- In-text citation is usually written in a parenthesis with the last name of the author and year separated by a comma.
(Kelly, 2009)
- If the last name of the author is included in the text, write only the year inside the parenthesis.
Kelly (2009)
- Include the name of the author, year, and page number if a part of a work is directly quoted.
(Hill & Scott, 2003, p. 24)
According to Hill & Scott (2003, p. 24)
- For works with no date, use n.d.
(Mitchell, n.d.)
Mitchelle (n.d.)
Citation by PDF Source
- Italicize the title of books, newspapers, magazines and journals.
- The date is written in this order: year, month day.
- Include the URL or DOI. Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is a unique alphanumeric string used by scholarly publishers to provide persistent link to content in the internet.
Book
| Element | Location |
| Author | Title page |
| Year of Publication | Title page or the next page |
| Title of the book | Title page |
| Place of publication | Title page or the next page |
| Publisher | Title page or the next page |
| URL | Address bar of the browser |
| DOI | First page of the electronic resource near the copyright or at the database landing page |
Basic Format
Author. (Year). Title of Book (edition if not first) [PDF file]. Place of Publication: Publisher. Retrieved from //www.someaddress.com/full/url/ or doi:0000000/000000000000 or //dx.doi.org/10.0000/0000
Example
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) [PDF file]. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from //is.muni.cz/el/1423/jaro2013/ZUR537/um/APA.pdf
Periodical
| Element | Location |
| Author | Top of the periodical |
| Date of Publication | Top of the periodical, within the website |
| Title of the article or topic | Top of the periodical, within the website |
| Title of the periodical | Top, bottom or side of the periodical, within the website |
| Volume number and Issue number | Top of the periodical, within the website |
| Page Number | Top or bottom of the periodical |
| URL | Address bar of the browser |
| DOI | First page of the electronic journal article near the copyright or at the database landing page for the article |
Basic Format
Author. (Date). Title of article [PDF file]. Title of Online Periodical, Volume number (issue number if available), pages. Retrieved from //www.someaddress.com/full/url/ or doi:0000000/000000000000 or //dx.doi.org/10.0000/0000
Example
Davy, B.M., Davy, K. P., Ho, R. C., Beske, S. D., Davrath, L. R., & Melby, C. L. (2002, August). High-fiber oat cereal compared with wheat cereal consumption favorably alters LDL-cholesterol subclass and particle numbers in middle-aged and older men [PDF file]. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 76(2), 351-358. Retrieved from //ajcn.nutrition.org/content/76/2/351.full.pdf+html
Note:
The issue number written in a parenthesis after the volume number should not be italicized.
Web Document, Web Page or Report
| Element | Location |
| Author | First or last page |
| Date of Publication | First, second or last page |
| Title of the document | First page |
| URL | Address bar of the browser |
| DOI | First page of the electronic resource near the copyright or at the database landing page |
Basic Format
Author. (Date). Title of the document [PDF file]. Retrieved from //www.someaddress.com/full/url/ or doi:0000000/000000000000 or //dx.doi.org/10.0000/0000
Example
Food and Agriculture Organization. (2007). Promises and challenges of the informal food sector in developing countries [PDF file]. Retrieved from ftp://ftp.fao.org/docrep/fao/010/a1124e/a1124e00.pdf