The following rules for citing single or multiple authors apply to all APA references, no matter the source type (book, article, or online resource).
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One author
Example:
Charles, T. (2023). Educational technology in the Gulf. Scholars’ Press.
Note: Last name first, followed by author initials.
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Two authors
Example:
Graff, G., & Birkenstein, C. (2024). “They say / I say”: The moves that matter in academic writing. (6th ed.). W.W. Norton & Company.
Note: Use the ampersand "&" instead of "and."
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Three to 20 authors
Example:
El-adaway, I. H., Ali, G. G., Eissa, R., Abdul Nabi, M., Ahmed, M. O., Elbashbishy, T., & Khalef, R. (2023). Construction Management and Economics 40th anniversary: investigating knowledge structure and evolution of research trends. Construction Management and Economics, 41(4), 338–360. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2022.2164598
Note: List all of the authors (up to 20), separated by commas. Use an ampersand (&) before the final author's name.
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More than 20 authors
Example:
Smith, J., Brown, L., Taylor, R., Johnson, M., Lee, P., Kim, T., Adams, R., ... Wilson, D. (2023). Advances in neuroscience. Springer.
Note: List the first 19 authors, followed by an ellipsis (...), then add the final author's name. Do not place an ampersand before it.
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Author is a group, a company or an organization
Example:
World Health Organization. (2023). Global health report 2023. WHO.
Note: Use the full organization name as the author.
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Unknown author
Example:
Climate change impacts on biodiversity. (2023). Cambridge University Press.
Note: If no author is available, use the title in italics. Only use “Anonymous” if the author of the work is signed “Anonymous.”
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Multiple works by the same author in the same year
Example:
Smith, J. (2023a). Cognitive development theories. Pearson.
Smith, J. (2023b). The role of language in learning. Cambridge University Press.
Note: If two works have the same publication date, organize them alphabetically by the title of the article or chapter. Use letters (a, b, c, etc.) after the year to distinguish different sources by the same author.
