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APA referencing for Psychology students

Psychology students at Norwich University of the Arts use American Psychological Association (APA) referencing. If you are studying another subject, you will use Harvard Cite Them Right referencing

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APA Referencing

How to reference using American Psychological Association (APA) Referencing:

1. In-text citations

All in-text citation shows the author’s surname, the copyright year. If quoting directly from another author then you should include the page number(s) of the quote; however, if you are not quoting directly then you do not need to include page numbers.

For example:

(Field, 2024, p.106) or (Field, 2024)

2. Bibliography

The bibliography is a list of the resources you have referenced in your essay. It should include enough information for your lecturer to find the original resource. The bibliography appears at the end of your work and is always listed alphabetically by surname.

Useful resources for APA

Website of the American Psychological Association

Purdue University APA formatting guide

For a list of how to reference different types of sources use our APA Referencing Examples

Borrow the book from the library. We have several copies of Concise rules of APA style and Cite Them Right in stock.

Ask us – library staff are always happy to help you with your referencing queries and point you in the right direction. Email us at library@norwichuni.ac.uk to ask your librarian.

Why reference?

Referencing is an important part of your degree for many reasons:

to acknowledge the ideas of others
to add credibility to your work
to demonstrate how widely you have researched your topic
to show that your research includes academic sources
to avoid plagiarism.

What is plagiarism?

Plagiarism is using someone else’s work without referring to or citing the work. By doing this, even unintentionally, you risk being accused of passing it off as your own. By using Harvard referencing you can ensure that you include an in-text citation every time you refer to someone else’s work, ensuring that you are acknowledging that the work/ideas are not your own. This applies to both written AND visual sources. It is very important to ensure that you always acknowledge other people’s work and do not copy it or pretend it is yours. This short video from Brock University Library (2014) explains more:

Brock University Library. (2014, Sept 2). What is plagiarism and how to avoid it [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmab92ghG0M

Copyright

If you are using other peoples’ work in your work, outside of your written work, you will need to ensure you are not breaching copyright. Most ordinary usage will be covered under the University’s CLA license but there are some occasions where you may need extra permissions. Full details of what is and isn’t covered by our copyright license, and further support can be found on our VLE page.