References by document types
General hints
For helpful information on how to cite different document types, see APA (6th edition) or check the Publication Manual for the latest version (7th edition).
- Since the original language of the APA standard is English, we recommend using Zotero’s English interface when inserting citations. You can avoid Zotero mixing the two languages and using abbreviations in English or Hungarian, e.g., ed./szerk. or pp./o.
- Pay attention to the required elements; where no data is available, substitute it, e.g., n.d. (no date).
- Try to find all available data. If certain data elements are missing (e.g. page number at electronic sources, author, issue number), omit them.
- If an electronic source has a DOI, provide it. If DOI is provided, you do not need to add the URL or the access date. If DOI is not available, give the URL. If both are missing, refer to the source as a printed document.
- Note that for verbatim citations, in addition to the author’s surname and the year, you need to add the page number of the cited document.
- Do not present unnecessary data, e.g. rank, prefix, ISSN, ISBN, downloading date.
Mandatory data elements by document types
Book/e-book
General form: Author’s surname, initials of first name. (Publication year). Title (Edition). Publisher.
| In-text citation | Reference list | |
| 1 author | (Kornai, 1982) | Kornai, J. (1982). A hiány (2nd ed.) Közgazdasági és Jogi Könyvkiadó. |
| 2 authors | (Sambrook & Russel, 2001) | Sambrook, J., & Russell, D. W. (2001). Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual (3rd ed.). CSHL Press. |
| More than 2 authors | (Torino et al., 2019) | Torino, G. C., Rivera, D. P., Capodilupo, C. M., Nadal, K. L., & Sue, D. W. (Eds.). (2019). Microaggression theory: Influence and implications. John Wiley & Sons. |
| E-book, with DOI | (Chikán, 2020) | Chikán, A. (2020). Vállalatgazdaságtan. Akadémiai Kiadó. https://doi.org/10.1556/9789634545897 |
Hints:
It is recommended to include the edition in brackets after the title.
In the reference list use a comma between authors’ names and & in front of the last author.
If the book is edited, i.e. contains several essays, indicate it has an editor e.g.: Kesharwani, P. (Ed.).
If an e-book has a DOI it should be placed after the publisher.
Book chapter, conference material
General form: Author’s surname, initials of first name. (Publication year). Chapter title. In Editor’s surname, initials of first name. (Eds.), Book title (pp. page number from-to). Publisher.
| In-text citation | Reference list | |
| 1 author | (Hogue, 2001) | Hogue, C. W. V. (2001). Structure databases. In A. D.Baxevanis & B. F. F. Oullette (Eds.), Bioinformatics (2nd ed., pp. 83-109). Wiley-Interscience. |
| 2 authors | (Lengyel & Vicsek, 2004) | Lengyel, Gy., & Vicsek, L. (2004). A biztonsághiány egyéni és társadalmi komponensei. In Kolosi, T., Tóth, I. Gy., & Vukovich Gy. (Eds.), Társadalmi riport (pp. 484-499). TÁRKI. |
| More than 2 authors | (Le Couteur et al., 2010) | Le Couteur, D., Kendig, H., Naganathan, V., & McLachlan, A. (2010). The ethics of prescribing medicines to older people. In S. Koch, F. M. Gloth & R. Nay (Eds.), Medication management in older adults (pp. 29-42). Springer. |
| E-book, with DOI | (Aron et al., 2019) | Aron, L., Botella, M., & Lubart, T. (2019). Culinary arts: Talent and their development. In R. F. Subotnik, P. Olszewski-Kubilius, & F. C. Worrell (Eds.), The psychology of high performance: Developing human potential into domain-specific talent (pp. 345–359). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000120-016 |
| Conference volume | (Levesque & Davis, 2012) | Levesque, H. J., & Davis, E. (2012). The Winograd Schema Challenge. In G. Brewka, T. Eiter, S. A. McIlraith (Eds.) Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on the Principles of Knowledge Representation and Reasoning (pp. 24–49). AAAI Press. |
| Conference proceeding | (Fischer & Sahay, 2004) | Fischer, S., & Sahay, R. (2004, April 15-16). Transition economies: The role of institutions and initial conditions [Conference presentation]. IMF Conference in Honor of Guillermo A. Calvo, Washington D.C., United States. https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/document?repid=rep1&type=pdf&doi=e4961bd65bf0e9473696d9d5e998a634a 87724d8 |
Hints:
Reference should be made only to chapters of edited books, otherwise, cite the whole book.
If the e-book chapter does not have a page number, omit it from the reference.
If the chapter has a DOI, add it after the name of the publisher in the reference list.
E-journal article or magazine article
General form: Author’s surname, initials of first name. (Publication year). Article title. Journal title, volume(issue), page number from-to. DOI or URL
| In-text citation | Reference list | |
| 1 author | (Middleton, 2011) | Middleton, J. (2011). The test of time: Neuropsychological approaches to children: Towards a developmental neuropsychology. Clinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 16(2), 247-251. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359104511404364 |
| 2 authors | (Kalashnikova & Chorna, 2023) | Kalashnikova, L., & Chorna, V. (2023). Effectiveness of distance and online education services in the context of the coronavirus pandemic: Experience of empirical sociological research in Ukraine. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Sciences, 36(3), 515–525. https://doi.org/10.1080/13511610.2021.1909463 |
| More than 2 authors | (Felsmann et al., 2022) | Felsmann, B., Ferincz, A., & Kárpáti, Z. (2022). Erőforrások és képességek a vállalati versenyképesség tükrében – Egy empirikus vizsgálat tanulságai. Vezetéstudomány-Budapest Management Review, 53(4), 2-16. https://doi.org/10.14267/VEZTUD.2022.04.01 |
| Magazine article | (Lyons, 2009) | Lyons, D. (2009, June 15). Don’t ‘iTune’ us: It’s geeks versus writers. Guess who’s winning. Newsweek, 153(24), 27. https://www.newsweek.com/its-writers-vs-techies-guess-whos-winning-80631 |
Hints:
If the journal article has an article number instead of a page number, use the word “Article” and add the article number. e.g: PLoS ONE, 13(3), Article e0193972.
If the journal does not use a volume, issue and/or article or page number, omit the missing element(s) from the reference.
Statistics
According to APA guidelines, when referring to a statistic, refer to the document in which it appears rather than the table or graph itself. An excellent example is the Statista database, where users are greatly assisted by the “Citation format” following the graph, which can be copied out in APA style for reference:
| In-text citation | Reference list | |
| From the Statista database | (Statista, 2024) | Nomad List. (2024, March 12). Share of digital nomads worldwide as of March 2024, by education level [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved September 19, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/1298859/digital-nomads-by-education-level-worldwide/ |
If you do refer only to the data table, e.g. in the case of Eustat, please proceed as follows:
| In-text citation | Reference list | |
| From Eustat | (Eustat, 2025) | Eustat. (2025, January 21). Employment rate of the population aged 16 to 64 in the Basque Country by quarter according to province, sex and age (%) (1). 2024/IV. [Graph]. In Eustat. Retrieved February 5, 2025, from https://en.eustat.eus/elementos/ele0011500/employment-rate-of-the-population-aged-16-to-64-in-the-basque-country-by-quarter-according-to-province-sex-and-age–1/tbl0011527_i.html |
Legal sources
In APA style most legal materials are cited in the standard legal citation style used for legal references across all disciplines. For further information, please check Chapter 11 in the Publication Manual, which gives you a detailed guideline on how to cite legal references.
Grey literature
This category includes documents that are not published through a publisher, are not commercially available and are therefore difficult to access.
| In-text citation | Reference list | |
| Research report | (OECD, 2021) | OECD (2021). Tax Challenges Arising from Digitalisation of the Economy – Global Anti-Base Erosion Model Rules (Pillar Two): Inclusive Framework on BEPS. (OECD/G20 Base Erosion and Profit Shifting Project).OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/782bac33-en. |
| Working paper | (Steckel & White, 2012) | Steckel, R., & White, W. (2012). Engines of Growth: Farm Tractors and Twentieth-Century U.S. Economic Welfare (NBER Working paper series 17879). National Bureau of Economic Research. https://doi.org/10.3386/w17879 |
| Report | (Stuster et al., 2018) | Stuster, J., Adolf, J., Byrne, V., & Greene, M. (2018). Human exploration of Mars: Preliminary lists of crew tasks (Report No. NASA/CR-2018-220043). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20190001401.pdf |
| White paper | (European Commission, 2016) | European Commission. (2016, June 2). Communication from the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions A European agenda for the collaborative economy {SWD(2016) 184 final} [White paper]. Brussels. |
| Thesis, Dissertation* | (Zambrano-Vazquez, 2016) | Zambrano-Vazquez, L. (2016). The interaction of state and trait worry on response monitoring in those with worry and obsessive-compulsive symptoms [Doctoral dissertation, University of Arizona]. UA Campus Repository. https://repository.arizona.edu/handle/10150/620615 |
*Avoid its use if possible.
Websites
Citing websites is challenging for several reasons. In many cases, the document on a website is a stand-alone document (e.g. an article embedded in a website, a blog, or a research report). It should be referenced according to the original document. In the case of companies, organisations, and news, it may be appropriate to cite the website. The APA lists six different types of websites, e.g. news, individual author’s writing, organisational, governmental, etc., and other ways of providing the available data are required.
| In-text citation | Reference list | |
| Website, news | (Bologna, 2019) | Bologna, C. (2019, October 31). Why some people with anxiety love watching horror movies. HuffPost. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/anxiety-love-watching-horror-movies_l_5d277587e4b02a5a5d57b59e |
| Website, blog | (Ouellette, 2019) | Ouellette, J. (2019, November 15). Physicists capture first footage of quantum knots unraveling in superfluid. Ars Technica. Ouellette, J. (2019, November 15). Physicists capture first footage of quantum knots unraveling in superfluid. Ars Technica. |
| Website, company | (Unilever, 2023) | Unilever. (2023, March 9). The top 10 causes of death. https://www.unilever.com/news/press-and-media/press-releases/2023/unilever-reveals-influencers-can-switch-people-on-to-sustainable-living/ |
| Website with accessed date | (Vinted, n.d.) | Vinted. (n.d.). What is Vinted about? Retrieved June 2, 2024, from https://www.vinted.hu/about |
Further examples: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/webpage-website-references and https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/blog-post-references
Social media
Avoid its use, if possible, unless the essay is about a specific platform.
| In-text citation | Reference list | |
| (Community of Multiculturalism, n.d.) | Community of Multiculturalism. (n.d.). Home [Facebook page]. Facebook. Retrieved October 14, 2020, from https://www.facebook.com/communityofmulticulturalism/ | |
| (Prevention Institute, 2020) | Prevention Institute [@preventioninst]. (2020, September 24). If you want to talk #health, you have to talk #racialjustice [Video attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/preventioninst/status/1309211009039687680 | |
| (Fibre2Fashion, 2024) | Fibre2Fashion. (2024. February 8).The rise of sustainable fashion trends. [Post] LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rise-sustainable-fashion-trends-fibre2fashion-kwzuf/ |
Other document types
| Reference list | ||
| Press release | (U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 2019) | U.S. Food and Drug Administration. (2019, November 15). FDA approves first contact lens indicated to slow the progression of nearsightedness in children [Press release]. https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-contact-lens-indicated-slow-progression-nearsightedness-children |
| Infographic | (Rossmann & Palmer, 2015) | Rossmann, J. & Plamer, R. (2015). Sorting through our space junk [Infographic]. World Science Festival. https://www.worldsciencefestival.com/2015/11/space-junk-infographic |
| Film | (Morgan, 2015) | Morgan, A. (Director). (2015). The true cost [Motion Picture]. Untold Creative, LLC |
| TED-Talk | (McGonigal, 2010) | McGonigal, J. (2010, February): Gaming can make a better world [Video). Ted Conferences. https://www.ted.com/talks/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world?subtitle=en |
For precise information of other document types (web pages, podcasts, data, theses etc.) check APA’s official site, and this overview compiled by APA.
Interview
Since an interview is not a written text, it should not be listed in a reference list but cited in the text.
Personal interview
Example (intertextual reference, paraphrased, in narrative form):
Smith, J. says that to be successful in business, you need determination and perseverance (Personal interview, 12 November 2024).
Exact quote: (cross-reference, in bracketed form)
“Without struggle, there is no business success” (Smith, J., personal interview, 12 November 2024)
In an appendix, it is helpful to include details of the interviews, e.g.:
| Interviewee | Company | Position | Date |
| John Smith | Erste Bank | Managing director | September 15, 2024 |
| Steve Clark | Bank of England | Head of Finance | September 28, 2024. |
| Alfred Escher | Credit Suisse | Controlling manager | October 3, 2024. |
For anonymous (not named) interviewees in research:
According to “Interviewee 1”, “she can maintain a work-life balance when working from home”.
In an appendix, it is helpful to include information about the interviewees that is relevant to the research, e.g.:
| Participants | Age, gender | Job | Date |
| Interviewee, 1 | female, 25 | clerk | September 15, 2024 |
| Interviewee, 2 | male, 23 | student | September 28, 2024. |
| Interviewee, 3 | female, 20 | shop assistant | October 3, 2024. |
For further details, check Chapters 8.7 and 8.9 in the APA manual.