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APA Style Guide: Authors

General Rules for Authors in References

Personal Authors (6.27)

List author names in the order they appear in the document or text. Begin with the surname followed by the initials of the first and middle name. Place a comma after the surname. Place a period after each initial in the first and middle name. Separate names with a comma and space. When a work has more than one author put an ampersand (&) before the last surname. End with a period.

Jones, B.R., Van deWater, M.L., Anderson, K., & MacMillan, J.S.

Morgan, J.R. & Tellescue, A. (Eds.).

de Wollen, S.

2 to 7 authors: List up to 7 author surnames and initials separated by commas. List surnames as they appear in the document.

8 or more authors: List the first six then add three ellipses and the last author's name.

Carrey, J. M., Riley, P., James, K. K., Edgerton, R., Smith, T. A., Rowland, P.,...Henry, J.D.

 

Organizational Authors (6.27)

Organizations or groups as author: Spell out the full name of the group or organization even if a well-known acronym exists.

Central Intelligence Agency.

 

Secondary Authors (6.27)

Personal author and editor:  If a work has an editor in addition to a personal or organizational author, include both. The editor(s) are placed before the title statement and the name is not inverted.

Luzikov, V.N.. (1985). In D.B. Roodyn (Ed.), Mitochondrial biogenesis and breakdown.

Editor as author: If a work has no personal or organizational author, but has an editor, the secondary author is a required component of a reference (placed in the author position and invert the names).

Leonard, W.R. & Crawford, M.H. (Eds).

No author: If a work has no identifiable author (personal, organization, or editor), begin the reference with the title.

Manneristical. (n.d.). Collins English dictionary: Complete & unabridged (10th ed.). Retrieved from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/manneristical