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Referencing in APA 7th Style

How to reference social and digital media

Only use this format if you are citing a specific social media post. If you used a link on social media that went through to another source eg. a website, then cite the source directly and do not mention the social media platform you discovered it on.

As social media posts can be both textual or audiovisual the title of the post will depend on the format. Either provide a description of the audiovisual content, or if just a textual post include up to the first 20 words of the post.

For an Instagram highlight you would use (n.d.) as the individual stories within a highlight are not dated and could come from multiple dates.

 

Format

Author, N. [Username]. (Year, Month Day). Title or first 20 words of post [Type of post]. Social Media Site. www.socialmeda.com/user/post

 

Components

  • Name of the individual or group who created the post, followed by a username if relevant
  • Date of the post in the format (Year, Month Day).
  • Title of the post in italics followed by [Type of Post].
  • Name of the social media platform
  • URL of the individual post

 

Examples

Tweet

APA Education [@APAEducation]. (2018, June 29). College students are forming mental-health clubs - and they're making a difference @washingtonpost [Tweet]. Twitter. https://twitter.com/apaeducation/status/1012810490530140161

 

Facebook Post

National Institute of Mental Health. (2018, November 28). Suicide affects all ages, genders, races, and ethnicities. Check out these 5 Action Steps for Helping Some-one in Emotional Pain [Infographic]. Facebook. http://bit.ly/321Qstq

 

Instagram Post

APA Public Interest Directorate [@apapubint]. (2019, June 14). Male depression is serious, but many men try to ignore it or refuse treatment. Different men have different symptoms, but [Video] Instagram. https://www.instagram.com/p/BysOqenB1v7/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

You would use this format for videos accessed on sites like YouTube and other similar streaming sites. If you watch whole films online you need to use the Film format.

 

Format

Author, N. (Year, Month Day). Title of the video [Video]. Platform Name. www.platform.com/video

 

Components

  • Name of the person or group who uploaded the video
  • Date the video was uploaded in the format (Year, Month Day).
  • Title of the video in italics followed by [Video].
  • Name of the platform the video has been uploaded onto
  • URL of the individual video

 

Example

YouTube Video

Data-Pop Alliance. (2015, Oct 21). What is data literacy? [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHz_ogTH2p4

 

Format

Director, N. (Director). (Year). Film title [Film]. Production Company.

 

Components

  • Director's surname and initial(s) followed by (Director).
  • Year the version of the film was released
  • Title of the film in italics followed by [Film].
  • Name of the production company

 

Example

Film

Fleming, V. (Director). (1939). Gone with the wind [Film]. Selznick International Pictures; Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The format is slightly different depending on whether you are referring to a whole series or an individual episode.

For episodes there may be more than one writer and a separate director and these all need to be included. See the examples below for this in practice.

 

TV Series Format

Producer, N. (Executive Producer). (Year-Year). Title of series [TV series]. Production Company.

 

Components

  • Producer's surname and initial(s) followed by (Executive Producer).
  • Year range that the series ran from and to
  • Title of the series in italics followed by [TV Series].
  • Name of the production company

 

TV Episode Format

Writer, N. (Writer & Director). (Year, Month Day). Title of episode (Season x, Episode x) [TV series episode].  In N. Producer (Executive Producer), Title of series. Production Company.

 

Components

  • Writer(s) surname and initial(s) followed by (Writer & Director).
  • Date the episode first aired in the format (Year, Month Day).
  • Title of the episode followed by the season and episode numbers in brackets, followed by [TV series episode].
  • Name of the producer(s) of the whole series followed by (Executive Producer),
  • Title of the overall TV series in italics
  • Name of the production company

 

Example

TV Series

Serling, R. (Executive Producer). (1959–1964). The twilight zone [TV series]. Cayuga Productions; CBS Productions.

 

TV Episode with a single writer

Sherman-Palladino, A. (Writer & Director). (2018, December 5). All alone (Season 2, Episode 10) [TV series episode]. In A. Sherman-Palladino, D. Palladino, D. Gilbert, M. Shapiro, S. Carino, & S. Lawrence (Executive Producers), The marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Dorothy Parker Drank Here Productions; Picrow; Amazon Studios.

 

TV Episode with multiple authors/directors

Favreau, J. (Writer), & Filoni, D. (Director). (2019, November 12). Chapter 1 (Season 1, Episode 1) [TV series episode]. In J. Favreau, D. Filoni, K. Kennedy, & C. Wilson (Executive Producers), The Mandalorian. Lucasfilm; Golem Creations.

Music Album Format

Artist, N. (Year). Album title [Album]. Music Label.

 

Components

  • Recording artist or Composer's surname and initial(s)
  • Year the album was released
  • Title of the album in italics followed by [Album].
  • Name of the label that produced the album

 

Single Song Format

Artist, N. (Year). Song title [Song]. On Album title. Music Label.

 

Components

  • Recording artist or Composer's surname and initial(s)
  • Year the song was released
  • Title of the song followed by [Song].
  • Name of the album title the song appears on in italics
  • Name of the label that produced the album

 

Whole Podcast Format

Host, N. (Host). (Year-Year). Title of series [Audio podcast]. Production Company. www.website.com/podcast

 

Components

  • Name of the host's surname and initial(s), use the executive producer if the host is not known
  • Year range that the podcast series ran from and to
  • Title of the series in italics followed by [Audio podcast] or [Video podcast] as relevant
  • Name of the production company
  • URL where the podcast series can be accessed

 

Podcast Episode Format

Host, N. (Host). (Year, Month Day). Title of episode (No.xxx) [Audio podcast episode]. In Title of podcast. Production Company. www.website.com/podcast

 

Components

  • Name of the host's surname and initial(s), use the executive producer if the host is not known
  • Date of the specific podcast episode in the format (Year, Month Day).
  • Title of the episode followed by the episode number in brackets, followed by [Audio podcast episode] or [Video podcast episode] as relevant
  • Title of the overall podcast series in italics
  • Name of the production company
  • URL where the podcast episode can be accessed

 

Examples

Music Album

Bowie, D. (2016). Blackstar [Album]. Columbia

 

Single Song

Beyonce. (2016). Formation [Song]. On Lemonade. Parkwood; Columbia.

 

Whole Podcast

Meraji, S. M., & Demby, G. (Hosts). (2016–present). Code switch [Audio podcast]. National Public Radio. https://www.npr.org/podcasts/510312/codeswitch

 

Podcast Episode

Hannah-Jones, N. (Host). (2019, September 13). How the bad blood started (No. 4) [Audio podcast episode]. In 1619. The New York Times. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/episode-4-how-the-bad-blood-started/id1476928106?i=1000449718223

Common software, apps, and programming languages in your field that you mention in the text, but not in relation to a quote, paraphrase, or summary, do not need citations. Eg. if you mention that you used SPSS statistical software as part of your research, or created a table of data in Microsoft Excel you would not need a citation.

If you have quoted, paraphrased, or summarised information taken from a particular software or app then you would need to cite and reference it. Or if you use software or apps that are not commonly recognisable.

 

Format

Author, N. (Year). Title of software (Version 1.0) [Type of software]. Publisher. www.website.com/app

 

Components

  • Author(s) surname and initial(s)
  • Date attributed to the version of the software or app
  • Title of the software or app in italics
  • Version of the software or app that you have used
  • Type of software eg. [Computer software] or [Mobile app]
  • Publisher of the software. For apps use the name of the app store eg. Google Play Store
  • URL of the software or app

 

Examples

Software

Borenstein, M., Hedges, L., Higgins, J., & Rothstein, H. (2014). Comprehensive meta-analysis (Version 3.3.070) [Computer Software]. Biostat. https://www.meta-analysis.com/

 

Mobile App

Epocrates. (2019). Epocrates medical references (Version 18.12) [Mobile app]. App Store. https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/epocrates/id281935788?mt=8