apa formatting page numbers

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How to format APA page numbers

In an APA style paper, page numbers generally appear in three places:

• On every page in the upper right corner (pagination for the paper)
• APA in-text citations
• The reference list

Let’s review all three.

1. Pagination for the paper

Every page written in APA style needs to have the page number listed at the top right corner of the paper . It also needs to appear on every page. It should also appear on the title page of the paper, as well as every page of the appendices, footnotes, and other supplemental sections.

The page number should be in the same font and size as the rest of your paper. APA provides different font point sizes depending on the font. For example, 12-point for Times New Roman or 11-point for Arial.

To summarize, your APA page number needs to be:

• At the top of every page (including the title page, body, appendices, etc.)
• Placed in the header
• Flush against the right margin
• In the same font and size as the rest of your paper

It’s recommended that you use autogenerated page numbers in the “header” section of your paper. These features are available in most popular word processors.

2. In-text citations

APA style, page number are recommended (but optional) for paraphrasing, and required for direct quotations from sources with page numbers. When citing a website in APA , or other sources without page numbers, you can use paragraph numbers to mark the quote’s location instead.

In-text citation structure and example for one page:

Text (Author Last Name, Year Published, p. #)

“And in our heart—strange are the ways of evil!—in our heart there is the first peace we have known in twenty years.” (Rand, 2019, p. 32)

In-text citation structure and example for a page range:

Text (Author Last Name, Year Published, pp. #-#)

“It is not good to be different from our brothers, but it is evil to be superior to them” (Rand, 2019, pp. 12-13)

Reference list entry for both examples:

Rand, A. (2019). Anthem . Project Gutenberg. https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1250 (Original work published in 1938)

Notice that unlike the in-text citations, the example reference list entry does NOT include page numbers. Whether a reference includes page numbers is not dependent on the in-text citation; it depends on the source type.

3. Reference list

Page numbers are only included in reference list entries when the following happens:

• The source has page numbers.
• The cited source is a smaller, complete work within a bigger work.

Common example sources:

• A journal article (smaller work) from a journal (bigger work)
• A newspaper article (smaller work) that was printed in a newspaper (bigger work)
• A magazine article (smaller work) in a printed magazine (bigger work)
• A chapter (smaller work) in an edited book (bigger work) where each chapter has a different author

Periodical/Article page numbers

Articles in periodicals (e.g., journals, newspapers, magazines, etc.) include page numbers in their references. The page number or page number range are formatted as the following:

Template and examples:

Notice that unlike in-text citations, there is no “p.” or “pp.” preceding the page numbers.

Example reference (journal article):

Gunn, R., Whear, R., & Douglas, L. (2012, June). A second recent canine burial from the Arnhem Land Plateau. Australian Archaeology , (74), 103-105. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23621527

Chapter in an edited book page numbers

Similar to in-text citations, page numbers are indicated by “p. #” or “pp. #-#” in the reference.

Example reference (chapter in an edited book):

Lisi, G. (2012). Uncalculated risk. In J. Brockman (Ed.), This will make you smarter (pp. 68-73). Harper Perennial.

Published October 28, 2020.

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

• Annotated Bibliography
• Block Quotes
• et al Usage
• In-text Citations
• Multiple Authors
• Paraphrasing
• Page Numbers
• Parenthetical Citations
• Reference Page
• Sample Paper
• APA 7 Updates
• View APA Guide

Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Newspaper Article
• Website (no author)
• View all APA Examples

You need not include page numbers in in-text citations unless you want to cite a particular page or page ranges of the source being cited. In such cases, you need to include the page information after the publication year.

If you want to cite a direct quotation, you do need to include the page information. To indicate you are quoting directly from a single page, use the abbreviation “p.” To indicate you are quoting from a continuous page range, use the abbreviation “pp.” and use an en dash between the page range (e.g., pp. 1-2). If the pages are discontinuous, use “pp.” but separate the page numbers with a comma, not an en dash (e.g., pp. 1, 3).

Below are examples of how to include page numbers in in-text citations when using direct quotations:

Narrative:        

Jones (1999) states, “It is important to study all children” (p. 47).

Neer et al. (2014) agree with his argument that “the behavior of working women changes drastically” (pp. 47, 49).

Blake and Garger (2002) assert “Humans fight for rights” (pp. 32–34).

Parenthetical:

The study performed in Alaska showed that “it is important to study all children” (Jones, 1999, p. 47).

According to the study, “The behavior of working women changes drastically” (Neer et al., 2014, pp. 47, 49).

“Humans fight for rights,” says the study (Blake & Garger, 2002, pp. 32–34).

The abbreviation “p.” refers to a single page, and “pp.” denotes multiple pages. When you want to cite a single page, use “p.” You can use “pp.” if you want to include a page range (e.g., pp. 45–57) or multiple pages that are not in a range (e.g., pp. 37, 39).

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APA Guide: 7th Edition

Page numbers.

• Figures/Images
• Webpages and Other Online Content
• Legal Citations
• Writing Style
• Summary of Changes

To insert page numbers in Microsoft Word:

          1.  Click the "Insert" tab in the top menu. 

          3 . Select Page Number,   then choose Plain Number 3  from the options. 

          4.  On the second page, Select Page Number , choose Plain Number 3 from the

               options. The page number will show up with a consecutive number in every page in the header.

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APA 7th Edition Style Guide: Pagination

• About In-text Citations
• In-Text Examples
• What to Include
• Volume/Issue
• Bracketed Descriptions
• URLs and DOIs
• Book with Editor(s)
• Book with No Author
• Book with Organization as Author
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• Journal Article
• Magazine Article
• Multi-Volume Works
• Newspaper Article
• Patents & Laws
• Personal Communication
• Physicians' Desk Reference
• Social Media
• Unpublished Manuscripts/Informal Publications (i.e. course packets and dissertations)
• Formatting Your Paper
• Formatting Your References
• Annotated Bibliography
• Headings in APA
• APA Quick Guide
• NEW!* Submit your Paper for APA Review

General Rules for Pagination

Pagination is a required part of a reference to a book when you only use a specific part of the book for research. It indicates the specific point within a work at which the information to be referenced is located. Pagination is required in periodicals, but if a periodical has no page numbers it may be left out of the citation (this is sometimes the case with articles found on the Internet). You should make a reasonable effort to locate page numbers, they are often present in pdf documents.

If you are citing an entire book pagination is not necessary.

Pagination for part of a book consists of the beginning and concluding pages of the chapter or part.

Place pagination after the title, enclosed in parentheses, and followed by a period. Pagination follows edition and/or volume statements (when these are given). Use the abbreviation p. for one page and pp. for more than one page.

Margereson, C. (2003). The development of cardiothoracic surgical nursing. Cardiothoracic surgical nursing (pp. 21-55). Blackwell Science.

Journal articles  

Entire article:

Pagination consists of the first and last page of the article.

• If the pagination is continuous, separate pages by a hyphen.
• If the pagination is discontinuous, separate groupings of page numbers by a comma and space.
• If the publication has no page numbers, leave out pagination.

Retain page numbers as they appear in the publication, as XI, v-vii, N37-N49, 230s-252s.

Place pagination information after the volume/issue preceded by a comma.

Landau, H. (2010, September). Winning grants: A game plan. American Libraries, 41 (9), 34-36.

Pagination differs in newspaper articles. Precede the page numbers with p. or pp. as you would with books. Write the page numbers the same as they appear in the newspaper, most newspapers use a number and section letter (i.e. A1; 1H; B5-B7; 1D-2D, 7D).

• If the publication has no page numbers, leave out pagination.  

Roy, R., Garcia, J., & Kennedy, J. (2005, July 12). Dennis' trail of destruction - Panhandle sustains pockets of destruction; At least 4 dead. The Orlando Sentinel , p. A1.

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• Setting Up the APA Reference Page | Formatting & References (Examples)

Setting Up the APA Reference Page | Formatting & References (Examples)

Published on November 4, 2020 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on August 23, 2022.

On the APA reference page, you list all the sources that you’ve cited in your paper. The list starts on a new page right after the body text.

Follow these instructions to set up your APA reference page:

• Place the section label “References” in bold at the top of the page (centered).
• Order the references alphabetically .
• Double-space all text.
• Apply a hanging indent of 0.5 inches.

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References are ordered alphabetically by the first author’s last name. If the author is unknown, order the reference entry by the first meaningful word of the title (ignoring articles: “the”, “a”, or “an”).

Word processors like Word or Google Docs and citation generators can usually order the reference list automatically. However, ordering becomes challenging when citing multiple works by the same author or works by authors with the same last name.

Our in-depth article on ordering references in APA Style explains what to do in these situations.

Only include references for sources cited in the body text (with an APA in-text citation ). Don’t include references for:

• Sources that you only consulted;
• Personal communications (e.g., emails or phone calls);
• General mentions of websites or periodicals ;
• Common knowledge .

For some student papers, it’s common to describe or evaluate the source in an annotation . These annotations are placed on a new line below the corresponding reference entry. The entire annotation is indented 0.5 inches.

If an annotation consists of multiple paragraphs, the first line of the second and any subsequent paragraphs is indented an additional 0.5 inches.

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The format of an APA reference differs depending on the source type. Play around with the options in the Scribbr Example Generator to get familiar with APA Style.

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APA citation examples

Check out Scribbr’s citation examples to learn more about citing each type of source, ranging from books and journals to podcasts and tweets !

Periodicals

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• Newspaper article

Reports and gray literature

• Press release
• Dissertation or thesis
• Conference paper

Books and reference works

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Audiovisual works

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• YouTube video

Online media

• Personal communication
• Tables and figures

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Streefkerk, R. (2022, August 23). Setting Up the APA Reference Page | Formatting & References (Examples). Scribbr. Retrieved November 29, 2023, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/apa-reference-page/

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Citation Help for APA, 7th Edition: Formatting Your Paper

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Paper Set Up

APA has a number of rules for setting up an APA style paper that your instructor may want you to follow. The following information came from the 7th edition of the APA Manual. See the page number that follows each style rule for more information.

Margins - 1 inch all sides, including top, bottom, left and right (Sect. 2.22, p. 45)

Font preference and size - Most instructors prefer the font set at 12-pt Times New Roman. However, APA does allow for other font types and sizes, including Calibri 11-point, Arial 11-point, Lucida Sans Unicode 10-point, or Georgia 11-point. Consult your instructor for their preferences. (Sect. 2.19, p. 44)

Line Spacing - Double spacing should occur throughout the entire document, including title page, reference list, and quotations of 40 or more words. NOTE: There are a few exceptions. (Sect. 2.21, p. 45)

Page Numbers - Page numbers should be located in the right corner of the header unless specified differently from your instructor. Be sure to include a page number on the title page, too! (Sect. 2.18, p. 44)

Paragraph Indentation - Paragraphs should be indented 1/2 inch. For consistency throughout the paper, click your Tab key one time. (Sect. 2.24, pp. 45-46)

 Additional Resources

Setting up your Paper in Proper APA Style   (Coming Soon!) - this is a video tutorial created by the CSS Library. It will demonstrate how to set up a paper in proper APA Style in Word for a PC. 

Paper Format Checklist - basic formatting requirements for setting up an APA paper (Google Doc Version). 

Title Page for a Student Paper - guidelines from APA for setting up the title page for a student paper. 

More Information

For more information about formatting your paper, see the section numbers and additional resources outlined above and Chapter 2 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.

NOTE:   Your instructor may prefer slight changes to these rules. Check with your instructor for any variations.

APA Section Labels

Organization of an apa paper.

APA style includes section levels to organize the pages or major sections of the paper. Each new of these new pages or sections should begin on a new page. An APA paper should be organized as follows

• Title page - begins on page 1
• Abstract - begins on page 2 ( NOTE : This is optional for most course papers. Review your assignment instructions or contact your instructor to determine whether or not an abstract should be included in your paper. )
• Body or text of the paper - begins on page 3 (if there is an abstract) OR page 2 (if there is no abstract)
• References - begins on the first page after the text of the paper
• Appendices - begins on the first page after the references. Additionally, if there is more than 1 appendix, each appendix should begin on a new page. ( NOTE : This is optional for most course papers. Review your assignment instructions or contact your instructor to determine whether or not an appendix should be included in your paper.)

Note : there are options for additional sections that may be added to an APA paper. The sections outlined above are the pages or sections most commonly found in a course paper.   

Starting a New Page

When starting a new page or section of the paper, you are advised to include a page break or section break (in Word press CTRL + ALT + Delete all at one time). Do not click "Enter" until you get to a new page. This may cause problems with the accessibility of your paper or throw off your formatting of the paper if you add or delete information from your paper.   

Section Labels

To begin a new page or section, include a section label. For abstracts, the body of the paper, references, and appendices, the section label should be located on the very first line of the new page. The section label should be bold and centered. Additionally, capitalize all major words. 

The section label for each new page or section is as follows:

• Title page = the title of your paper (begin 3-4 double spaces from the top of the page)
• Abstract = Abstract
• Body or text of the paper = the title of your paper (use proper title case - all major words are capitalized)
• References = References (if there is only 1 reference label it as Reference)
• Appendix = Appendix (if only 1 appendix). If there is more than 1 appendix, add a letter after "Appendix." (e.g., Appendix A, Appendix B, etc.)

More information

For more information about the organization of the pages or sections of an APA paper or section labels, see Section 2.17 on page 43 and Section 2.28 on pages 49 of the APA Manual, 7th edition. Additionally, review the APA 7th edition Checklist and see the example of a short student paper and the example of a long student paper .

APA Headings

To organize the parts within the body of your paper, APA has five different levels of headings. Think of these levels similar to what an outline has and how the main topics have Roman numerals, subtopics have capital letters, the next level has Arabic numbers, and so on.

When considering the addition of headings to your paper, APA instructs that you should only add a heading if there will be 2 or more subsections using the same level heading. If you do not have at least 2 subsections using the same level heading, then do not include headings for the subsection. See Section 2.26 on page 47 for more information.  

Be aware that not all papers will require the use of headings. Ask your professor if they wish to have you use headings in your paper. Long, formal papers should have headings especially if they include an abstract at the beginning.

Here are the five levels and how they should be formatted: 1. Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading - Begin the text on a new line as a new paragraph. 2. Left-aligned, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading  - Begin the text on a new line as a new paragraph.  3. Left-aligned, Boldface, Italicized, Upper and Lowercase Heading   - Begin the text on a new line as a new paragraph.  4. Indented, Boldface, Upper and Lowercase Heading, Ending With a Period . Begin the text on the same line as the heading and continue as a regular paragraph. 5. Indented, Boldface, Italicized, Upper and Lowercase Heading, Ending With a Period . Begin the text on the same line as the heading and continue as a regular paragraph. 

More Information:

For more information about headings, see Sections 2.26 & 2.27, Table 2.3, and Figures 2.4 and 2.5 on pages 47-49 of the APA Manual, 7th edition. Additionally, see the Headings Levels Template: Student Papers , created by APA to demonstrating what each heading would look like in an APA paper.

Printable versions of the heading levels are available here:

• Levels of Heading in APA Style, 7th Edition  - (Google Doc version, you must be logged in to Cor to access.)
• Levels of Heading in APA Style, 7th Edition - (PDF version)

Reference List

Always start your reference list on a new page.

Page title - The word References should appear centered at the top of the page and in bold. If you have only 1 citation the title should be Reference. (Sect. 9.43, p. 303)

Line Spacing - Double space between each line. (Sect. 9.43, p. 303)

Alignment - The first line of each entry should align with the left margin. All subsequent lines should be formatted with a hanging indent set at 1/2 inch. (Sect. 9.43, p. 303)

Order of entries - Alphabetical order by author. If there is no author, use the title of the document. If you have more than one entry by the same author, then arrange by year beginning with the earliest publication. (Sect. 9.44, p. 303, Sect. 9.48 & Sect. 9.49, p. 306)

Reference List Checklist - Formatting requirements for the reference list and for the creation of references (Google Doc Version).

Sample Papers

You might find it helpful to look at a sample paper formatted in the APA style.

Short Sample Student Paper - includes the use of 2 levels of headings.

• Google Doc Version  
• PDF Version

Long Sample Student Paper - includes figures, tables, and appendices.

Advanced Formatting Help from APA

• Accessibility Created by APA - learn about how to create accessible documents in APA Style
• Formatting of Abstract and Keywords From APA Manual. Find more information in Sect. 2.9 & Sect. 2.10, pp. 38-39.
• Formatting the Appendix From APA Manual. Find more information in Sect. 2.14, p. 41.
• Accessible Use of Color in Figures Created by APA - learn about the selecting color that is accessible to all readers.
• Figure Formatting Information about APA rules for setting up a figure.
• Sample Figures A variety of sample figures from APA.
• Table Format Information about APA rules for setting up a table.
• Sample Tables A variety of sample tables created by APA.
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Quick Guide to APA Style

Apa guidelines.

• General Format

Here are the basic parameters for a paper written in APA style. Note that, in many cases, you may be asked to use APA citation style, but may not be expected to follow APA style for the format and layout of the paper.

Margins: One inch all the way around.

Font Face: Times New Roman.

Font Size 12 pt.

Justification: 'Ragged right.' Text should be aligned on the left margin, but not the right. If the text block is even along the right margin, it's not correct.

Paragraph Indentation: One half inch, except the Abstract, which has no indentation.

Paragraph Spacing: Do not insert extra space between paragraphs. ( Word likes to do this as a default, so you will probably need to override it.)

Running Head:

• On title page: "Running head: ALL CAPS SHORT TITLE 50 CHARACTERS OR LESS".
• On all subsequent pages: "ALL CAPS SHORT TITLE 50 CHARACTERS OR LESS".

Note the verbiage and the capitalization carefully.

Page numbers:

• Use arabic numerals.
• Start with the the title page.
• Numbers should be at least 1" from the left side of the page.
• Numbers should appear above the first line of the text.

Section Headings:

• Use 12 pt Times New Roman for headings.
• Use the full title, not bold, as the heading for the introduction.
• Level 1 headings are centered and bold, with the first letter of each word (only) capitalized.
• Level 2 headings are flush left, italicized and bold, with the first letter of each word (only) capitalized.
• Level 3 headings are indented one half inch from the left margin and bold, with the first letter of the first word (only) capitalized.

Reference List:

• Should be titled "References", with the text centered and not bold or underlined
• Double spaced
• Hanging indents
• Alphabetical by last name of first author/editor
• Starts on a fresh page

Abstract: Appears on its own page with no indentation.

ATTRIBUTION

Any material, data or words that you have gotten from some other source must be attributed to that source. This is true whether you are quoting the source verbatim, paraphrasing the source, or merely using ideas, theories or models from the source.

There are two parts to an attribution: a citation and a reference. A citation occurs within the text of your paper to alert the reader that you are utilizing material from another source and points to a complete record for the source- a reference- that occurs in the reference list at the end of the paper.

There are a number of ways to cite a work within the text of your paper but in every case, the citation must give the last name(s) of the author(s) and a publication date if these pieces of information are available. If no date is available for a source, the date should be given as "n.d." For works with no author, a work may be credited to an editor. In the absence of either an author or an editor, you should give the first few words of the title of the work and a publication date.

You can give the names of the authors in a signal phrase as part of your narrative, followed by the publication year in parentheses:

Verrelli and Tishkoff (2004) note an unusually large amount of genetic variation in a gene known as OPN1LW, which codes for L (red) photoreceptors and is located on the X chromosome.

Alternatively, you can include both pieces of required information in parentheses immediately following the borrowed material:

It has been noted that there is an unusually large amount of genetic variation in a gene known as OPN1LW, which codes for L (red) photoreceptors and is located on the X chromosome (Verrelli & Tishkoff, 2004).

Author, year

Note that no verbiage ever comes between the author's name and the year: If you give an author's name, the very next thing I should see is a year of publication.

Jones concludes that people were more likely to lie "if they believed they, themselves, had been lied to" (1999, p. 23).

Jones (1999) concludes that people were more likely to lie "if they believed they, themselves, had been lied to" (p. 23).

A2: "And" and "&"

Note that if the cited source has more than one author, the "and" should be spelled out if it is part of the narrative and should be an ampersand (&) if the entire citation appears in parentheses, as demonstrated by the Verrelli and Tischkoff (2004) quotes above.

A3: Page numbers for citations

In addition to the author and the year, you must provide a page number with a direct quote. In cases of paraphrasing or reference to broader ideas that do not involve a direct quote, no page number is required but may be included at the author's discretion.

If you are providing a direct quote from a non-paginated source, you should provide information to help the reader locate the material you are quoting. You may do this by providing a paragraph number in place of a page number or, if applicable, by providing a section name and a paragraph number. If the source is either very short or has no paragraphs or section headings, you may give "n.p." in place of the page number.

As with paraphrased material, the particular way these three pieces of information are given can vary. You may provide the authors name(s) as part of your sentence and follow this with the publication date in parentheses. Then, include the page number in parentheses immediately after the quote:

Lakoff and Johnson (1980) caution that the use of such metaphors, while it may help to elucidate some aspects of the concept being illustrated, "can keep us from focusing on other aspects of the concept that are inconsistent with that metaphor" (p. 10).

If you do not use the author's name in your own prose, you should include a parenthetical citation immediately following the borrowed information taht includes the author(s), year and page number(s):

The problem of using metaphors to explain a concept is that they "can keep us from focusing on other aspects of the concept that are inconsistent with that metaphor" (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p. 10).

A4: Placement of information

The full citation or page number must immediately follow the quoted or cited information, even if the citation then occurs in the middle of a sentence.

If we are kept "from focusing on other aspects of the concept that are inconsistent with that metaphor" (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p. 10), we may not be able to appropriately understand the idea.

Lakoff and Johnson (1980) observe that if we are kept "from focusing on other aspects of the concept that are inconsistent with that metaphor" (p. 10), we may not be able to appropriately understand the idea.

If we are kept "from focusing on other aspects of the concept that are inconsistent with that metaphor" we may not be able to appropriately understand the idea (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980, p. 10).

Lakoff and Johnson (1980) observe that if we are kept "from focusing on other aspects of the concept that are inconsistent with that metaphor," we may not be able to appropriately understand the idea (p. 10).

A5: Humanities-style Narrative Citation

APA is very no-nonsense about citations and this approach may run counter to what you are used to. Give only the required information and give it in the prescribed format.

Give the name of the article unless its title is particularly relevant or informative (it almost never is).

Give the first name of the author unless there is possible confusion between authors, in which case you may use first initials to differentiate.

Give a year outside of parentheses.

In their 2004 article in the American Journal of Human Genetics, titled "Signatures of Selection and Gene Conversion Associated with Human Color Vision Variation," Brian C. Verrelli and Sarah A. Tishkoff note an unusually large amount of genetic variation in a gene known as OPN1LW, which codes for L (red) photoreceptors and is located on the X chromosome.

As you can see, this approach results in a much more concise statement, aligning with APA's rule about economy of expression . If the reader wants to know the title of the article or where it was published, she can look it up in the references list: That's why it is there.

A6: The Once-Per-Paragraph Rule

After the first citation of an article, you may refer to the authors of an article without the publication year within the same paragraph as long as it is not likely to cause confusion for the reader.

A7: Cite the Original Source

DO NOT QUOTE OR PARAPHRASE AN AUTHOR QUOTING OR PARAPHRASING SOMEONE ELSE! This is sloppy scholarship. The responsible thing to do is to locate the original source and read enough of it that you can confidently paraphrase or quote it yourself. There are times when one cannot track the quoted source down and there are ways to deal with that. If this happens to you, let me know, but be warned: As a prospective librarian, I expect that you have done an exhaustive search. If you say you can't find it and I turn it up in EBSCO, I will not look favorably upon that.

A8: Multiple Authors

When a work has two authors, always cite both names every time the reference occurs in text. When a work has three, four, or five authors, cite all authors the first time the reference occurs; in subsequent citations, include only the surname of the first author followed by et al. (not italicized and with a period after "al") and the year if it is the first citation of the reference within a paragraph:

Gangemi, Catenacci, Ciaramita and Lehmann (2006) completed an additional study ... [Use as first citation in text.]

Gangemi et al. (2006) sampled ... [Use as subsequent first citation per paragraph thereafter.]

Gangemi et al. were not optimisitic, but ... [Omit year from subsequent citations after first citation within a paragraph.]

When a work has six or more authors, cite only the surname of the first author followed by "et al." and the year, beginning with the first citation.

BUT, in the reference list, you must list the first seven authors. If there are eight or more authors, give the first seven, followed by "et al."

Danko and Pyle (2011) have replicated two earlier studies, with mixed results.

A9: Multiple articles to support one idea

You may reference multiple sources within a single set of parentheses if all of the sources are relevant to the idea at hand. In such a case, order the sources in the same order in which they appear in the reference list (alphabetically), separating them with semicolons:

To further complicate the situation, some researchers have suggested that when these various disciplines speak of color they are, in many cases, actually speaking of different phenomena (Green-Armytage, 2009; Maund, 1995).

APA has a fairly exhaustive set of rules governing the information and formatting of references in the reference list. The following explanations are not in any way complete and are merely meant to provide a general framework. You are encouraged to refer to APA's guide for sources not covered here.

The reference list should be formatted the same as the rest of the paper (See the General Format tab for those specifications). Do not change font, font size, margins or spacing.

The basic format for a book is:

Surname, A. B., (2018). Title of book: Subtitle here if given in source. City, ST: Publisher.

The basic format for a journal article is:

Surname, A. B., & Surname, C. D. (2018). Title of article in sentence case. Title of Journal Exactly as Given, 2 (1), 32-40. 

Additionally, observe the following rules:

References Heading:

The references list should be labeled "References" in 12 point, Times New Roman type, centered and NOT underlined, bold or in all caps. The references list should not be labeled "Works Cited," "Sources," "Cited Sources" or anything other than "References."

Hanging Indents

  Use hanging indents. This means that the first line of a paragraph (in this case, a reference) is aligned with the left margin and subsequent lines are indented.

Kennedy, D. M., & McComb, S. A. (2009). Merging internal and external processes: Examining the mental model convergence process through team communication. Theoretical Issues in Ergonomics Science, 11 (4), 340-358.

Word will do this for you. See this demonstration of hanging indents in Word

Last name first, followed by a comma, then the initials of the author's name. If there are two or more initials, there should be a period and a space between the initials. Add a comma and follow the same procedure for each additional author. Before the final author, there should be an ampersand. All authors should be listed, unless there are more than seven. The final author should be followed by a period.

For sources with multiple authors, you must list up to the first seven authors. If there are eight or more authors, give the first seven, followed by "et al."

Publication date

For books and journal articles, this will just be the year. For newspapers and magazines that do not have volume and issue numbers, the whole date given on the source is used. The proper format for that is (year, Month day).

Christmas, J. (2001, December 12). A measured net approach. National Post , p. SR2.

Capitalization

For titles of journals, keep the capitalization exactly as it appears on the publication itself. 

For titles of journal articles , books and book chapters, capitalize only:

• The first word of a journal article
• The first word of the subtitle
• Proper nouns

Everything else should be lower case.

Journal Titles

Give the journal title exactly as the publisher does. Do not shorten or abbreviate anything unless that is how it appears on the publication itself.

Be aware that some sources (and disciplines) abbreviate the titles of journals in their databases and references, so if you see something listed as "Soc Psychol Q," you might need to do a little looking to get the full title of the journal: Social Psychology Quarterly.

• Book titles
• Journal titles
• Volume numbers

Do not italicize:

• Article titles
• Issue numbers

"And" and "&"

In the references list, use an ampersand (&) before the last author's name. For everything else, use whichever form appears in the work itself.  

Put the list in alphabetical order by author's last name and date. Go by the order of the letters, ignoring apostrophes and hyphens. Order names with "prefixes" and internal capitals by the first letter of what constitues the whole last name: McDougal goes with the "M's" and St. James goes with the "S's."

Macally, Mack, Madden, McArthur, Meeks, ...

Saint-Beuve, Schwab, Selleck, Skillen, St. Helena, Stricker, ...

If there is more than one source for the same author from the same year, alphabetize them by title and add letters after the year: 2005a, 2005b, and so on.

Periods appear:

• After each initial in an author's name
• After the closing parenthesis for the year
• After the title of the article or book
• Within  the title of the article or book, if given in the original
• After abbreviations for editor, edition, translator, translation, etc.
• After the page range

Commas appear:

• After each author's last name
• After the final initial in each author's name, except the last
• After the title of a journal
• After the closing parenthesis of the issue number in a journal reference

Colons appear:

• Between the title and the subtitle of a publication

Parentheses appear:

• Around the publication date
• Around the issue number
• Within  the title of an article, journal or book, if given in the original

Spaces appear:

• After every period
• After every comma
• After every ampersand
• After every colon
• between the volume number and the issue number
• between the numbers and the hyphen in a page range

Basic format for a journal article:

Basic format for book:

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How to Cite Page Numbers in APA

Last Updated: February 3, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Cara Barker, MA . Cara Barker is an Assistant Professor and Research and Instruction Librarian at Hunter Library at Western Carolina University. She received her Masters in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Washington in 2014. She has over 16 years of experience working with libraries across the United States. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 295,186 times.

Page numbers are a small but important part of many APA citations. Fortunately, page numbers are usually only needed at the end of a sentence when citing a specific source. When writing a reference list, you only need page numbers for book chapters and articles. If you’re uncertain whether you need page numbers or not, you can follow a few basic guidelines. When in doubt, however, include a page number if you have one.

Template and Examples

Using In-Text Citations

• For example, if you found a quote on page 10 of a book, cite page 10.
• If the information was spread over several pages, include all of them. So you might cite pages 10-16.
• Sometimes, page numbers might have letters like "B1" or use Roman numerals like "iv" or "xi." In these cases, always use the type of numbering used by the source.

• If you name the author in the sentence, write the year that the source was published in parentheses next to the author’s name. For example, you might write, “Smith (2010) showed that poor hygiene was correlated with low self-esteem.”

• If you named the author in the sentence, just put the page number at the end of the sentence. For example, “Smith (2010) showed that poor hygiene was correlated with low self-esteem (p. 40).”
• If you did not name the author within the text of the sentence, include the author’s last name and the year of publication before the page number in the parentheses. For example, “One study showed that poor hygiene was correlated with low self-esteem (Smith, 2010, p. 40).”

• A single page number citation might look like (Smith, 2010, p. 40) or (p. 40).
• A citation for multiple, sequential pages might look like (Smith, 2010, pp. 40-45) or (pp. 40-45).

Writing a Reference List

• Newspaper articles may have page numbers that include letters (such as 1A or B3) while prefaces may use roman numerals (like i, ii, iii, etc.). Always use the numbering system used by the source.
• If the article skips pages, write down where the pages begin and end in both sections. Put a comma between these page numbers. For example, 15-20, 25-30.
• Make sure to include reference lists, appendixes, and other supplementary material in your page range. So if the text of the article ends on page 173 but the appendix ends on page 180, then the page range ends on page 180.

• Book chapter: Last name, First Initial. Second Initial (if applicable). (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In A. Editor & B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pages of chapter). Location: Publisher.
• Article: Author, A. & Author, B. (Year). Title of article. Title of periodical, volume number (issue number), pages of article.

• Williams, B. and Johnson, A. (1990). Traffic Patterns and Urban Spread. in C. Carr (Ed.), Traffic Engineering Trends (pp. 41-63). New York: ZMN Publishing.

• Roberts, R. (2013). Managing Traffic in the Southwest. Traffic Engineering, 23 (2), 5-23.

• Diaz, C. (2016, June 26). “Traffic in the City,” The Times Morning Gazette , pp. B1, B3-B4.

Knowing When to Use Page Numbers

• For example, you might write, “According to Jones (2006), 5% of people were on social media 5 or more hours a day (p. 207).”

• Jones (2006) stated that “the top 5% of users were on social media for 5 or more hours every day” (p. 207).

• “Jones (2006) indicated that addictive behaviors could be seen in a small population of excessive users (p. 207).”

• You can cite a paragraph the same way as a page number, except you write “para.” instead of “p.” So if you were quoting paragraph 3, it would look like (para. 3) or even (James, 2007, para. 3).
• To find the paragraph number, count from the top paragraph down to the paragraph you are citing. So a quote from the third paragraph would be cited as paragraph 3.

Community Q&A

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/quotations/page-numbers
• ↑ https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/in_text_citations_the_basics.html
• ↑ https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/apaquickguide/books
• ↑ https://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/apa-referencing/7Books
• ↑ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/07/
• ↑ https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/apaquickguide/intext

About This Article

To cite page numbers in APA using in-text citations, start by identifying the page number or numbers of your source. Then, write the page number or numbers in parentheses at the end of the corresponding sentence in your paper. Put "p." before the page number if you're citing information from a single page, and use "pp." for multiple consecutive pages. Be sure to separate a range of page numbers with a hyphen! If you didn't name the author within the text of the sentence, you'll also need to include the author’s last name and the publication year before the page numbers in the parentheses. For example, “One study showed that poor hygiene was correlated with low self-esteem (Smith, 2010, p. 40).” A single page number citation might look like (Smith, 2010, p. 40) or (p. 40). A citation for multiple sequential pages might look like (Smith, 2010, pp. 40-45) or (pp. 40-45). To learn how to cite information from 2 or more non-consecutive pages, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Numbers & Statistics 

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Writers often need to discuss numbers and statistics in their manuscripts, and it can be a challenge to determine how to represent these in the most readable way. APA 7 contains detailed guidelines for how to write numbers and statistics, and the most common are listed below. These guidelines, however, are not exhaustive and writers may need to evaluate particular instances of numbers in their own writing to determine if the guideline applies or if an exception should be made for clarity.

Numbers 

Generally, you can spell out numbers below 10 in words (seven, three), and use numerals for anything 10 and higher (10, 42). 

• You should use Arabic numerals (1, 7) instead of Roman numerals (II, XI) unless the Roman numerals are part of established terminology in your field. 
• In numbers greater than 1,000, use commas to separate groups of three digits except in page numbers, binary code, serial numbers, temperatures, acoustic frequencies, and degrees of freedom. 
• Do not add apostrophes when writing a plural of a number (the 2000s, the 70s).

Use a numeral in these cases:

• a number 10 or higher anywhere in the paper
• a number right before a unit of measurement (3 m, 24 g)
• a number denoting: mathematical functions, fractions, decimals, percentages, ratios, percentiles (2:1 ratio, 5%)
• a number denoting: time, a date, an age, a point on a scale, an exact amount of money, or a numeral (the 3 key on your keyboard, 7 years old, a 5 on the test)
• a number indicating a place in a series or a part of a book/table, if the number is after a noun (i.e., Item 4, but words are used in cases like "the fourth item")

Spell the number out in words in these cases:

• a number from 0-9 anywhere in the paper, except the specific cases above
• a number that starts a sentence, heading, or title (though this should be avoided)
• a number that is a common fraction (one half, two thirds)
• a number that is part of a common phrase (Noble Eightfold Path)

When numbers are written next to each other in a sentence, one strategy to help readers parse the sentence is to combine words and numerals (3 two-year-old owls, four 3-step plans), but rewording to separate the numbers may be the best choice for clarity in some cases. Clarity for readers is always the most important consideration.

Ordinal Numbers 

Treat ordinal numbers (3rd, fourth) the same way as other numbers, using the guidelines above. You may use a superscript or not (1 st , 1 st ), but you should maintain the same usage throughout your paper.

Decimal Fractions 

In numbers less than 1, writers may include a leading 0 before the decimal point or not. This choice is based on the maximum possible amount of the statistic:

• If the statistic can be greater than 1, use a leading 0 (0.24 in)
• If the statistic cannot be greater than 1, do not use a leading 0 (p = .042)

APA's general principle for rounding decimals in experimental results is as follows, quoted here for accuracy: "Round as much as possible while considering prospective use and statistical precision" (7th edition manual, p. 180). Readers can more easily understand numbers with fewer decimal places reported, and generally APA recommends rounding to two decimal places (and rescaling data if necessary to achieve this).

Some more specific guidelines for particular values are listed below.

One decimal place:

• standard deviations

Two decimal places:

• correlations
• proportions
• inferential statistics
• exact p values (can be reported to two or three places; when p is less than .001, write p < .001)

Statistical Copy 

These rules cover presentation of data, not accuracy of data or the best way to conduct analysis.

You can represent data in the text, in a table, or in a figure. A rule of thumb is:

• <3 numbers → try a sentence
• 4-20 numbers → try a table
• >20 numbers → try a figure

Clarity is always paramount.

When discussing statistics in common use, you do not need to provide a reference or formula.

If the statistic or expression is new, rare, integral to the paper, or used in an unconventional way, provide a reference or formula.

The purpose of reporting statistics is usually to help readers confirm your findings and analyses; as such, the degree of specificity in reporting results should follow in line with that purpose.

When your data are multilevel, you should include summary statistics for each level, depending on the kind of analysis performed. When your data are reported in a table or figure, you do not need to repeat each number in the text, but you should mention the table or figure in the text when discussing the statistics and emphasize in-text key data points that help interpret your findings. 

Use words like "respectively" or "in order" to clarify each statistic mentioned in text and their referent.

For instance:

Confidence intervals should be reported: 90% CI [ LL, UL ], with LL as the lower limit and UL as the upper limit of the interval. You do not need to repeat confidence intervals in the same paragraph or in a series when the meaning is clear and the confidence interval has not changed. When CIs follow the report of a point estimate, you do not need to repeat the unit of measurement.

Statistics uses a great deal of symbols and abbreviations (when a term can be both, the abbreviation refers to the concept and the symbol indicates a numeric value).

You do not need to define these when they represent a statistic or when they are composed of Greek letters. You do need to define any other abbreviation (such as ANOVA, CFA, SEM) in your paper. If the analysis you are performing uses multiple notation styles for symbols and abbreviations, only use one consistently throughout your paper.

Some other statistical symbol guidelines include:

• use words rather than symbols in narrative text; when you report a stats term with other mathematical symbols like = or +, use the symbol
• population parameters use Greek letters while estimators use Latin letters in italics (usually)
• uppercase, italicized N indicates the total membership of a sample; lowercase, italicized n indicates the membership of a subgroup of a sample such as a treatment group or control group
• % and currency symbols like $ should only be used with numerals (15%, $25) or in table headings and figure labels to save space
• use standard type (no italics or bold) for Greek letters, subscript and superscript identifiers, and abbreviations that are not variables such as log
• use bold type for vector and matrix symbols
• use italics for all other statistical symbols

Mathematical Copy 

For ease of reading, use spaces between elements in a mathematical expression ( a + b = c ), except in the case of a minus sign indicating a negative number which uses a space before the minus but not between the minus and the numeral.

Use subscripts first and then superscripts, except in the case of key symbols like the superscript for prime.

All equations should be punctuated to fit in the syntax of the sentence, even if they are presented on their own line.

Short, simple equations can be written in a regular line of text, with a slash (/) for fractions. Parentheses, square brackets, and braces should be used (in that order, from innermost to outermost) to indicate order of operations. Equations that do not fit vertically in the line of text should be shown on their own line. 

All displayed equations (equations on their own line) should be numbered, similarly to tables and figures, so that they can be referred to later (and simple equations may be displayed rather than written in a line of text if they will need to be referred to later by number).

In text, equations should be referred to by name (Equation 1 or the first equation are both acceptable). The equation number does not need a special label, and instead should be displayed in parentheses toward the right margin of the page:

  If a symbol in your equation cannot be entered with your word processor, use an image; otherwise, type all equations exactly as you would like them to appear in the publication.