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APA Style: Date

Date of Publication

APA Style

Definition of Date: In a reference, the date refers to the date of publication. The date may take one of the following forms:
  • year only
  • year month and day
  • year and month
  • year and season
  • range of dates (range of years or exact dates)

Guidelines for the Date element

  • The Date always appears after the author information in an APA citation
  • The Date of Publication is always in parentheses  (   )
  • The Date of Publication is the year only for books and journal articles  (2008)
  • For magazines and newspapers, the Date of Publication is YYYY, Month, day (2009, August 5).

Examples

Book

  • Garton, A. (2005). Exploring cognitive development: The child as problem solver. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

Journal Article

  • Tenhunen, J. J. (2009). In death, truth lies: Why do patients with sepsis die? Anesthesia and Analgesia, 108, 1731-1733.

Article in a newspaper

  • Altman, L. K. (2009, August 5). New strain of H.I.V. is discovered. The New York Times, p. A6.

Article in a magazine

  • Perry, C. (2008, July/August). From SCUBA to Buddha. Mother Jones, 33, 62.

What to do if there is no date

If there is no date, you provide the author, and then write "n.d." for "no date," and then provide the title and source.

  • Reference:
    • Author. (n.d.).  Title. Source.
  • In-Text
    • (Author, n.d.) or Author (n.d.)