APSA: journal article (with DOI)
- Only the first author's name is inverted.
- Article titles in quotation marks; journal names in italics.
APSA: book
Not shown for APSA: chapter in an edited book, web page, report, thesis or dissertation. We publish only patterns we've checked against the Style Manual for Political Science; for these, see the manual or your course's guide.
APSA in-text citations
Give the surname and year with no comma between them; a comma before the page.
| Parenthetical | (Jergas and Baethge 2015) |
| With a page | (Doe 2021, 14) |
| Narrative | Doe (2021) argues that… |
- No comma between author and year.
Common APSA mistakes
- A comma between author and year in the text: write (Doe 2021), not (Doe, 2021).
- Footnote citations. APSA uses author–date citations in the text.
Format a reference in APSA
Our free in-browser formatter covers journal articles in six styles (APA 7, MLA 9, Chicago author-date, Harvard, IEEE and Vancouver). APSA is one of the 2,500+ styles in the full MoreMind workspace.
APSA questions
Is APSA the same as Chicago?
APSA's Style Manual for Political Science is based on the Chicago author-date system, so references look very similar. Where APSA's manual gives its own rule, it takes precedence.
Where are the reference examples for other source types?
We've published only the patterns we could confirm. For chapters, websites and reports, consult APSA's manual or follow the Chicago author-date page.
Do I use footnotes in APSA?
For citations, no: APSA uses author–date citations in the text. Footnotes are for substantive comments.
What is the reference list called?
“References”.
About the examples
Every style guide on this site formats the same six sources, so you can compare styles side by side. The journal article is real; the others are fictional, with placeholder names.
- Journal article (with DOI) (real): Hannah Jergas and Christopher Baethge, “Quotation accuracy in medical journal articles—a systematic review and meta-analysis,” PeerJ, volume 3, article e1364, published 27 October 2015, DOI 10.7717/peerj.1364.
- Book: Jane A. Doe, Evidence and argument in student research, Example University Press, London, 2021.
- Chapter in an edited book: Richard B. Roe, “Reading statistics critically,” pages 45–67 of A handbook of research methods, edited by Maria C. Sample and Lee D. Example, Example University Press, London, 2020.
- Web page: Pat Q. Public, “How to check that a source exists,” Example Research Hub (London), published 12 March 2024, https://www.example.org/guides/check-a-source, accessed 15 October 2026.
- Report: Example Institute for Education (author and publisher, London), Student research practices in higher education, 2023, https://www.example.org/reports/student-research-2023, accessed 15 October 2026.
- Thesis or dissertation: Alex B. Placeholder, Peer feedback and revision in first-year writing, unpublished PhD thesis, Department of Education, Example University, London, 2022.
Based on the Style Manual for Political Science. Last reviewed 2026-11. Your instructor's or journal's own guidelines take precedence. Spotted an error? Email support@moremind.ai.