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I need to reference something in APA 6: Social media

I need to reference something in APA 6: Check which referencing style you should use before following advice on this page.

Social media

Social media

Social media citation

Citation

Example citations:

(Contemporary Music for All, 2019) or Contemporary Music for All (2019)

 

(Hallam Library, 2019) or Hallam Library (2019) 

 

Social media reference

Reference list

There are many different formats available for social media.  If the guidance below does not match the source you want to cite or reference, remember that your aim is to clearly identify the sources that you have used.

References to social media have four main parts.

Who      

This is the name of the account owner followed by the account identifier in square brackets.
When Where available the full date EG: (2019, June 20).
What  If available use a post’s title but as tweets have no title, the content of the tweet is used.  In both cases no more than 40 words. Include the format in square brackets after the title or content. Generally, do not use italics for titles but if something can stand alone, such as a photo album then a title can be italicized. 
Where  If possible a web address that links directly to the content.  Include a retrieval date if the exact date has not been identified or if the source is subject to change.  Pages that change include feeds and events pages.

Your reference should follow this pattern:

Author/owner [identifier]. (Year/full date). Title/content [format]. Web address

Example references:

Contemporary Music for All [CoMA.NewMusic]. (2019). Upcoming events [Facebook events].  Retrieved June 21, 2019, from https://www.facebook.com/pg/CoMA.NewMusic/events

 

Hallam Library [HallamLibrary].  (2019, June 10). If you didn't know, we have a fantastic LGBT reading list and it's right here ...: bit.ly/2RFBAux #PrideMonth #LGBTBooks [Tweet].  Retrieved from https://twitter.com/HallamLibrary/status/1138097215724036096

 

For more information search the APA Blog for posts on social media.

More than one author

More than one author?

If you have a source with more than one author, the author is an organisation rather than a person, or there is no apparent author, follow this guidance.

See also

See also Webpage

Citing authors with example references

Examples in this table are selected to show how to cite and reference names.  The approach to names is the same for all types of reference and you will see different types of reference from the main example at the top of the page.

  Citation Reference

One author

Cite and reference the author

Phillips (2006) or (Phillips, 2006)

 Philips, D. (2006). Quality of life: Concept, policy and practice. London: Routledge.

Two authors

Cite and reference both authors

Kimball and Ross (2002) or (Kimball & Ross, 2002)

 Kimball, R., & Ross, M. (2002). The data warehouse toolkit: The complete guide to dimensional modeling. New York: Wiley.

Three, four or five authors

Cite all authors in the first citation.

 

Subsequent citations should include the first author followed by et al. In your reference include all the authors.

Bott, Coleman, Eaton and Rowland (2001) or (Bott, Coleman, Eaton & Rowland, 2001)

Bott et al. (2001) or (Bott et al., 2001)

 Bott, F., Coleman, A., Eaton, J., & Rowland, D. (2001). Professional issues in software engineering (3rd ed.). London: Taylor and Francis.

Six or seven authors

Cite the first author followed by et al. and in your reference include all the authors.

Shepperd et al. (2009) or (Shepperd et al., 2009)

 Shepperd, S., Doll, H., Gowers, S., James, A., Frazel, M., Fitzpatrick, R., & Pollock, J. (2009). Alternatives to inpatient mental health care for children and young people. The Cochrane Library, (2), article number CD006410.

Eight of more authors

Cite the first author followed by et al.

In your reference, include the first six authors, followed by ... then add the last  author.

Mali et al. (2013) or (Mali et al.,2013)

 Mali, P., Yang, L., Exvelt, K., Aach, J., Guell, M., Dicarlo, J., ... Church, G. (2013). RNA-guided human genome engineering via Cas9. Science, 339(6121), 823-6.

Editors

Follow the pattern above for when you have an editor or editors of a work; just remember that in your reference you need to identify them as an editor by putting (Ed) or (Eds) after all of the editors in the reference.

A source can be written by a corporate author such as an organisation or a company, also known as a group author. The corporate author and year should be used in the citation.

Citation Reference
Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2013) or (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 2013) Joseph Rowntree Foundation (2013). Free school meals announcement - JRF response. Retrieved from: https://www.jrf.org.uk/press/free-school-meals-announcement-jrf-response

For instances of more than one corporate authors of a source, treat them as you would two individuals in the reference (i.e., include both). The group author names should not be shortened in the text citation. However, if they are used repeatedly, you might introduce an abbreviation.

If you cannot identify the author(s) of a source, cite it by title and list it under the title in your reference list.

  Citation Reference
Whole work (book) Dictionary of sports science (2006) or (Dictionary of sports science, 2006) Dictionary of sports science (2006). London : A. and C. Black.
Part of work (chapter, article, document) "Jennifer & Joshua's Star wars suite" (2016) or ("Jennifer & Joshua's Star wars suite", 2016) Jennifer & Joshua's Star wars suite (2016). In The modern wedding : From graphics to styling. Berkley CA : Gingko Press.