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APSA citation generator
Format an APSA reference and its author-date in-text citation from the details you enter.
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APSA style is the citation format of the American Political Science Association. It is an author-date style based on The Chicago Manual of Style: a short parenthetical citation in the text and a full reference list at the end. Enter your source details and this free APSA citation generator formats the reference, builds the parenthetical citation and lists anything that is missing.
What APSA format citation is and who uses it
APSA format comes from the association's Style Manual for Political Science. Political science and international relations courses use it, and so do the association's own journals. Because it follows Chicago author-date, the year comes straight after the author's name in the reference list, and the text cites sources in parentheses, for example (Rivera 2019, 45). Ordinary citations do not go in footnotes; notes are kept for comments. The reference list is alphabetical by the first author's surname. Book and journal titles are in italics, and article and chapter titles are in quotation marks. If you searched for a political science citation tool, this is the style most departments mean.
APSA style reference patterns with examples
Journal article: Last, First. Year. "Title of Article." Journal Title volume (issue): pages. Example: Rivera, Jordan A., and Mei L. Chen. 2021. "Turnout in an Example District." Journal of Example Studies 12 (3): 45-67. Book: Last, First. Year. Title of Book. City: Publisher. Example: Rivera, Jordan A. 2019. Example Coalitions in Practice. Springfield: Example Press. Book chapter: Chen, Mei L. 2019. "Committees at Work." In Example Coalitions in Practice, ed. Jordan A. Rivera, 45-67. Springfield: Example Press. The in-text citations for these three sources are (Rivera and Chen 2021, 50), (Rivera 2019) and (Chen 2019, 48).
How to use this APSA citation generator
Pick the source type and enter what you have: authors, title, journal or publisher or website, the year, and details such as volume, issue, page range, the page you are citing, city, DOI or URL. Only the title is required. The tool formats the details you enter. It does not look sources up, open links or search a database. When the pattern needs something you did not provide, the reference shows a bracketed placeholder such as [year] and the Missing details list explains what to add. If your course uses footnotes instead, the Chicago Style Citation Generator and the Turabian Citation Generator produce notes and bibliography entries from the same details.
Common APSA citation mistakes
Putting the year at the end of the reference instead of right after the author. Adding a comma between the author and the year in the in-text citation: APSA writes (Rivera 2019), not (Rivera, 2019). Writing p. or pp. before the page number in the parenthetical citation. Inverting every author's name in the reference list, when only the first is inverted. Using et al. in the reference list for a source with only a few authors. Putting the parenthetical citation after the period: it goes inside the sentence. Citing a page range of the whole article in the text rather than the page you used.
Questions
How do I cite in text in APSA format?
Put the author's surname and the year in parentheses with no comma between them, and add the page after a comma when you cite a specific passage: (Rivera 2019, 45). The citation goes before the sentence's final punctuation.
How do I cite multiple authors in APSA style?
In the text, name two or three authors, as in (Rivera and Chen 2021) or (Rivera, Chen, and Patel 2021). With four or more, use the first author followed by et al. In the reference list, invert only the first author's name.
How do I cite a website in APSA?
Give the author or organization, the year, the page title in quotation marks, the name of the website, the month and day if shown, and the URL. If your instructor asks for an access date, add it after the URL.
Do I need a DOI in an APSA reference?
For a journal article you read online, add the DOI or a stable URL at the end of the reference. Write the DOI as a link beginning https://doi.org/ followed by the number.
Is APSA the same as Chicago style?
It is based on the Chicago author-date system, so the two look very similar. APSA has its own manual with details for political science sources, which is why you should check that manual or your instructor's guide.
Does the tool look up my source?
No. It formats the details you type and flags what is missing. It cannot fill in a year, page or DOI that you did not enter.