APA 7th referencing

Table of Contents

Introduction

APA 7th is an author-date referencing style used in many subject areas. It is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition.

This guide is designed for students completing assessments at Curtin University. If you are publishing (e.g., a journal article or PhD thesis), you should consult the official APA manual as requirements may differ.

What is referencing?

Referencing is a standard way to acknowledge sources of information you use in your assessments or research. It identifies the source clearly so others can find it, avoids plagiarism by giving credit to the original author and supports your ideas and arguments with evidence.

Printable referencing guide

A printable APA 7th referencing guide is available on the UniSkills downloads page.

APA referencing quiz

This short interactive tutorial and quiz should take 10-15 minutes to complete.

H5P interactive activity

In-text citations

In-text citations are included in your writing to acknowledge the sources of information you have used to support your ideas. They briefly identify a work by its author and year of publication and direct readers to a reference list entry with the full details of the source. In-text citations are required for both paraphrasing and quoting. Additional locator information, such as a page or paragraph number, is also included in some instances.

Types of in-text citations

In-text citations can be presented in two ways:

---

Format of in-text citations

The following examples demonstrate how to create in-text citations based on the number of authors and other relevant factors.

Number of authors to include for in-text citations

The format of the authors in the in-text citation changes according to the number of authors for the work.

• One or two authors: Include the author’s surname(s) in every citation
• Three or more authors: Use the first author’s surname followed by et al. (which means “and others”) in all citations
• No author: See the No author section on the Reference list page.

Author type	Information prominent	Author prominent
One author	(Smith, 2020).	According to Smith (2020)…
Two authors	(Smith & Jones, 2020).	Smith and Jones (2020) highlighted this…
Three or more authors	(Thomas et al., 2018).	Thomas et al. (2018) recommends…
Organisation as author	(World Health Organization, 2018).	World Health Organization (2018) state…
Organisation with optional abbreviation	First citation: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2018). Later citations: (WHO, 2018).	First citation: World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) have… Later citations: WHO (2018) mentions…

In-text citation variations

Multiple sources in the same citation

---

Sometimes you might want to include more than one source in a single in-text citation. This is useful when you are showing that many authors agree on the same idea (called synthesising).

• Put all the sources in the same set of brackets
• List them in alphabetical order by the first author’s surname
• Separate each source with a semicolon (;)
• Make sure each source is listed in your reference list.

Multiple sources example

There is an established consensus that the current trend towards a warming climate is directly linked to human activity (Hegerl, 1996; Levitus et al., 2017; NASA, n.d.; Robinson et al., 2014).

Multiple works by the same author(s) published in the same year

---

If you cite multiple works by same author (or authors) published in the same year, add a letter after the year (a, b, c) to tell the works apart.

• In the reference list, order the works alphabetically by their title
• In the in-text citation, include the letter after the year
• If the work has no date (shown as n.d.), use: (n.d.-a), (n.d.-b), etc.

In-text citation

(Clarke & Fawcett, 2014b).

Clarke and Fawcett (2014a) suggest that…

Reference list

Clarke, P. N., & Fawcett, J. (2014a). Life as a mentor. Nursing Science Quarterly, 27(3), 213-215. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894318414534492

Clarke, P. N., & Fawcett, J. (2014b). Life as a nurse researcher. Nursing Science Quarterly, 27(1), 37-41. https://doi.org/10.1177/0894318413509708

Multiple works shorten to the same in-text citation

---

If multiple works with three or more authors shorten to the same citation, write out as many author names as needed to tell the sources apart and use et al. for the remaining authors. If the only difference is the last author, write all author names in every citation.

In-text citation example

(Smith, Jones, McDonald et al., 2019)

(Smith, Jones, Black et al., 2019)

OR

Smith, Jones, McDonald et al. (2019)

Smith, Jones, Black et al. (2019)

Different first authors with the same surname

---

If you use sources where the first authors have the same surname, but different initials, you need to include the initials in your in-text citations. This helps readers tell the authors apart and find the correct entry in your reference list. This rule applies even if the works were published in different years.

Examples

(B. Johnson, 2017). OR According to B. Johnson (2017)…

(M. Johnson et al., 2016). OR M. Johnson et al. (2016) state…

Authors citing other authors

---

Academic content such as books and journal articles will often contain a lot of citations. You need to credit the original author (primary source) when:

• They are quoted by your source (the secondary source) and you use that quote in your work
• When a specific study is discussed in the secondary source, and you use the findings or ideas from that study without accessing the primary source.

When you cite a secondary source:

• In your in-text citation, include the author and year from the primary (original) source, followed by “as cited in” and the author, year, and page number of the source you actually read (the secondary source)
• In your reference list, only include the secondary source.

In-text citation

“We are part of the land, it is part of us” (Philippe, 2008, as cited in Maldonado et al., 2013, p. 610).

OR

Philippe (2008, as cited in Maldonado et al., 2013) states “we are part of the land, it is part of us” (p. 610).

Reference list

Maldonado, J. K., Shearer, C., Bronen, R., Peterson, K., & Lazrus, H. (2013). The impact of climate change on tribal communities in the US: Displacement, relocation, and human rights. Climatic Change, 120(3), 601-614. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-013-0746-z

Quoting

---

Quoting means copying the exact words from another source into your writing. For more information, check out Integrating sources: Quoting for examples and tips.

---

Short quotations (40 words or less)

• Use quotation marks around the quote “ “
• Include the author, year and page number (or another identifier if there are no page numbers) in the in-text citation.

Quoting example - with page numbers

“Automatic thinking is thought that is nonconscious, unintentional, involuntary, and effortless” (Aronson et al., 2021, p. 75).

OR

Aronson et al. (2021) define automatic thinking as “thought that is nonconscious, unintentional, involuntary, and effortless” (p. 75).

Quoting example - without page numbers

Lee (2015) states that, “in APA style, double quotation marks are used to enclose quoted material” (para. 1).

OR

“In APA style, double quotation marks are used to enclose quoted material” (Lee, 2015, para. 1).

Long quotations (more than 40 words)

If the quote you want to use is more than 40 words, format it as a block quotation:

• Start the quote on a new line
• Indent the whole quote from the left margin
• Do not use quotation marks
• Put the in-text citation in brackets after the final punctuation mark. Include the author, year of publication, and page number or another identifier.

Block quotation example

In-text citations are important in academic writing, drawing the parallel between the author’s work and the sources which support it:

The function of any citation-signaller is to alert the reader to some kind of association between the citing text and the cited text. Citation-signallers may additionally, by using page references or chapter numbers, single out a particular part of the text as especially relevant. (Langham, 2005, p. 361)

Page numbers and other identifiers

When you quote from a source, you should include a page number in your in-text citation. This helps readers find the exact part of the source you are referring to. If the source does not have page numbers, use another type of identifier, such as: a paragraph number, heading or section name, or timestamp.

Identifier	Example
Page number	(Thomas et al., 2018, p. 23).
Paragraph number	(World Health Organization, 2025, para. 3).
Heading or section name	(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2024, Education and Employment section).
Heading or section name with paragraph number	(American Psychiatric Association, 2022, Pica section, para. 1). (Brosnan, 2020, Linking Cooperation section, para. 3).
Timestamp (Audiovisual material) Use the format: HH:MM:SS	(Sandberg, 2019, 1:55:51). (Leaver, 2012, 1:30).
Slide number	(Richardson, 2015, slide 9).

Reference lists

The reference list gives the full details of the sources you used in your work. Reference list entries usually include four parts: author, date, title and source.

Authors

These rules apply to all types of sources, including books, journal articles, and websites. When writing your reference list:

• Start with the author’s last name (surname), followed by a comma and their initials. For example, Jane Smith becomes Smith, J.
• Put a full stop after each initial and a space between them. For example: Lee, S. A.
• List the authors in the same order they appear in the source you are referencing.

No author

If a source does not list a personal author, first check if an organisation is named as the author. If there is no author at all, and you are sure the source is credible, follow these steps:

• Use the title of the work instead of the author’s name in both your in-text citation and the reference list
• If the title is long, shorten it in the in-text citation to make it easier to read
• If the title is italicised in the reference list, italicise it in the in-text citation too
• If the title is not italicised in the reference list, use double quotation marks around it in the in-text citation
• Use headline style capitalisation (capitalise all major words) in both the in-text citation and in your writing
• In your reference list, arrange the entry alphabetically by the first word of the title (ignore words like A, An, In, or The at the beginning).

In-text citation

(In the Former Capital, 2020). OR The article In the Former Capital (2020) suggests…

(“A Higher Education Return,” 2016). OR In the article “A Higher Education Return” (2016)…

Reference list

In the former capital of pro-slavery America, Confederate statues are coming down. (2020, July 2). SBS News. https://sbs.com.au/news/in-the-former-capital-of-pro-slavery-america-confederate-statues-are-coming-down

A higher education return. (2016, August 18). The Australian. https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/higher-education-return/docview/1811922139/se-2?accountid=10382

One to 20 authors

• If there is more than one author, add a comma after each name and use an ampersand (&) before the last author
• Include all authors in the reference list entry.

Examples

Burns, T. (2015). Philosophy and poetry: A new look at an old quarrel. The American Political Science Review, 109(2), 326-338. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003055415000076

Habary, A., Johansen, J. L., Nay, T. J., Steffensen, J. F., & Rummer, J. L. (2017). Adapt, move or die - How will tropical coral reef fishes cope with ocean warming? Global Change Biology, 23(2), 566-577. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13488

Lane, R., & Catling, S. (2016). Preservice primary teachers’ depth and accuracy of knowledge of tropical cyclones. Journal of Geography, 115(5), 198-211. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221341.2016.1153133

21 or more authors

• In the reference list entry, list the first 19 authors followed by an ellipsis (…) then the final author’s name
• Do not use an ampersand (&) before the final author’s name in this case.

Example

Naghavi, M., Abajobir, A. A., Abbafati, C., Abbas, K. M., Abd-Allah, F., Abera, S. F., Aboyans, V., Adetokunboh, O., Afshin, A., Agrawal, A., Ahmadi, A., Ahmed, M. B., Aichour, A. N., Aichour, M. T. E., Aichour, I., Aiyar, S., Alahdab, F., Al-Aly, Z., Alam, K., . . . Murray, C. J. L. (2017). Global, regional, and national age-sex specific mortality for 264 causes of death, 1980-2016: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016. The Lancet, 390(10100), 1151-1210. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32152-9

Organisation as author

• Write the organisation name in full in the reference list
• If there are multiple departments listed, use the one most responsible for the content as the author. This is common in government documents, where the full hierarchy might be shown. For example: Government of Western Australia, East Metropolitan Health Service, Royal Perth Hospital. In this case, Royal Perth Hospital is the department that created the content, so it should be listed as the author. The larger organisation (e.g. Government of Western Australia) can be listed as the publisher in the source element.

Examples

Royal Perth Hospital. (2023, April 14). Electronic prescriptions. Government of Western Australia. https://rph.health.wa.gov.au/Patients-and-Visitors/Outpatients/Electronic-Prescriptions

World Health Organization. (2023). Global status report on road safety 2023. https://www.who.int/teams/social-determinants-of-health/safety-and-mobility/global-status-report-on-road-safety-2023

Title capitalisation

DOIs and URLs

A DOI (Digital Object Identifier) is a unique link to a journal article, book, or online document.

• In APA style, DOIs are written as hyperlinks starting with https://doi.org/. Example: https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-10-2015-0023
• If a DOI is available, use it instead of a URL because it is more stable
• If there is no DOI, include the URL of the source
• All DOIs and URLs should start with https:// and can be presented as either live links or as plain text, but should be consistent throughout the reference list.

Reference list page layout

• Start the reference list on a new page after your main text
• Write References in bold and centre it at the top of the page
• Double space the entire list (both within and between entries)
• Use a hanging indent of 1.27cm for each entry.

Sample reference list

References

Arkoudis, S., Dollinger, M., Baik, C., & Patience, A. (2019). International students’ experience in Australian higher education: Can we do better? Higher Education, 77(5), 799-813. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-018-0302-x

Boulton, C. A., Hughes, E., Kent, C., Smith, J. R., & Williams, H. T. P. (2019). Student engagement and wellbeing over time at a higher education institution. PLoS ONE, 14(11), Article e0225770. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225770

Forsyth, H. (2014a). Dreaming of higher education. Southerly, 74(2), 119-142. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.792227855125093

Forsyth, H. (2014b). A history of the modern Australian university. NewSouth Publishing.

Forsyth, H. (2017). Post-war political economics and the growth of Australian university research, c.1945-1965. History of Education Review, 46(1), 15-32. https://doi.org/10.1108/HER-10-2015-0023

A higher education return. (2016, August 18). The Australian. https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/higher-education-return/docview/1811922139/se-2?accountid=10382

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). (2019, February 27). The future of higher education in the age of disruption [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/NFP2S2f3io4

Rudick, C. K., & Dannels, D. P. (2018). “Yes, and … “: Continuing the scholarly conversation about immigration and higher education. Communication Education, 67(1), 120-123. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2017.1392584

10 ways wearables will revolutionise education. (2015, April 28). Progressive Digital Media Technology News. https://www.proquest.com/wire-feeds/10-ways-wearables-will-revolutionise-education/docview/1677305214/se-2?accountid=10382

Tierney, W. G., & Lanford, M. (2016). Conceptualizing innovation in higher education. In M. B. Paulsen (Ed.), Higher education: Handbook of theory and research (pp. 1-40). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-26829-3

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (n.d.). Education transforms lives. https://www.unesco.org/en/education

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2016). Global education monitoring report, 2016: Place: Inclusive and sustainable cities. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000246230

The World Bank. (2025). Tertiary education. https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/tertiaryeducation

Order of references in the reference list

Journal & news articles

Journal article

---

Reference list examples

Habray, A., Johansen, J. L., Nay, T. J., Steffensen, J. F., & Rummer, J. L. (2017). Adapt, move or die - How will tropical coral reef fishes cope with ocean warming? Global Change Biology, 23(2), 566-577. https://doi.org/10.1111/gcb.13488

Lane, R., & Catling, S. (2016). Preservice primary teachers’ depth and accuracy of knowledge of tropical cyclones. Journal of Geography, 115(5), 198-211. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221341.2016.1153133

Lock, M. (2015). Eclipse of the gene and return of divination. Current Anthropology, 46(Suppl. 5), S47-S70. https://doi.org/10.1086/432452

Steinmetz, J. D., Seeher, K. M., Schiess, N., Nichols, E., Cao, B., Servili, C., Cavallera, V., Cousin, E., Hagins, H., Moberg, M. E., Mehlam, M. L., Abate, Y. H., Abbas, J., Abbasi, M. A., Abbasian, M., Abbastabar, H., Abdelmasseh, M., Abdollahi, M., Abdollahi, M., . . . Dua, T. (2024). Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990-2021: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. The Lancet Neurology, 23(4), 344-381. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(24)00038-3

In-text examples

Journal article with an article number

---

D’Aquino, S., Kumar, A., Riordan, B., & Callinan, S. (2024). Long-term effects of alcohol consumption on anxiety in adults: A systematic review. Addictive Behaviors, 155, Article 108047. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2024.108047

Eades, S. J., & Banks, E. (2017). 50 years since citizenship: Successes and challenges in Indigenous health. Public Health Research & Practice, 27(4), Article e2741730. https://doi.org/10.17061/phrp2741730

In-text examples

Advance online publication

---

Castro-Lopez, A., Cervero, A., Galve-Gonzalez, C., & Bernardo, A. (2025). The role of emotions in the university classroom: Implications for engagement and dropout prevention. Active Learning in Higher Education. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/14697874251387029

In-text examples

Newspaper article

---

Reference list examples

Garside, J., Harding, L., Watt, H., Pegg, D., Bengtsson, H., Bowers, S., Gibson, O., & Hopkins, N. (2016, April 5). What are the Panama papers? A guide to history’s biggest data leak. The Guardian. https://theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-panama-papers

A higher education return. (2016, August 18). The Australian. https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/higher-education-return/docview/1811922139/se-2?accountid=10382

Winning, D., & Glynn, J. (2020, January 6). World news: Australia’s fires create own storms. Wall Street Journal. https://www.proquest.com/newspapers/world-news-australia-s-fires-create-own-storms/docview/2333541834/se-2?accountid=10382

In-text examples

Books

Book

---

Reference list examples

Aronson, E., Wilson, T. D., & Sommers, S. R. (2021). Social psychology (10th Global ed.). Pearson. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/curtin/detail.action?docID=6145712

Grant, S. (2021). Australia Day. Harper Collins Publishers.

Haider, J., & Sundin, O. (2022). Paradoxes of media and information literacy: The crisis of information. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003163237

In-text examples

Chapter in an edited book

---

Reference list examples

Bessarab, D., & Forrest, S. (2017). Anggaba jina nimoonggoon: Whose knowledge is that? Aboriginal perspectives of community development. In C. Kickett-Tucker, D. Bessarab, J. Coffin, & M. Wright (Eds.), Mia mia Aboriginal community development: Fostering cultural security (pp. 1-18). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781107741768.002

Kaye, J. (2014). The regulation of human genomics research. In D. Kumar & C. Eng (Eds.), Genomic medicine: Principles and practice (2nd ed., pp. 259-269). Oxford University Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/curtin/detail.action?docID=1780390

Zeleke, W. A., Hughes, T. L., & Drozda, N. (2020). Home–school collaboration to promote mind–body health. In C. Maykel & M. A. Bray (Eds.), Promoting mind–body health in schools: Interventions for mental health professionals (pp. 11–26). American Psychological Association.

In-text examples

Conference paper

---

Reference list examples

Della Vedova, M. L., Tacchini, E., Moret, S., Ballarin, G., DiPierro, M., & de Alfaro, L. (2018, May 16). Automatic online fake news detection combining content and social signals [Paper presentation]. 22nd Conference of Open Innovations Association: FRUCT, Jyvaskyla, Finland. https://ieeeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsb?tp=&arnumber=8468301

Fredericks, J., & Lawrence, C. (2018, September 3). #thisismymob: Preserving and promoting Indigenous Australian cultural heritage [Paper presentation]. MobileCH 2018, Barcelona, Spain. http://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2176/paper3.pdf

White, H., Chan, J., & Cairns, A. (2020, February 13). Practitioner and researcher collaboration through a student master’s paper [Paper presentation]. VALA 2020: Focus on the Future, Melbourne, Australia. https://vala.org.au/vala2020-proceedings/vala2020-session-12-white

In-text examples

Thesis

---

Reference list examples

Gao, W. (2018). Fuel properties and thermal processing of bio-oil and its derived fuel mixtures [Doctoral dissertation, Curtin University]. espace. https://espace.curtin.edu.au/handle/20.500.11937/75545

Ling, J. (2015). Lords and ladies of the modern age [Master’s thesis, Mills College]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. https://proquest.com/dissertations-theses/lords-ladies-modern-age/docview/1676462563/se-2?accountid=10382

In-text examples

Religious work

---

Reference list examples

King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. https://kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work published 1769)

The Qur’an (M. A. S. Abdel Haleem, Trans.). (2004). Oxford University Press.

Classic work

---

Reference list examples

Aristotle. (1997). Poetics (G. Whalley, Trans.; J. Baxter & P. Atherton, Eds.). McGill-Queen’s University Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/curtin/detail.action?docID=3330809 (Original work published ca. 350 B.C.E.)

Shakespeare, W. (1988). Richard III (J. Hankey, Ed.). Bristol Classic Press. (Original work published 1597)

Shakespeare, W. (2012). Romeo and Juliet. First Avenue Editions. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/curtin/detail.action?docID=5445113 (Original work published 1599)

Websites

Webpage on a website

---

Reference list examples

Department of Education. (2025). During your studies in Australia. Australian Government. https://www.education.gov.au/international-education/during-your-studies-australia

DevelopmentWA. (n.d.). Yagan Square. https://developmentwa.com.au/projects/redevelopment/yagan-square/overview

Hansen, J. (2019, November 17). Coming together in times of crisis. Sea Shepherd. https://seashepherd.org.au/latest-news/bushfire-commentary

In-text examples

Webpage on a news website

---

Reference list examples

In the former capital of pro-slavery America, Confederate statues are coming down. (2020, July 2). SBS News. https://sbs.com.au/news/in-the-former-capital-of-pro-slavery-america-confederate-statues-are-coming-down

Hill, B., Unik, B., Bonson, D., Dodd, J., & Bennett, S. (2021, June 25). New research shows how Indigenous LGBTIQ+ people don’t feel fully accepted by either community. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/new-research-shows-how-indigenous-lgbtiq-people-don’t-feel-fully-accepted-by-either-community-161096

Thannoo, J., & Collins, A. (2023, October 2). Echidnas communicating with each other recorded for first time by Curtin University researchers. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-02/echidna-sounds-recorded-for-first-time-by-curtin-university/102917730

In-text examples

Online dictionary or encyclopedia entry (e.g. Wikipedia)

---

Reference list examples

Ecology. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 15, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecology

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Behaviorism. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved November 20, 2019, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/behaviorism

Pavese, C. (2021). Knowledge how. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Summer 2021 ed.). Stanford University. Retrieved June 26, 2021, from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/knowledge-how/

In-text examples

Lecture

---

Reference list examples

Leaver, T. (2012). Social media rivers [iLecture]. Blackboard. https://echo.ilecture.curtin.edu.au

Richardson, C. (2015). RDA management [PowerPoint slides]. Blackboard. https://lms.curtin.edu.au

In-text examples

Social media

Blog post

---

Reference list example

saywhatnathan. (2019, November 6). Anniversaries need to be uncomfortable. Archival Decolonist. https://archivaldecolonist.com/2019/11/06/anniversaries-need-to-be-uncomfortable/

Tay, A. (2019, January 15). Why our citation practices make no sense. Musings About Librarianship. http://musingsaboutlibrarianship.blogspot.com/2019/01/why-our-citation-practices-make-no-sense.html

In-text examples

Social media post

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Reddit, TikTok, Threads, X (Twitter) etc.

---

Reference list examples

ABC News Australia [@abcnewsau]. (2023, November 11). What we’ve discovered is that we can take waste textiles and grind them up into really fine particles, which we [Video]. TikTok. https://www.tiktok.com/@abcnewsaus/video/7298573844044844290

Curtin University. (2023, November 9). Check out these highlights from the Bachelor of Creative Arts Exhibition at this year’s Faculty of Humanities Graduate Showcase! The [Images attached] [Post]. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/curtinuniversity_curtinuniversity-curtinlife-curtingradshow23-activity-7127960735678173184-NOIb/

Obama, B. (2018, January 1). During my presidency, I started a tradition of sharing my reading and play lists. It was a nice way to [Status update]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/barackobama/posts/10155532677446749

Souza, P. [@petesouza]. (2018, February 8). A loving touch [Photograph]. Instagram. https://instagram.com/p/Be8MsHcI8DP

In-text examples

Social media profile or page

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, TikTok, X (Twitter) etc.

---

Reference list examples

ABC News Australia [@abcnewsaus]. (n.d.). “this is the kind of news I’m on this app for” [TikTok profile]. Retrieved November 15, 2023 from https://www.tiktok.com/@abcnewsaus/

Curtin University. (n.d.). Home [LinkedIn profile]. Retrieved November 15, 2023 from https://www.linkedin.com/school/curtinuniversity/

Swift, T. [@taylorswift] (n.d.). Reels [Instagram profile]. Instagram. Retrieved November 15, 2023 from https://www.instagram.com/taylorswift/reels/

World Health Organization. (n.d.). Posts [Facebook page]. Retrieved November 15, 2023 from https://www.facebook.com/WHO/

In-text examples

Reports and grey literature

Government or organisation report

---

Reference list examples

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2022). People with disability in Australia 2022 (Cat. No. DIS 72). Australian Government. https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/disability/people-with-disability-in-australia/contents/about

Lowitja Institute. (2021). Culture is key: Towards cultural determinants-driven health policy: Final report. https://www.lowitja.org.au/resource/culture-is-key-towards-cultural-determinants-driven-health-policy/

Winkelmann, J., Rossi, J. G., & van Ginneken, W. (2022). Oral health care in Europe: Financing, access and provision (Health Systems in Transition, Vol. 24, No. 2). European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. https://eurohealthobservatory.who.int/publications/i/oral-health-care-in-europe-financing-access-and-provision

In-text examples

Press release

---

Reference list example

Saffioti, R. (2023, November 4). World’s biggest tourism summit confirmed for WA [Press release]. Government of Western Australia. https://www.wa.gov.au/government/media-statements/Cook-Labor-Government/World’s-biggest-tourism-summit-confirmed-for-WA-20231104

In-text examples

Brochure, factsheet or pamphlet

---

Reference list example

Department of Health and Aged Care. (2024). Support at home [Fact sheet]. Australian Government. https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/support-at-home-fact-sheet

In-text examples

Code of ethics or code of conduct

---

Reference list examples

Australian Public Service Commission. (2025). APS code of conduct. Australian Government. https://www.apsc.gov.au/aps-code-conduct

International Council of Nurses. (2021). The ICN code of ethics for nurses. https://www.icn.ch/sites/default/files/inline-files/ICN_Code-of-Ethics_EN_Web.pdf

In-text examples

Legislation & standards

Act of Parliament

Note. The APA Manual does not cover Australian legal materials. These guidelines are adapted from the Australian Guide to Legal Citation.

---

---

Reference list examples

Building Industry Act 1985 (Cth) s. 10.4. https://legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016C01029

Work Health and Safety Act 2020 (WA). https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/law_a147282.html

Case

Note. The APA Manual does not cover Australian legal materials. These guidelines are adapted from the Australian Guide to Legal Citation.

---

---

Reference list example

Shea v. News Ltd. (2015) WASC 1. http://austlii.edu.au/au/cases/wa/WASC/2015/1.html

Standard

---

Reference list example

Standards Australia. (2015). Placement and presentation of hand hygiene materials in relation to the basin in healthcare settings (AS 1071:2015). SAI Global. https://i2.saiglobal.com/management/display/anchor/1132770/-/afc2ef8b83148a9765e393fde990404a

Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. (2018). Midwife standards for practice. https://www.nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au/Codes-Guidelines-Statements/Professional-standards/Midwife-standards-for-practice.aspx

In-text examples

United Nations treaties and conventions

---

Reference list example

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, November 20, 1989, https://www.unicef.org.au/united-nations-convention-on-the-rights-of-the-child

United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, December 13, 2006, https://www.un.org/development/desa/disabilities/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities.html

Audiovisual media

YouTube or other streaming video

---

Haran, B. [Numberphile2]. (2015, May 14). Why basic research is important - Numberphile [Video]. YouTube. https://youtube.com/watch?v=6gnsQjPCC

Packnett, B. (2019, April). How to build your confidence - and spark it in others [Video]. TED. https://ted.com/talks/brittany_packnett_how_to_build_your_confidence_and_spark_it_in_others

TED. (2014, June 27). How to speak so that people want to listen: Julian Treasure [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/elho2SOZahl

In-text examples

Film or video

---

Reference list examples

Miller, G. (Director). (2015). Mad Max: Fury road [Film]. Warner Bros. Pictures. https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/edutv.1193010

Sandberg, D. F. (Director). (2019). Shazam! [Film]. Warner Bros. Pictures; New Line Cinema; DC Films.

In-text examples

TV series episode

---

Reference list example

Muharrar, A. (Writer), & Adams, A. (Director). (2019). Chillaxing (Season 4, Episode 3) [TV series episode]. In M. Schur, D. Miner, M. Sackett, & D. Goddard (Executive Producers). The good place, Fremulon; 3 Arts Entertainment; Universal Television.

In-text examples

TV series

---

Reference list example

Michaels, L., Fey, T., Miner, D., Klein, M., Carlock, R., Richmond, J., & Riggi, J. (Executive Producers). (2006-2013). 30 Rock [TV series]. Broadway Video; Little Stranger; NBC Studios; NBC Universal Television; Universal Media Studios.

In-text examples

Podcast episode

---

Reference list example

Malcolm, L. (Host). (2018, September 16). Tripping for depression [Audio podcast episode]. In All in the mind. ABC Radio National. https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/allinthemind/tripping-for-depression/10223006

In-text examples

Music - Single song or track

---

Reference list examples

Beyonce. (2008). Single ladies (put a ring on it) [Song]. On I am… Sasha Fierce. Sony BMG Music Entertainment.

Childish Gambino. (2014). What kind of love [Song]. MCDJ Entertainment; Glassnote Entertainment Group.

Sheeran, E., & Bieber, J. (2019). I don’t care [Song]. On No. 6 collaborations project. Warner Music UK; Def Jam Recordings.

In-text examples

Health resources

Cochrane systematic review

---

Reference list example

Thomas, R. E., Jefferson, T., Lasserson, T. J., & Earnshaw, S. (2025). Influenza vaccination for healthcare workers who care for people aged 60 or older living in long-term care institutions. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD005187.pub6

In-text examples

UpToDate

---

Reference list example

Bordeaux, B. (2024). Benefits and risks of caffeine and caffeinated beverages. UpToDate. Retrieved December 2, 2024, from https://www.uptodate.com/contents/benefits-and-risks-of-caffeine-and-caffeinated-beverages

In-text examples

AMH, MIMs and Martindale

---

Reference list examples

Atorvastatin. (2019). Australian Medicines Handbook. Retrieved November 7, 2019, from https://amhonline-amh-net-au.eu1.proxy.openathens.net/chapters/cardiovascular-drugs/drugs-dyslipidaemia/statins/atorvastatin

Panamax. (2017). MIMS Online. Retrieved November 7, 2019, from https://www.mimsonline.com.au

Rheumatoid arthritis. (2019). Martindale. Retrieved November 11, 2019, from https://www.medicinescomplete.com/#/content/martindale/17192-a4-3-w

In-text examples

DSM-5 and ICD

---

Reference list examples

American Psychiatric Association. (2022). Feeding and eating disorders. In Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425787.x10_Feeding_and_Eating_Disorders

World Health Organization. (2024). Sleep-related movement disorders. In International statistical classification of diseases and related health problems (11th ed.). http://id.who.int/icd/entity/49589409

In-text examples

Clinical practice guidelines

---

Reference list examples

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. (2020). Joint replacement (primary): Hip, knee and shoulder (NICE Guideline NG157). https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG157

The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. (2023). Bronchiolitis. https://www.rch.org.au/clinicalguide/guideline_index/Bronchiolitis/

In-text examples

Other sources

Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)

If you use a GenAI tool, such as ChatGPT, Claude, or Copilot, when completing an assessment, it is recommended to declare your use. Additionally, if you have used GenAI to create content that you include in your work, you must reference this use as a source of information.

Referencing is a standardised way of acknowledging sources such as books, articles, and websites to show that your work is based on credible evidence. GenAI must be cited if used as an information source. This is required in the same way as any other information you include in your work that comes from an external source.

It is important to understand that AI-generated content is considered a non-recoverable source. This means that the content produced is usually not accessible to anyone other than the person who generated it. Unless the GenAI tool provides a shareable link to the chat, other people cannot be directed to the exact location where the content was created. This makes it difficult to verify claims in the same way as traditional sources.

GenAI tools are also not considered scholarly sources at this time. Their responses are created from large training datasets, and the original source of the information is often unknown. For this reason, GenAI outputs should be used with care in academic work.

If the GenAI text discusses theories or specific ideas, you should include additional sources to support them with scholarly research.

If you are allowed to use GenAI in your work, it is good practice to include:

• A written declaration

You should follow your Unit Coordinator’s instructions or use the Library’s declaration template to clearly explain how GenAI supported your work. You may also wish to include the prompts you used as a list or by sharing a link to the chat.

• An in-text citation and reference list entry

This is required if the generated text has been quoted, paraphrased or summarised in your written work.

---

In-text citation

• Provide the author of the tool (e.g. OpenAI) and the year of the version used.

(OpenAI, 2023).

Or

According to OpenAI (2023)…

Reference list

Specific AI chat

Use this format when you want to reference a particular conversation with an AI tool.

Example:

OpenAI. (2025, August 21). High school grammar concepts [Generative AI chat]. ChatGPT. https://chatgpt.com/share/68a77b60-0ee4-800c-9acc-cd3fd573c311

---

AI tool

Use this when you used the tool but do not need to cite a specific chat.

Example:

Microsoft. (2025). Copilot [Large language model]. https://copilot.microsoft.com

AI-generated images

There are currently no official APA style guidelines for referencing images created by GenAI. Below is a suggested format to follow.

---

Above the figure

• Write Figure in bold. If you use more than one figure, number them in the order they appear in your work (e.g. Figure 1, Figure 2).
• One double-spaced line below the label, include a short title that explains what the figure shows. The title should be in italics, with each major word starting with a capital letter and no full stop at the end
• If there is no title for the image, add your own title in square brackets.

---

Below the figure

• Start with Note. in italics
• Write a caption that explains where the figure came from
• Include an in-text citation for the AI tool.

---

Reference list

• Provide a reference list entry for the AI tool.

---

In your writing

• Call out (refer) to the figure by its number in your writing, e.g. As shown in Figure 1… OR Primary prevention has many intersecting dimensions (Figure 2).

---

Example

[Cat Sleeping on a Wooden Desk in a Library]

Indigenous Knowledges

Indigenous Knowledges are those which are held and developed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia or other First Nations people globally. IP Australia (2021) defines two distinct areas:

• Cultural Expressions - including language, stories, songlines, music, performance, visual arts, crafts, architecture, designs and symbols
• Knowledge - including know-how, practices, skills and innovations, often related but not limited to agricultural, scientific, technical, ecological, medicinal and biodiversity-related knowledge.

How you cite Indigenous Knowledge depends on whether the information is from a published or non-published source.

Published sources

Indigenous authored sources

If you have read a book or journal article, watched a YouTube video or listened to a podcast created by an Indigenous person (the information was recorded in a format that can be retrieved) follow the standard guidelines provided in this guide to create your in-text citation and reference list entry, according to the source type (e.g. journal article, book, video etc.).

Non-Indigenous authored sources

Indigenous Knowledge may be communicated by non-Indigenous authors. Wherever possible, the author, the Indigenous person, and the appropriate community or language group should be referenced within your narrative or in your in-text citations (if an individual is not mentioned, include the community or language group alone). If the source does not provide this information, use the broader term ‘Indigenous Knowledge’ within the citation before the source details.

Non-published sources

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have an oral tradition, meaning their knowledges, beliefs and customs are passed down verbally or through other cultural expressions. If the information has been communicated with you directly (e.g. you have spoken to an Indigenous person directly) and you have permission to use it in your work, follow the guidelines for referencing a Personal Communication, but also include the Indigenous community or language group, if known. If the source of information is an Indigenous Elder or other Indigenous Knowledge Keeper, also include the name of the Elder or Knowledge Keeper.

For example, the in-text citation will be displayed as:

(I. Cumming, Whadjuk Noongar, personal communication, July 1, 2021).

Personal communication

---

• Personal communications may not be acceptable to include in your assessment – please check with your lecturer/tutor before doing so
• Personal communications are works which cannot be recovered by the reader. They include emails, text messages, online chats, letters, memos, personal (unpublished) interviews, telephone conversations, live speeches etc.
• Cite in text only. Give the initials as well as the surname of the communicator and provide as exact a date as possible
• Quotations from participants whom you interviewed as part of your research are treated differently than quotations from published works. See page 278 of the APA 7th manual for more information

In-text examples

“…” (T. S. Reed, personal communication, September 20, 2019).

According to P. M. Walker (personal communication, April 18, 2015) …

Data set

---

Reference list example

Irino, T., & Tada, R. (2009). Chemical and mineral compositions from ODP site 127-797 [Data set]. PANGAEA. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.726855

In-text examples

Australian curriculum

---

Reference list examples

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2015). Science: Sequence of content F-6 strand: Science understanding (Version 8.1). https://docs.acara.edu.au/resources/Science_-_Sequence_of_content.pdf

Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2022). Humanities and social sciences: Civics and citizenship 7-10: Curriculum content 7-10 (Version 9.0). https://v9.australiancurriculum.edu.au/content/dam/en/curriculum/ac-version-9/downloads/humanities-and-social-sciences/civics-and-citizenship/humanities-and-social-sciences-civics-and-citizenship-curriculum-content-v9.docx

School Curriculum and Standards Authority. (2016). Mathematics - Scope and sequence - P-6 (Version 8.1). https://k10outline.scsa.wa.edu.au/home/teaching/curriculum-browser/mathematics-v8/overview/Maths_P-10_Scope-and-Sequence_Phase_1_March_2016.PDF

In-text examples

Tables & figures

What are tables and figures?

• Tables are numerical values or text displayed in rows and columns.
• Figures include all types of illustrations or images (chart, map, graph, photograph, drawing etc.) other than a table.

Why is referencing tables and figures different?

Referencing tables and figures is different from referencing other materials in APA style. Normally, you just need an in-text citation and a reference list entry to give credit. However, when you reproduce (copy) or adapt a table or figure from another source, the APA style requires you to provide additional copyright attribution.

Using tables and figures in your assessment

Using a published table or figure

---

If you are reproducing or adapting a table or figure from another source to use in your assessment, follow these steps:

---

Above the table or figure

• Write Table or Figure in bold
• If you use more than one table or figure, number them in the order they appear in your work (e.g. Table 1, Table 2). Tables and figures are numbered separately
• One double-spaced line below the label, give the table or figure a short title that explains what it shows. The title should be in italics, with each major word starting with a capital letter and no full stop at the end

---

Below the table or figure

• Write a caption that explains where the table or figure came from
• Start with Note. in italics. Then write “From” if you copied it exactly, or “Adapted from” if you changed it (for example, by changing the layout or only using part of the data)
• Include the title, author, year it was published, and other source details. See Caption components section
• Say who owns the copyright and what year it was published (e.g. Copyright 2015 by IWA Publishing). If it uses a Creative Commons licence, include that instead (e.g. CC BY-NC). You can find more information in the Copyright and Creative Commons images section
• Double-space the caption.

---

Reference list

• Add a full reference for the source of the table or figure in your reference list. Follow the APA referencing guide.

---

In your writing

• Call out (refer) to the table or figure by its number in your writing, e.g. Primary prevention has many intersecting dimensions (Figure 2). OR As shown in Table 1…

Example of a table adapted from a journal article

Participant Information of Dog Owner Interviews about Dog Walking

Gender(s)	Age(s)	Dog(s)
F	51	Poodle/spaniel Border Terrier
M F	62 49	Alaskan Malamute
M F	69 Unknown	Labrador

Example of a figure reproduced from a webpage

Fossil Tooth Whorl of Ancient Shark

Example of a figure reproduced from a chapter in an edited book

The Ecological Model of Health Promotion/Primary Prevention

Using tables or figures in PowerPoint

---

Note: Always check with your tutor if they have specific guidelines for referencing in PowerPoint presentations.

When you include tables or figures in your PowerPoint presentation, you need to show where they came from if they have been adapted or copied from another source. You can choose to put the caption(s):

• On the slide, directly underneath the table or figure OR
• At the end of your presentation, before your reference list (see below instructions).

---

On the slide where the table or figure appears

• Above the table or figure, write Table or Figure in bold
• If you use more than one table or figure, number them in the order they appear in your work (e.g. Table 1, Table 2). Tables and figures are numbered separately
• One double-spaced line below the label, give the table or figure a short title that explains what it shows. The title should be in italics, with each major word starting with a capital letter and no full stop at the end

Example of a table in a PowerPoint slide

---

Physical Development of Inland NSW Magpies (n=36)

Age	Weight (g)	Body length (mm)
1st week	50-73	51
2nd week	100-208	76
3rd week	220-250	89
4th week	380	104
3 months	340-400	104

---

Example of a figure in a PowerPoint slide

---

---

---

At the end of your presentation

• Before the reference list, include a slide with the caption information (see Caption components section) that would normally appear under the table or figure.

Example list of tables and figures in a PowerPoint slide

---

List of tables and figures

---

---

Reference list

• Include a reference list with full references for all the sources used in your presentation, following the APA style.

Example reference list in a PowerPoint slide

---

References

Bendon, J. (2015). Galah walking [Photograph]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_bendon_1957/16207540769/

BirdLife Australia. (n.d.). Galah: Basic information. Birds in Backyards. http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/species/Eolophus-roseicapillus

Foundation for National Parks & Wildlife. (n.d.). Galah. Backyard Buddies. https://www.backyardbuddies.org.au/fact-sheets/Galah

Johnston, G. (2019). Galah [Photograph]. Flickr. https://www.flickr.com/photos/gregjohnston/48372512176

Kaplan, G. (2019). Australian magpie: Biology and behaviours of an unusual songbird (2nd ed.). CSIRO Publishing. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/curtin/reader.action?docID=5762566

---

Using your own table or figure

---

You may wish to include your own photograph or image in an assessment, or you may create a table or figure from data that you have collected yourself. As you have created the table or figure, there is no need to cite a source but it should still be formatted properly.

---

Above the table or figure

• Write Table or Figure in bold
• If you use more than one table or figure, number them in the order they appear in your work (e.g. Table 1, Table 2). Tables and figures are numbered separately
• One double-spaced line below the label, give the table or figure a short title that explains what it shows. The title should be in italics, with each major word starting with a capital letter and no full stop at the end

---

Below the table or figure

• No citation needed (you may wish to add a note to say Photograph by Author or similar if it is not clear that it is your own work)

---

In your writing

• Call out (refer) to the table or figure by its number in your writing, e.g. As shown in Table 1… OR Primary prevention has many intersecting dimensions (Figure 2).

Examples of your own tables or figures

Sleepy Tasmanian Devil in the Rain

---

Pet Ownership by Occupation

	Dogs	Cats	Birds
Librarian	22	56	9
Accountant	53	29	6
Ornithologist	22	0	61
Artist	33	33	22

Using published data to create a table or figure

---

When you create your own table or figure using data from a published source (e.g. a government report, journal article, or book), an in-text citation and reference list entry is usually sufficient acknowledgement of the source material.

---

Above the table or figure

• Write Table or Figure in bold
• If you use more than one table or figure, number them in the order they appear in your work (e.g. Table 1, Table 2). Tables and figures are numbered separately
• One double-spaced line below the label, give the table or figure a short title that explains what it shows. The title should be in italics, with each major word starting with a capital letter and no full stop at the end

---

Within or below the table or figure

• Show where the data came from by adding citations in the table or figure (e.g. next to each row or column) or below it.

---

In your reference list

• Include a full entry for each source (book, article, website, etc.) in your reference list, following APA style.

---

In your writing

• Call out (refer) to the table or figure by its number in your writing, e.g. Primary prevention has many intersecting dimensions (Figure 2). OR As shown in Table 1…

Example with citations included in the table

Australian Government Indigenous Programs and Policy Locations with Indigenous Population by Selected States

State	Number of centres (Services Australia, 2020)	Total Indigenous population
NSW	56	216,170 (Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS], 2017a)
WA	342	75,976 (ABS, 2017b)

---

Example with citations included below the table

Indigenous Land Management Categories and Size (Hectares)

Category	Definition a	Total area b
Owned and managed	Lands that are both owned and managed by Indigenous communities	142,306,000
Managed	Lands that are managed but not owned by Indigenous communities	32,357,000
Co-managed	Owned and managed by non-Indigenous parties, but agreements guarantee Indigenous people rights in managing land	28,028,000
Special rights	Lands subject to Native Title determinations and active Indigenous Land Use Agreements	304,531,000

Caption components

---

Book or government/organisation report

Example

Chapter in an edited book

Example

Journal article, magazine or newspaper

Example

Webpage

Example

Example assessment

---

Australia’s Indigenous people have a longstanding connection with country, valuing it for a range of cultural, social and economic reasons, in a history that goes back an estimated 60,000 years (Jacobsen et al., 2020; Olsen & Russell, 2019). Prior to colonisation, Australia comprised over 250 societies that covered the entire landmass, groups that had their own language, customs and responsibility for managing the land (Karidakis & Kelly, 2017). This responsibility has only recently begun to be handed back to Indigenous people, with Jacobsen et al. (2020) reporting 134 million hectares of land in Australia, 17% of the total landmass, as Indigenous owned. A map produced by the Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES, Figure 1) shows that the bulk of this land is located in central Australia.

Area of Land and Forest that is Indigenous Owned

Dillon et al. (2015) defines Indigenous land as “all land over which Indigenous people have use and rights as recognised through ownership, management, access or other special rights” (p. 6). Incorporating these broader definitions, Table 1 breaks down the total area of recognised Indigenous land in Australia.

Indigenous Land Management Categories and Size (Hectares)

Category	Definition a	Total area b
Owned and managed	Lands that are both owned and managed by Indigenous communities	142,306,000
Managed	Lands that are managed but not owned by Indigenous communities	32,357,000
Co-managed	Owned and managed by non-Indigenous parties, but agreements guarantee Indigenous people rights in managing land	28,028,000
Special rights	Lands subject to Native Title determinations and active Indigenous Land Use Agreements	304,531,000

References

Australian Bureau of Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences. (2020). Australia’s Indigenous forest estate. Australian Government. https://data.gov.au/data/dataset/australia-s-indigenous-forest-estate-2020

Dillon, R., Jeyasingham, J., Eades, S., & Read, S. (2015). Development of Australia’s Indigenous forest estate (2013) dataset (Research Report 15.6). Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences. https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/IndigenousForestEstate_20150828_v1.0.0.pdf

Jacobsen, R., Howell, C., & Read, S. (2020). Australia’s Indigenous land and forest estate: Separate reporting for Indigenous ownership, management and other special rights. Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences. https://doi.org/10.25814/bqr0-4m20

Karidakis, M., & Kelly, B. (2017). Trends in Indigenous language usage. Australian Journal of Linguistics, 38(1), 105-126. https://doi.org/10.1080/07268602.2018.1393861

Olsen, P., & Russell, L. (2019). ‘Civilisation’ displaces Indigenous wildlife balance. Wildlife Australia, 56(4), 36-41. https://doi.org/10.3316/ielapa.887587290235282

Copyright and Creative Commons images

---

Copyright is a law that gives creators (such as writers, artists, musicians) the right to control how their work is used. If you make something original, you automatically own the copyright. Others need your permission to copy, share, or change it. Creative Commons is a system that lets creators share their work more freely. It does not remove copyright, instead it provides licenses that say what others can do with the work—whether they can copy it, change it, or use it for commercial purposes. It is a way to share while still retaining some rights.

To find out more about copyright and Creative Commons, see the Copyright toolkit.

Reproducing images

When you reuse images, it is important to follow copyright rules. Just because an image is easy to find online does not mean you can use it freely. You need to check if you have permission. Some websites let you download images for free, but others—like Shutterstock or Getty Images—require you to pay for a license. A good way to stay within the rules is to use images that have an Open License, are under a Creative Commons (CC) license, or are in the public domain.

Open license, Creative Commons and public domain images

An Open License means the creator has given permission for others to use and share the image, often with few restrictions. Creative Commons is a type of open license that tells you how you can use the image without needing to ask for permission. Public domain images are either no longer protected by copyright or have been released by the creator for anyone to use freely.

The following websites provide easily accessible advance search filters to quickly identify Creative Commons or public domain images:

• flickr
• Openverse
• Wikimedia Commons
• The New York Public Library Digital Collections
• State Library of Victoria copyright-free image search (mainly historical images)
• Unsplash

Locating copyright or Creative Commons information

Sometimes it can be difficult to locate copyright or license information associated with a table or figure. If it is not presented alongside the content you want to use, do a search of the document for either ‘copyright’ or ‘CC’ using Ctrl + F (command + F on a Mac).

On some websites, you might want to check the footer for a link to ‘Terms of use’ which will provide you with the information you need for copyright acknowledgement.

Referencing checklist

This brief checklist highlights some general points to pay attention to when editing your in-text citations and reference list. For the components and formatting required for specific reference types, please consult the relevant sections of this APA referencing guide.

In-text citations

Have you included an in-text citation each time you have paraphrased, summarised or quoted information from another source?

Are direct quotations enclosed in quote marks with a page number or paragraph provided, in addition to the author and date of the source?

Does each in-text citation have a corresponding reference list entry?

Reference list

Does the reference list only include sources that have been cited in the text?

Does the reference list start on a new page or slide, after the content of your assessment, with the word ‘References’ in bold and centred at the top of the page?

Does the reference list have double-spacing, both within and between references?

Is the reference list ordered alphabetically by the first author’s last name or name of the organisation responsible for the content? If the reference has no author, does it use the first significant word in the title?

Do all references have a hanging indent of 1.27cm? How do I create a hanging indent?

Are titles, with the exception of journal names, in sentence case capitalisation, where only the first word, proper nouns, and words following certain types of punctuation (full stops, colons, etc.) are capitalised?

Example: Youth subcultures: Theory, history and the Australian experience

Are journal names presented in full (not in an abbreviated form) and in headline-style capitalisation, where every significant word is capitalised?

Example: New England Journal of Medicine

Do all online sources have an address to help the reader locate the item? Either a DOI (Digital Object Identifier) or a URL if there is no DOI?

Are all DOIs preceded by https://doi.org/?

Are all DOIs and URLs presented consistently either as live links (blue and underlined) OR plain text that is not underlined?

About UniSkills

UniSkills was created and is maintained by Curtin University Library. To report issues with UniSkills contact Library Help.

Twemoji icons by Twitter, Inc and other contributors, licensed under a CC-BY 4.0 licence.

Except where otherwise noted, UniSkills content in all it’s forms (website, PDFs etc) are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence. We ask that you attribute any use of the content as created by Curtin University Library with a link to the Library website.

This license does not extend to other Curtin University and Curtin University Library webpages, or to Curtin branding and trademarks. Curtin University’s copyright information is available on the Curtin website.