An author won't necessarily be a person's name. It may be an organization or company, for example Health Canada. These are called group or corporate authors.
If a book has no author or editor, begin the citation with the book title, followed by the year of publication in round brackets.
If an author is also the publisher, put the word "Author" where you'd normally put the publisher name. This happens most often with corporate or group authors.
When a book has one to seven authors or editors, all authors' names are cited in the Reference List entry. When a book has eight or more authors or editors, list the first six authors followed by three spaced ellipse points (. . .) , and then the last author's name. Rules are different for in-text citations; please see the examples provided.
Capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title. If there is a colon (:) in the title, also capitalize the first letter of the first word after the colon.
Capitalize the first letter of proper names in titles, such as names of places or people. Example: Canada
For cities in the US and Canada list the city name and the province or state code. For other countries, list the city name and the country. Examples: Toronto, ON ; Tokyo, Japan
Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.
A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.
If no author or creator is provided, start the citation with the title/name of the item you are citing instead. Follow the title/name of the item with the date of publication, and the continue with other citation details.
Remember: an author/creator may be an organization or corporation, for example Health Canada. If you don't have a person's name as the author, but do have the name of an organization or corporation, put that organization/corporation's name as the author.
Anonymous
If and only if an item is signed as being created by Anonymous, use "Anonymous" where you'd normally put the author's name.
In-Text
When you have no author, use a shortened version of the title where you'd normally put the author's name.
If you're citing something which is part of a bigger work, like an article from a magazine, newspaper, journal, encyclopedia, or chapter/short story from a book, put the shortened title in quotation marks in your in-text citation:
Example, paraphrase: ("A few words", 2014)
If you're citing an entire work, like a book, website, video, etc., italicize the shortened title in your in-text citation:
Example, paraphrase: (A few words, 2014)
When you are citing two different sources that share the same author and year of publication, assign lowercase letters after the year of publication (a, b, c, etc.). Assign these letters according to which title comes first alphabetically. Use these letters in both in-text citations and the Reference list.
Example In-Text:
Paraphrasing content from first source by this author (Daristotle, 2015a). "Now I am quoting from the second source by the same author" (Daristotle, 2015b, p. 50).
Example Reference List entries:
Daristotle, J. (2015a). Name of book used as first source. Toronto, ON: Fancy Publisher.
Daristotle, J. (2015b). Title of book used as second source. Toronto, ON: Very Fancy Publisher.
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publication City, Province, State or Country: Publisher Name often shortened.
Note: For cities in the US and Canada list the city name and the province or state code. For other countries, list the city name and the country.
Example |
Watson, J. (2012). Human caring science: A theory of nursing (2nd ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning. Note: For cities in the US and Canada list the city name and the province or state code. For other countries, list the city name and the country. |
In-Text Paraphrase |
(Author's Last Name, Year) Example: (Watson, 2012) |
In-Text Quote |
(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page Number) Example: (Watson, 2012, p. 70) |
Last Name of First Author, First Initial. Second Initial if Given, & Last Name of Second Author, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publication City, Province, State or Country: Publisher Name often shortened.
Note: Authors' names are separated by commas. Put a comma and an ampersand (&) before the name of the last author cited.
For cities in the US and Canada list the city name and the province or state code. For other countries, list the city name and the country.
Example |
Case, L. P., Daristotle, L., Hayek, M. G., & Raash, M. F. (2011). Canine and feline nutrition : A resource for companion animal professionals (3rd ed.). Maryland Heights, MO: Mosby. Note: For cities in the US and Canada list the city name and the province or state code. For other countries, list the city name and the country. |
In-Text | See chart here |
Name of Corporate Author. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publication City, Province, State or Country: Publisher Name often shortened.
Note: For cities in the US and Canada list the city name and the province or state code. For other countries, list the city name and the country.
Example |
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Note: For cities in the US and Canada list the city name and the province or state code. For other countries, list the city name and the country. If the Corporate Author is also the publisher of the book, put the word "Author" where you'd normally put the Publisher Name. |
In-Text Paraphrase |
(Name of Corporate Author, Year) Example: (American Psychological Association, 2010) |
In-Text Quote |
(Name of Corporate Author, Year, p. Page Number) Example: (American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 205 ) |
Note: All citations should be double spaced and have a hanging indent in a References List.
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication). Title of chapter, article, essay or short story. In Editor's First Initial. Second Initial if Given. Editor's Last Name (Ed.), Title of book (pp. first page number-last page number). Publication City, Province, State or Country: Publisher Name often shortened.
Note:
If you have more than one editor list their name(s) after the first editor listed in the book, giving their initials and last name. Put an ampersand (&) before the last editor's name.
When you have one editor the short form (Ed.) is used after the editor's name. If you have more than one editor use (Eds.) instead.
For cities in the US and Canada list the city name and the province or state code. For other countries, list the city name and the country.
Example |
Stockert, P.A. & Taylor, C. (2014). Sleep. In P.A. Potter, A.G. Perry, J.C. Ross-Kerr & M.J. Wood (Eds.), Canadian fundamentals of nursing (5th Cdn. ed., pp. 993-1016). Toronto, ON: Elsevier. Note: If there is no editor given you may leave out that part of the citation. For cities in the US and Canada list the city name and the province or state code. For other countries, list the city name and the country. |
In-Text Paraphrase |
(Author's Last Name, Year) See chart here for in-text rules for 2 or more authors. Example (2 authors) (Stockert & Taylor, 2014) |
In-Text Quote |
(Author's Last Name, Year, p. Page Number) See chart here for in-text rules for 2 or more authors. Example (2 authors) (Stockert & Taylor, 2014, p. 998) |
Number of Authors/Editors | First Time Paraphrased | Second and Subsequent Times Paraphrased | First Time Quoting | Second and Subsequent Times Quoting |
---|---|---|---|---|
Two |
(Case & Daristotle, 2011) |
(Case & Daristotle, 2011) |
(Case & Daristotle, 2011, p. 57) | (Case & Daristotle, 2011, p. 57) |
Three or More |
(Case et al., 2011) |
(Case et al., 2011) | (Case et al., 2011, p. 57) | (Case et al., 2011, p. 57) |
Name of Corporate/Group Author. (Year of Publication). Title of pamphlet or brochure: Subtitle if given [Brochure]. Publication City, Province, State or Country: Publisher Name often shortened.
Note: For cities in the US and Canada list the city name and the province or state code. For other countries, list the city name and the country.
Use the term [Brochure] for a pamphlet or brochure.
Example |
Region of Waterloo Public Health. (n.d.). Eat well for less [Brochure]. Waterloo, ON: Author. Note: For cities in the US and Canada list the city name and the province or state code. For other countries, list the city name and the country. Use the letters n.d. where you would normally put the date of publication when no date is provided. In this example the author is also the publisher of the brochure. In this case put the word Author where you'd normally put the publisher's name. |
In-Text Paraphrase |
(Name of Corporate/Group Author, Year) Example: (Region of Waterloo Public Health, n.d.) |
In-Text Quote |
(Name of Corporate/Group Author, Year, p. Page Number) (Region of Waterloo Public Health, n.d., p. 15) |