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APA Tutorial: Social Work

This guide is to help you understand the nuances of writing, citing, and avoiding the pitfalls of plagiarism

Social Work APA

Example APA References & Citations

The links below go directly to the APA Style Grammar & Guidelines Blog which is a fabulous resource.

Periodicals, Books & Reference Works

Periodicals: something that is published more than once.

  • Journal article:  usually a scholarly work such as the Journal of Social Work  (citation example below - note the indentation is incorrect for APA, the first line should NOT be indented).

Spratt, T., Frederick, J., & Devaney, J. (2022). New understandings in childhood research and their implications for child and family services. Journal of Social Work22(5), 1137–1152. https://doi-org.libproxy.nau.edu/10.1177/14680173221077369

MacDonald, M. (2022, October 16).  I can still be a good social worker even if I  don't have children of my own. Social Work News. https://www.mysocialworknews.com/article/i-can-still-be-a-good-social-worker-even-if-i-don-t-have-children-of-my-own

  • Newspaper article Lerner, J., & Pollack, H. (2022, February 23). Social workers are the unsung heroes of the pandemic. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2022/02/23/social-workers-burnout-pandemic-unappreciated/
  • Blog post and blog comment - The Social Work Bubble

Swanson, L. (n.d.) Why vision boards are a powerful mental health treatment tool.  The Social Work Bubble. https://thesocialworkbubble.com/archives/1460

Books & Reference Works

  • Book Gilbert. (2006). Eat, pray, love : one woman’s search for everything across Italy, India and Indonesia. Viking.
  • e-book.  Zakaria, N., & Esser, V. P. (2016). Clothing for children and teenagers : anthropometry, sizing and fit. Woodhead Publishing. https://academic-oup-com.libproxy.nau.edu/book/35177
  • Diagnostic manual (DSM, ICD, etc.)   Raines. E. (Ed.) (2019). Evidence-based practice in school mental health: Addressing DSM-5 disorders in schools. https://www-sciencedirect-com.libproxy.nau.edu/book/9780081002261/clothing-for-children-and-teenagers 
  • Children’s book or other illustrated book

Edited Book Chapters & Entries in Reference Works

Reports, Conference Proceedings & Grey Literature

Reports & Grey Literature

Conference Presentations & Proceedings

Dissertations & Theses

Unpublished & Informally Published Works

Archival Materials

Online Sources, Data and Audiovisual Media

Data Sets

Social Media

Webpages & Websites

Audiovisual Media