APA Style Update, 2009  

Here's a quick list of what's new:

• Include a DOI for almost all articles.
• New format for articles with six or more authors.
• Databases often list issue numbers and dates incorrectly.
• You almost never need to say which database you used.
• You almost never need to say when you retrieved the article.

This page is meant to help experienced users of APA Style to learn about the new changes in the new 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

If you have just started using APA Style:

• Most of this guide will go over your head.  You should look for a beginners guide!
• The UCB Library has handouts to help with APA Style and MLA Style.
• There's a great Web site called the OWL at Purdue that will help beginners.
• The Library and the Writing Center/Lab are great places to go for help with citations.

The biggest change is a conceptual shift.  APA used to put a lot of emphasis on "how the person citing the article found it."  APA now puts more emphasis on "how the reader of the citation can locate the article in the future."

Best wishes!

The first printing of the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association has many errors in it.  Be sure to check out the errata at http://supp.apa.org/style/pubman-reprint-corrections-for-2e.pdf.

The UCB Library's copy is a corrected second printing, so the errata above will not be needed when using the copy on the shelf in the UCB Library.