Skip to Main Content

APA Referencing: Theses, Conference Papers, Reports, Grey Literature

Theses

Unpublished thesis

In-text citation

According to Hay (2018) ...
... (Hay, 2018). 

Reference list entry

Hay, A. (2018). Youth work in Aotearoa New Zealand: Sustaining and educating workers for a newly professionalised sector [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Wellington Institute of Technology. 
  • Unpublished works are those retrieved directly from the institute or university in print form
  • Place either [Unpublished doctoral thesis] or [Unpublished master's thesis] after the title
  • The name of the Institution awarding the degree is in the source field

Thesis published online

In-text citation

According to Evans (2015) ...
... (Kabir, 2016). 

Reference list entry

Evans, R. S. (2015). Social support, coping strategies and the impact on relationships for adolescents who have experienced cancer [Master’s thesis, University of Waikato]. University of Waikato Research Commons. https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/9219

Kabir, J. M. (2016). Factors influencing customer satisfaction at a fast food hamburger chain: The relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty (Publication No. 10169573) [Doctoral dissertation, Wilmington University]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global.
  • Published works that are available online e.g. Institutional respositories 
  • Place either [Doctoral thesis, Name of Institution Awarding the Degree] or [Master's thesis, Name of Institution Awarding the Degree] after the title
  • Place the Archive/repository Name in the source field followed by the URL
  • If the thesis is from the database ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global add this in the source field

Conference Papers

In-text citation

Duckworth et al. (2019) suggest ...
... (Bedenel et al., 2019).

Reference list entry

Bedenel, A.-L., Jourdan, L., & Biernacki, C. (2019). Probability estimation by an adapted genetic algorithm in web insurance. In R. Battiti, M. Brunato, I. Kotsireas, & P. Pardalos (Eds.), Lecture notes in computer science: Vol. 11353. Learning and intelligent optimization (pp. 225–240). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-05348-2_21

Duckworth, A. L., Quirk, A., Gallop, R., Hoyle, R. H., Kelly, D. R., & Matthews, M. D. (2019). Cognitive and noncognitive predictors of success. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA, 116(47), 23499–23504. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1910510116
  • Conference proceeding published in a book or journal follow the same format as for a journal article, edited book or edited book chapter

Pearson, J. (2018, September 27-30). Fat talk and its effects on state-based body image in women [Poster presentation]. Australian Psychological Society Congress, Sydney, NSW, Australia. http://http//bit.ly/2XGSThP

Wiersma, G., Glazier, R., Pan, D., & Spratt, S. (2015). Balancing bananas: Collection assessment of patron-driven acquisitions. In B.R. Bernhardt, L. H. Hinds, & K. P. Strauch (Eds.), Where do we go from here? Charleston conference proceedings, 2015 (pp. 493-497).  Purdue University Press.

Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year, Month, Date-range). Title of presentation [Description]. Conference Name, Location. (DOI OR URL if online)

  • Conference sessions include paper presentations, poster sessions and keynote addresses etc. 
  • Include a label in square brackets after the title that describes how the presentation was described at the conference e.g.[Conference session]. [Poster presentation].
  • The date is that of the full conference e.g. (2020, September 18-20).
  • Include the location of the conference

Reports and Grey Literature

Reports. There are many types of reports including government reports, annual reports, technical reports and research reports. They often cover original research, technical information etc and may be written by an individual author(s) or an organisation. They may or may not be peer-reviewed. They are part of a body of literature called grey literature.

Grey literature refers to research or resources that have been published informally and are not controlled by commercial publishers. As mentioned with reports, it may not be peer-reviewed so the quality can vary, but it is often a good source of raw data or current information on specific topics. The category of grey literature includes press releases, codes of ethics, policy briefs, grants, guidelines, working papers, patents, white papers etc. See APA Manual, 329.

Author Date Title Source  
      Publisher Information DOI or URL

Author, A. A., &

Author, B. B.

Name of Group.

(2020).

(2020, May 2).

Title of report.

Title of report (Report No. 123).

Title of grey literature [Description].

 Publisher Name.

https://doi.org/...

https://...

 

In-text citation

American Psychological Association (2021) report ...
... (American Psychological Association, 2021).
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (2020) indicates that ...
... (Reserve Bank of New Zealand, 2020).
Thurston (2012) highlights ...
"..." (Thurston, 2012, para. 4).

First in-text citation if wish to abbreviate a group author name

Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers (ANZASW, 2019) emphasise ...
... (Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers [ANZASW], 2019).

Second and subsequent in-text citation

According to ANZASW (2019), ...
... (ANZASW, 2019).

Reference list entry

Report

Reserve Bank of New Zealand. (2020). Annual report 2019-2020. https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/-/media/project/sites/rbnz/files/publications/annual-reports/annual-report-2020.pdf

Thurston, S. J. (2012). Effect and remediation of the loss of building lateral stiffness caused by earthquake loading (Study Report SR0265). BRANZ. https://www.branz.co.nz/documents/626/SR265_Effect_and_remediation_of_the_loss_of_building_lateral_stiffness_by_eart.pdf

Grey literature

American Psychological Association. (2021, May 6). Feeling younger buffers older adults from stress, protects against health decline [Press release]. https://www.apa.org/new/press/release/2021/05/feeling-younger-protects-health

Aotearoa New Zealand Association of Social Workers. (2019). Code of ethics 2019. https://anzasw.nz/wp-content/uploads/Code-of-Ethics-Adopted-30-Aug-2019.pdf
  • Author can be an individual or a group 
  • Date is year of publication. Use more specific dates for works that are published more frequently i.e., Year, Month or Year, Month Day 
  • Title may be followed by a report number in round brackets
  • It is optional but a description of the less common grey literature can be in square brackets after the title
  • Source is the publisher followed by the URL. If the author and publisher are the same, omit the publisher from the source field to avoid repetition

Useful links

Key Changes between APA 6th and APA 7th edition (University of Auckland)

Paraphrasing Author(s) Multiple Times in a Paragraph 

Whitireia/WelTec Learning Support Guides

Assignment Writing - Covers plagiarism, paraphrasing

Tūāpapa Online Study Hub Modules. To access go to Moodle:

Click here if you are a Whitireia student. 

Click here if you are a Weltec student. 

  • Log in if prompted
  • Click Academic Communication, then Introduction to APA and Plagiarism & Academic Integrity

Referencing Tools 

APA Interactive, Massey University

APA Style Blog

Referencite, University of Auckland

Referencing software

Mendeley 

Zotero

Plagiarism

Avoiding plagiarism guide 

Hill, D. J. (2015). A beginners' guide to plagiarism: What is plagiarism and how can you avoid it? Ako Aotearoa.  https://ako.ac.nz/assets/Knowledge-centre/RHPF-c57-A-beginners-guide-to-plagiarism/PRACTICAL-GUIDE-BOOK-A-Beginners-Guide-to-Plagiarism.pdf