Teaching and Creating APA-Formatted References
APA Style Publications
The copyright for the APA Sixth Edition is 2010. 
Since 2010 there have been a number of changes to how people are collecting research information. There has been an increase in the number of high quality online resources and more and more libraries are making information like dissertations and theses available online. To address this, the American Pscyhological Association created a companion PDF file in 2012, the APA Style Guide to Electronic References, Sixth Edition. The electronic style guide PDF file is available through the VCU Library if you search for apa style guide to electronic references.
This is a must-have for all faculty and students as it contains a good bit of information on the DOI. It also includes information about referencing more esoteric materials such as audiovisual media, dissertations, data sets, software, etc.
From the APA Style Guide,
Since the release of the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (American Psychological Association [APA], 2010), online research continues to be the norm and continues to present questions on how to format a variety of web-based materials. Reference formats have evolved, and students and researchers are constantly challenged to create references for content that does not fall into an easily defined area. Because not all online resources have title and copyright pages, the elements for a reference can be difficult to find. As a result, users need guidance on how to format references for online sources.
Another resource that can help faculty and students keep up with changes and recommendations to APA Style can be found on the APA Style Blog.
According to their website,
The APA Style Blog is the official companion to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition. It’s run by a group of experts who work with APA Style every day.
Users can write in and ask questions of the experts for difficult questions such as “How do I cite a YouTube comment?” The blog is fully searchable and an excellent resource for the most difficult APA questions.
Reference Management Software
If memorizing how to properly cite a journal article in a periodical that is paginated by issue is not for you, consider using reference management software. Reference management software such as Mendeley, is available for both Mac and Windows platforms.
Using Mendeley you can:
- Drag and drop PDF files or folders into your library. Mendeley will extract the reference information for you.
- Import references from other reference managers like EndNote. Just and drag and drop the EndNote XML file into Mendeley desktop and Mendeley will import them in the proper format. (text instructions)
- Easily import web references into your Mendeley web library. (video | text instructions) You can then sync the web library to your desktop application library.
A number of researchers at the School of Nursing are using Mendeley for reference management. If you have any questions, please stop by the School of Nursing IT service desk and we are happy to assist. Additionally, a number of classes are suggesting this application to their students to use.
Lots of videos exist on the web to help you get started.
And if you can’t wait to start using Mendeley, view this:
Categories Instructional Materials, Learner Support