How to Cite Old Texts by APA

Classical Texts

• 1

  State the author's last name followed by the first initial and the middle initial if it is available. For example, "Galilei, G."

• 2

  Give the publication date for your edition of the text in parentheses. For example, "(1954)."

• 3

  Italicize the title of the text. Capitalize only the first word, proper nouns and the word after a colon. For example, "Dialogues concerning two new sciences."

• 4

  Cite the initials and last names of the translator or translators in parentheses, if the text was translated, and indicate their role. For example, "(H. Crew & A. deSalvio, Trans.)."

• 5

  State the publisher's location and name separated by a colon. For example, "New York, NY: Dover."

  If you retrieved the text online, replace the publisher's information with retrieval information. For example, "Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books."

• 6

  Give the original date of publication in parentheses. For example, "(Original work published 1638)."

Archival Documents

• 7

  Begin the citation with the author's name and initials if they are known. For example, "Smith, J. P."

• 8

  Give the date a letter or manuscript was written or the date a newspaper article was published. Use the year, month and day for a letter or newspaper article or the year for a manuscript. For example, "(1912, April 12)" or "(1912)." Use square brackets and the notation "ca." for an approximate date; for example, "[ca. 1911]."

• 9

  State the title of the material if it has one; italicize the title if it is a manuscript or a transcript. Follow the title with a description of the material in square brackets. For example, "Psychoanalysis institute to open. [Clipping from the Dayton, OH newspaper]." Give only the description if a title is not available; for example, "[Letter to John P. Jones]."

  Begin the citation with the title if an author's name is not available. Leave the description of the material after the date.

• 10

  Give the name of the collection the document comes from along with any identifying information such as a call number. For example, "John Smith Papers (Box 120)."

• 11

  State the name and location of the repository where the document is kept. For example, "APA Archives, Washington, DC."

• 12

  Use "Copy in possession of the author." in place of the collection and repository information if you own the reference document.