How to Cite an Assessment in APA

Researchers often use assessments to establish the educational, psychological or work-related characteristics of an individual or group. For this reason, assessments can be an informative and useful sources in scholarly research and discussion. The American Psychological Association offers manuscript preparation guidelines for scholars who work in the social and behavioral sciences. If the organization or publisher for which you are writing requires APA style, follow these guidelines -- known as APA style -- to correctly cite your assessment sources.

Step 1

Write the last name of the assessment author, a comma, the first initial of the assessment author's first name and a period. If there is more than one author, separate each author's name with a comma and place an ampersand in front of the last author's name. For example, Rhimes, E., & Peezy, Q.

Step 2

Write the publication year or year of production of the assessment within parentheses, followed by a period. For example, Rhimes, E., & Peezy, Q. (2007).

Step 3

Write the title of the assessment. Capitalize only the first word of the title, the first word following a colon and any proper nouns, such as names. For example, Rhimes, E., & Peezy, Q. (2007). Urban-rural cognitive affiliation.

Step 4

Write the type of source you are citing within brackets, followed by a period. The APA specifies brackets for specific information necessary to identify a source. This can be information such as "Brochure" or "Monograph." For example, Rhimes, E., & Peezy, Q. (2007). Urban-rural cognitive affiliation [Data file and code book].

Step 5

Write the city and state of the assessment producer, separated by a comma and followed by a colon and the name of the producer. For example, Rhimes, E., & Peezy, Q. (2007). Urban-rural cognitive affiliation [Data file and code book]. Pines, NJ: Biobosk.

Step 6

Write the words "Retrieved from" followed by the URL of an assessment that is available online. For example, Rhimes, E., & Peezy, Q. (2007). Urban-rural cognitive affiliation [Data file and code book]. Retrieved from http://www.farmstats.com/public/data.

Step 7

Write the name of the assessment author and the year of the assessment, separated by a comma and within parentheses for an in-text citation in APA style. If there is more than one author, separate each author's last name with a comma and place an ampersand in front of the last author's name. For example, "The distinction is one that remains prevalent in rural settings (Rhimes & Peezy, 2007)."

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