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APA 7th Edition Referencing Guide1

A Wintec Library guide to referencing in APA 7th edition style

 

Note
This page deals with FAQs specific to tricky health resources only. For more answers to frequently answered questions, see the FAQs page.

What is title case and sentence case?

Title Case

In title case, every word is capitalised except for minor words like "in", "of", "and" "a".

Hewitt, T., Baddock, S., & Patterson, J. (2022). Timing of cord clamping: An observational study of cord clamping practice in a maternity hospital in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand College of Midwives Journal, (58), 19-26. https://doi.org/10.12784/nzcomjnl58.2022.3.19-26

 

Sentence case

In sentence case, the only words that are capitalised are:

  • The first word of the sentence
  • The first word of the subtitle
  • Any word which is normally always capitalised. This includes proper nouns (names of people, places or organisations) like Aotearoa, New Zealand, Manatū Hauora etc.

Hewitt, T., Baddock, S., & Patterson, J. (2022). Timing of cord clamping: An observational study of cord clamping practice in a maternity hospital in Aotearoa New Zealand. New Zealand College of Midwives Journal, (58), 19-26. https://doi.org/10.12784/nzcomjnl58.2022.3.19-26


Should I use capitals for names of diseases, disorders, models, theories or therapies?

You do not need to capitalise any words in any of the following:

  • diseases
  • disorders
  • therapies
  • treatments
  • theories

 

  • concepts
  • models
  • hypotheses
  • principles
  • statistical procedures

However, do capitalise any personal names that appear in any of the above.

For example:

  • Alzheimer's disease
  • Bobo doll
  • Down's syndrome (trisomy 21)
  • Rolfe's reflective framework
  • Erikson's theory of psychosocial development
Note
Most terms related to Indigenous people are intentionally capitalised to demostrate respect for Indigenous perspectives. This means you should always capitalise Māori and Pacific models of health. 

For more information, see Racial and Ethnic Identity on the official APA 7 website.


Should I use capitals for names of medication?

Whether you capitalise names of medications depends on whether you are referencing brand names or generic names.

Brand names:

  • Are developed by companies that produce and market the medication
  • Are proper nouns and so should be capitalised
  • When referencing, leave out any trademark ™, registered trademark ®, or copyright © symbols

Generic names:

  • Refer to the active ingredient(s) used to make the medication
  • Should not be capitalised

For example:

Brand name Generic name
Nurofen ibuprofen
Panadol paracetamol
Lora-tabs loratadine
Note
Make sure you don't use a brand name when refering to generic medication.

Should I use the te reo Māori or English name of a government department or organisation?

As both names are official, you can choose to use either:

  • The Māori name
  • The English name
  • The full bilingual name (both)

Make sure you are consistent throughout your assignment and that the name use in your in-text citations matches your reference list. If you use both the Māori and English names, separate them with a hyphen and no spaces between them.

Māori Name-English Name.

Manatū Hauora-Ministry of Health. (2020, June). 'Ola manuia: Pacific health and wellbeing action plan 2020-2025. https://www.health.govt.nz/system/files/documents/publications/ola_manuia-phwap-22june.pdf


How do I reference a regional division of Te Whatu Ora/Health New Zealand (or a former DHB)?

If a resource gives a specific regional division of Te Whatu Ora or Health New Zealand, or a former DHB:

  • Use the specific regional division/DHB name as author
  • Use Te Whatu Ora or Health New Zealand as publisher

 

Some regional division names are the same as region names we use in everyday language, i.e. Waikato. If one of these names as author could cause confusion by itself, combine it with Te Whatu Ora/Health New Zealand as a single author without punctuation between them:  

  • Te Whatu Ora Waikato
  • Health New Zealand Waikato
Note

See here for information on how to format government department names which are bilingual.

If a resource gives only Te Whatu Ora or Health New Zealand, then use that as the author. It will also be the publisher. If a resource's author and publisher are the same, you only need to mention it once as author. You can leave out the publisher information.


What do I include for a bilingual title or title with multiple subtitles?

If a source has a bilingual title, or multiple subtitles, you must include all parts of the title in your reference. Use the order given by the source and separate each with a colon.

First title: Second title: Subtitle (if applicable): Second subtitle (if applicable).

Dale, C. (2022). Takurua: My winter words: Ngā kupu Māori mō te Takurua. OneTree House.

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