WOU Writing Center
Resource Library December 10, 2020 (MP)
APA Special Cases
Unique Types of Media
Sometimes you may not have a typical source like a journal article or book. In the cases
where you use unique media, use the following guidelines for your reference page and in-
text citations.
Audiovisual
Movies, television series, and song recordings follow a similar format, but require slightly
different information.
▪ Films
Producer, A. A. (Producer), & Director, B. B. (Director). (Year). Title of motion
picture [Film]. Production Company or Studio.
Parkes, W. F. (Producer), & Marshall, P. (Director). (1990). Awakenings [Film].
Columbia Pictures.
▪ Television Series or Episode
Writer, A. A. (Writer), & Director, B. B. (Director). (Year-Year). Title of broadcast or episode
[TV series episode]. In Producer, C. C. (Producer), Series title. Studio or distributor.
Peters, W. & Cobb, C. (Writers), & Peters, W. (Director). (1985). A class divided [TV series
episode]. In Fanning, D. (Producer), Frontline. Public Broadcasting Service.
▪ TED Talk
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of video [Video]. Name of Website. URL
Giertz, S. (2018, April). Why you should make useless things [Video]. TED Conferences.
https://www.ted.com/talks/simone_giertz_why_you_should_make_useless_things
TED. (2012, March 16). Brené Brown: Listening to shame [Video]. YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psN1DORYYV0
▪ Music Recording
Writer, A. (Copyright year). Title of song [Recorded by B. B. Artist if different
from writer]. On Title of album [Medium of recording: Streaming
audio, MP3 File, CD, record, cassette, etc.] Label. (Date of recording if
different from song copyright date). (If streaming audio, use Retrieved from URL)
Lilburn, D. (1943). Sonata in C [Recorded by J. Cormack & M. Houstoun]. On Lilburn duos
for violin & piano [CD]. Atoll. (2013)
Types of Media
The type of media
should be described
in brackets if it is
unique. For example,
[Blog post] or [Motion
picture].
Citing TED Talks
When a TED Talk comes
from TED’s website, list
the speaker as author. If
the talk comes from
YouTube, use owner of
the YouTube account.
WOU Writing Center
Resource Library December 10, 2020 (MP)
Barrière, J. (n.d.). Cello sonatas [Recorded by D. Simpson, N. Spieth, A. Ladrette, & E.
Andreyev]. [Streaming audio]. Solstice. Retrieved from
http://naxosmusiclibrary.com/
Other Unique Media
Blogs, art pieces, interviews, and class information are less commonly cited in APA, but still
have specific formatting guidelines.
▪ Blogs
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of post. Blog Name. URL.
Mathis, T. (2015, August 12). What is human systems integration? APA Books Blog.
http://blog.apabooks.org/2015/08/12/what-is-human-systems-integration/
▪ Art
Artist, A. A. (Year) Title of work [Medium/Description of material]. Location of the work.
Rodin, A. (1902). The thinker [Bronze sculpture]. Washington, DC: National Gallery of Art.
Wyeth, A. (1948). Christina’s world [Painting].
http://www.moma.org/explore/collection/index
▪ Interviews (in-text)
Parenthetical Citation:
(A. A. Interviewee, personal communication, Month Day, Year)
(H. A. Cruz, personal communication, June 21, 2017)
Narrative Citation:
A. A. Interviewee (personal communication, Month Day, Year)
H. A. Cruz (personal communication, June 21, 2017)
Class Information
When citing online lecture notes or class PowerPoint slides, always include the file format in
brackets after the lecture title.
Author, A. A. (Year) Title of lecture [File format: PDF document, PowerPoint slides, Word
document, etc.] URL
Referencing Interviews
Because APA does not require
a References citation for
interviews specifically, refer
to your professor’s
instructions for formatting if
required.
WOU Writing Center
Resource Library December 10, 2020 (MP)
Freeman, M. (2017) Spring 2017 A 206 Week 1.1 [PDF document]
http://moodle.wou.edu/pluginfile.php/197644/mod_resource/content/1/Spring%20201
7%20A%20206%20Week%201.1.pdf
Legal Materials
Below are some common legal materials used in Criminal Justice classes. Writers are
encouraged to consult the Legal Bluebook (available at the library) for the proper format of
additional information and abbreviations.
▪ Court Decisions
Reference format for cases:
Name v. Name, Volume Source Page (Court Date)
Lessard v. Schmidt, 349 F. Supp. 1078 (E.D. Wis. 1972)
Durflinger v. Artiles, 563 F. Supp. 322 (D. Kan. 1981), aff’d, 727
F.2d 888 (10th Cir. 1984)
In-text citation:
(Name of the case, Year)
(Lessard v. Schmidt, 1972)
(Durflinger v. Artiles, 1981/1984)
▪ Statutes
Reference format for statutes:
Name of Act, Volume Source § section number (Year).
Mental Health Systems Act, 42 U.S.C. § 9401 (1988)
In-text citation:
Statute Name (Year)
Mental Health Systems Act (1988)
Information adapted from the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition.
Court Decisions
If multiple years are given, cite
those years as well. Court cases
often take several years and
omitting those can mislead the
reader about the timing of the
case. Another date may refer to
an appealed case or whether a
higher court made a decision.
