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APA Citation and Formatting: Dictionaries

Attention Students!

This guide is a starting point. For full details on correctly citing resources and creating references, please consult
the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th Ed.) (2020), or Cites & Sources (6th Ed.) (2021).

Please Note! Library staff do not teach APA, and cannot evaluate or correct work. If you need help with APA Style, please contact your instructor.

How Do I Cite Dictionaries?

An image of a book cover and a title page verso. The title reads, “Paperback Oxford English Dictionary, seventh edition”. The editor is Maurice White. The title page verso lists 2012 as the date of publication. It gives Oxford University Press as the publisher. Blue arrows point to the title, editor, edition statement, date of publication and publisher.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.2-10.3)
Author. (Date). Title. Publisher. Retrieval Date, from URL if applicable.

Please note! The citation style for print and electronic dictionaries similar, but when citing an online dictionary, include a link and retrieval date, e.g.: Retrieved July 14, 2023, from https://www.oed.com/
Remember! The author is the person(s) or the group responsible for creating the work (9.7), and can include the editor, or a group or organization.

Example
Waite, M. (Ed.) (2012). Paperback Oxford English dictionary (7th ed.). Oxford University Press.

Remember! The edition statement is part of the title. If a work has an edition statement, the edition is included in parentheses following the title (10.2). The edition is not included in the in-text citation.

Please Note! To find the date of publication and the name of the publisher for a book, check the title page verso. This page contains all of the publishing information, and is usually the second or third page in a book. It appears before any indexes or introductions to the book.

Parenthetical Citation (Paraphrase)
(Author, Date), or (Author & Author, Date), or (Author et al., Date) for dictionaries with three or more authors, e.g.: The Pocket Oxford English Dictionary defines a parallelogram as a shape with four sides and. . .  (Waite, 2012).

Remember! According to APA Style, it is not required to provide a page number when paraphrasing, only the last name(s) of the author(s), and the year of publication. However, a page number can be included if it would help interested readers to find the relevant section in the resource being cited. See section 8.23 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (the Publication Manual).

Parenthetical Citation (Direct Quotation)
(Author, Date, Page number), or (Author & Author, Date, Page number), or (Author et al., Date, Page number) for dictionaries with three or more authors, e.g.: In the Pocket Oxford English Dictionary, a parallelogram is defined as, "a plane figure with four straight sides and opposite sides parallel" (Waite, 2012, p. 546).

Narrative Citation (Paraphrase)
Author (Date), Author and Author (Date), or Author et al. (Date) for dictionaries with three or more authors, e.g.: In the Pocket Oxford English Dictionary, Waite provides a helpful mnemonic to remember the spelling of "parallel" (2012).

Narrative Citation (Direct Quotation)
Author (Date, Page number), Author and Author (Date, Page number), or Author et al. (Date, Page number) for dictionaries with three or more authors, e.g.: Waite reminds readers that, "parallel has a double l in the middle and a single l at the end" (2012, p. 654).
 

Remember! For in-text citations of works with two authors, list the last names of both authors. For works with three authors or more, list the last name of the first author followed by et al. 

The cover of a book titled, "The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture", Blue arrows point to the title, the names of the two authors, the name of the publisher, the date of publication, and the edition.

Reference List Entry: Format (10.2-10.3)
Author, A. & Author, B. (Date). Title. Publisher. Retrieval Date, from URL if applicable.

Remember! In a reference list entry, up to 20 authors' names can be listed. 

Example:
Stevens Curl, J., & Wilson, S. (2015). Oxford dictionary of architecture (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.

Remember! The edition statement is part of the title. If a work has an edition statement, the edition is included in parentheses following the title (10.2). The edition is not included in the in-text citation.
Please Note! To find the date of publication and the name of the publisher for a book, check the title page verso. This page contains all of the publishing information, and is usually the second or third page in a book. It appears before any indexes or introductions to the book.

Parenthetical Citation (Paraphrase)
(Author, Date), or (Author & Author, Date), or (Author et al., Date) for dictionaries with three or more authors, e.g.: The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture defines feng shui as an ancient Chinese belief and practice that involves. . . (Stevens Curl & Wilson, 2015).
 

Remember! According to APA Style, it is not required to provide a page number when paraphrasing, only the last name(s) of the author(s), and the year of publication. However, a page number can be included if it would help interested readers to find the relevant section in the resource being cited. See section 8.23 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (the Publication Manual).

Parenthetical Citation (Direct Quotation)
(Author, Date, Page number), or (Author & Author, Date, Page number), or (Author et al., Date, Page number) for dictionaries with three or more authors, e.g.: The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture defines feng shui as "ancient Chinese beliefs (called geomancy) that vital currents present within the earth ca influence the quality of human life, and so should be taken into account when designing, orienting, and siting buildings" (Stevens Curl & Wilson, 2015, p. 277).

Narrative Citation (Paraphrase)
Author (Date), Author and Author (Date), or Author et al. (Date) for dictionaries with three or more authors, e.g.: In the Oxford Dictionary of Architecture, Stevens Curl and Wilson (2015) note that principles of C21 environmental design appear to support some of the principles of feng shui.

Narrative Citation (Direct Quotation)
Author (Date, Page number), Author and Author (Date, Page number), or Author et al. (Date, Page number) for dictionaries with three or more authors, e.g.: Stevens Curl and Wilson not that, "many aspects of C21 environmental design in the West would appear to support certain principles of feng shui" (2015, p. 273).
 

Remember! For in-text citations of works with two authors, list the last names of both authors. For works with three authors or more, list the last name of the first author followed by et al. 

Please Note!

This guide is based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th ed. (2020). Library staff have reviewed the information in this guide, and to the best of our knowledge, it is accurate. However, mistakes do occur. Students bear sole responsibility for ensuring that their citations are correct, and that their assignments meet the criteria laid out by their instructor. Students are encouraged to contact Peer Tutoring or the Writing Clinic for assistance.