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APA Citation Guide (7th edition) : Government Documents

Formatting

Hanging Indents:

All citations should be double-spaced and have a hanging indent in a Reference List.

A "hanging indent" means that each subsequent line after the first line of your citation should be indented by 0.5 inches.

Hyperlinks:

Both blue underlined (live) hyperlinks and black without underlining are both acceptable.

All hyperlinks must include https://

Do not put a period after DOIs or hyperlinks.

Tips

Author

Government Documents often have a group/corporate author listed instead of a specific person's name. The author may be the name of a department, commitee, or agency.

When the government department, agency, or committee that created the document is also the publisher, omit the publisher name.

Titles

Capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title. If there is a colon (:) in the title, also capitalize the first letter of the first word after the colon.

Capitalize the first letter of proper names in titles, such as names of places or people.

 

Government Document From a Website

Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee. (Year of Publication, Month Day). Title of document: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publisher Name. url

Example

Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services. (2010, April 27). Your preschool child's speech and language development. http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/earlychildhood/ speechlanguage/brochure_preschool.aspx

Note: When the government department, agency or committee that created the document is also the publisher, omit the publisher.

In-Text Paraphrase

(Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee, Year)

Example: (Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, 2010)

In-Text Quote

(Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee, Year, Section Name section, para. Paragraph Number if more than one paragraph in section)

(Ontario Ministry of Children and Youth Services, 2010, By Age Five section, para. 4)

Note: When there are no visible page numbers or paragraph numbers, you may cite the section heading and the number of the paragraph in that section to identify where your quote came from.

Government Document In Print

Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee. (Year of Publication). Title of document: Subtitle if given (edition if given and is not first edition). Publisher Name.

Example

Health Council of Canada. (2007). Canadians' experience with chronic illness care in 2007.

Note: When the government department, agency or committee that created the document is also the publisher, omit the publisher.

In-Text Paraphrase

(Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee, Year)

Example: (Health Council of Canada, 2007)

In-Text Quote

(Name of Government Department, Agency or Committee, Year, p. Page Number)

Example: (Health Council of Canada, 2007, p. 4)