APA Referencing Guide 7th Edition: Government Publication

APA Citation Style does not have a separate category for government publications. According to APA, government documents can be considered Books, Technical/Research Reports or Brochures.

Helpful Tips:

• Treat a government document as a book, report, or brochure.
• If a person is named on the title page, use her or him as author.
• If no person is named, use the government agency, department, or branch as a group author.
• Give the name of the group author exactly as it appears on the title page. If the branch or agency is not well known, include its higher department first.
• If the group author is also the publisher, just use the word Author after the location.
• If there is a series or report number, include it after the title.
• The manual refers to the GPO (U.S. Gov. Printing Office). Canadian equivalents may be: Queen’s Printer, Ministry of Supply and Services, Canadian Government Publishing, etc.

General Format

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):   (Author Surname OR Name of Government Organization, Year)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):   (Author Surname OR Name of Government Organization, Year, page number)

References:

Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. OR Government Name. Name of Government Agency. (Year). Title: Subtitle (Report No. xxx [if available]). Publisher.

Example 1

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):   (Gilmore et al., 1999)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):     (Gilmore et al., 1999, p. 5)

References:

Gilmore, J., Woollam, P., Campbell, T., McLean, B., Roch, J., & Stephens, T. (1999). Statistical report on the health of Canadians: Prepared by the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Advisory Committee on Population Health. Health Canada, Statistics Canada, Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Example 2

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):   (Edwards, et al., 1997)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):     (Edwards, et al., 1997, p. 2)

References:

Edwards, N., Sims-Jones, N., Hotz, S., & Cushman, R. (1997). Development and testing components of a multifaceted intervention program to reduce the incidence of smoking relapse during pregnancy and post-partum of both women and their partners. Report prepared for Health Canada at the Community Health Research Unit, University of Ottawa, Canada.

Example 3

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):   (Ontario Ministry of Health, 1994)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):     (Ontario Ministry of Health, 1994, p. 7)

References:

Ontario Ministry of Health. (1994). Selected findings from the mental health supplement of the Ontario Health Survey. Queen's Printer for Ontario.

Example 4

In-Text Citation (Paraphrase):   (U. S. Food and Drug Administration, 2004)

In-Text Citation (Quotation):     (U. S. Food and Drug Administration, 2004, p. 8)

References:

U. S. Food and Drug Administration/Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. (2004). Worsening depression and suicidality in patients being treated with antidepressant medications: FDA public health advisory. Author.