APA Referencing Guide 7th Edition: Government Document Online

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 an 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, including 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 of report: Subtitle of report (Report No. xxx [if available]). Publisher. URL

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.

Reference List Example: Young, P. V. (2003). Protecting the environment: Environmental services passion and commitment (Report No. CH-BV 305.2). Washington State Department of Transportation. URL  (Ref APA 7th Ed Manual Made Easy..)

General Format:

Name of Act, # Source & Section (Year). URL

Reference List:    Smuggling Act, 19 U.S.C. $$ 1701-1711 (1976).

In-text Citation: (Smuggling Act, 1976)

(Ref APA 7th Ed Manual Made Easy..)