Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias

Encyclopedias provide short overviews or summaries of a subject. These overviews or summaries are called articles. Encyclopedias can cover a broad range of subjects, or focus on one discipline or subject area. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by article name and sometimes by theme, and these entries are longer and more detailed than an entry in a dictionary. Encyclopedias can be in print or electronic, and there are free online encyclopedias. 

Examples of Encyclopedias

  • Encyclopedia Britannica
  • Gale Encyclopedia of Public Health
  • The Anime Encyclopedia

Reference List Entry: Format (10.2-10.3) 

An image of a book cover and a title page verso, and the first page of an encyclopedia entry. The title of the encyclopedia reads, “Gale Encyclopedia of Emerging Diseases”. The editor is listed as Deirdre S. Hiam. The title of the entry is, “Influenza”, and the entry was written by Rebecca J. Frey. The title page verso lists 2018 as the date of publication. It gives Gale as the publisher. Blue arrows point to the publication title, article title, editor, author, date of publication and publisher.
An example of an encyclopedia. The information needed for a reference list entry or an in-text citation for an encyclopedia might be found in several different places.

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Author. (Date). Title of article. In Editor (Ed.)
Title of publication. Publisher. Retrieval Date, from URL, if applicable.
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Remember! The citation style and reference list entry format for print and electronic encyclopedias is very similar. When citing an online encyclopedia, include a link and retrieval date, i.e.: Retrieved September 3, 2023, from https://www.britannica.com/

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Reference List Entry: Example

Godman, H. & Pruszynski, K. (2023). Influenza. In D. S. Haim (Ed.), Gale encyclopedia of emerging diseases. Gale. https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3664800061/GVRL?u=bell77134&sid=GVRL&xid=5be0368d
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Remember! Some electronic or online encyclopedias will have a DOI or a URL. Include the DOI if possible. If a DOI is not available, include the URL.

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Remember! Encyclopedias may have authors for individual entries, and an editor for the whole encyclopedia. The author of the entry is listed first, and the editor of the whole work is listed second, after the title of the entry and before the title of the whole work. If the article does not have an author, the title of the article becomes the first piece of information in the citation, followed by the date, title of the encyclopedia, publisher, and URL, if applicable.  

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Parenthetical Citation (Paraphrase)
 

(Author, Date), or (Author & Author, Date), or (Author et al., Date) for encyclopedia entries with three or more authors, e.g.: (Godman & Pruszynski, 2023)  

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).

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Parenthetical Citation (Direct Quotation)
 

(Author, Date, Page number), or (Author & Author, Date, Page number), or (Author et al., Date, Page number) for encyclopedia entries with three or more authors, e.g.: (Godman & Pruszynski, p. 382) 

Hint! Online encyclopedias may not have a page number.

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Narrative Citation (Paraphrase)
 

Author (Date), Author and Author (Date), or Author et al. (Date) for encyclopedia entries with three or more authors, e.g.: Godman and Pruszynski (2023)

Narrative Citation (Direct Quotation) 

Author (Date, Page number), Author and Author (Date, Page number), or Author et al. (Date, Page number) for encyclopedia entries with three or more authors, e.g.: Godman and Pruszynski (2023, p. 382)
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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.  

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Sources

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association: The official guide to APA style. (7th ed.).

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Loyalist College Guide to APA and Academic Writing Copyright © by Loyalist College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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