How Do I Cite Archival Material Guide

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition, published in 2019, is the current official source for the APA Style. The publication does not list rules on how to cite archival material. For guidance and examples on how to cite selected archival material, please visit the Archival Documents and Collections page on the APA Style website.

When citing archival material you should follow the APA Style rules that apply to publications and other conventional sources. This means using in-text citations to cite the archival material that you quoted or paraphrased in your text, and listing the cited material in your references. Therefore, each entry in your reference list will have matching in-text citations throughout your work, and every in-text citation will have a matching entry in the reference list.

When you view digitized archival sources made available online and cite them using the APA Style:

• cite the online source like you would if you had viewed the archival item in its original format
• list the Reference URL

URLs or DOIs can be long and complex. To prevent transcription errors, copy and paste the Reference URL from your web browser into your reference list. APA Style guidelines allow you to use short DOIs or shortened URLs. Do not add a period after the URL or DOI.

General format for References

Author’s surname, author’s initials. Item’s date. Title. Collection name (Accession Number, Box Number, Folder Number). Archive name, Location. URL or DOI if applicable

For references, double space and list the sources in alphabetical order, according to author. Do not add a period after the URL or DOI.

General format for In-text Citations

Just like you can choose between parenthetical and narrative formats for conventional sources, you can choose between these two formats for archival materials:

• Parenthetical citation: the author’s surname and publication date appear in parentheses separated by a comma

(Author’s surname, Year)

• Narrative citation: the author's name is listed in the running text as part of the sentence, followed by the year in parentheses

Author’s name (Year)

Both In-text citation formats will be shown in this guide. For both formats, substitute the author's name with the item's title if the author is unknown.

Reference

Department of English. 1970-1971. Annual Report. Department of English fonds (2014-54, Box 1, File 1). University of Regina Archives and Special Collections, Regina, SK, Canada.

In-text Citation

Parenthetical citation:

(Department of English, 1970-1971)

Narrative citation:

Department of English (1970-1971)