APA Style -6th edition

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

Numbers in parentheses refer to specific pages in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition.

• 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 (Ex. 31, p.205).
• 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 (p. 203).
• If there is a series or report number, include it after the title (p. 205).
• 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's surname OR name of government organization, year)
   
• In-text citation, quotation: (Author's surname OR name of government organization, year, page number)
   

Reference list citation:

Government Agency. (Year). Title: Subtitle (Report No. xxx [if available]). Place of

Publication: Publisher.

Example 1

• In-text citation, paraphrase: (Gilmore et al., 1999)
   
• In-text citation, quotation: (Gilmore et al., 1999, p. 5)
   

Reference list citation:

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. Charlottetown, PEI: Health Canada, Statistics Canada, Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Example 2

• In-text citation, paraphrase: (Edwards, Sims-Jones, Hotz, & Cushman, 1997)
   
• In-text citation, quotation: (Edwards, Sims-Jones, Hotz, & Cushman, 1997, p. 2)
   

Reference list citation:

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)
   

Reference list citation:

Ontario Ministry of Health. (1994). Selected findings from the mental health

supplement of the Ontario Health Survey. Ottawa, ON: 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)
   

Reference list citation:

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.

Washington, DC: Author.

Find consumer and federal agency publications, educational resources, and publications from the Government Printing Office

The Government Printing Office provides publishing and dissemination services for the official and authentic government publications to Congress.