APA stands for the American Psychological Association, who created this form of referencing for academic purposes. They remain the single authority on this style of referencing, which remains common practice in faculties such as the humanities. The Below is simple guide to referencing sources in APA manually. However, this can also be done more easily using tools like Microsoft Word or Citation Machine.
Books:
Surname, First Initial. (Year). Title of book (Edition, Pages). Location City, State: Publisher Retrieved from http://www.website.com
Journal/News Article:
Surname, First Initial. (Year). Article Title. Journal Title, Volume (Issue Number), Page Numbers. Retrieved from http://www.website.com
Websites:
Surname, First Initial. (Year). Website Title. Retrieved on Month Day, Year, from http://www.website.com
Websites (Alternative):
Website Title. (Year). Retrieved on Month Day, Year, from http://www.website.com
In-text:
(Surname, Year, Pages)
In your reference list you should always aim to have a diversity of primary and secondary sources.
In addition, you should find a range of perspectives, or sources that present different points of view.
As a very rough guide, you should aim for one reference per hundred words of work.
However, a reference is needed whenever quoting, paraphrasing, summarising, sharing statistics, findings, ideas or images.
All texts and information that is not original must be referenced, including from books, journal articles, news articles, interviews, media, websites, classes/lectures and people.