One big change in APA 7th edition is the addition of clear guidance for referencing course materials that are not formally published. This type of material is normally created by a course instructor for a particular course. The instructor may hand out the material in a course or make it available in an online course. This type of material is not freely available on the internet, on an instructor or department webpage, or elsewhere.
In APA 6th edition, it was advised to cite materials in courses that were not formally published, whether in the face-to-face environment or an online course, as personal communication. Examples of these types of materials include PowerPoints, Google Slides, recorded lectures, handouts, lecture notes, etc.
The APA 7th edition provides guidance and advice for citing course materials. First and foremost, the writer should consider the audience. The audience for an assignment within a course is the course instructor and, possibly, the students enrolled within the course. In this case, APA advises that because the assignment will not be formally published, then the writer may use the examples in Chapter 10 to create references. Students should consult with their instructors to determine each instructor's preferences.
In the event any course materials that are not formally published are used within a formally published work, the writer should revise the content with either different sources with similar content, or the writer should update the unpublished sources within the paper and cite them as personal communication.
Fellows, S. (n.d.). Seeing the moon rise. Paulson.
For sources where the publication date is unknown or cannot be determined, use the abbreviation "n.d." which stands for no date. Use small letters and place a period after each letter. There should be no space between the letters.
For more information about sources with no date, see Section 9.17 on page 291 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.
When the reference is a book or journal article, use the year of publication only. However, for all other sources, if a more specific date is provided, add the more specific date to the reference.
For more information about the format of dates, see Sections 9.13 & 9.14 on pages 289-290 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.
Lectures in a face-to-face course, live workshop, or unrecorded webinar are not recoverable. In other words, the reader cannot locate and access the source or hear the lecture. In these cases, treat the lecture as personal communication.
Recorded course lectures in a Brightspace course uploaded to YouTube should be referenced as a streaming video from YouTube.
Rustad, J. (2018, July 15). Research methodologies [Narrated PowerPoint slides]. Brightspace@CSS. https://my.css.edu/
Begin with the course instructor or whoever created the video. The author may also be an alias or a group author. List the instructor's last name followed by a comma. Then, add the first and middle initials (if there is a middle initial). After each initial, add a period. If there is a middle initial, add a space between the initials.
Next, add the date the narrated PowerPoint was published. It should be in parentheses and a period should be added after the parentheses. If there is no date listed for when the video was published, then use the abbreviation for no date, which is "n.d." Be sure to add a period after each letter of the abbreviation.
After the date, add the title of the narrated PowerPoint. The title should follow the general capitalization rule that says to capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle as well as proper nouns. The title should be italicized. After the title, add "Narrated PowerPoint slides" in brackets. Add a period after the brackets.
Complete the reference by listing the name of the College's Learning Management System (LMS). In this case, it is Brightspace@CSS. Add a period after Brightspace@CSS. Then, add the URL of the login page for Brightspace, which is https://my.css.edu/. Do not add a period after the URL!
For more information about course and intranet resources, see Section 8.8 on page 259 and ex. 102 on page 347 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.
(Rustad, 2018)
Rustad (2018) discussed .....
For more information about author format within parenthetical and narrative citations, see Section 8.17 and Table 8.1 on page 266 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.
Rustad, J. (n.d.). Importance of scholarly voice [Google slides]. Brightspace@CSS. https://my.css.edu/
Begin with the course instructor or whoever created the PowerPoint or Google Slides. The author may also be a person, an alias, or a group author. List the instructor's last name followed by a comma. Then, add the first and middle initials (if there is a middle initial). After each initial, add a period. If there is a middle initial, add a space between the initials.
Next, add the date the PowerPoint or Google Slides was published. If there is no date listed for when the PowerPoint or Google Slides was published, then use the abbreviation for no date, which is "n.d." Be sure to add a period after each letter of the abbreviation. The date should be in parentheses with a period after the parentheses.
After the date, add the title of the PowerPoint or Google Slides. The title should follow the general capitalization rule that says to capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle as well as proper nouns. The title should be italicized. After the title, add "Google slides" in brackets. If the format is PowerPoint instead of Google slides, put "PowerPoint slides" in the brackets. Add a period after the brackets.
Complete the reference by listing the name of the College's Learning Management System (LMS). In this case, it is Brightspace@CSS. Add a period after Brightspace@CSS. Then, add the URL of the login page for Brightspace, which is https://my.css.edu/. Use the URL to login page of Brightspace because each course within Brightspace is limited to those enrolled in the course.
For more information about course and intranet resources, see Section 8.8 on page 259 and ex. 102 on page 347 ff the APA Manual, 7th edition.
(Rustad, n.d.)
Rustad (n.d.) illustrated .....
For more information about author format within parenthetical and narrative citations, see Section 8.17 and Table 8.1 on page 266 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.
The College of St. Scholastica Library. (2017). Open educational resources [Handout]. Brightspace@CSS. https://my.css.edu
Begin with the creator of the handout. The author may also be a person. For a personal name, list the last name of the creator followed by a comma. Then, add the first and middle initials (if there is a middle initial). After each initial, add a period. If there is a middle initial, add a space between the initials.
Next, add the date the handout was created. If there is no date listed for when the handout was created or was last updated, then use the abbreviation for no date, which is "n.d." Be sure to add a period after each letter of the abbreviation. The date should be in parentheses with a period after the parentheses.
After the date, add the title of the handout. The title should follow the general capitalization rule that says to capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle as well as proper nouns. The title should be italicized. After the title, add "Handout" in brackets. Add a period after the brackets.
Complete the reference by listing the name of the College's Learning Management System (LMS). In this case, it is Brightspace@CSS. Add a period after Brightspace@CSS. Then, add the URL of the login page for Brightspace, which is https://my.css.edu/. Use the URL to the login page of Brightspace because each course within Brightspace is limited to those enrolled in the course.
For more information about course and intranet resources, see Section 8.8 on page 259 and ex. 102 on page 347 of the APA Manual, 7th edition. Also, see Section 10.4 on page 329 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.
(The College of St. Scholastica Library, 2017)
The College of St. Scholastical Library (2017) shared .....
For more information about author format within parenthetical and narrative citations, see Section 8.17 and Table 8.1 on page 266 of the APA Manual, 7th edition.