APA guidelines (7th) ENG: Data Sets reference examples

Data sets consist of research data ('raw data') used in a document for a table, for example.

• If there is no version number it is omitted.
• The publication date for published sets is the year of publication and for unpublished sets is the year(s) of collection.

Owner of the data set. (Publication date). Title of data set (Version number) [Data set]. Publisher. Retrieved Month day, year, from http://xxxx or https://xxxx or https://doi.org/xxxx

Parenthetical citation: (Pew Research Center, 2018)

Narrative citation: Pew Research Center (2018)

• If you are citing existing data or statistics, cite the publication in which the data were published (e.g., a journal article, report, or webpage) rather than the data set itself.

• Common software (e.g. Word, Excel, Photoshop or SPSS) and mobile apps (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) mentioned in the text, but not paraphrased or quoted, do not need citations. Simply give the proper name of the software or app along with version number in the text, if relevant.

• The publication date of a computer software is the year of publication of the version used;
• The bracketed description is flexible: [Computer software], [Mobile app], [Apparatus and software];
• For a mobile app the publisher can be stated as Google Play Store or App Store;
• To cite a content of a social media app see Social Media.

Author, A. (Publication date). Name of programme (Version number) [Description]. Publisher. Retrieved Month day, year, from http://xxxx of https://xxxxx

Parenthetical citation: (Koha-community, 2021)

Narrative citation: Koha-community (2021)

Parenthetical citation: (Impala Studios, 2021)
Narrative citation: Impala Studios (2021)

With the introduction of AI, there has also been a demand for an explanation of the use of generative AI (GenAI) in the text and in the source list of a publication according to the APA guidelines.

Developer. (Year). AI tool name (Version) [Generative AI]. https://xxxx

A reference entry of a GenAI consists of six elements:

1. Developer The name of the company providing GenAI
2. Year List the year, if a year or date is missing use n.d. (=no date)
3. Name GenAI The name is in italics
4. Version List version + number in brackets, omit this part if no version number is given
5. Description List description in square brackets: [Generative AI]
6. URL List the web link without the viewing date

For an explanation about citing sources in the text, click on the image below:

Data Set

Software or Mobile App

Generative AI (for instance ChatGPT)