ACAP Learning Resources: Reference in APA 7: Missing Information

Missing Reference Information

The following table describes how to structure citations when sources have incomplete or missing information.

Missing Element	Solution	Reference List Template	In Text Example
Author	Include the title, date, and source.	Whole title. (Date). Source. Section title. (Date). Source.	(Whole title, year) ("Section title", year)
Date	Write "n.d." which stands for "no date".	Author. (n.d.). Title. Source.	(Author, n.d.) Author (n.d.)
Title	Include the author, date, description in square brackets, and then the source.	Author. (Date). [Description of work]. Source.	(Author, year) Author (year)
Author & Date	Include the title, write “n.d.” for “no date,” and then provide the source.	Whole Title. (n.d.). Source. Section Title. (n.d.). Source.	(Whole title, n.d.) ("Section title", n.d.)
Author & Title	Description in square brackets, and then the date and source.	[Description of work]. (Date). Source.	([Description of work], year) [Description of work] (year)
Date & Title	Include the author, write “n.d.” for “no date,” description in square brackets, and then the source.	Author. (n.d.). [Description of work]. Source.	(Author, n.d.) Author (n.d.)
Author, Date & Title	Description in square brackets, write “n.d.” for “no date,” and then the source.	[Description of work]. (n.d.). Source.	([Description of work], n.d.) [Description of work] (n.d.)
Source	Cite as a personal communication or find another work to cite	Do not include a reference list entry	(C. C. Communicator, personal communication, month day, year) C. C. Communicator (personal communication, month day, year)
Anonymous Sources	Only use Anonymous if the work is actually signed “Anonymous.”	Anonymous. (Date). Title. Source.	(Anonymous, year) Anonymous (year)