APA (American Psychological Association) style is one of the most widely used referencing formats for academic writing, especially in social sciences including Business Administration, Education, Psychology, and many more.

Using APA style correctly helps you:

Give proper credit to original authors
Avoid plagiarism
Maintain professionalism in your academic writing

Basic APA Formatting Rules

Author(s) last name followed by initials
Year of publication in parentheses
Title of the work (italicized if book, normal if article)
Publisher or source information
Double spacing and hanging indent for bibliography entries

Sample In-Text Citations

Type of Source	APA In-Text Citation Example
Single author	(Okeke, 2019)
Two authors	(Ibe & Nnaji, 2020)
Three or more authors	(Eze et al., 2021)
Direct quote	(Chukwu, 2018, p. 45)

Sample Reference List (Bibliography)

Book:

Okeke, J. I. (2019). Business management principles. Lagos Publishing House.

Journal Article:

Eze, A. C., Nwankwo, F., & Obi, S. (2021). Impact of leadership style on employee productivity. Journal of Nigerian Business Studies, 12(2), 35–48.

Website:

ProjectNG. (2025). Free project topics for students in Nigeria. https://projectng.com

Free Referencing Tools You Can Use

Zotero (https://www.zotero.org) — Open-source citation manager
Mendeley (https://www.mendeley.com) — Reference management and academic social network
Cite This For Me (https://www.citethisforme.com) — Easy citation generator
BibMe (https://www.bibme.org) — Automatic bibliography maker

Video Walk-Through: APA Referencing Made Easy

To make referencing even easier, watch our step-by-step video tutorial on APA style with examples tailored for Nigerian students:

? Watch Now on ProjectNg YouTube Channel

Bonus Tips

Always double-check your references before submission.
Use your institution's specific guidelines if they differ slightly from standard APA.
Keep track of your sources as you research to avoid last-minute scrambles.