How to Cite a Foundation in APA

If you are researching in science, technology or economics, you may have to reference sources from official foundations. American Psychological Association, or APA, style allows you to cite sources published by an organization as you would other sources, substituting organization information for the author information.

Reference List

When referencing a source published by a foundation on your reference list, substitute the organization information for the author information. For instance, basic APA-style reference list format for a book is:

Author Name. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle if applicable. Publisher Location: Publisher.

For example:

National Science Foundation. (1998). Science and you: Working together. New York, NY: Penguin Books.

If the publisher of the work is the foundation that authored it, simply use "Author" in place of the publisher name.

In-Text Citation

When you reference one of your sources in the body of your paper, include an in-text citation noting where the information comes from. This should include the author name, year of publication and page, if applicable. When citing an organization, include its acronym in your first in-text citation.

For example:

(National Science Foundation [NSF], 1998, p. 10)

Each time you cite an organization-authored source after the first, use the acronym in place of the author name:

(NSF, 1998, p.29)

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