APA Format for Citing Policies
- Policies can seem tricky because they aren't used as often as books. The first step is to recognize that a policy is a legal document for an organization and therefore is cited in a manner similar to how you cite a government document. APA does have a specific style of formatting for policies and if you are looking in a handbook for that information, try looking under "policy briefs."
- Gather the necessary information. You need the author of the policy, the publication title, the title or the policy and the policy number if applicable. If you found the policy online you will also need the URL.
- Cite in-text policy citation by listing the name of the policy in the text of the paper followed by the publication date in parentheses. For example: "The National Environmental Policy Act (1969) changed the United States environmental outlook."
- Cite the reference list as author (last name first), the year and month of publication, the title (in italics), the policy number and the URL. For example: Boise State University Department of Nursing. (2009). Admissions policies. Retrieved from http://nursing.boisestate.edu/programs/docs/Admission%20Criteria.pdf
