Answered By: Theresa Bell (she/her/hers)
Last Updated: Nov 09, 2023     Views: 5235

APA Style (7th ed.)

To distinguish between works by the same author with the same publication date, use the suffixes a, b, c, etc. after the year in both in-text citations and the corresponding references (American Psychological Association [APA], 2020, p. 267). To determine the appropriate suffix for each resource, first look at the dates: "references with only a year precede those with more specific dates, and specific dates are placed in chronological order" (APA, 2020, p. 305). For example, a work published in 2018 would appear in the references before a work published on September 18, 2018. If the works have identical dates, order the resources alphabetically by the title of the resource (excluding "a", "an", or "the" at the start of the title) (APA, 2020, p. 305).

Once the resources are ordered, assign each resource the appropriate suffix following that order. For example, using the examples above the resource published in 2018 would be (2018a) and the resource published on September 18, 2018, would be (2018b). Append the lowercase letters to n.d. as well: n.d.-a, n.d.-b (American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 305). In your in-text citations, please use the same lowercase letter as in the references. For example, (Royal Roads University, n.d.-a, para. 3) and (Royal Roads University, n.d.-b, para. 2) would correspond to the following references:

Royal Roads University. (n.d.-a). Education & technology. http://www.royalroads.ca/prospective-students/programs/education-technology

Royal Roads University. (n.d.-b). Humanitarian studies. http://www.royalroads.ca/prospective-students/programs/humanitarian-studies

Reference

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000