Did you know that you can cite unpublished works, such as in-progress research papers or manuscripts, in an essay? Well, you can! The key is citing them correctly. And in this post, we will look at how to cite an unpublished paper or manuscript in APA referencing.
How to Cite an Unpublished Paper in APA referencing
In APA referencing, you can cite an unpublished work in the same way as you would a published one. This means giving an author’s name and a date in brackets. The only difference is that you give a year of production (i.e., when the paper was written) rather than a year of publication:
Few fully understand the publication process (Clarke, 2020).
Like other sources, if you name the author in the text, you do not need to repeat it in the brackets. And if you quote an unpublished paper, you should give page numbers. For example:
According to Clarke (2020), publication “is a complex process” (p. 20).
When a paper has been accepted for publication but not yet published, however, you should use the term “in press” in place of a year in citations:
Few fully understand the publication process (Clarke, in press).
When adding an unpublished paper to an APA reference list, the correct format will depend on where it is in the publication process. But let’s start with works that will not be published at all (e.g., a paper that the author never submitted or that the publisher rejected).
In this case, the correct format is:
Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year of Production). Title of manuscript [Unpublished manuscript]. Department, University Name.
So, in practice, we could cite an unpublished paper like this:
Clarke, J. (2020). The publication process explained [Unpublished manuscript]. School of Journalism, Media and Performance, University of Central Lancashire.
If a paper has been submitted for publication but not yet accepted, the reference should state “manuscript submitted for publication.” However, you should not include any other information about the submission, such as where it was submitted, as this information could go out of date quickly.