Skip to Main Content

APA – Citing Sources

Patents & standards

Write the inventors' names as entries in the reference list. Add the publication year (also "issue date" or "publication date") of the patent, not the filing date. If you have found the patent online, add the web address.

Basic format:

Inventor, A. (year). Title of the patent (Patent number). Patent agency. https://xxx

​References:

Fjellström, B. (2019). Walker connection (Patent SE 541500). Patent- och registreringsverket.

 

Appleman, B. (2013). Preventing co-user addition to user definable co-user lists (U.S. Patent No. 9,172,667). U.S Patent and Trademark Office. http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=9172667

In-text citation:

  • (Fjellström, 2019)
  • This is mentioned in Appleman (2013) . . .

Standard

Write the name of the standardisation organization in its full form. The publisher is often the same as the standardisation organization.

Basic format:

Organization. (year). Title of the standard ('Organization acronym' number of standard). Publisher. https://xxxx

​References:


International Organization for Standardization. (2018). Occupational health and safety management systems—Requirements with guidance for use (ISO 45001:2018). International Organization for Standardization. https://www.iso.org/standard/63787.html

In-text citations:

The first time you cite the standard you have to write the organization's name in its full form. But you might want to use the acronym in subsequent citations. This is how you do it:​

First time:

  • (International Organization for Standardization [ISO], 2018)
  • This is described in a standard published by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO, 2018).

Subsequent citations:

  • (ISO, 2018)
  • In the same standard from ISO (2018) this is described as . . .

How you refer to a source in running text depends on how many authors the source has. Under In-text citation, Basic Styles, you will find instructions on how to refer to your sources.