1. Introduction: The Student Who Lost Marks She Did Not Expect To Lose
Ngozi was a 400-level Public Administration student at the University of Abuja. She had spent three months writing her final year project. Her research was thorough, her analysis was strong, and her supervisor had been largely satisfied with her progress during every consultation session.
When her final grade came back, it was lower than she had expected. During the feedback session, her supervisor pointed to one specific problem.
“Your referencing is inconsistent and mostly incorrect,” he said. “You have mixed APA and MLA in the same document. Some of your in-text citations have no corresponding entry in your reference list. Some entries in your reference list are not cited anywhere in the body. And none of your references follow the correct APA 7th edition format. This cost you significantly.”
Ngozi stared at her project. She had spent three months on the research and analysis — and maybe three hours on the references, most of which she had copied directly from other projects she had seen.
That was the problem. She had treated referencing as an afterthought. Her supervisor treated it as evidence of academic rigour.
She was not alone. Across Nigerian universities, incorrect referencing is one of the most consistently penalised errors in final year projects, dissertations, and academic essays — and it is also one of the most preventable. Most students lose marks to referencing errors not because they do not understand their research topic, but because nobody ever taught them APA format clearly and practically.
This guide will change that. By the time you finish reading, you will know exactly how to reference every source type you are likely to encounter in a Nigerian university project — with specific Nigerian examples throughout.
2. What Is APA Referencing and Why Do Nigerian Universities Use It?
APA stands for the American Psychological Association. APA referencing style is a set of rules for formatting academic citations — both within the body of a document and in the reference list at the end. It was developed by the American Psychological Association and is now one of the most widely used citation styles in the world.
Nigerian universities — particularly in the social sciences, education, management sciences, health sciences, and humanities — predominantly use APA referencing for undergraduate projects, postgraduate dissertations, and academic journal publications.
The purpose of referencing is not bureaucratic — it serves three genuinely important functions:
First, it gives credit. When you use another person’s ideas, findings, or words in your work, you must acknowledge them. Failure to do so is plagiarism — regardless of whether the omission was intentional.
Second, it allows verification. A reader who encounters a claim in your project should be able to use your reference to find the original source and verify that claim. A properly formatted reference makes this possible. A vague or incorrect one makes it impossible.
Third, it demonstrates scholarship. The quality of your references — how current they are, how credible the sources are, and how correctly they are formatted — communicates to your supervisor and examiner that you have engaged seriously with existing knowledge on your topic.
The current standard is APA 7th Edition, published in 2019. This guide follows APA 7th edition throughout.
3. APA 6th Edition vs APA 7th Edition: What Changed?
Many Nigerian final year projects and supervisor feedback templates still reference APA 6th edition practices. It is important to know what changed in the 7th edition so you apply the correct current rules.
Key changes in APA 7th Edition:
- Publisher location is no longer required for books. In APA 6th edition, you listed the city and country of publication (e.g., New York, NY: Oxford University Press). In 7th edition, you write only the publisher name (Oxford University Press).
- Up to 20 authors are now listed before using an ellipsis. In 6th edition, you listed up to six authors and then used et al. In 7th edition, list all authors up to 20 before shortening.
- DOI is formatted as a hyperlink. In 7th edition, the DOI appears as a full URL: https://doi.org/xxxxxxxxx rather than the older doi:xxxxxxxxx format.
- “Retrieved from” is mostly dropped for websites. In 7th edition, you no longer write “Retrieved from” before a URL unless the content of the page is likely to change over time (like a wiki page).
- Running head format changed. For student papers (which includes university projects), the running head is simplified.
Practical advice: Always confirm with your supervisor which edition your department requires. If your department says APA but does not specify an edition, use 7th edition — it is the current standard.
4. The Two Parts of APA Referencing
Every APA reference system has two interconnected parts that must work together:
Part 1: In-Text Citations These appear inside the body of your project — within your paragraphs — whenever you use information, ideas, or direct quotes from a source. They are brief, typically containing only the author’s last name and the year of publication.
Part 2: The Reference List This appears at the very end of your project on a separate page titled “References.” Every source you cited in the body of your project must appear here in full detail. Every entry in your reference list must correspond to at least one in-text citation in your body.
The most common referencing error Nigerian students make is breaking this relationship — citing sources in the body without listing them in the references, or listing references that are never cited in the body. Both are errors that your supervisor will flag.
5. APA In-Text Citations: Complete Guide With Nigerian Examples
In-text citations in APA format follow the author-date system — you give the author’s last name and the year of publication in parentheses at the point in your text where you use their information.
One Author
When a source has one author, the in-text citation contains the author’s last name and the year.
Inflation remains one of the most persistent economic challenges facing Nigerian households and businesses (Okafor, 2022).
Or, if you mention the author’s name in your sentence:
Okafor (2022) argues that inflation remains one of the most persistent economic challenges facing Nigerian households and businesses.
Two Authors
When a source has two authors, name both authors every time you cite the source, connected by an ampersand (&) inside parentheses or by the word “and” in your sentence.
(Nwosu & Eze, 2021)
Nwosu and Eze (2021) found that…
Three or More Authors
When a source has three or more authors, use only the first author’s name followed by et al. (meaning “and others”) from the very first citation.
(Adeyemo et al., 2020)
Adeyemo et al. (2020) concluded that…
No Author
When a source has no identified author — such as a government report, institutional publication, or anonymous article — use a shortened version of the title in your in-text citation.
(National Policy on Education, 2023)
Organisation or Institution as Author
When an organisation, government ministry, or institution is the author, use the full organisation name in the first citation. If the organisation has a well-known abbreviation, you may introduce it in brackets and use the abbreviation in subsequent citations.
First citation: (National Bureau of Statistics [NBS], 2024)
Subsequent citations: (NBS, 2024)
Direct Quotations
When you copy an author’s exact words, you must include the page number (or paragraph number for sources without page numbers) in addition to the author and year.
“The Nigerian economy has demonstrated remarkable resilience despite persistent inflationary pressures” (Obi, 2023, p. 47).
Or: Obi (2023) observed that “the Nigerian economy has demonstrated remarkable resilience despite persistent inflationary pressures” (p. 47).
Multiple Works by the Same Author in the Same Year
If you cite two works by the same author published in the same year, add lowercase letters after the year to distinguish them.
(Adebayo, 2022a) (Adebayo, 2022b)
The same letters must appear in your reference list.
Citing Multiple Sources in One Citation
When multiple sources support the same point, list them alphabetically by first author surname, separated by semicolons, all within one set of parentheses.
(Musa, 2021; Nwosu & Eze, 2022; Okafor, 2020)
6. The APA Reference List: Rules and Format
Your reference list appears on a new page at the end of your project. It has specific formatting rules:
- Title the page References — centred at the top, bold, no quotation marks, not underlined
- All entries are double-spaced (or follow your institution’s line spacing requirement)
- Each entry uses a hanging indent — the first line of each entry starts at the left margin, and subsequent lines are indented by half an inch (about 1.27cm)
- Entries are listed in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name
- If an author has multiple works, list them in chronological order (oldest first)
- Authors’ first and middle names are abbreviated to initials only
7. How to Cite Books in APA — With Nigerian Examples
Basic book format:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book: Subtitle if any. Publisher.
Nigerian examples:
Book by a Nigerian author:
Nwosu, C. E. (2021). Principles of Nigerian commercial law. University of Lagos Press.
Book by multiple Nigerian authors:
Adeyemi, T. O., & Okafor, N. A. (2020). Research methods in social sciences: A Nigerian perspective. Ibadan University Press.
Book with an editor:
Eze, I. C. (Ed.). (2022). Contemporary issues in Nigerian public administration. NOUN Press.
Book by a foreign author used in Nigerian project:
Creswell, J. W., & Creswell, J. D. (2018). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches (5th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Edition other than first:
Kotler, P., & Keller, K. L. (2022). Marketing management (16th ed.). Pearson.
8. How to Cite Journal Articles in APA — With Nigerian Examples
Basic journal article format:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Name of Journal, volume(issue), page–page. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Key rules:
- The journal name and volume number are italicised
- The article title is NOT italicised and only the first word is capitalised (along with proper nouns and the first word after a colon)
- Include the DOI where available
- If there is no DOI but the article is online, include the URL
Nigerian examples:
Journal article with DOI:
Okafor, N. A., & Eze, C. I. (2022). Impact of microfinance banks on small business growth in Southeast Nigeria. Journal of African Business, 23(2), 145–162. https://doi.org/10.1080/15228916.2022.2034591
Journal article without DOI (found online):
Adebayo, F. T. (2021). Electoral violence and democratic consolidation in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic. African Journal of Political Science, 18(1), 34–52. https://www.ajps.org/articles/electoral-violence-nigeria
Nigerian journal article:
Musa, B. A., & Ibrahim, S. K. (2023). Monetary policy transmission mechanisms and inflation dynamics in Nigeria. CBN Journal of Applied Statistics, 14(1), 78–103.
Journal article with three or more authors:
Nwosu, C. E., Adeyemi, T. O., Okafor, N. A., & Eze, I. C. (2022). Teacher training and academic outcomes in Nigerian public secondary schools. Journal of Education in Developing Countries, 11(3), 201–219. https://doi.org/10.1234/jedc.2022.1134
9. How to Cite Websites in APA — With Nigerian Examples
Basic website format:
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page or article. Website Name. URL
If the author is an organisation:
Organisation Name. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. URL
Key rules:
- Include the specific date the page was published or last updated where available
- If no date is available, write (n.d.) in place of the year
- Include the URL at the end — no period after the URL
- Only include “Retrieved” date if the content is likely to change
Nigerian examples:
National Bureau of Statistics:
National Bureau of Statistics. (2024, January 15). Nigeria inflation report: December 2023. https://nigeriastat.gov.ng/report/inflation-december-2023
Central Bank of Nigeria:
Central Bank of Nigeria. (2023). Annual report 2022. https://www.cbn.gov.ng/documents/annualreports.asp
Government ministry website:
Federal Ministry of Education. (2022, September 3). Statement on ASUU strike resolution. https://education.gov.ng/2022/09/asuu-statement
No identified author, no date:
History of Ahmadu Bello University. (n.d.). Ahmadu Bello University. https://www.abu.edu.ng/about/history
10. How to Cite Nigerian Government Documents and Reports
Government publications are among the most commonly cited sources in Nigerian university projects — particularly in Public Administration, Law, Economics, and Health Sciences.
Basic format:
Issuing Body. (Year). Title of document (Report No. if applicable). Publisher or URL.
Nigerian examples:
National policy document:
Federal Republic of Nigeria. (2023). National policy on education (6th ed.). Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council Press.
CBN report:
Central Bank of Nigeria. (2023). Financial stability report: June 2023. CBN Publications. https://www.cbn.gov.ng/Out/2023/FSS/FSR_June2023.pdf
INEC publication:
Independent National Electoral Commission. (2023). 2023 general election report. INEC. https://www.inecnigeria.org/2023-election-report
NUC report:
National Universities Commission. (2022). Nigerian universities performance ranking 2022. NUC Press.
World Bank report on Nigeria:
World Bank. (2024). Nigeria economic update: Navigating the storm. World Bank Group. https://www.worldbank.org/nigeria-economic-update-2024
11. How to Cite Nigerian Newspaper Articles
Nigerian students frequently cite news articles — particularly in social science, law, and humanities projects. Here is the correct APA format.
Basic format:
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Newspaper Name. URL
Nigerian examples:
Online newspaper with author:
Adebayo, K. (2023, February 25). Presidential election: BVAS malfunction reported in 12 states. The Punch. https://www.punchng.com/presidential-election-bvas-malfunction
Online newspaper without author:
ASUU suspends eight-month strike after FG agreement. (2022, October 14). Vanguard. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2022/10/asuu-suspends-strike
Print newspaper:
Okonkwo, C. (2023, March 1). Naira redesign policy and its impact on informal traders. Thisday, p. A4.
12. How to Cite Theses and Dissertations
Final year projects, master’s dissertations, and PhD theses are frequently used as sources in Nigerian university research.
Unpublished thesis or dissertation (from a Nigerian university):
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of thesis [Unpublished doctoral dissertation or master’s thesis]. Name of University.
Nigerian examples:
Unpublished master’s thesis:
Musa, A. B. (2022). The effect of monetary policy on inflation in Nigeria: A co-integration analysis [Unpublished master’s thesis]. Ahmadu Bello University.
Unpublished doctoral dissertation:
Adeyemi, T. O. (2021). Determinants of student academic performance in Nigerian public universities [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of Ibadan.
Published thesis (from an institutional repository):
Eze, C. I. (2020). Corporate governance and firm performance in Nigerian quoted companies [Doctoral dissertation, University of Lagos]. UNILAG Institutional Repository. https://repository.unilag.edu.ng/handle/1234567
13. How to Cite Nigerian Legislation and Acts
Law students and students in related fields frequently need to cite Nigerian Acts of Parliament and subsidiary legislation.
Basic format for Nigerian legislation:
Title of Act, Chapter Number or Act Number, (Year). Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette.
Nigerian examples:
Nigerian Act:
Companies and Allied Matters Act, Cap. C20, (2020). Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette, 107(62).
Electoral Act:
Electoral Act, No. 6, (2022). Federal Republic of Nigeria Official Gazette.
Constitution:
Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, (1999) (as amended).
Note for Law students: Your law faculty may require a specific legal citation format (such as the format used in The Bluebook or the Nigerian legal citation guide) rather than APA for case citations and statutory references. Always confirm with your supervisor or department which system to apply for legal sources.
14. How to Cite Online Videos and Social Media
Nigerian students increasingly use YouTube lectures, TED Talks, and social media content in their research. Here is how to cite them correctly.
YouTube video:
Channel Name or Author. (Year, Month Day). Title of video [Video]. YouTube. URL
Example:
Channels Television. (2023, March 1). 2023 presidential election results declared [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=example
TED Talk:
Speaker, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of talk [Video]. TED. URL
Twitter/X post:
Author, A. A. [@username]. (Year, Month Day). First 20 words of the post in italics if longer [Tweet]. Twitter. URL
15. Common APA Mistakes Nigerian Students Make
Mixing citation styles in the same document Using APA for some references and MLA or Chicago for others is one of the most common errors. Choose one style — APA — and use it consistently throughout the entire document.
Not italicising correctly Book titles and journal names are italicised. Article titles are not. Many Nigerian students italicise everything or nothing — both are wrong.
Capitalising article and chapter titles incorrectly In APA, only the first word of a title, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns are capitalised. Writing “Impact Of Microfinance On Small Business Growth In Nigeria” instead of “Impact of microfinance on small business growth in Nigeria” is a formatting error.
Listing authors’ full first names APA uses initials only for first and middle names. Okafor, Ngozi Adaeze should be Okafor, N. A.
Missing DOI or URL For journal articles and online sources, the DOI or URL is mandatory in APA 7th edition. Omitting it is an incomplete reference.
Reference list not alphabetically ordered Your reference list must be in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name. Many Nigerian students list references in the order they were cited in the document — this is incorrect for APA.
In-text citations that do not match reference list Every citation in your body must have a matching entry in your reference list — with the same author name spelled identically and the same year.
Using ibid in APA Ibid (meaning “the same source cited immediately above”) is used in footnote-based citation styles like Chicago. It is never used in APA.
16. Free Tools to Generate APA References
Several free online tools can help you generate APA-formatted references — saving you time and reducing formatting errors:
MyBib (mybib.com) A free, comprehensive reference generator that supports APA 7th edition. You can enter a book title, DOI, ISBN, or URL and the tool generates a formatted reference. Always verify the output — automated tools occasionally make errors with Nigerian publications.
Citation Machine (citationmachine.net) Similar to MyBib, this tool generates APA references from various source types. The free version includes APA formatting.
Google Scholar When you find an article on Google Scholar, click the quotation mark icon below the result to access formatted citations in APA and other styles. This is particularly useful for academic journal articles.
Zotero (zotero.org) A free reference management software that stores your sources and generates formatted reference lists in APA and other styles. Particularly useful for managing large numbers of sources during a final year project.
Mendeley (mendeley.com) Similar to Zotero — a free academic reference manager that integrates with Microsoft Word and automatically generates in-text citations and reference lists.
Important warning: Always review the output of any automated citation tool before using it in your project. Tools frequently make errors with:
- Nigerian-authored publications
- Government documents
- Sources with unusual author formats
- Sources without standard publication information
Use these tools to save time — not to bypass the responsibility of understanding how APA works.
17. Frequently Asked Questions
Does APA use footnotes? No. APA uses in-text citations, not footnotes. Footnotes in APA are used only for supplementary explanatory content — not for citations. If your department uses footnotes for citations, they are likely using Chicago or a legal citation style, not APA.
How do I cite a source I found through another source (secondary citation)? If you read about Author A’s work in Author B’s book, and you cannot access Author A’s original work, cite it as: (Author A, year, as cited in Author B, year). In your reference list, include only Author B’s work — not Author A’s. Use secondary citations sparingly and only when the original source is genuinely inaccessible.
What if a source has no date? Use (n.d.) in place of the year in both the in-text citation and the reference list. Example: (National Universities Commission, n.d.)
Can I cite Wikipedia in my project? Wikipedia is generally not accepted as a credible academic source in Nigerian university projects. Use it as a starting point to identify topics and find leads — then cite the original academic sources it references, not Wikipedia itself.
How do I cite a lecture or class note from my Nigerian university? For an unpublished lecture or class note: Lecturer’s Last Name, Initial. (Year, Month Day). Title of lecture [Lecture notes]. Department, University Name.
What is the difference between a reference list and a bibliography? A reference list (used in APA) includes only the sources you actually cited in your work. A bibliography (used in some other styles) may include sources you consulted but did not directly cite. APA uses a reference list — not a bibliography.
18. Conclusion: References Are Not a Formality — They Are a Standard
Ngozi rewrote her referencing from scratch during her corrections period. Her supervisor granted her an extension, she applied every rule correctly, and her final grade improved significantly. She later told her coursemates that relearning APA properly took her one afternoon — and she wished she had done it before submitting the first time.
Correct referencing is not the most glamorous part of academic writing. It is not the section that requires the deepest thinking or the most creative analysis. But it is the section that most consistently separates students who understand academic conventions from those who do not — and Nigerian supervisors notice the difference every single time.
The rules in this guide are not complicated once you understand the logic behind them. Every source type follows a pattern: who wrote it, when it was written, what it is called, and where it can be found. Once you see that pattern, APA format becomes second nature rather than a source of anxiety.
Use this guide as a reference document throughout your academic career. Keep it bookmarked. Return to it every time you are unsure about a specific source type. And remember — a correctly referenced project is not just more likely to earn higher marks. It is a demonstration that you take your scholarship seriously.
As any experienced Nigerian supervisor will tell you: “Good research poorly referenced is like a well-cooked meal served on a dirty plate.”
Serve your work on a clean plate.
Do you have a specific source type you are struggling to reference in APA format? Drop it in the comment section below and we will show you exactly how to cite it correctly.