How do I reference Lexicomp Clinical Suite in APA? Lexicomp is a clinical reference app on my iPhone.
Answer
For full disclosure: I am still getting “hate” mail from my last attempt to cite a Lexicomp product.
Thank you for mentioning it is an app. I did not have that piece of information before. It was described as a “database” which to me is very different than an app.
Here is what the APA Style Guide to Electronic Resources, 6th edition, (p. 28). says about apps …
“This category … includes application software, or apps. Apps are programs that run on handheld devices such as smartphones and personal digital assistants (e.g., iPhone, Android, Blackberry) and tablet computers (e.g., iPad) as well as on web browsers (e.g., Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, or Firefox).
General Reference Formats
Software (including apps) or program with individual or corporate authors
Rightsholder, A. A. (year). Title of Software or Program (Version number) [Description
of form]. Retrieved from http://xxxxx “
It is not always easy to cite something when you can’t see what it is you are citing, but based on the information you supplied in the question, your citation might look like this …
Lexicomp. (2013). Lexi-CLINICAL SUITE. [App]. Retrieved from http://webstore.lexi.com/Store/Bundled-
Software-Packages/Lexi-ClinicalSuite
So, give this a try. If your professor can mark your citation wrong, then she/he must know what is right … so maybe you could also get some guidance from that direction.
NOTES:
I went with all caps for the CLINICAL SUITE because that is the way it appears numerous times at the app store.
Lexicomp appears both hyphenated & non-hyphenated. The registered trademark does not use a hyphen, which is why I made the decision not to use it in the citation.
I did not see a version number so did not list one.