NASW Code of Ethics APA Citation
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0 sourcesNasw Code Of Ethics APA Citation treats the document as a report with a group author. In APA 7th edition, cite it as: National Association of Social Workers. (2021). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. URL.
How do you cite the NASW Code of Ethics in APA?
Cite the NASW Code of Ethics as a stand-alone report authored by a group. The author is the National Association of Social Workers, spelled out in full, and because the association is also its own publisher, you omit the publisher name to avoid repetition (APA 7, Section 9.24).
ReferenceNational Association of Social Workers. (2021). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English
Notice the four moves: group author, year in parentheses, italicized title in sentence case, and the direct URL. There is no DOI and no publisher, because the report is self-published and freely hosted on the association’s own website.
What are the parts of the reference?
Each APA reference answers four questions: who, when, what, and where. For the NASW Code of Ethics the “who” and the “where” both point to the same organization, which is exactly why the publisher slot stays empty.
- Group author — the full organization name, no abbreviation, followed by a period
- Year — 2021, the year of the current revision, in parentheses
- Title — italicized and in sentence case (only the first word capitalized)
- Publisher — omitted, because author and publisher are the same body
- Source URL — the live link to the official English-language code, no period after it
What is the in-text citation for the NASW Code of Ethics?
APA lets you abbreviate a long group author after the first mention. Spell out the full name the first time and pair it with the abbreviation, then use the short form in every later citation. This keeps a lengthy name from cluttering your paper.
| Placement | First citation | Later citations |
|---|---|---|
| Parenthetical | (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2021) | (NASW, 2021) |
| Narrative | National Association of Social Workers (NASW, 2021) | NASW (2021) |
| Direct quote | (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2021, Standard 1.01) | (NASW, 2021, Standard 1.01) |
The code has no page numbers on the web version, so cite the numbered ethical standard for a direct quotation. For example, a quote about client self-determination points to Standard 1.02 rather than a page.
Which year and title should you use?
Use 2021, the year of the most recent revision to the Code of Ethics. The code was originally adopted in 1996 and revised in 1999, 2008, 2017, and 2021. Always cite the version you actually read, and match the year on the document you retrieved.
The official title is Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Many students shorten it in conversation to “NASW Code of Ethics,” but the reference list should carry the full sentence-case title so a reader can locate the exact document.
2017 versionNational Association of Social Workers. (2017). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics
How do you cite a printed or reprinted copy?
Adapt the reference to the format you consulted. A PDF you downloaded still uses the URL, while a version reprinted inside a textbook is cited as a chapter or appendix in that book. Below are the common cases students encounter.
| Source you used | What changes |
|---|---|
| Official web page | Standard report reference with the socialworkers.org URL |
| Downloaded PDF | Same reference; the URL still points to the source page |
| Reprinted in a textbook | Cite the book chapter or appendix and its editors instead |
| Older library print copy | Add the retrieval location only if no stable URL exists |
Narrative sentenceThe obligation to protect client confidentiality is set out by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW, 2021) in Standard 1.07.
A no-date fallback is rarely needed, but if you cannot confirm the revision year, use (n.d.) in place of the year in both the reference and the in-text citation. Confirming the 2021 date on the live page is almost always faster.
How accurate is this, and what are the limits?
This guidance follows APA 7th edition rules for reports and organizational authors, and the reference reflects the current 2021 revision hosted by NASW. Two caveats matter. First, NASW may publish a newer revision, so verify the year on the page you open. Second, instructors and journals sometimes impose house rules that override the default.
APA does not treat the Code of Ethics as a legal or statutory source, so you do not cite it like a law. It is gray literature, meaning a document published outside traditional academic channels. If your assignment uses the seventh edition, the report format shown here is correct; earlier editions handled group authors slightly differently.
Frequently asked questions
Do you spell out “National Association of Social Workers” in APA?
Yes. Spell out the full group-author name in the reference list and at the first in-text mention, pairing it with the abbreviation NASW in brackets. After that first citation, you may use NASW alone.
What year is the current NASW Code of Ethics?
The current version is the 2021 revision. The code was first adopted in 1996 and revised in 1999, 2008, 2017, and 2021. Cite the exact year printed on the document you actually consulted.
Is the NASW Code of Ethics italicized in APA?
Yes. As a stand-alone report, its title is italicized and written in sentence case, so only the first word and any proper nouns are capitalized: Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers.
Do you include a publisher for the NASW Code of Ethics?
No. Because the author and the publisher are the same organization, APA 7th edition tells you to omit the publisher name. The reference ends with the URL instead.
How do you cite a direct quote from the code?
Add the numbered ethical standard in place of a page number, such as (NASW, 2021, Standard 1.02). The online code has no fixed pagination, so the standard number is the precise locator for readers.
Is the NASW Code of Ethics a legal citation in APA?
No. APA treats it as gray literature, not statute or case law, so you cite it as a report rather than using legal citation format. It appears in your reference list like any other organizational document.