PERRLA/Guides/APA 7/Patient education handout or fact sheet

How to Cite a Patient Education Handout or Fact Sheet in APA 7

An APA 7 reference for a patient education handout or fact sheet follows the report format: the organization (or the people) who wrote it, the year in parentheses, the title in italics and sentence case, a description in square brackets such as [Fact sheet] or [Brochure], the parent organization as publisher when it isn't already the author, and the URL. The in-text citation is the organization and the year: (American Heart Association [AHA], 2025) the first time, then (AHA, 2025).

The format

Organization Name. (Year). Title of the handout [Fact sheet]. Parent Organization. https://xxxx

PERRLA APA Experts · Updated October 21, 2026
Checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition. Every example is formatted by PERRLA's reference engine.

First, the easy way: PERRLA

Paste the link to the handout's PDF into PERRLA's reference search. PERRLA reads the PDF and usually builds it as Gray Literature, with the organization as the group author, the year, the title, and the link. When the link or the title marks the PDF as a fact sheet, like a /fact-sheets/ folder or Fact Sheet: in front of the title, PERRLA fills in Fact sheet for you, and a PDF with brochure in its file name usually gets Brochure.

Then check three things against the handout. First, the Format or Type box: if it's empty, type Fact sheet, Brochure, or another short description, and PERRLA adds it in square brackets after the title. Second, the author: on a government handout it should be the most specific office on the handout, with the parent agency as the publisher. Third, the date: use the year printed on the handout, not a "last reviewed" date.

Adding one by hand? Choose Pamphlets & Brochures, then Brochure or Pamphlet. Add the organization as a Group Author (Organization), or each person as an Author. Type the title, and fill in the publisher, the Publication Date, and the URL. Leave Format or Type blank and PERRLA adds [Brochure] or [Pamphlet]; for anything else, type a short description like Fact sheet. When the publisher matches the group author, PERRLA leaves it off for you.

Not using PERRLA yet? Here is how to build the same reference by hand.

The parts of the reference

1. Author

Most handouts are written by an organization, so the organization is the author. Spell its name out in full, the way the handout prints it.

American Heart Association.

On a government handout, use the most specific office named on it as the author. The CDC's fall prevention brochures credit the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, so that center is the author and the CDC moves to the publisher spot.

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.

If the handout names its writers under a heading like Written by or Authors, list those people instead: last name, comma, initials. Names under Reviewed by, Edited by, or Contact are not authors.

2. Year

Give the year in parentheses, followed by a period. Handouts follow the report format, so the year is enough, even when the handout shows a full date.

(2025).

Look for the year on the back panel, in the copyright line, or in a "Revised" or "Last updated" line. A © line that covers a whole website, like 1996–2026, isn't the handout's date. If the handout has no date anywhere, write (n.d.).

3. Title

Write the title in italics and in sentence case: capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. Handouts print their titles in capitals for emphasis, so you'll usually lowercase most of it.

What you can do to prevent falls

The cover of that brochure says What YOU Can Do to Prevent Falls. The capital YOU is design, not a proper noun, so it becomes you.

A label printed above the title, like FACT SHEET or Patient & Caregiver Education, isn't part of the title. It belongs in the description instead.

4. Description in square brackets

Right after the title, add a short description of what the work is, in square brackets, then a period. Capitalize only the first word, and don't italicize the brackets or the words inside.

What is heart failure? [Fact sheet].

Use the word the publisher uses. APA's own examples use [Fact sheet] and [Brochure]. A hospital handout that is neither can take a plain description, like [Patient handout].

When the title ends in a question mark, the question mark stays and the description follows it.

5. Publisher

Name the publisher in plain text, followed by a period, with no city or state.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

When the publisher is the same organization as the author, leave it out so the name doesn't appear twice. That's the case for most hospital and nonprofit handouts. Don't let a legal ending trick you: American Heart Association, Inc. in the copyright line is still the American Heart Association.

6. URL

End with the link to the handout's PDF, or to the page where readers can get it. Don't put a period after it, and don't add "Retrieved from."

https://www.cdc.gov/steadi/pdf/steadi-brochure-whatyoucando-508.pdf

If you have only a printed copy that isn't online, end the reference after the publisher (or after the description, when the author is the publisher).

Examples

A fact sheet from a health organization

One of the American Heart Association's Answers by Heart fact sheets, a two-page patient handout used in cardiac patient teaching. The AHA wrote and published it, so the publisher drops out. The year comes from the 2025 copyright line on the back.

  • Parenthetical citation(American Heart Association [AHA], 2025)
  • Narrative citationThe American Heart Association (AHA, 2025)
  • Later citations(AHA, 2025)

A government brochure with a parent agency

A fall prevention brochure from the CDC's STEADI program, handed to older adults in clinics and on discharge. The brochure credits the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, so the center is the author and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the publisher. The year, 2017, is printed on the front panel.

  • Parenthetical citation(National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2017)
  • Narrative citationThe National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (2017)

A handout in another language

The Spanish edition of the same STEADI brochure, from 2018, useful when your paper covers teaching Spanish-speaking patients. Keep the title in Spanish, in sentence case, and add an English translation in square brackets after it. The [Brochure] description follows the translation.

  • Parenthetical citation(National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 2018)
  • Narrative citationThe National Center for Injury Prevention and Control (2018)

A hospital's patient handout

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center's handout on using an incentive spirometer after surgery, a common teaching topic on surgical units. The hospital wrote and published it, so its name appears once. The handout says it was last updated on November 24, 2023, and the reference takes the year. The citation points to page 2 of the seven-page PDF.

  • Parenthetical citation(Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 2023, p. 2)
  • Narrative citationMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2023, p. 2)

In-text citations

Cite a handout or fact sheet by its author and year, like any report. The [Fact sheet] or [Brochure] description stays in the reference only.

  • Organization as author: (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 2023) or Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (2023)
  • Defining an abbreviation: spell out the name the first time with the abbreviation in square brackets, (American Heart Association [AHA], 2025), then use (AHA, 2025) after that
  • Abbreviation in your sentence: the American Heart Association (AHA, 2025) explains...
  • A quote or specific passage: add the page if the handout has page numbers: (Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 2023, p. 2). A one-page fact sheet or a folded brochure usually has none, so name the heading the passage sits under instead.
  • No date: (Organization Name, n.d.)

Abbreviate only an organization you'll cite three or more times. The reference always keeps the full name.

Common mistakes

  • American Heart Association. (2025). What is heart failure?American Heart Association. (2025). What is heart failure? [Fact sheet].APA adds a description in square brackets after the title of a fact sheet or brochure, so readers know what kind of work it is.
  • Fact sheet: What is heart failure?What is heart failure? [Fact sheet].A FACT SHEET label printed on the handout isn't part of the title. It becomes the bracketed description.
  • What is heart failure? [Fact sheet].What is heart failure? [Fact sheet].Only the title is italic. The brackets and the words inside them are plain text.
  • American Heart Association. (2025). What is heart failure? [Fact sheet]. American Heart Association, Inc.American Heart Association. (2025). What is heart failure? [Fact sheet].When the author and the publisher are the same organization, leave the publisher out, even if the copyright line adds Inc.
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2017). What you can do to prevent falls [Brochure].National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. (2017). What you can do to prevent falls [Brochure]. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.When a handout credits an office inside a larger agency, the office is the author and the parent agency is the publisher.
  • Reviewer, A. A. (2023).Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. (2023).A nurse or doctor listed under Reviewed by, Edited by, or Contact isn't the author. When no one is listed as the writer, the organization is the author.

Quick checklist

  • The organization as author, or the people listed as writers
  • The most specific office first, with the parent agency as publisher
  • The year only, in parentheses, or n.d.
  • Title in italics and sentence case
  • [Fact sheet] or [Brochure] in plain square brackets after the title
  • No publisher when it repeats the author
  • The PDF or page URL, with no period after it

Questions students ask

Is a fact sheet cited differently from a brochure?

Only by the description. Both follow the report format, and the words in the square brackets change: [Fact sheet] for a fact sheet, [Brochure] for a brochure. Use the word the publisher uses. If the website lists it as a brochure, call it a brochure.

How do I cite a MedlinePlus page I printed for a patient?

Cite it as a webpage, because that's what it is, even when you print it. MedlinePlus pages take the National Library of Medicine as the author and MedlinePlus as the site name. Our NIH and MedlinePlus guide walks through it.

What if the handout came from my clinical site and isn't online?

If it's a published handout that readers could get, like a printed brochure the hospital hands to the public, cite it the same way and end the reference without a URL. If it's an internal document that no reader could find, APA treats it as a personal communication: cite it in your text only, and leave it off the references page. Ask your instructor which one they want.

What if the handout has no date?

Write (n.d.) in the reference and in your citation: (Organization Name, n.d.). Check the back panel, the fine print, and the copyright line first. Don't use the date you downloaded it or a "last reviewed" date from the website.

Who is the author of a CDC or NIH handout?

The most specific office named on the handout, like the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control or the National Cancer Institute. The parent agency goes in the publisher spot. If the handout only credits the CDC, the CDC is the author and the publisher is left out.

Can I use a patient handout as a source in a nursing paper?

Yes, especially for papers about patient teaching, where the handout is what you gave the patient. For clinical claims, like how a drug works or what a guideline recommends, back the handout up with a journal article or the guideline itself, because handouts aren't peer reviewed.

Rules checked against the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.), Sections 8.13, 8.17, 8.21, 8.28, 9.8, 9.11, 9.14, 9.17, 9.19, 9.21, 9.24, 9.29, 9.34, 9.38, and 10.4, and the APA Style website's fact sheet and brochure reference examples. Example sources verified on each handout's PDF: the AHA fact sheet's copyright line, the front panel and credits of the two CDC STEADI brochures and their listings on the CDC's STEADI patient resources page, and the Memorial Sloan Kettering handout's last-updated line on its page and PDF.

PERRLA builds a fact sheet or brochure reference from its PDF link, with the organization, the year, and the [Fact sheet] or [Brochure] label in the right place.

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