Introduction to APA Citation

Transcription

1 A Description of APA Citation Style The American Psychological Association (APA) established a set f rules and conventions for citing outside sources, in order for readers to identify outside sources, credit sources consulted for a paper, and retrieve those sources easily when needed. APA citation requires, at minimum, an author s last name, and the date of publication of the resource. Sources cited in APA citation are cited in past or present perfect tense i.e.: Doe (2005) has argued or Doe (2004) reported. Along with in-text citation you must also include a reference list to properly cite sources in APA style. A reference list is different than a bibliography because a reference list includes just references cited in the text of a paper alphabetically by first author's last name. A bibliography, on the other hand, typically includes resources in addition to those cited in the text, and sometimes also includes annotated descriptions of resources. For more information on APA style guidelines, please consult Mastering APA Style, a Student s Workbook and Training Guide, available in HELIN at: Basic Format for In-Text Citations Begin your citation with the author s last name to signal your reader that you are introducing quoted text. Follow the last name with the year of publication in parentheses. This sort of citation is inserted directly into sentences and paragraphs so that is clear that the information that you are presenting is being quoted, and is not your original work. Page numbers are encouraged in APA and are the last item inside your parentheses. Examples of APA Citation Styles In-text citation with a single author: The last name of the author and the year of publication are inserted in the text at the appropriate point. Example from theory on rhetorical rationality (Doe, 1945, p.25) Introduction to APA Citation 1

2 If the name of the author or the date appear as part of the narrative cite only missing information in parentheses. Doe (1945) posited that In 1945 Doe posited that In-text citation from works with multiple authors: If a work has two authors, both names must be cited every time the work is referenced in your paper. In parenthetical references, join the two authors named with an ampersand as has been shown (Strunk & White, 1979, p.13) In the narrative text, join the names with the word "and." as Strunk and White (1979) demonstrated (p.13). Three or more authors: If a work has three or more authors cite all authors the first time the work is cited in text. Subsequently, include only the last name of the first author and the phrase et al. Dee, Dum & Rabbit (1891) found. In subsequent citations: Dee et al. (1891) found. Introduction to APA Citation 2

3 Works with no author: When a work has no author, use the first two or three words of the work's title for your in-text reference. Capitalize each word, use quotation marks if your reference is of a chapter or an article, italicize if your reference is of an entire book. The use of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems has grown substantially over the past five years as companies attempt to adapt to customer needs and to improve their profitability ("Making CRM Work" 1997). Exceptions: When an author is specified as being anonymous, treat it as if anonymous were a real name: (Anonymous, 2001). In the list of references, also use the name Anonymous as the author. Works by companies or associations When a work is by a corporate author, the name of that group is typically written out each time it appears as a text reference. (American Cancer Society [ACS], 2007) Citing Personal Communication Interviews, letters, s, and other person-to-person communication, cite the communicators name. Also cite that it was personal communication, and the date the communication was made. Do not include personal communication in your reference list. Examples: (C. Byrd, communication, August 4, 2007). C. Byrd also claimed that many of her students were confused about APA internal citation guidelines (personal communication, August 4, 2007). Introduction to APA Citation 3

4 Citing an article, chapter or piece of a work: When citing a piece of a printed work, include pertinent page and chapter information within in-text citations. Smith (1996) overstated the case when he asserted that "we seem to be overreaching the boundaries of our field" (p. 218). Citing Electronic Resources When possible, treat electronic sources the way you would print sources, However, not all electronic media have title and copyright pages, which can make citing in APA trickier. Unknown author If there is no author named for an electronic resource, mention the title of the document in a signal phrase or give the first two to three words of the title in parentheses. You should follow the same guidelines as written work without a listed author. Unknown date When the date is unknown, APA recommends using the abbreviation n.d. (for no date ). Attempts to establish a definitive link between television pro-gramming and children s eating habits have been problematic (Magnus, n.d.). Unknown Page number If page numbers are not included in electronic sources, provide the paragraph number preceded by a paragraph symbol or the heading of the paragraph. You may also use the phrase para. to indicate paragraph number. Examples: (Mönnich & Spiering, ) According to Smith (1997),... (Mind over Matter section, para. 6) Introduction to APA Citation 4

5 APA Style Guides to Use as References: 1. Gelfand, H., & Walker, C. J. (2002). Mastering APA style: student's workbook and training guide. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 2. American Psychological Association. (2006). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. [Thousand Oaks, CA]: BN Publishing. 3. American Psychological Association. (2007). Concise rules of APA style. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Other Tools That Can Help: Refworks: A web-based bibliographic management program that allows you to create a personal database of works you have used for papers, and easily access their information for citation purposes. The University of Rhode Island gives their students and faculty access to Refworks. If you are accessing the system from off campus use group code URIREFWORKS. Once you have set up a Refworks password and profile, you may access your data from any computer. Refworks allows you to automatically format your paper in many formats, including APA. For more information about Refworks go here: Write-N-Cite: Allows users to write papers in Microsoft Word and insert citations from Refworks. To download the application (available for both Macintosh and Windows), log into Refworks, then at the menu bar at the top of the page, select "Tools," then "Write-N-Cite. WorldCat: A global catalog of library collections. It allows you to search for books, music, videos, articles and much more, and find out what nearby libraries have them. WorldCat also has a citation feature, and will cite your book request in multiple formats. Introduction to APA Citation 5