APA Citation
Presented by the WRC
What is APA style?
• Standardized system for giving
credit to others for their
contribution to your work
• Is parenthetical (cited in the text)
• Guidelines for headings and a
reference list
What is APA style?
1.Author’s Last Name
2.Year of Publication
3.Page Number (if a
direct quote)
Why Should I Use APA?
• Shows honesty about borrowing
others’ intellectual property
• Provides evidence of your research
• Allows readers to locate your sources
• Prevents plagiarism
What kind of source do I have?
Book
Page from a
Website
Academic (PeerReviewed) Journal
In-text Citations: Direct
Quote
• Example from article (Original Sentence)
• “This case study showed that the
dominant upper back pain decreased after
the RSP decreased through application of
RST by using kinesiology tape in a female
sedentary worker.”
1. Authors’ names 2. Year of
Publication 3. Page number
• Hwang-Bo, Lee, & Kim (2013) discovered
“dominant upper back pain decreased
after the RSP decreased through
application of RST by using kinesiology
tape in a female sedentary worker” (p. 611).
• Inserted authors’ names, year, and page
number at beginning and end
Citation at end of sentence
Researchers discovered that “dominant upper
back pain decreased after the RSP decreased
through application of RST by using kinesiology
tape in a female sedentary worker” (Hwang-Bo,
Lee, & Kim, 2013, p. 611).
Subsequent References
• 1-2 authors-----Always spell out all names
Smith (2001) said….
Smith and Jones (1980) examined…
Applicants’ expectations are outlandish (Smith,
2001).
Applicants’ expectations are outlandish (Smith
and Jones, 1980).
*Note that these are paraphrases.
Subsequent References: 3-5
Authors
First Reference:
Wiley, Smith, & Jones (2015) stated
most left-handers are artistic.
Most left-handers are artistic (Wiley,
Smith, & Jones, 2015).
Subsequent References: 35 Authors
Subsequent Reference: Wiley et al.
(2015) state scary movies affect lefthanders more than right-handers.
Scary movies affect left-handers more
than right-handers (Wiley et al., 2015).
6 or more Authors
• Start with first author, then use “et al.”
• Johnson et al. (2015) defend the claim
that…..
No Author Named
• Use shortened title of work and year
• Kinesiology tape helps with shoulder pain
(“Efficacy,” 2013).
In-text Citations:
Paraphrase
• A paraphrase is the original ideas and
thoughts from a source put into your own
words.
• ALWAYS NEED A CITATION
• Only use quotes when the information
bears repeating exactly as it was written.
Why so many different
ways to cite?
• Using the same way to incorporate
sources every time gets redundant and
bores your reader
• Shows lack of versatility in writing skills
• A writer may want to focus on something
particular when incorporating a source.
Here are three ways
Idea-focused
• Place the author(s) and date(s) in
parentheses at an appropriate place in or
at the end of a sentence
• Example
Researchers have studied how children
represent mathematical problems (Alibali,
Phillips, & Fischer, 2009; Siegler, 1976).
Researcher-focused
• Place only the date in parentheses
• Example
Alibali, Phillips, and Fischer (2009) asked, “Did
the participants adopt the taught strategies?” (p.
96).
Used when doing literature reviews,
critiques, or focusing on method
Chronology-focused
• Integrate both the author and date into
your sentence
• Example
In 2009 Alibali, Phillips, and Fischer reported
that third- and fourth-grade students improved
their problem representation when they were
taught the equalize strategy but did not improve
their problem representation when they were
taught the add-subtract strategy
Used when doing literature reviews or when
the time of the research is important
Secondary Source Citation
• Sometimes, you find a source that quotes
another author, and you like what that
author said.
• If possible, always find the original source
where the quote originated from.
• The secondary and primary source will
have to be cited in the reference list AND
in text
Secondary Source Citation
Paraphrase
Thonus emphasizes that creating an ethical
solution requires participation by all parties (as
cited in Brufee, 2003).
Direct quotation
Thonus remarks, “writing center literature is
filled with reference to our marginality and
status as outsiders” (as cited in Brufee, 2003,
p. 170).
Reference Page
• List of sources cited in paper
• Title
– Type the word "References" at the top of a
new page, centered.
• Spacing
– All entries should be double-spaced, unless
your assignment instructs you otherwise.
• Indentation
– First line is flush left. Subsequent lines have
handing indent
• Author names
– Last name, first initial: Smith, R.
– Only use the author shortcut “et al.” if there
are 8 or more authors.
Capitalization Rule in APA
• For article title, capitalize
– First word of title
– First word of subtitle
– Any proper nouns (the name of a person or
city, for example)
• From the sample
– Computer-mediated communication effects on
disclosure, impressions, and interpersonal
evaluations: Getting to know one another a
little bit at a time.
Citing a Book
• Print
– Turkle, S. (2011). Alone together: Why we
expect more from technology and less
from each other. New York, NY: Basic
Books.
• E-book
– Last name, First initial. (date). Title. Retrieved
from www.webpage.com
Chapter in a book or entry in
a reference book
• Use for anthologies, textbooks, or edited
books
Complete Citation
North, P. (1984). The idea of a
writing center. In C. Murphy
& S. Sherwood (Eds.), The
St. Martin’s sourcebook for
writing tutors (pp. 44-58).
Boston, MA: Bedford.
Journal Article
• Mostly found
through library
databases
Journal Article
• What’s needed
– Author(s) name(s)
– Year of publication
– Article title (follows capitalization rule)
– Title of Journal (italicized)
– Volume and issue or number of journal
– Pages numbers of article
– DOI number or URL
Journal Article
• Example
Hwang-Bo, G., Lee, J., & Kim, H. (2013).
Efficacy of kinesiology taping for
recovery of dominant upper back pain
in female sedentary worker having a
rounded shoulder posture. Technology
& Health Care, 21(6), 607-612.
doi:10.3233/THC-130753
Government Report
• Technical, research,
and government
reports “can serve a
valuable
supplementary role” to
your research.
• Come from government
agencies, profit/nonprofit research
institutes, and
educational institutions.
Government Report
• Author, A.A. (Date). Title of work (Report
No. xxx). Location: Publisher.
• List all levels of the government agency.
• GPO Reports have publisher location and
name as…
• Washington, D.C.: Government Printing
Office
Government Report
• U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services, National Institutes of Health,
National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute. (2003). Managing asthma: A
guide for schools (NIH Publication No.
02-2650). Retrieved fromhttp://www/
nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/lung/asthma/ast
h_sch.pdf
Page from a Website
Page from a Website
California State University, Bakersfield.
(2015). Complaints and
grievances. Retrieved July, 7
2015, from http://www.csub.edu
/academicprograms/Complaints%2
0and%20Grievances/index.html
Page from a Website
Publication date of
webpage can found
at the top or very
bottom of the page
Other Sources
• Consult your
APA Style
Manual or
reliable
usage
handbook
Headings