A Simple Overview of
APA Documentation
Common Places: Integrated Reading and Writing
• To avoid plagiarism, you must
document each source you use in your
APA
Documentation
paper, even if you use the source only
for ideas.
Parenthetical documentation is simply the use of parentheses within
the text to show readers the sources you use.
APA
Parenthetical
Documentation
Parentheses
provide source
information
A direct quote is the use of a source’s words.
Direct quotes must be accurate. They must
include the source’s exact words.
Source -- Marissa Reynolds is the author of this text:
Direct Quotes
Some seizures are not a result of epilepsy. Psychogenic non-epileptic seizures are associated
with somatoform disorders. Technically, these events are not true seizures. However, patients
Student Paper:
•
•
Use parentheses at the end of the quote. Include the writer’s
last name, a comma, the source’s date, and either the page
number of the paragraph number.
Include the page number only if you used the original
document. If you got the source from an online database or a
Web site, use the paragraph number.
Direct Quotes
Student Paper when student used actual journal article:
If you use an attributive tag such as the one here,
you do not have to put the writer’s name in the
parentheses. Use parentheses in this case only if
you have used an original source with page
numbers.
Direct Quotes
Student Paper:
When you use a source from an online database
or from a Web site, refer to paragraph numbers.
A source without an attributive tag and no page numbers:
Direct Quotes
An indirect quote is the use of your own words to express an
idea found in a source. Do not use quotation marks for
indirect quotes, but do provide source information. You can
provide source information in an attributive tag.
Indirect Quotes
Student Paper:
If you do not use an attributive tag, provide source
information at the end of the sentence.
Indirect Quotes
Student Paper:
Imagine there is no author for the source. In this case, use the first
significant title word of the source to identify it. Use them in place
of the writer’s last name.
Quotes from
Anonymous
Works
Use of an anonymous source entitled “Types of Seizures”:
Imagine the source comes from a corporate author such as the
Johns Hopkins Hospital. In this case, use the organization’s name
where you would use the writer’s last name.
Quotes from
Corporate
Authors
Use of a source with a corporate author:
Among the various types of seizures, one type is not actually a
seizure at all but may resemble one. “A non-epileptic seizure may
look like a grand mal seizure” (Johns Hopkins Hospital 3).
Preparing a
References
Page
Since you have used parenthetical
documentation, readers can look up the actual
sources. But readers still need more information
about sources to find them, so you will prepare a
references page.
A references page provides complete information
about each of the sources you refer to in your
paper.
If you use a source in your paper, that source must
be on your references page.
A references page uses the same header, 1”
margins and double spacing as your paper.
Preparing a
References
Page
The title, “References” should be centered on the
top line.
Preparing a
References
Page
After putting in
your “references”
title, hit enter to
go to the next
line.
Set up the next
line for a hanging
indent. Click on
Paragraph, and
then under
Special click on
Hanging. Click
OK.
Now you will enter your sources. These should be entered in
alphabetical order.
The actual information that should appear in a works cited
entry is specified by the APA Guidelines.
Preparing a
References
Page
Author’s name (Last,
First initial) followed
by a period and a
space.
Name of the journal in
italics followed by a
comma.
Name of the article. Notice that
only the first word is capitalized.
Follow the name with a period.
The journal’s issue, the journal’s
number in parentheses, a comma,
a space, and the range of pages
followed by a period.
Preparing a
References
Page
Preparing a
References
Page
Preparing a
References
Page
Preparing a
References
Page
Preparing a
References
Page
Preparing a
References
Page
The APA Handbook provides complete documentation rules. You can
also find help with APA style online at these (and many more) Web
sites:
More Resources
• Basics of APA Style (from the APA)
http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/
• The Purdue OWL
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
• APA Citation Style from Cornell University Library
https://www.library.cornell.edu/research/citation/apa
• APA Style Guide from Vanderbilt University
http://www.vanguard.edu/psychology/faculty/douglasdegelman/apa-style/
The End