How to quote correctly
The APA Format
(in parts taken from: Purdue University Online Writing Lab,
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/r_mla.html
and the “Evergreen State College“, Columbia, Washington and their „Avoiding Plagiarism“ handout))
Plagiarism Defined
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In academic writing you are often asked to draw on the work of other writers,
composers, artists, speakers, or filmmakers when explaining or supporting your
judgments. Academic ethics and fairness require you to properly cite these sources. If
you represent a source's language, ideas, or images as your own - even inadvertently
- you practice a form of academic dishonesty called plagiarism.
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Plagiarism is using a source's words, ideas, or images without acknowledging the
original writer, composer, or artist. It can be as blatant as copying long passages from
a source without quotation marks and proper citation. One of the most common forms
is "mosaic plagiarism," the act of sprinkling borrowed phrases, partial sentences, or
sentences within the paper without using quotation marks.
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Plagiarism can be avoided with strategies such as:
using quotation marks and a proper citation when using the source's own language
citing the source of ideas when you summarize or paraphrase a passage in your own
words
citing the source of tables, charts, diagrams, or other visuals
citing the source of data you use to construct a table
citing the source of specific examples and facts
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Plagiarism is a serious academic offence and is a violation of the Social Contract.
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If you plagiarise, you will fail !!!!
Two ways of referencing
someone else‘s idea
• You provide the author's name (or the title
of the work) and the page (or paragraph)
number of the work in a parenthetical
citation
• You provide full citation information for the
work in your reference list
Parenthetical Citations: The general idea
• The author's name or title of the study may
appear in the sentence itself or in parenthesis
following the quotation or paraphrase, but year
and page number(s) should always appear in the
parenthesis, not in the text of your sentence.
• With author
• Jones (1998) compared student performance ...
• In a recent study on student performance
• (Jones, 1998), ....
• In 1998, Jones compared student performance…
• No author
• A similar study was done of students learning to
format research (“Using APA”, 2001).
• Parenthetical citations are in brackets ( ), they
may also be called ‘in-text reference’.
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Parenthetical Citations: The direct quote
With author
She stated, “students often had difficulty using
APA style,” (Jones, 1998, p.199) but did not offer
an explanation for this fact.
According to Jones (1998), “students....” (p.199).
Jones (1998) found “students often ...” (p.199).
No author
In another study it was discovered that “students
succeeded with tutoring” (“Using APA”, 2001,
p. 27).
Or: Another study shows that “students
succeeded with tutoring” (“Using APA”, n.d.).
NOTE POSITION OF FULL STOP!!!!
Parenthetical Citations: The indirect quote
• With author
• She stated that students frequently had
considerable problems with APA style (Jones,
1998, p.199) but did not offer an explanation for
this fact.
• PROPER PARAPHRASING, NO COPYING
• No author
• In another study it was discovered that students’
problems diminished after some tutoring (“Using
APA”, 2001, p. 27). Or: (“Using APA”, n.d.)
• Again, NOTE POSITION OF FULL STOP!!!!
• If there is no author
• …use an abbreviated version of the work's title.
• If there is more than one author
• List the authors in alphabethical order
• If two or more authors have the same last name, provide
both authors' first initials (or even her or his full name if
different authors share initials) in your citation.
• If you cite more than one work by a particular author, use
the year to differentiate between them. If there are two
works from the same year, use e.g. 2001a, 2001b
Short Quotations
(fewer than four typed lines of prose or 40 words)
• Enclose the quotation within double quotation marks and
integrate it with your text.
• Provide the author and specific page citation in the text.
• Include a complete reference in the reference list.
• Punctuation marks such as full stops, commas, and
semicolons should appear AFTER the parenthetical citation.
• The direct quote needs to be EXACTLY the same. This
includes any exclamation or question marks, and even
typing mistakes. Anything you leave out needs to be
indicated by ‘…’ or ‘(…)’, anything you add by ‘[ ].
• Make sure that the direct quote is smoothly integrated with
the sentence it is used in
• Never use the quote to MAKE the point. You should make
the point in your own words and use a direct (or indirect)
quote to support it.
Long Quotations
• Use long quotations sparingly.
• Place quotations longer than four typed lines in a freestanding block of typewritten lines, and omit quotation
marks.
• Start the quotation on a new line, indented one inch from the
left margin. Your parenthetical citation should come after the
closing punctuation mark.
• For example:
• Jones’s 1993 study found the following:
– Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it
was their first time citing sources. This difficulty could be
attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase a
style manual or to ask their teacher for help. (p.199)
• DON’T use quotation marks, a different font, italics etc. You
might want to use more narrow spacing, but it is also not
necessary.
Adding or Omitting Words In Quotations
• If you add a word or words in a quotation, you should put
square brackets around the words to indicate that they are
not part of the original text.
• For example:
• Jan Harold Brunvand, in an essay on urban legends, states:
"some individuals [who retell urban legends] make a point of
learning every rumor or tale" (2003, p.78).
• If you omit a word or words from a quotation, you should
indicate the deleted word or word by using dots surrounded
by brackets (square or round).
• For example:
• In his 2003 essay on urban legends, Jan Harold Brunvand
notes that "some individuals make a point of learning every
recent rumor or tale [...] and in a short time a lively
exchange of details occurs" (p. 78).
Your Reference List
• The reference list should appear at the end of your essay.
• It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate
and be able to read any sources you cite in the essay. Each
source you cite in the essay must appear in your reference
list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in
your text.
• List Format
• Begin your reference list on a separate page from the text of
the essay under the label Reference List (with no quotation
marks, underlining, etc.), which should be centered at the
top of the page.
• Double space all entries, with no skipped lines between
entries.
• Keep in mind that underlining and italics are equivalent; you
should select one or the other to use throughout your essay.
• Alphabetize the reference list by the first word in each entry
(usually the author's last name)
Basic Rules for Citations
• With Authors:
• Names are inverted (last name first); if a work has more
than one author, follow first author's name with a comma,
then continue listing the rest of the authors. Use ‘&’ before
you add the last author.
• If you have used more than one work by a particular author,
order them alphabetically by title.
• When an author appears both as the sole author of a text
and as the first author of a group, list solo-author entries
first.
• Make sure your approach to using capital letters is
consistent.
• Use italics for titles of books, journals, magazines,
newspapers, and films. Don’t use them for titles of articles.
• If you refer to a journal article that appeared on pages 225
through 250, list the page numbers in your Reference List
as 225-250.
• With books, list the place of publishing and the publishers
Basic Forms for Sources in Print I
• Books:
• Author, A.A., & Author, B.B. (Year). Title of Book. Place of
Publication: Publisher.
• If there are more than three authors, you may list only the
first author followed by the phrase et al. (the abbreviation for
the Latin phrase "and others") in place of the other authors'
names, or you may list all the authors in the order in which
their names appear on the title page.
• Book with a corporate author
• American Allergy Association. Allergies in Children. New
York: Random, 1998.
• Anthology or collection
• Peterson, Nancy J., ed. (1997). Toni Morrison: Critical and
Theoretical Approaches. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP.
Basic Forms for Sources in Print II
• Book or article with no author named
• Encyclopedia of Indiana.(1993). New York: Somerset.
• Cigarette Sales Fall 30% as California Tax Rises. New York
Times 14 Sept. 1999: A17.
• For parenthetical citations of these sources, use the abbreviated title. Use quotation marks and italics as appropriate.
For example, parenthetical citations of the two sources
above would appear as follows: (Encyclopedia, 1993, p.
235) and ("Cigarette...”, 1999, A17).
• A part of a book (such as an essay in a collection)
• Author(s). (Year). Title of Article. In Editor's Name(s). (Eds).
Title of Collection. (Pages). Place of Publication: Publisher.
Articles
• Article from a reference book
• Jamaica. Encyclopedia Britannica. 1999 ed.
• An article in a periodical (such as a newspaper or
magazine)
• Author(s). (Year). Title of Article. Title of Source, date of
publication, page(s).
• E.g. Poniewozik, James. (2000). TV Makes a Too-Close
Call. Time 20 Nov., p. 70.
• An article in a scholarly journal
• Author(s). (Year). Title of Article. Title of Journal, volume
number, pages.
• E.g. Berndt, T.J. (1998). Effects of friendship on social
behaviour. Child Development, 52, 636-643.
Basic Forms for Electronic Sources
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Electronic sources are referenced like print sources, but the
web address and the date of retrieval have to be added. An
article from an electronic journal, for example, is quoted exactly
like an article from a print journal, plus the retrieval date (Retrieved
and the date in an explicit format) and the web address.
It is necessary to list your date of access because web postings
are often updated, and information available at one date may no
longer be available later. Be sure to include the complete address
for the site.
Individual pages on web sites (which you should not use too often
anyway) often don’t have an author, but every page has a
heading/title. Use this to reference accordingly.
Web site examples
Purdue Online Writing Lab. 2003. Purdue University. 10 Feb. 2003
http://owl.english.purdue.edu.
Basic Forms for Electronic Sources peculiarities
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E-mail (or other personal communications)
Author. "Title of the message (if any)" E-mail to person's name.
Date of the message.
Kunka, Andrew. "Re: Modernist Literature." E-mail to the
author/Joe Barbato. 15 Nov. 2000.
This same format may be used for personal interviews or personal
letters. These do not have titles, and the description should be
appropriate. Instead of "Email to John Smith," you would have
"Personal interview."
A listserv posting
Author. "Title of Posting." Online posting. Date when material was
posted (for example: 18 Mar. 1998). Name of listserv. Date of
access <electronic address for retrieval>.
Online Posting
Karper, Erin. "Welcome!" Online posting. 23 Oct. 2000.
Professional Writing Bulletin Board. 12 Nov. 2000
<http://linnell.english.purdue.edu/ubb/Forum2/HTML/000001.html>
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Other Types of Sources
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Government publication
United States Dept. of Health and Human Services. (2000). Healthy People 2010: Understanding
and Improving Health. Washington: GPO.
Pamphlet
Office of the Dean of Students. (2000). Resources for Success: Learning Disabilities and Attention
Deficit Disorders. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University.
Interview that you conducted
Purdue, Pete. (2000). Personal Interview. 1 Dec. 2000.
A lecture or a speech
To cite a lecture or a speech, you need the speaker's name, the title of the lecture or speech (if
known), the sponsoring organization (if there is any), the location [including place and city, if
available], and the date. If there is no title, use an appropriate descriptive label (e.g., Lecture,
Address, Keynote speech).
Advertisement
Lufthansa. Advertisement. Time 20 Nov. 2000: 151.
Television or radio program
"The Blessing Way." The X-Files. Fox. WXIA, Atlanta. 19 Jul. 1998.
Sound recording
U2. All That You Can't Leave Behind. Interscope, 2000.
Film
The Usual Suspects. Dir. Bryan Singer. Perf. Kevin Spacey, Gabriel Byrne, Chazz Palminteri,
Stephen Baldwin, and Benecio del Toro. Polygram, 1995.
TV Advertisement
Staples. Advertisement. CBS. 3 Dec. 2000.