Using APA
Yes, you can
APA – American Psychological Assn.
• Author’s last name and year
• Common in sciences and some social
sciences too
• Much more common to paraphrase rather
than direct quote
• Entire lecture adapted Hacker, 2007
Providing background
• Use facts and statistics to provide
background or to support generalizations
• ….willows have shown a decline in growth
and fitness due to heavier grazing from ek
and deer (Hebblewhite et al., 1995)
Explaining terms or concepts
• Crawley (1997) defined the compensatory
growth hypothesis as increased carbon
allocation to growth resulting from
herbivory, such that a medium amount of
herbivory would stimulate more growth.
Supporting your claims
• Willows are a primary food source for
beaver; thus, when there is a willow
decline, beaver populations also fall (Nolet,
2005)
Leading authority to your argument
Small streams contain diverse species of fish,
invertebrates, and algae (Wigington et al.,
2006; Meyer et al., 2007) and are critical
for retaining and removing nitrogen
(Peterson et al., 2001)
et al. is short for et alias, which is Latin for
“and friends”
Cite borrowed ideas
• Any facts or ideas that you read in another
source should be cited
• Cite early and often to show evidence and
give examples for your claims
• If you use the language directly, you MUST
use quotation marks, or it is plagiarism
• In science, we generally avoid direct
quotation unless the language itself is
compelling
Signal phrases
• These phrases will introduce citations
• Davis (2008) noted that…
• Past tense is preferable to present perfect
tense: so Davis (2008) claimed is better
than Davis (2008) has claimed
• Avoid passive voice
– It has been noted
– Davis (2008) noted
• Use only last names, i.e. Kleier (2008)
rather than Catherine Kleier (2008)
Signal phrases continued
• List of signal phrases is on page 424 of
Hacker
Includes:
• Asserted
• Claimed
• Compared
• Observed
• Reported
• Suggested
• Wrote
Documenting Sources
•
References
• Crawley, M. J. (1997). Plant-herbivore dynamics. In M. J.
Crawley (Ed.), Plant Ecology (pp. 401-474). Oxford,
England: Blackwell Science, Ltd.
• Dorn, R. D., & J. L. Dorn. (1997). Rocky Mountain region
willow identification field guide. Golden, CO: U.S. Forest
Service Rocky Mountain Region
• Hebblewhite, M. White, C.A., Nietvelt, C. G., McKenzie, J.
A., Hurd, T. E., Fryxell, J. M., Bayley, S. E., Paquet, P. C.
(2005). Human activity mediates a trophic cascade
caused by wolves. Ecology, 86, 2135-2144.
• Kleier, C. C., Carello, C., Hoffa, A. (2006) Willow (Salix
spp.) disturbance in a subalpine forest. Poster presented
at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of
America, Memphis, TN.
• Nolet, B. A., Broftova, L., Heitkonig, I. M. A., Vorel, A.,
Kostkan, V. (2005). Slow growth of a translocated beaver
population partly due to a climatic shift in food quality.
Oikos, 111, 632-640.
• Weber, W. A. (1976). Rocky Mountain Flora. Boulder, CO:
Colorado Associated University Press.
For more assistance
• Check Hacker
• See the library’s handout on APA:
http://www.regis.edu/content/lib/pdf/lib.hand
outs.APAcitationstyle.pdf
• APA style guide from the online writing lab
(owl) at Purdue University:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/
560/01/
• Ask a librarian!