Learning to use APA Style*
*Developed by Charles McLafferty, Ph.D., under contract to UA College of Education.
University of Alabama
College of Education
Objectives
• After this exercise, you should be able to:
– Understand the need for appropriate attribution in
scholarly work
– Define plagiarism and identify the ways in which it
occurs
– Discern between written passages that are direct quotes
and that are paraphrases/summaries
– Identify passages that plagiarize
– Know how and when to cite, using APA style, both
direct quotes and paraphrases
– Know how to prepare a list of references
Objectives
• A pre-test will assess your current
knowledge of citations and references
Foundation of every profession
• Every profession has some tenants or rules
that are inviolable.
• Can you think of some of these rules for
– Business?
– Sports?
– Academia?
• Why is it important for those in our
profession to honor them?
• Academia is based on a foundation of trust
– Trust that credit is given to the work and ideas
of others
– Trust that your work and ideas are your own,
and that they are correct
• What would happen if this foundation did
not exist?
– Degrees, grades, research findings meaningless
– Chaos
• Words are academics’ currency and bond
(McLafferty & Foust, 2003)
Plagiarism at UA
Plagiarism is the act of representing words, data,
works, ideas, computer programs or output, or
other material not generated by the student as his
or her own. Plagiarism may be inadvertent or
purposeful; however, plagiarism is not a question
of intent. …Plagiarism is a serious act of academic
misconduct and may result in a student’s receiving
an “F” in the course and being suspended from the
University.
(UA Code of Academic Conduct)
Take a moment to put this in your
own words
Plagiarism is the act of representing words, data,
works, ideas, computer programs or output, or
other material not generated by the student as his
or her own. Plagiarism may be inadvertent or
purposeful; however, plagiarism is not a question
of intent. …Plagiarism is a serious act of academic
misconduct and may result in a student’s receiving
an “F” in the course and being suspended from the
University.
Plagiarism
• Three main points from the UA definition:
– Plagiarism is defined as taking someone else’s
work or ideas and representing them as yours
– Intention is not a factor in determining
plagiarism
– Plagiarism is serious and has dire
consequences at UA
How do I know when to use
citations?
• If you paraphrase or summarize the ideas of
others, you need to give them credit.
• If you use someone else’s words, quotations
marks have to be around them. Then you
must cite exactly the source of the words
(includes page number, paragraph number
for online material when appropriate).
Doing it right: Citations &
references
• When writing a paper, keep track of your
sources.
• Print out articles (photocopy important
passages from books) and mark them up.
• Paraphrase and/or summarize important
passages.
• Use direct quotes very sparingly, only when
required.
Getting the cite right
• Every outside idea, work, result, finding… almost
everything needs to be given credit.
• Two exceptions:
– Common knowledge (e.g., Positive reinforcement is
part of behavioral approaches in special education.)
– Your opinion (e.g., Homer Simpson would make a
great vice presidential candidate)
• Of course, your evaluations, ideas, and analyses
do not need citing—lack of a citation tells the
reader they are yours.
Two types of citations
• Paraphrases and summaries (ideas and
meaning), for example:
– Summers (2010) raises ethical concerns about
using behavioral techniques on the fetus.
• Direct quotes (exact words), for example:
– As Summers (2010) has noted, “the use of
positive and negative reinforcement in the
uterus has profound ethical implications for
both the mother and the researcher” (p. 23).
Paraphrasing and citations
• To paraphrase is to take an idea, (finding,
result, etc.) and restate it in your own
words.
• To summarize is to make a more general
restatement of a finding, article, book, idea,
etc.
• Three or more consecutive words may
constitute plagiarism (check with your
professor)
How to cite
• There are three basic ways to cite for
paraphrasing:
– Author and date are stated in the text
• In 2010, Summers noted ethical concerns…
– Author only is stated in the text
• Summers (2010) raises ethical concerns…
– Attribution is made at the end of the idea,
sentence, or paragraph.
• Ethical concerns have been raised about behavioral
techniques practiced in utero (Summers, 2010).
Now it’s your turn
• With practice, paraphrasing gets easier.
• Take a moment to summarize the text on
the next slide. Once you have finished, pair
off and compare your responses.
Paraphrase this
Thinking about design alternatives and methods
choices leads directly to consideration of the relative
strengths and weaknesses of qualitative and
quantitative data. The approach here is pragmatic.
Some questions lend themselves to numerical
answers; some don’t. If you want to know how much
people weigh, use a scale.…If you want to know
what their weight means to them, how it affects them,
how they think about it, and what they do about it,
you need to ask them questions, find out about their
experiences, and hear their stories. (Patton, 2002, p.
13)
Discussion of paraphrasing
• Examples of paraphrasing, summarizing
• What did you find?
Paraphrasing
• Caution: it is not enough to simply move
around some words in a sentence
• The restatement must be accurate. It cannot
change the original meaning of the source.
Paraphrasing
• Paraphrasing is an art. With practice it
becomes easier.
• Every time you read an article, put it down
and think about what it means. Look at key
passages and paraphrase or summarize
them. Write in the margins or take notes.
• It is helpful to write some key thoughts at
the top of an article, as well as pointers to
pages that contain valuable ideas.
Citing direct quotes
• Two styles are used for direct quotes:
– Short quotes (<40 words)
• Use double quotation marks “ ” to surround the text.
• Text should be exactly as it is in original
• Include author, date and page in the sentence.
– Long quotes (defined as 40+ words)
• Use a “block quote”—start the quote on a new line,
indent the entire block of text five spaces (1/2”),
double spaced.
Examples of direct quotes.
• As with paraphrases, short quotes use three
methods of citing, with the addition of page #:
– The eclectic approach was buttressed in 2002, when
Patton noted that “some questions lend themselves to
numerical answers; some don’t” (p. 13).
– As Patton (2002) notes, “The approach here is
pragmatic. Some questions lend themselves to
numerical answers; some don’t” (p. 13).
– “Some questions lend themselves to numerical answers;
some don’t” (Patton, 2002, p. 13).
Citing long quotes
• A long quote is indented, double-spaced,
without quote marks, in its own block of text:
If you want to know what their weight means to
them, how it affects them, how they think about it,
and what they do about it, you need to ask them
questions, find out about their experiences, and hear
their stories. (Patton, 2002, p. 13)
References
• Every citation in a paper needs a
corresponding reference at the end to fully
identify the source (see handout).
• Basic format for a journal article is:
Smith, J. J. (2008). Article title. Journal
name, 33(2), 12-25.
• Basic format for a book is:
Smith, J. J. (2007). Book title. Location:
Publisher
References with multiple authors
• Two to six authors:
Smith, J. J., Jones, A. A., Johnson, V. E.,
Koenig, P. E., & Dibbles, B. B. (2000).
Writing good essays. New York: Penguin.
• More than six authors:
Give the first six authors’ names, followed by
“et al.” and continue with the date, etc.
Reference page
• Start references on a new page
• The word References as a heading (not in
italics)
• Use a hanging indent (second and
subsequent lines are indented right ½”)
• Alphabetize by author
• If same author has multiple references, sort
those by date (earliest publication first)
Don’t worry—help is available!
• Word 2007 can handle references and
formatting for you
– You still have to do some work
– APA format is both an art and a mechanical
process
Don’t worry—help is available!
• If you don’t have Word2007 consider
FormatEASE (available at Supply Store or
Amazon.com: $22) or other style programs.
• If you are doing dissertation or thesis work,
consider purchasing EndNote or Reference
Manager.
• List of resources is at learnAPA.com.
Get the book
• The Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (5th ed.) is a
“must-have” as a reference text.
• There are shorter, “easier” books, and
programs that format for you, but you will
still need this book as a reference.
Summary
• The integrity of scholarly work is dependent
on accurate attribution of ideas
• Plagiarism is taking someone else’s words
or ideas and representing them as your own
• Written passages can be
summarized/paraphrased or quoted word for
word; both must be cited
• Paraphrasing is restating an idea in your
own words; moving words around can
cause plagiarism
Summary
• Whenever another person’s ideas or words
are used, the source must be cited.
– Two types of citations: summaries & quotes.
– Include author name, date of publication
– Citations can be made in 3 ways: (Sumners,
2010); Sumners (2010); “As early as 2010,
Sumners…”
– Citations for direct quotes include page(s)
– Long quotes (> 40 words) don’t use quotation
marks and appear in separate block
Summary
• References
– Each citation must have reference; each
reference must be cited in your paper.
– Start on new page, with hanging indent
– Basic format is
Author, A. A. (Date). Title. Location.
– Web resources helpful here; APA Publication
Manual is ultimate reference.
– Go to learnAPA.com for web resources
Take home message
• If you use a source, you must cite it.
• Using a source without giving credit, even if the
words are changed or it is summarized, is
plagiarism.
• References must parallel citations; there must be a
reference for each source cited, and vice versa.
• Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association (5th ed.) is the reference book.
• Numerous resources exist to help: learnAPA.com