LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

After successfully choosing and narrowing down a topic, stating the research
problem and formulating the questions, the next step is doing the review of related
literature. Literature review is like engaging in discourse or in a conversation with
authors or researchers of various studies. Through the works of other researchers, you
can have a general picture of your intended topic. The review of related literature is
considered as the road map of your study. This means that it tells you the direction of
your study and how to get there
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
Searching the literature is essential in exploring potential topics for investigation,
identifying the research problem, and formulating the research questions. Having
identified the independent and dependent variables through the research questions, you
still need to get more information on these variables.
Reviewing the literature involves the systematic identification, location and analysis of
documents containing the information related to the topic. Reviewing the literature places
the study in the context of all available information about the topic. It helps you explain
how the research problem to be investigated fits into the larger picture. Also it lets you
identify what has already been done so as not to replicate other researcher’s work.
Your review of related literature, also called literature review, is very crucial to your
research paper that without it, there would be void or an absence of a major element in
research (Afolabi, 2012). According to Bourner (2006) and Johnson and Christensen
(2007), there are good reasons for spending time and effort on a review of the literature
before embarking on a research project. The following statements enumerate the
importance of the review of related literature according to them.
✓ To identify the gaps in the literature
✓ To identify information and ideas that may be relevant to your project
✓ To increase your breadth of knowledge of your subject area
✓ To identify opposing views
✓ To identify methods that could be relevant to your research
✓ To tell you whether the problem you have identified has already been researched.
If it has, you should either revise the problem in the light of the result of the other
studies or look for another problem, unless you think there is a need to replicate
the study.
✓ To assist you in forming your research questions
 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

✓ To give you the ideas as to how to proceed with and design the study so that you
can obtain an answer to your research questions.

STEPS IN DOING A LITERATURE REVIEW

Creswell (2005) identified five steps in conducting a literature review.

Critically
Identify the key
Locate literature evaluate and
terms
select literature

Organize the
Write the review
literature

Let’s briefly discuss each point and what are the processes involved in each step.
1. Identify the Key Terms
• Using your working title, select two or three keywords (usually your
variables) that capture the essence of the project.
• Use some of the words other authors reported in the literature.
• To help you start your keyword search, you may use the “Thesaurus of
ERIC Descriptors” to look for terms that match your topic
(www.eric.ed.gov). This gives you an idea of related keywords.
Alternatively, you may type “Google Scholar” in the Google search bar,
which takes you to Google’s scholarly collection
• Scan both electronic and library journals from the past 10 years and look
for key terms in the articles.

2. Locate the Literature

• Use the school library services. If you can’t check the library and go there
physically, you can make use of the online services provided by the library
such as the Proquest. Don’t limit your search to an electronic search of
articles through the internet
• Use primary and secondary sources. “Primary sources” are research
findings reported by the researcher who conducted the study, while
“secondary sources” are research papers that summarize or report
findings that come from primary sources.

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LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

• It is “best to report mostly primary sources” (Creswell, 2013).

• Search different types of literature: summaries, reviews, and syntheses,
books, journals, indexed publications, electronic sources, abstract series,
and databases.

3. Critically Evaluate and Select Literature

• Rely on journal articles published in national and international journals.
• Prioritize your search: first look for refereed journal articles (peer-
reviewed journals), then non-refereed articles, followed by books, then
conference papers, dissertations and theses, and the scholarly papers
posted to websites.
• Look for research articles and avoid as much as possible “opinion” pieces.
Opinion pieces are usually blog entries where the writers give their
opinions on issues without any relevant evidence. On signpost of an
opinion piece is that it does not list any references or sources for data
presented.
• Blend qualitative and quantitative research in your review.

4. Organize the Literature

• Create a “file” or “abstract” system to keep track of what you read. Each
article you read should be summarized in one page containing the
following:
✓ Title
✓ Author and Date
✓ Source: Journal article, book, etc
✓ Research Problem: one or two lines will suffice
✓ Research Questions or Hypotheses
✓ Data Collection procedure (a description of sample characteristics
can be very handy as well)
✓ Results or findings of the study
• Sort these abstracts into groups of related topics or areas that can then
become different sections of your review.

5. Write a Literature Review

• Choose the type of review you want to use.
✓ Thematic Review- a theme is identified and studies found under
this theme are described. Major ideas and findings are reported
rather than details. No related studies are discussed in detail.
✓ Study-by-study Review- a detailed summary of each study
under a broad theme is provided. Link these summaries (or

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

abstracts) using transitional sentences. These must be organized

and flow coherently under various subheadings.

• Construct a literature map (like graphic organizer) to help you organize

your themes.
✓ Identify the key terms for the topic and put them at the top of the
map.
✓ Sort studies into topical areas or “families of studies”
✓ Provide a label for each box which will become a heading for the
review.

IN-TEXT CITATION AND LISTING REFERENCES USING AMERICAN

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (APA)
A reference citation is a process of documenting the various sources of materials
and information relevant to your study. This is also accomplished by citing references,
called in-text citations, as you write your research report and by creating a reference list.
In-text citations always come with a proper reference in the reference list. In writing your
references, we’ll be using the APA style.

APA Citation Basics

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This
means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear
in the text, like, for example, (Jones, 1998). One complete reference for each source
should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.
If you are referring to an idea from another work but NOT directly quoting the
material, or making reference to an entire book, article, or other work, you only have to
refer to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text
reference.
On the other hand, if you are directly quoting or borrowing from another work, you
should include the page number at the end of the parenthetical citation. Use the
abbreviation “p.” (for one page) or “pp.” (for multiple pages) before listing the page
number(s). Use an en dash for page ranges. For example, you might write (Jones, 1998,
p. 199) or (Jones, 1998, pp. 199–201). This information is reiterated below.
Regardless of how they are referenced, all sources that are cited in the text must
appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.
In-text citation capitalization, quotes, and italics/underlining

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

• Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials: D.

Jones.
• If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words
that are four letters long or greater within the title of a source:
Permanence and Change. Exceptions apply to short words that are verbs,
nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs: Writing New Media, There Is
Nothing Left to Lose
(Note: in your References list, only the first word of a title will be capitalized: Writing new
media.)
• When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound word:
Natural-Born Cyborgs.
• Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon: "Defining Film Rhetoric: The Case of
Hitchcock's Vertigo."
• If the title of the work is italicized in your reference list, italicize it and use title case
capitalization in the text: The Closing of the American Mind; The Wizard of Oz;
Friends.
• If the title of the work is not italicized in your reference list, use double quotation
marks and title case capitalization (even though the reference list uses sentence
case): "Multimedia Narration: Constructing Possible Worlds;" "The One Where
Chandler Can't Cry."
Short quotations
If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year
of publication, and page number for the reference (preceded by "p." for a single page and
“pp.” for a span of multiple pages, with the page numbers separated by an en dash).
You can introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last
name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.

According to Jones (1998), "students often had difficulty using APA style,
especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).

Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA style" (p. 199); what
implications does this have for teachers?

If you do not include the author’s name in the text of the sentence, place the author's last
name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.

She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones, 1998, p. 199),
but she did not offer an explanation as to why.

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

Long quotations
Place direct quotations that are 40 words or longer in a free-standing block of
typewritten lines and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented
1/2 inch from the left margin, i.e., in the same place you would begin a new paragraph.
Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent
paragraph within the quotation 1/2 inch from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing
throughout, but do not add an extra blank line before or after it. The parenthetical citation
should come after the closing punctuation mark.

Lyoob, Rossetti, and Chen (2013) noted:

Many software providers take advantage of these developing technologies to

provide new cloud computing services or transform their existing products into
the cloud. Since the term cloud could refer to any infrastructure, platform or
software that serves for cloud computing, every component in the cloud may
be provided as a service. (p. 34)

Cyber threats are not the only challenge to cloud computing:

While security has been a major topic of interest, reliability is a much bigger
concern. Cloud computing is based on Internet access, so a fast and constant
Internet connection is critical to cloud computing solutions. Therefore, it is
imperative to ensure the enterprise’s connectivity to the Internet is well-
established and that there are backup connections in case of connectivity
failure. (Iyoob, Rossetti, & Chen, 2013, pp. 35-36)

Quotations from sources without pages

Direct quotations from sources that do not contain pages should not reference a
page number. Instead, you may reference another logical identifying element: a
paragraph, a chapter number, a section number, a table number, or something else. Older
works (like religious texts) can also incorporate special location identifiers like verse
numbers. In short: pick a substitute for page numbers that makes sense for your source.

Jones (1998) found a variety of causes for student dissatisfaction with

prevailing citation practices (paras. 4–5).

A meta-analysis of available literature (Jones, 1998) revealed inconsistency

across large-scale studies of student learning (Table 3).

Summary or paraphrase
If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to refer to the
author and year of publication in your in-text reference and may omit the page numbers.

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

APA guidelines, however, do encourage including a page range for a summary or

paraphrase when it will help the reader find the information in a longer work.

According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-
time learners.

APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998, p.
199).

In-Text Citations: Author/Authors

Though the APA's author-date system for citations is fairly straightforward, author
categories can vary significantly from the standard "one author, one source" configuration.
There are also additional rules for citing authors of indirect sources, electronic sources,
and sources without page numbers.
A Work by Two Authors
Name both authors in the signal phrase or in parentheses each time you cite the
work. Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text and use the
ampersand in parentheses.

Research by Wegener and Petty (1994) supports...

(Wegener & Petty, 1994)

A Work by Three or More Authors

List only the first author’s name followed by “et al.” in every citation, even the first,
unless doing so would create ambiguity between different sources.

(Kernis et al., 1993)

Kernis et al. (1993) suggest...

In et al., et should not be followed by a period. Only "al" should be followed by a

period.
If you’re citing multiple works with similar groups of authors, and the shortened “et
al” citation form of each source would be the same, you’ll need to avoid ambiguity by
writing out more names. If you cited works with these authors:

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

Jones, Smith, Liu, Huang, and Kim (2020)

Jones, Smith, Ruiz, Wang, and Stanton (2020)

They would be cited in-text as follows to avoid ambiguity:

(Jones, Smith, Liu, et al., 2020)

(Jones, Smith, Ruiz, et al., 2020)

Since et al. is plural, it should always be a substitute for more than one name. In
the case that et al. would stand-in for just one author, write the author’s name instead.

Unknown Author
If the work does not have an author, cite the source by its title in the signal phrase
or use the first word or two in the parentheses. Titles of books and reports are italicized;
titles of articles, chapters, and web pages are in quotation marks. APA style calls for
capitalizing important words in titles when they are written in the text (but not when they
are written in reference lists).

A similar study was done of students learning to format

research papers ("Using Citations," 2001).

Note: In the rare case that "Anonymous" is used for the author, treat it as the author's
name (Anonymous, 2001). In the reference list, use the name Anonymous as the author.

Organization as an Author
If the author is an organization or a government agency, mention the organization
in the signal phrase or in the parenthetical citation the first time you cite the source, just
as you would an individual person.

According to the American Psychological Association (2000),...

If the organization has a well-known abbreviation, you may include the abbreviation
in brackets the first time the source is cited and then use only the abbreviation in later

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

citations. However, if you cite work from multiple organizations whose abbreviations are
the same, do not use abbreviations (to avoid ambiguity).

First citation: (Mothers Against Drunk Driving [MADD], 2000)

Second citation: (MADD, 2000)

Two or More Works in the Same Parentheses

When your parenthetical citation includes two or more works, order them the same
way they appear in the reference list (viz., alphabetically), separated by a semi-colon.

(Berndt, 2002; Harlow, 1983)

If you cite multiple works by the same author in the same parenthetical citation,
give the author’s name only once and follow with dates. No date citations go first, then
years, then in-press citations.

(Smith, n.d., 1995, 2002, in press)

Authors with the Same Last Name

To prevent confusion, use first initials with the last names.

(E. Johnson, 2001; L. Johnson, 1998)

Two or More Works by the Same Author in the Same Year

If you have two sources by the same author in the same year, use lower-case
letters (a, b, c) with the year to order the entries in the reference list. Use the lower-cas
letters with the year in the in-text citation.

Research by Berndt (1981a) revealed strong correlations.

However, a parallel study (Berndt, 1981b) resulted in
inconclusive findings.

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

Introductions, Prefaces, Forewords, and Afterwords

When citing an Introduction, Preface, Foreword, or Afterword in-text, cite the
appropriate author and year as usual.

(Funk & Kolln, 1992)

Personal Communication
For interviews, letters, e-mails, and other person-to-person communication, cite the
communicator’s name, the fact that it was personal communication, and the date of the
communication. Do not include personal communication in the reference list.

(E. Robbins, personal communication, January 4, 2001).

If using a footnote to reference personal communication, handle citations the same

way.

1. P. Smith also claimed that many of her students had

difficulties with APA style (personal communication, November
3, 2002).

Citing Indirect Sources

Generally, writers should endeavor to read primary sources (original sources) and
cite those rather than secondary sources (works that report on original sources).
Sometimes, however, this is impossible. If you use a source that was cited in another
source, name the original source in your signal phrase. List the secondary source in your
reference list and include the secondary source in the parentheses. If you know the year
of the original source, include it in the citation.

Johnson argued that... (as cited in Smith, 2003, p. 102).

(Johnson, 1985, as cited in Smith, 2003, p. 102).

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

Electronic Sources
If possible, cite an electronic document the same as any other document by using
the author-date style.

Kenneth (2000) explained...

Sources Without Page Numbers

When an electronic source lacks page numbers, you should try to include
information that will help readers find the passage being cited. Use the heading or section
name, an abbreviated heading or section name, a paragraph number (para. 1), or a
combination of these.

According to Smith (1997), ... (Mind Over Matter section, para. 6).

Note: Never use the page numbers of webpages you print out; different computers print
webpages with different pagination. Do not use Kindle location numbers; instead, use the page
number (available in many Kindle books) or the method above.

Other Sources
The APA Publication Manual describes how to cite many different kinds of authors
and content creators. However, you may occasionally encounter a source or author
category that the manual does not describe, making the best way to proceed unclearly.
In these cases, it's typically acceptable to apply the general principles of APA
citation to the new kind of source in a way that's consistent and sensible. A good way to
do this is to simply use the standard APA directions for a type of source that resembles
the source you want to cite. For example, a sensible way to cite a virtual reality program
would be to mimic the APA's guidelines for computer software.

APA Reference List Basics

Formatting a Reference List
Your reference list should appear at the end of your paper. It provides the
information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body
of the paper. Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your reference list; likewise,
each entry in the reference list must be cited in your text.

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

Your references should begin on a new page separate from the text of the essay;
label this page "References" in bold, centered at the top of the page (do NOT underline
or use quotation marks for the title). All text should be double-spaced just like the rest of
your essay.

Basic Rules
• All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented
one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation.
• All authors' names should be inverted (i.e., last names should be provided first).
• Authors' first and middle names should be written as initials.
✓ For example, the reference entry for a source written by Jane Marie Smith would
begin with "Smith, J. M."
✓ If a middle name isn't available, just initialize the author's first name: "Smith,
J."
• Give the last name and first/middle initials for all authors of a particular work up to
and including 20 authors (this is a new rule, as APA 6 only required the first six
authors). Separate each author’s initials from the next author in the list with a
comma. Use an ampersand (&) before the last author’s name. If there are 21 or
more authors, use an ellipsis (but no ampersand) after the 19th author, and then
add the final author’s name.
• Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of
each work.
• For multiple articles by the same author, or authors listed in the same order, list
the entries in chronological order, from earliest to most recent.
• When referring to the titles of books, chapters, articles, reports, webpages, or other
sources, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of the title and subtitle, the
first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns.
o Note again that the titles of academic journals are subject to special rules.
• Italicize titles of longer works (e.g., books, edited collections, names of
newspapers, and so on).
• Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as
chapters in books or essays in edited collections.

Reference List: Author/Authors

Single Author
Last name first, followed by author initials.

Brown, E. (2013). Comedy and the feminine middlebrow novel.

Pickering & Chatto.

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

Two Authors
List by their last names and initials. Separate author names with a comma. Use the
ampersand instead of "and."

Soto, C. J., & John, O. P. (2017). The next big five inventory (BFI-2):
Developing and assessing a hierarchical model with 15 facets to
enhance bandwidth, fidelity, and predictive power. Journal of
Personality and Social Psychology, 113(1), 117-143.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000096

Three to Twenty Authors

List by last names and initials; commas separate author names, while the last
author name is preceded again by ampersand. This is derived somehow from APA 6th,
which only required listing the first six authors before an ellipsis and the final author's
name.

Nguyen, T., Carnevale, J. J., Scholer, A. A., Miele, D. B., & Fujita, K. (2019).
Metamotivational knowledge of the role of high-level and low-level construal
in goal-relevant task performance. Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 117(5), 879-899. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pspa0000166

More Than Twenty Authors

List by last names and initials; commas separate author names. After the first 19
authors’ names, use an ellipsis in place of the remaining author names. Then, end with
the final author's name (do not place an ampersand before it). There should be no more
than twenty names in the citation in total.

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

Pegion, K., Kirtman, B. P., Becker, E., Collins, D. C., LaJoie, E., Burgman, R.,
Bell, R., DelSole, R., Min, D., Zhu, Y., Li, W., Sinsky, E., Guan, H.,
Gottschalck, J., Metzger, E. J., Barton, N. P., Achuthavarier, D., Marshak, J.,
Koster, R., . . . Kim, H. (2019). The subseasonal experiment (SubX): A
multimodel subseasonal prediction experiment. Bulletin of the American
Meteorological Society, 100(10), 2043-2061. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-
18-0270.1

Group Author
Group authors can include corporations, government agencies, organizations, etc;
and a group may publish in coordination with individuals. Here, you simply treat the
publishing organization the same way you'd treat the author's name and format the rest
of the citation as normal. Be sure to give the full name of the group author in your
reference list, although abbreviations may be used in your text.
Entries in reference works ( e.g. dictionaries, thesauruses, and encyclopedias)
without credited authors are also considered works with group authors.

Merriam-Webster. (2008). Braggadocio. In Merriam-Webster’s Advanced

Learner’s English Dictionary. Merriam-Webster.

When a work has multiple layers of group authorship (e.g. The Office of the
Historian, which is a part of the Department of State, publishes something), list the most
specific agency as the author and the parent agency as the publisher.

Bureau of International Organization Affairs. (2018). U.S. contributions

to international organizations, 2017 [Annual report]. U.S. Department of
State.https://www.state.gov/u-s-contributions-to-international-organizations/

Unknown Author
When the work does not have an author move the title of the work to the beginning
of the references and follow with the date of publication. Only use “Anonymous ” if the
author is the work is signed “Anonymous.” This is a new addition to APA 7th edition.

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (2003). Merriam-Webster.

Two or More Works by the Same Author

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

Use the author's name for all entries and list the entries by the year (earliest comes
first). List references with no dates before references with dates.

Urcuioli, P. J. (n.d.).
Urcuioli, P. J. (2011).
Urcuioli, P. J. (2015).

When an author appears both as a sole author and, in another citation, as the first
author of a group, list the one-author entries first.

Agnew, C. R. (Ed.). (2014). Social influences on romantic relationships: Beyond the

dyad. Cambridge University Press.

Agnew, C. R., & South, S. C. (Eds.). (2014). Interpersonal relationships and health: Social
and clinical psychological mechanisms. Oxford University Press.

References that have the same first author and different second and/or third
authors are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the second author, or the last
name of the third if the first and second authors are the same.

Arriaga, X. B., Capezza, N. M., Reed, J. T., Wesselman, E. D., & Williams, K. D. (2014). With
partners like you, who needs strangers?: Ostracism involving a romantic partner.
Personal Relationships, 21(4), 557-569.

Arriaga, X. B., Kumashiro, M., Finkel, E. J., VanderDrift, L. E., & Luchies, L. B. (2014). Filling
the void: Bolstering attachment security in committed relationships. Social
Psychological and Personality Science, 5(4), 398-405.

Two or More Works by the Same Author in the Same Year

If you are using more than one reference by the same author—or the same group
of authors listed in the same order—published in the same year, first check to see if they
have more specific dates (this recommendation is new to APA 7). Works with only a year
should be listed before those with a more specific date. List specific dates
chronologically. If two works have the same publication date, organize them in the
reference list alphabetically by the title of the article or chapter.
If references with the same date are identified as parts of a series (e.g. Part 1 and
Part 2), list them in order of their place in the series. Then assign letter suffixes to the
year. Refer to these sources in your essay as they appear in your reference list, e.g.:
"Berndt (2004a) makes similar claims..."

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

Berndt, T. J. (2004a). Children’s friendships: Shifts over a half-century in

perspectives on their development and their effects. Merrill Palmer Quarterly,
50(3), 206-223.

Berndt, T. J. (2004b). Friendship and three A’s (aggression, adjustment,

and attachment). Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 88(1), 1-4.

Reference List: Articles in Periodicals

APA style dictates that authors are named with their last name followed by their
initials; publication year goes between parentheses, followed by a period. The title of the
article is in sentence-case, meaning only the first word and proper nouns in the title are
capitalized. The periodical title is run in title case, and is followed by the volume number
which, with the title, is also italicized. If a DOI has been assigned to the article that you
are using, you should include this after the page numbers for the article. If no DOI has
been assigned and you are accessing the periodical online, use the URL of the website
from which you are retrieving the periodical.

Author A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical,
volume number(issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy

Article in Print Journal

Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New Criterion, 15(3), 5–13.

Note: APA 7 advises writers to include a DOI (if available), even when using the
print source. The example above assumes no DOI is available.

Article in Electronic Journal

As noted above, when citing an article in an electronic journal, include a DOI if
one is associated with the article.

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

Baniya, S., & Weech, S. (2019). Data and experience design: Negotiating community-
oriented digital research with service-learning. Purdue Journal of Service-
Learning and International Engagement, 6(1), 11–16.
https://doi.org/10.5703/1288284316979

DOIs may not always be available. In these cases, use a URL. Many academic
journals provide stable URLs that function similarly to DOIs. These are preferable to
ordinary URLs copied and pasted from the browser's address bar.

Denny, H., Nordlof, J., & Salem, L. (2018). "Tell me exactly what it was that I was
doing that was so bad": Understanding the needs and expectations of working-
class students in writing centers. Writing Center Journal, 37(1), 67–98.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/26537363

Note that, in the example above, there is a quotation in the title of the article.
Ordinary titles lack quotation marks.

Article in a Magazine

Peterzell, J. (1990, April). Better late than never. Time, 135(17), 20–21.

Article in a Newspaper

Schultz, S. (2005, December). Calls made to strengthen state energy policies. The
Country Today, 1A, 2A.

Review

Baumeister, R. F. (1993). Exposing the self-knowledge myth [Review of the book

The self-knower: A hero under control, by R. A. Wicklund & M. Eckert].
Contemporary Psychology, 38(5), 466–467.

Reference List: Books

Basic Format for Books

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle.
Publisher Name.

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

Stoneman, R. (2008). Alexander the Great: A life in legend. Yale University Press.

Reference List: Other Print Sources

Dissertation Abstract
The 7th edition of the APA manual does not provide specific guidance on how to cite
dissertation abstracts. Therefore, this citation models that of a journal article, which is
similar in format.
Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of dissertation. Dissertation Abstracts International,
Vol., Page.

Angeli, E. L. (2012). Networks of communication in emergency medical services.

Dissertation Abstracts International, 74, 03(E).

Dissertation or Master’s Thesis, Published

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of dissertation/thesis (Publication No.)

[Doctoral dissertation/Master’s thesis, Name of Institution Awarding the
Degree]. Database or Archive Name.

Angeli, E. L. (2012). Networks of communication in emergency medical services

(Publication No. 3544643) [Doctoral dissertation, Purdue University].
ProQuest Dissertations Publishing.

Note: If the dissertation or thesis is not published in a database, include the URL
of the site where the document is located.

Dissertation or Master’s Thesis, Unpublished

Lastname, F. M. (Year). Title of dissertation/thesis [Unpublished doctoral
dissertation/master’s thesis]. Name of Institution Awarding the Degree.

Samson, J. M. (2016). Human trafficking and globalization [Unpublished

doctoral dissertation]. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University.

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

Federal or State Statute

Name of Act, Public Law No. (Year). URL.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Publ. L. No. 111-148, 124
Stat. 119 (2010). https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-
111publ148/pdf/PLAW-111publ148.pdf

Report by a Government Agency or Other Organization

Organization Name. (Year). Title of report. URL.

United States Government Accountability Office. (2019). Performance and

accountability report: Fiscal year 2019.
https://www.gao.gov/assets/710/702715.pdf

Reference List: Electronic Sources

Webpage or Piece of Online Content
If the page names an individual author, cite their name first:
Lastname, F. M. (Year, Month Date). Title of page. Site name. URL

Price, D. (2018, March 23). Laziness does not exist. Medium.

https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01

If the resource was written by a group or organization, use the name of the
group/organization as the author. Additionally, if the author and site name are the same,
omit the site name from the citation.
Group name. (Year, Month Date). Title of page. Site name. URL

American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. (2019,

November 21). Justice served: Case closed for over 40 dogfighting
victims. https://www.aspca.org/news/justice-served-case-closed-
over-40-dogfighting-victims

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 LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

If the page's author is not listed, start with the title instead. Additionally, include a
retrieval date when the page's content is likely to change over time (like, for instance, if
you're citing a wiki that is publicly edited).

Title of page. (Year, Month Date). Site name. Retrieved Month Date, Year,
from URL

Tuscan white bean pasta. (2018, February 25). Budgetbytes. Retrieved March
18, 2020, from https://www.budgetbytes.com/tuscan-white-bean-pasta/

If the date of publication is not listed, use the abbreviation (n.d.).

Author or Group name. (n.d.). Title of page. Site name (if applicable). URL

National Alliance on Mental Illness. (n.d.). Mental health conditions.

https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Mental-Health-Conditions/

SUMMARY/KEYPOINTS:

✓ The review of related literature situates one’s study in the context of the available information or
resources related to the topic. The related literature directs the researcher to the formulation of
the research problem and the method that can be used in the study
✓ The best way to write a review of related literature is to construct a literature map that will
systematically outline and identify the different studies related to one’s topic.
✓ According to Creswell (2005), there are 5 steps in doing the literature review:
Identify the key terms, locate the literature, evaluate and select the literature,
organize the literature and write the literature.
✓ Citing references is an important process when writing the literature review. It allows the reader
of your research to have a more thorough examination of the studies cited. This also gives
credibility to the literature review and a safeguard against plagiarism.

References:
David, F. (2002). Understanding and Doing Research: A Handbook for Beginners.
Panorama, Printing.Inc.

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LESSON 5: Review of Related Literature and APA Citation

Pulmones, R. (2016). Quantitative Research. Phoenix Publishing House.

Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.). In-Text Citations: The Basics // Purdue Writing Lab.
Retrieved August 14, 2020, from
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and
_style_guide/in_text_citations_the_basics.html

Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.). In-Text Citations: Author/Authors // Purdue

Writing Lab. Retrieved August 14, 2020, from
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and
_style_guide/in_text_citations_author_authors.html

Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.). Reference List: Author/Authors // Purdue Writing Lab.
Retrieved August 14, 2020, from
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and
_style_guide/reference_list_author_authors.html

Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.). Reference List: Books // Purdue Writing Lab.
Retrieved August 14, 2020, from
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and
_style_guide/reference_list_books.html

Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.). Reference List: Other Print Sources // Purdue Writing
Lab. Retrieved August 14, 2020, from
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and
_style_guide/reference_list_other_print_sources.html

Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.). Reference List: Articles in Periodicals // Purdue

Writing Lab. Retrieved August 14, 2020, from
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and
_style_guide/reference_list_articles_in_periodicals.html

San Miguel, J.G. (2018). STEP by STEP Practical Research 2 for Senior High School.
San Sebastian College-Recoletos de Cavite.

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