APA CITATIONS

AND INTEGRATING RESOURCES

THE WRITING CENTER

 APA FORMAT
APA (American Psychological Association)
Format
• Some disciplines that use APA:
• Social Sciences:
• Psychology
• Sociology
• Linguistics
• Economics
• Criminology
• Business
• Nursing
 PARTICULARITIES OF APA STYLE

• Conveys credibility
• Cite your sources according to its guidelines.
• In-text citations (Author, Year, p.)
• References page

• Privileges efficiency
• Write concisely: say as much as you can in as few
words as possible.
• Ex. “Based on the fact that” should be reworded as
“because.”
• Ex. “Period of time” is more concisely worded “time.”
 THE BASICS

• All papers are double spaced in Times New Roman

12-point font with one inch margins all around.

• All papers should have a title page.

• For every parenthetical citation, there should be an

accompanying reference on the Reference page.
 FORMATTING: THE TITLE PAGE

• Running Head and Page

Number
• Only the first page will contain
the words “running head”
• Every subsequent page will
have the actual running head
(the title in capital letters)
• In order to have a different
cover page, select “different
first page” when creating
your header
• Title of the paper
• Your Name
• Sponsor/Association
 FORMATTING: THE ABSTRACT

• The abstract is a brief

(150-250 word)
description of what your
paper will address.

• Mention any keywords

that will appear
throughout your paper.
 FORMATTING: THE BODY

• Optional Heading Style

• Headings should be, for example,
Centered, Bolded, and Should Use Uppercase and
Lowercase

• Sub-headings should be, for example,

Flush Left, Bolded, and Should Use Uppercase and
Lowercase

• Essential In-text Citations

 WHY CITE SOURCES?

In research writing, document your sources, to…

• Make the style consistent for readers

• Give credit where credit is due

• Enhance credibility as a writer

• Avoid plagiarism
 WHEN SHOULD I CITE SOURCES?

When I borrow ideas from a source by….

• paraphrasing or summarizing parts of it

• lifting key words or phrases from it

• pulling statistics or facts from it, or

• using information in tables, graphs, or diagrams

If you’re unsure, cite the source!

 MECHANICS OF STYLE:
ITALICS OR QUOTATION MARKS

• Underline or italicize • Put in “quotations” the

when the work is title naming something
published on its own (or that is part of a larger
takes over two hours to work (or takes less than
read or watch): two hours to read or
• Book Title watch):
• Newspaper Title • “Book Chapter”
• Movie Title • “Newspaper article”
• Album Title • “Article in a journal”
• Magazine Title • “Short Story”
• “Song”
 IN-TEXT CITATIONS:
DIRECT QUOTES
• All APA in-text citations must somehow include the
following:
• Name of the author(s)
• Year of the publication
• Page or paragraph number

• In-text citation:
• Rumbaugh (1995) reported that "Kanzi's comprehension
of over 600 novel sentences of request was very
comparable to Alia's" (p. 722).

• Entry on the References page:

• Rumbaugh, D. (1995). Primate language and cognition:
Common ground. Social Research, 62, 711-730.
 IN-TEXT CITATIONS:
INDIRECT QUOTES
• Even if the information is not a direct quotation, you must
cite information, data, and findings that are not your own

• Must still include the name of the author(s) and the year of
publication

• Not necessary to include page numbers if stating the

theme or general idea of a whole article or study

• Example:
• Though feminist studies focus solely on women's
experiences, they err by collectively perpetuating the
masculine-centered impressions (Fussell, 1975).
 IN-TEXT CITATIONS:
TWO OR MORE AUTHORS

• When referring to two or more authors within your text,

write out the word and. For example,
• Research by Alton and Davies (1990) supported…

• For the parenthetical citation, use an ampersand (&)

instead of and. For example,
• …(Alton & Davies, 1990, p. 567).
 IN-TEXT CITATIONS:
MORE THAN TWO AUTHORS

• When referring to a study with three to five authors…

• Name all the authors the first time
• Use “et al.” all subsequent times
• …(Smith et al., 1994)

• When referring to a study with six or more authors…

• Use the first author’s name followed by “et al.”
• …(Dents et al., 1984)
 IN-TEXT CITATIONS:
UNKNOWN AUTHOR
When referring to a study whose author is unknown, give
as much information as you can.

• One Method
• Use the source’s full title in the signal phrase.
• Include the year of publication in parentheses
• According to “Indiana Joins Federal Accountability System”
(2008), …

• Alternative Method
• In parentheses, include the first word of the title and year of
publication.
• (“Indiana,” 2008)
 IN-TEXT CITATIONS:
ONLINE SOURCES

For online sources, follow similar format used for print

media:
• For indirect quotation
• (Butler, 2000)
• For direct quotation
• (Butler, 2000, p. 5)

For online sources that contain no page number, use

heading, paragraph number, or both:
• (Butler, 2000, para. 2)
• (Butler, 2000, “Labels Ended,” para. 2)
 IN-TEXT CITATIONS:
LONG QUOTES
When quoting 40 or more words, create block quotations
by…

• Indenting five spaces from left margin (or one-half inch)

• Typing the rest of the quotation on the new margin

• Double spacing throughout

• Omitting quotation marks

• Placing the parenthetical citation after the closing

punctuation mark
 IN-TEXT CITATIONS:
LONG QUOTES
Desmond (2000) described how Washoe tried signing to the other apes

when the Gardners returned her to an ape colony in Oklahoma:

One particularly memorable day, a snake spread terror through the

castaways on the ape island, and all but one fled in panic. This male sat

absorbed, staring intently at the serpent. Then Washoe was seen

running over signing to him "come, hurry up.” (p. 42)

This shows that Washoe truly understood the concept of sign language as a

means of communication.
 IN-TEXT CITATIONS:
SECONDARY SOURCES

• Sometimes, your source will cite someone else’s

work.

• When you want to use that secondhand

information, you must give credit to both sources.

• Use the phrase “as cited in.”

• Example: McClelland’s investigation (as cited in Toner, 1998)
found that chimps…
• This in-text citation means that you learned about
McClelland’s investigation indirectly, using Toner’s text.
 ALTERING A QUOTATION

• You may want to add information to provide extra

context or background for your quotation.

• This is fine as long as you don’t alter the meaning of the

quote.

• Use square brackets to denote what information you

add to the quotation.

• Example:
• Seyfarth (2001) noted that "Premack [a scientist at the
University of Pennsylvania] taught a seven-year-old
chimpanzee, Sarah, that the word for 'apple' was a small,
plastic triangle" (p. 13).
 ALTERING A QUOTATION

• You may want to omit unnecessary or extraneous

information from a quotation.

• Make sure that this omission will not alter the original
meaning of the text.

• Use an ellipsis to show where you’ve left out words from

the original text.

• Example:
• In a recent New York Times article, Eckholm (2004) argued that "a
4 year-old pygmy chimpanzee . . . has demonstrated what
scientists say are the most human-like linguistic skills ever
documented in another animal" (p. A1).
 REFERENCES PAGE: FORMATTING

• “References” centered at the

top of the page (no bolding or
italics)

• Authors listed in alphabetical

order by last name of the first
author in the study

• First line of the reference is flush

against left margin
• Its subsequent lines are indented
(hanging indent)

• Double-spaced throughout
 REFERENCING BOOKS

• Include the following information in this order:

1) Author Last Name, First Initial.
2) (Date of Publication).
3) Title and subtitle: Capitalize the first letter.
4) City, ST of Publication:
5) Publisher.

Example:

Highmore, B. (2001). Everyday life and cultural theory.

New York, NY: Routledge.

 REFERENCING ARTICLES

• For an article, include:

1) Author Last Name, First Initial.
2) (Date of Publication).
3) Title of article is not italicized and is without quotation marks.
4) Name of Periodical Capitalized and Italicized, volume(issue),
5) Page-Page.
6) DOI (doi:xx.xxxxxxxxxx) or http://url.com.

Example:

Hoxby, C. M. (2002). The power of peers. Education Next, 2(2), 57-

63.
 REFERENCING ONLINE SOURCES
• For a webpage, include:
1) Author Last Name, First Initial. or Organization.
2) (Date of Publication).
3) Title of document is written like this.
4) Retrieved from http://url.com.

Example:
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). Reference list: Electronic sources.

Retrieved from

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/ap

a_formatting_and_style_guide/reference_list_electronic_sources.

html.
 INTEGRATING SOURCES

• Why is it important to incorporate sources

effectively?
• It builds credibility with the reader.
• It provides the paper or argument with necessary
support that helps prove your thesis.
• It provides a factual basis for your argument.
• It demonstrates a certain level of effort and
scholarship from the writer.
STEPS TO INCORPORATING SOURCES

• Step 1: Understanding the source’s strengths and

limitations.
• Multi-step process:
• Read your assignment carefully so that you understand
what you are being asked to do.
• Select appropriate sources for your argument.
• Think about what role your sources will play in your
argument/assignment. (Ex: Does the source serve as an
authoritative voice in support of your claim?)
• Decide whether to summarize, paraphrase, or quote the
source.
STEPS TO INCORPORATING SOURCES

• Step 1: Continued
• Tips for choosing a source
• When selecting and using sources, do not forget that this
is your paper, not the source's paper.
• When selecting sources, do not merely read the abstract
and decide to use the source.
• Do not ignore a source because it disproves your
argument!
• Questions to ask when evaluating online sources
• Who wrote the source? Is the author listed, and if so, do
they have credibility problems?
STEPS TO INCORPORATING SOURCES

• Step 2: Integrating the source into your writing

• Framing:
• Framing a source is introducing the source in your own
words and giving a brief analysis.
• This gives the reader an idea of the purpose of the source
in your paper, and a transition from your ideas to the
support provided by the source.
• This should occur throughout the document, starting with
the topic sentence.
• Example: Mandelbum's historiography of Major League
Baseball can prove useful to the creation and
utilization of symbolic capital in the National Basketball
Association.
STEPS TO INCORPORATING SOURCES

• Step 2: Continued
• Signal Phrases:
• Signal Phrases are introductory clauses that signals to the
reader a shift in point of view from you to your source.
• They are like transitions for sources! Think of them like turn
signals for sources: they are marking when you want to
make a transition from the scholars’ viewpoints to your
own.
• Example Sentence: Celeste Jones notes the apparent
contradictions in the existing literature.
• Example Signal Phrases: Argues, Notes, Observes,
Acknowledges, Suggests. Addresses, Asserts, Believes,
Claims, Comments, Compares, Confirms, Contends,
Declares, Denies, Disputes, Emphasizes, Notes,
Observes, Refutes
STEPS TO INCORPORATING SOURCES

• Step 2: Continued
• Quoting and Paraphrasing:
• Quoting: Using or coping words from a source such as a
book, with acknowledgment of the source
• Paraphrasing: A restatement of a text or passage in
another form or other words, with acknowledgement of
the source
• Quoting or paraphrasing without citing the source is
plagiarism!
• Why paraphrase?
• It is better than quoting information from an
undistinguished passage.
• It helps you control the temptation to quote too much.
• The mental process required for successful
paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of
the original.
 PRACTICE

Create an in-text citation and a reference for the

following quote:
• “Both cities have…a documented movement of
middle-class residents to an ever-widening outer ring
of suburbs.” from page 47

Publication Information
• Authored by Setha M. Low
• Excerpted from an article entitled “The Edge and
the Center: Gated Communities and the Discourse
of Urban Fear” (pages 45-58)
• Published in 2001 in the 5th volume of American
Anthropologist
 ANSWERS

• In-text Citation
• “Both cities have…a documented movement of middle-
class residents to an ever-widening outer ring of suburbs”
(Low, 2001, p. 47)
Or
• According to Setha Low (2001), “[b]oth cities have…a
documented movement of middle-class residents to an
ever-widening outer ring of suburbs” (p. 47).
• Reference
• Low, S. M. (2001). The edge and the center: Gated

communities and the discourse of urban fear. American

Anthropologist, 5, 45-58.
 PRACTICE

Create an in-text citation and

reference for one of the sources in
your essay.
 HELPFUL RESOURCES

Purdue Owl
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

The Writing Center

(First floor of the duPont-Ball Library)
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