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Documenting Sources in Chicago, APA, and MLA Styles: APA

Introduction

 

  

Introduction  

APA Style covers the aspects of scholarly writing most pertinent to writing in psychology, nursing, business, communications, engineering, and related fields. It specifically addresses the preparation of draft manuscripts being submitted for publication in a journal and the preparation of student papers being submitted for a course assignment.

APA Style uses the author-date citation system, in which a brief in-text citation directs readers to a full reference list entry. Each work cited in the text must appear in the reference list, and each work in the reference list must be cited in the text.

The latest edition of APA Style is the 7th edition. This guide reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual, i.e., the 7th edition of APA Style. 

APA stands for American Psychological Association.

Source: APA Style

In-text Citations

Use the last name only in in-text citations.

Narrative citation: Smith (2008) argued that …

                               Kessler (2003) found that among epidemiological samples…

Parenthetical citation: Earth’s climate has changed throughout history (Smith, 2008).

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

Two or More Works

When the parenthetical citation includes two or more works, order them in the same way they appear in the reference list—the author’s name, the year of publication—separated by a semi-colon. E.g.:

The average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see better than he can think (Kachru, 2005; Smith, 2008).

Works with Two Authors

In the signal phrase, use “and” in between the authors’ names. E.g.:
According to feminist researchers Raitt and Tate (1997), “It is no longer true to claim that women’s responses to the war have been ignored” (p. 2).

In parenthesis, use “&” between names
Some feminists researchers question that “women’s responses to the war have been ignored ” (Raitt & Tate, 1997, p. 2).

Works with Three or More Authors

“et al.” is used in the first in-text citation for works with three or more authors. E.g.:

Smith et al. (2006) maintained that….
(Harklau et al., 1993)

Basic In-Text Citation Styles

 

Source: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition

 

 

General Rules

  • Appear at the end of your paper; begin on a new page    separate from the text of the essay.
  •  References centered.
  •  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. Important
  •  Hanging indentation: All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half  inch from the left margin. (1+0.5 and 0.5 inch = 1.27 cm)
  •  List entries should be alphabetized by the last name of   the first author of each work.
  •  Double spaced. 

Book

Gardener, J. J. (2006). Villas and gardens of Rome (2nd ed.). Zed Books. 

Burns, L. (2002). Disruptive divas: Feminism, identity & popular music. Routledge.

Journal Article

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
Snavely, T., & Cooper, N. (1997). The information literacy debate. Journal of Academic Librarianship, 23(1), 9-14. http://www.journalofcitingcorrrectly.com
Book Article or Chapter
James, N. E. (1988). Two sides of paradise: The   Eden myth according to Kirk and Spock. In D.   Palumbo (Ed.)  (D. Palumbo & E. Jones (Eds.)),
  Spectrum of the fantastic (pp. 219-223). Greenwood.
Article in a Magazine
Mershon, D. H. (1998, November-December). Star trek on the brain: Alien minds, human minds. American Scientist, 86(6), 585.
Encyclopedia Article
Sturgeon, T. (1995). Science fiction. In T. L. Stanley (ed.), The encyclopedia Americana (Vol. 24, pp. 390-392). Grolier.
Translation
Steinberg, M. D. (2003). Voices of revolution, 1917.  (M. Schwartz, Trans.). Yale University Press. (Original work published 2001) 
Data Sets
United States Department of Housing and Urban  Development. (2008). Indiana income limits [Data file].   http://www.huduser.org/Datasets/IL/IL08/in_fy2008.pdf
For more examples, we can refer to the Publication Manual of American Psychological Association, 7th edition.

 

Authors

One author: Petty, R. E. (1994).

Two authors: Soto, C. J., & John, O. P. (2017).

Three to twenty authors: : Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., Harlow, T., & Bach, J. S. (1993). List all the 20 authors

More than twenty Authors: Miller, F. H., Choi, M. J., Angeli, L. L., Harland, A. A., Stamos, J. A., Thomas, S. T., . . . Rubin, L. H. (2009).
(List the first 19, Rubin is the final author, no ampersand before it)

Online Sources

APA Style - American Psychological Association

APA Style (7th Edition) - Purdue Online Writing Lab

APA Style - Excelsior College OWL

   

 

 

 

Introducing the Basics of Seventh Edition APA Style tutorial
(This tutorial is designed for writers who are new to APA Style.)

Source: American Psychological Association