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INFOST 310-001 Human Factors in Information Seeking and Use: APA

What is a citation?

A citation or reference is the information given in a bibliography or a database about a particular title, which often includes:

  • article title or chapter title
  • periodical title or book title
  • author(s) or editor(s)
  • place of publication
  • date of publication
  • publisher name
  • volume/issue (articles) or edition (books)
  • page range
  • medium of publication
  • electronic access (URL or DOI)
  • date accessed

Citations give credit to those whose ideas have contributed to your research and give your readers enough information to locate the sources you used. There are many ways to format citations. The style you choose depends on your field and the requirements set by your professor or publisher.

End-of-Text References (6th ed.)

Template

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of Publication). Title of article: Capital after colon. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), Page Range. URL or DOI

Examples

Print Article

Ellery, K. (2008). Undergraduate plagiarism: A pedagogical perspective. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 33(5), 507-516.

Online Article

Herbst-Damm, K. L., & Kulik, J. A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill patients. Health Psychology, 24, 225-229. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225

Template

Book

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of Publication). Title of book: Capital for subtitle. (Edition ed.). Place of Publication: Publisher Name.

Chapter in an edited book

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of Publication). Title of chapter. In A. A. Editor (Ed.). Title of book. (Page Range). Place of Publication: Publisher Name.

Examples

One author

Shields, C. J. (2006). Mockingbird: A portrait of Harper Lee. New York, NY: Henry Holt.

Multiple authors

Anson, C. M., Schwegler, R. A., & Muth, M. F. (2000). The Longman writer's companion. (4th ed). New York: Longman.

Chapter in an edited book

Smith, P. M. (2006). The diverse librarian. In E. Connor (Ed.). An introduction to reference services in academic libraries. (pp. 137-140). Binghampton, NY: Haworth Press.

In-Text References (7th ed.)

Any time a source is directly quoted or paraphrased it needs to be cited within the text, in addition to appearing in the list of references.

Direct Quote: You will need to include the author, year of publication, and page number of the quote.

  • Tilley (2001) describes the process of apprenticeship as "watching and learning, then coaching followed by hands-on practice" (p. 205).
  • She stated, "watching and learning, then coaching followed by hands-on practice" (Tilley, 2001, p. 205), is the best process for effective apprenticeship.

Paraphrasing: APA requires that, with paraphrasing, the author and year of publication be included in the in-text citation. The inclusion of the page number is not required but is encouraged.

  • Muddiman (1995) points out that with new emerging technologies there is a shift from knowledge to skills within librarianship.

Formatting Requirements

American Psychological Association style is often used in the social sciences. The reference list should begin on a new page. 

  • The list of works cited must be labeled "References" and appear at the top center of the page
  • The list of works cited must be alphabetical by author last name
  • All citations must be double spaced
  • The second line and all subsequent lines of a citation must be indented
  • Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle of an article or book
  • Capitalize all major words in journal titles