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APA CITATION: (AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION)

• WHAT IS APA CITATION?

• HOW DO YOU USE THIS METHOD IN-TEXT?

• HOW DO YOU USE THIS METHOD IN THE REFERENCE LIST?

• WHAT IS APA (AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION) CITATION?

Formed approximately 70 years ago to help psychologists prepare their articles, the American Psychological Association's documentation is used for many types of scholarly writings. It is used particularly in the social sciences (psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science, economics, business, and education), literature and the humanities.

Some main points, according to Gerald P. Mulderig of The Heath Guide to Writing a Research Paper, include the following:

• In place of the author's first and middle names, use his/her initials.

• The date of publication should be placed within parentheses directly after the author's name. The other publication information comes after.

• Capitalize the first word of the title (of a book or periodical article), the first word of the subtitle and any names or proper nouns in the title--nothing more.

• The first line of each citation needs to be indented five spaces.

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Some sources suggest that the citation in the "reference list" may be typed according to the MLA spacing in which the first line begins at the far left and all subsequent lines are indented.

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• For the months of the year and the names of universities, these need to be spelled out completely--not abbreviated (in contrast to the MLA style).

• The page number is added only when a quotation is being used in the text. Otherwise, the page number is omitted. The abbreviations p. (page) and pp. (pages) are used with page numbers.

• HOW DO YOU USE THIS METHOD IN-TEXT?

APA Citation in the Text:

When you use material from a source, such as an idea, a quote, an expert opinion or a fact that is not common knowledge, you should acknowledge that source in the text. At the appropriate place in the text, give the author's name, followed by a comma, a space, and the year of publication.

Example:

The therapist's goals sometimes cannot be reached because of the complex and diverse wants and needs of the child and his family (Allen, 1985).

If you want to avoid monotony and make the text easier to read, you may occasionally include the author's name in the text an give only the year in parenthesis:

Example:

As Allen (1985) points out, the therapist' goals may conflict with the needs and wants of the patient and his family.

If you use a paraphrase of a specific sentence or an exact quote, also include the page number.

"Recovery, like the illness itself, has many facets" (Allen, 1985, p. 11).

In other words, a citation inside an APA documented paper boasts the quote with a parenthetical citation following with first the title, year, and then the page number: (The Heath Guide to Writing the Research Paper, 1995, p. 155) or (Author, Page Number) or only (Page numbers) in subsequent citations.

Title Page:

A title page is usually used with APA documentation. On 4 double-spaced lines centered on the title page, there should be the following information:

1. The paper's title with only the first letters of important words capitalized. The title should NOT be enclosed in quotation marks or be underlined.

2. Your full name.

3. The course for which the paper is being submitted, followed by a comma and your professor's full name.

4. The date you submitted the paper.

Summary or Abstract:

An abstract not numbering more than 120 words should "present the purpose or thesis of your paper, indicate the types of sources you investigated, and state the conclusions you arrived at."

The abstract should be labeled "Abstract" one inch from the top of the page and be typed double-spaced in block style (without usual paragraph indentation).

Text Pages:

Your text begins on page 3. Center your title one inch from the top of the page. Your first line of the paper should follow after you double-space from the title.

Reference List:

APA does not use a "Works Cited" list but rather a "Reference List" at the end of a paper. You must provide complete and accurate information so that your readers may find your sources. Follow the model attached to the back of this handout.

• HOW DO YOU USE THIS METHOD IN THE REFERENCE LIST?

Reference List Citation:

An APA reference list citation usually goes as follows:

Author Last Name, First And Middle Initials. (Year Of Publication). Title of published work (underlined). City of publication: Name of publishing house or company.

There are subtle differences between citations for various types of books, magazines, dissertations, government documents, interviews, proceedings of a conference, reports, films, audiotapes, unpublished lectures, charts, and so forth. Refer to a guide for the specific details of this.

Example:

Mulderig, G.P. (1995). The Heath guide to writing the research paper. (2nd Edition) Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company.

Sources:

Mulderig, Gerald P. The Heath Guide to Writing the Research Paper.

(2nd Edition). Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company. 1995.

Bentley, Judy.

(Revised 1998)