APA

Referencing
System
Tunku Abdul Rahman University College

Compiled by

Dr Chook Ka Joo
Quality Assurance Department
Tunku Abdul Rahman University College

and

Mr Johnny Chin Fui Chung

School of Social Science and Humanities
Tunku Abdul Rahman University College

2013

For internal circulation only. © Tunku Abdul Rahman University College. All rights reserved.
 CONTENTS Page

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1

2.0 THE IMPORTANCE OF CITING REFERENCES 1

3.0 REFERENCING SYSTEM 1

4.0 THE APA REFERENCING SYSTEM 2

5.0 CITATION IN THE TEXT 2

6.0 THE REFERENCE LIST 6

7.0 EXAMPLES OF REFERENCING 9

REFERENCES

TAR University College APA Referencing System

 TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE

APA REFERENCING SYSTEM

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Referencing or citing means acknowledging the source of information and ideas

you have used in your assignments (e.g. essay, report, project, research paper,
etc.). This is a standard practice at all institutions of higher learning including
Tunku Abdul Rahman (TAR) University College.

This learning guide on American Psychological Association (APA) referencing

system was developed based on the following references:

 The American Psychological Association. (2008). APA Style.

 Curtin University Library. (2008). APA Referencing.
 Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2005). Research Methods for Business
Students.
 Purdue University. (2008). The OWL at Purdue.

2.0 THE IMPORTANCE OF CITING REFERENCES

The following are reasons why referencing is needed:

 to acknowledge debts to other writers

 to demonstrate the body/scope of knowledge upon which your research is
based on
 to enable all those who read your work to locate the sources easily

More importantly, by using appropriate references, you will show the breadth
and quality of your assignments and avoid plagiarism. For further details on
plagiarism, please refer to the TAR University College guide on Avoiding
Plagiarism.

3.0 REFERENCING SYSTEM

The two most common types of referencing systems used are:

i. Author-date system such as the Harvard referencing system, American

Psychological Association (APA) referencing system and Modern Language
Association (MLA) referencing system
ii. Numerical system such as the Chicago or Turabian, Vancouver and footnote.

TAR University College APA Referencing System 1

The referencing system used in TAR University College is the Harvard
referencing system for all of the Schools except the School of Social Science and
Humanities, which is using the APA referencing system.

4.0 THE APA REFERENCE SYSTEM

In the APA referencing system, cited publications are referred to as citation in the
text by giving the author’s family name and the year of publication, and the
details are listed in the reference list at the end of the text/work (see page 9 for
examples).

The process of citing references consists of two inter-related parts:

i. Citing - the way a writer refers from the text to the sources used in the
assignment.
ii. Referencing - the process of creating a reference list of each source a writer
has used in writing the assignment.

All statements, opinions, conclusion, etc. taken from another writer’s work
should be cited, whether the work is directly quoted, paraphrased or
summarised.

5.0 CITATION IN THE TEXT

When writing a piece of work, you will need to refer to materials written or
produced by others. This procedure is called citing or quoting references. The
system that you have used to cite the sources must be consistent and accurate to
enable readers to identify and locate the materials to which you have referred to.
The same set of rules should be followed every time you cite a reference.

When you cite references in the text of your assignment include:

 the author or editor’s family name (or organisation responsible) - do NOT

include given names or initials
 the year of publication
 page(s) of publication (if appropriate and where available)

5.1 In many cases, you just need to use the author’s family name and date.

For example:

Many factors are known to affect the success of students at the tertiary
education level (Saunders, 2005).

OR

TAR University College APA Referencing System 2

 Saunders (2003, p. 21) claims that there are many factors that are known to
affect the success of students at the tertiary education level.

In these two examples, the sentences summarise the main view expressed
in an article written by Saunders. Also note that the first example
highlights the information but the second example highlights or gives
prominence to the author of the article.

i. If the author’s name occurs naturally in the sentence, the year is given
in parentheses:

In a popular study, Harvey (2005) argued that we have to teach good

practices…

As Harvey (1992, p. 21) said, ‘good practices must be taught’ and so we…

ii. If the name does not occur naturally in the sentence, both name and
year are given in parentheses:

A more recent study (Stevens, 2002) has shown the way theory and
practical work interact…

Theory rises out of practice, and once validated, returns to direct or

explain the practice (Stevens, 2002).

5.2 There are cases when you need to include a page number in the
parentheses.

For example:

Ramli (2006, p. 7) showed that 63 percent of workers was found to be

affected by work-related stress.

You need to include the page number when you:

i. use a direct quote from an original source

ii. summarise an idea from a particular page
iii. include tables, figures, charts or illustrations from other sources in
your work

Use ‘p.’ when you are citing the information from a single page and ‘pp.’
when the information is cited from more than one page.

5.3 When there are four or more authors for a reference, you need to include
all their names in your first in-text citation of their work. When the same
source is cited again, use ‘et al.’ (which is Latin for ‘and the others’).

TAR University College APA Referencing System 3

 Saunders, Jones, Cooper and Steinmark (2006, p. 7) postulate that 54 percent
of the students do not use proper referencing system… As a result of this,
Saunders et al. (2006) listed a few major problems that students face in
doing project work.

The names of all the authors are listed in the reference list in the same
order they are listed in the original reference.

5.4 Personal communication such as interviews, telephone calls, video

conferencing and internet chat do not provide recoverable data; therefore,
they are not included in the reference list. Cite personal communication in
the text citation only. Provide initials as well as the family name (full name
for Asians) of the communicator and provide the exact date.

Many designers do not understand the needs of the young people according
to Toi (personal communication, April 19, 2007)

5.5 Additional Information

Quotations – As a rule, if the quote is less than a line, it may be included in

the body of the text in quotation marks.

Summaries or paraphrases – Give the citation where it occurs naturally or

at the end of the relevant piece of writing.

Tables, charts, diagrams or illustrations – These should be referenced as

though they were a quotation if they have been taken from a published
work.

If details of particular parts of a document are required, e.g. page numbers,

they should be given after the year within the parentheses.

Rules for citation in text for printed documents also apply to electronic
documents except where pagination is absent. If an electronic document
does not include pagination or an equivalent internal referencing system,
the extent of the item may be indicated in terms such as the total number
of lines, screens, etc., e.g. “[21 lines]” or “[approx 8 screens]”.

TAR University College APA Referencing System 4

5.6 Writing convention

The following conventions are not prescribed by national or international

standards but have been included because they are usually adhered to by
the academic community.

If you are quoting a few words, the usual practice is as follows:

Example A:

Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2003, p. 93) argued that grounded theory is
best defined as ‘theory building’ compared to the assertion of Glaser and
Strauss (1967) of inductive approach to research.

Example B:

Robson (2002, p. 178) defines case study as ‘a strategy for doing research
which involves an empirical investigation of a particular contemporary
phenomenon [current issues] …using multiple sources of evidence.’

The quotation forms part of your text and is indicated by enclosing it using
either single apostrophe ‘ ’ or double apostrophe “ ”.

 The … indicates word or words from the original source have been left
out.
 Square brackets [ ] tell your reader you have added your own words to
the quotation.
 If you are quoting a longer quotation, it is a common practice for the
whole quotation to be indented:

“There is no doubt that Internet technology has changed and is

changing the way organizations do business. Using the
Internet, companies have, for instance, (1) created knowledge
bases that employees can tap into anytime, anywhere; (2)
turned customers into collaborated partners who design, test
and launch new products; (3) become virtually paperless in
specific tasks such as purchasing and filling expense reports;
(4) managed logistics in real time; and (5) changed the nature
of numerous work tasks throughout the organization …”
(Robbins & Coulter, 2005, p. 197)

TAR University College APA Referencing System 5

6.0 THE REFERENCE LIST

6.1 The reference list in the APA referencing system:

 is titled ‘References’
 is arranged alphabetically by author’s family name
 is a single list – books, journal articles and electronic sources are listed
together and not arranged in a separate list
 includes the full details of your citation in the text
 is NOT a bibliography – you do not need to produce a bibliography for
your assignments unless specifically asked to do so by your lecturer. A
bibliography lists everything you may have read but did NOT use it in
the course of doing the assignment while a reference list is limited to
the citation in the text references used in your assignment.

6.2 Steps involved in referencing

a. Note down the full details of the source including page number from
which the information is taken.

In the case of a book, the details included are author(s) of the book,
year, title, edition, place of publication and publisher as found on the
front and back of the title page.

In the case of a journal article, the details included are author(s) of

the article, date of publication, title of article, title of journal, volume
and issue number of journal and page numbers.

For all electronic information, in addition to the above, you should

note the date you accessed the information and database or website
address (URL).

b. Insert the citation at the appropriate place within the text of the
document.

c. Provide a reference list at the end of your assignment.

6.3 Whenever possible, elements needed for the reference list should be taken
from the title page of the publication.

 For place of publication, provide the city.

 If more than one town/city is listed, list the first one or the location of
the publisher’s head office.
 If the town is not well known, you may add a county, region or state.
Note that in the United States of America, states are denoted by a two-
letter code, for example ‘Hillsdale, NJ’.

TAR University College APA Referencing System 6

  For the publisher’s name, omit superfluous terms such as ‘Publishers’,
‘Co.’ or ‘Inc.’ but always retain the word ‘Books’ or ‘Press’.
 Where the publisher is a university and the place or the location is not
included in the name of the university, do not repeat the place of
publication.

6.4 Each reference should use the elements and punctuation given in the
following examples for the different types of work you may have cited.
Underlining is an acceptable alternative to italics when references are
handwritten.

6.5 The reference list is arranged alphabetically by authors’ family names.

When an item has no author (e.g. newspaper report, annual company
report, brochure), it is cited by its title and sequenced in the reference list
by the first significant word of the title.

6.6 The APA referencing system requires the second and subsequent lines of
the reference to be indented to highlight the alphabetical order.

6.7 Setting out the items in a Reference List using the APA referencing system

The main elements required for a reference are set out in this order:

6.7.1 Example of a book

The main elements required for referencing a book are set out in this
order:

Author’s family name, Initial(s). (Year). Title of book. Place of publication:

Publisher.
Author’s family name Year of publication in Title of the book in
followed by a comma, brackets followed by a italics followed by a full
then initial(s) followed full stop stop - upper case used
by a full stop only for the first word

Cameron, S. (2002). Business student’s handbook: Learning skills for study

and employment. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Publisher followed
Place of publication by a full stop
followed by a colon

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6.7.2 Example of an academic journal

The main elements required for referencing a journal article are set out in
this order:

Author’s family name, Initial(s). (Year). Title of article. Title of journal.

volume number (issue number), page number.

Author’s family name Year of publication in Title of the article – upper

followed by a comma, then brackets followed by a case for the first word only
initial(s) followed by a full full stop followed by a full stop
stop

Bilosvalavo, R., & Lynn, M. (2006). Mission statements in Slovene

enterprises: Institutional pressures and contextual adaptation.
Management Decision, 45(4), 773-788.

Title of the journal Volume Issue number in Page number of the

in italics followed number of bracket followed article followed by a
by a comma the journal by a comma full stop at the end

6.7.3 Example of an electronic publication

The main elements required for referencing an electronic publication are

set out in this order:

Author’s family name, Initial(s). (Year). Title of document or website. Date

retrieved, from full URL address

Author’s family name Year of publication in a Title of the article in italics,

followed by a comma, bracket followed by a followed by a full stop –
then initial(s) followed full stop upper case used for first
by a full stop word

Potter, J. (2005). The big five personality test. Retrieved July 11, 2007, from
http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive

The URL address is given Date the document is

in full without a full stop retrieved followed by a
at the end comma

TAR University College APA Referencing System 8

 7.0 EXAMPLES OF REFERENCING

7.1 Books

Basic format for books:

Author’s family name, Initial(s). (Year). Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher.

Books An example of citation in the text The entry in the reference list

Single author A key factor in good exam Cameron, S. (2002). Business student’s handbook: Learning skills for
technique… (Cameron, 2002, p. 158) study and employment. Harlow: Prentice Hall.

Khoo (1977, p. 45) argues that… Khoo, K. K. (1977). The western Malay states. Kuala Lumpur: Oxford
University Press.

Two or three According to Kim and Mauborgne Kim, W. C., & Mauborgne, R. (2005). Blue ocean strategy: How to create
authors (2005), … uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant.
Boston: Harvard Business School.

Guelich, S., Gundavaram, S., & Birznieks, G. (2000). CGI programming

with pel. Cambridge: O’Reilly.

Four or more As suggested by Sandler et al. (1995, Sandler, M. P., Patton, J. A., Coleman, R. E., Gottschalk, A., Wackers, F. J.,
authors p. 14) … & Hoffere, P. B. (1995). Diagnostic nuclear medicine. Baltimore:
Williams & Wilkins.

The industry… (Leeders et al., 1996) Leeders, S. R., Dobson, A. J., Gibbers, R. W., Patel, N. K., Mathews, P. S.,
Williams, A., & Marriot, D. L. (1996). The Australian film industry.
Adelaide: Dominion.

TAR University College APA Referencing System 9

 Books An example of citation in the text The entry in the reference list

Book with no As shown in Networking Essential Networking essential plus. (2000). (3rd ed.). Redmond: Microsoft Press.
author Plus (2000), …

Book with no This has been emphasized by Seah Seah, R. (n.d.). Micro-computer applications. Redmond: Microsoft Press.
date (n.d.) when…

Electronic book Gottshalk and Solli-sather (2006) Gottschalk, P., & Solli-saether, H. (2006). Managing successful IT
contend that… outsourcing relationship. Retrieved July 30, 2007, from http://site.
elibrary.com/lib/tarc/document/display.jsp?docID=1008436&page
=1

Translated book Popularity of the novel ‘Les Enfants Cocteau, J. (1961). Les enfantrs terribles (R. Lehmann, Trans). London:
Terribles’ increased after Penguin.
Translation (Cocteau, 1961)

Second edition …Michael (ed., 2001) question Michael, F. (Ed.). (2001). Time management. Singapore: Century
or later edition of whether Learning.
a book

…Walpole and Evans (eds, 2001) Walpole, M., & Evans, C. (Eds). (2001). Tax administration in the 21st
question whether century. St Leonards, New South Wales: Prospect Media.

Edited book – The instrument must… (Jones Jones Instrument Technology. (1985). Mechanical measurement.
editor’s work not Instrument Technology, 1985). London: Butterworth.
paramount

One volume of a It has been implied (Reusch, 1980) Reusch, J. (1980). Communication and psychiatry. In H. I. Kaplan, A. M.
multi-volume set that… Freedman, & B. J. Sadock (Eds). Comprehensive textbook of
of books psychiatry: Vol.1. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins.

TAR University College APA Referencing System 10

 Books An example of citation in the text The entry in the reference list

Chapter in an Ezhar (2001) notes that… Ezhar, T. (2001). Working with foreigners. In Asma Abdullah & A. Low
edited book (Eds.). Understanding Malaysian workforce (pp. 179-196). Kuala
Lumpur: Malaysian Institute of Management.

Encyclopaedia or Collins Cobuild English Dictionary No entry is required in the reference list because you have the name
dictionary - with (1995) defines ethics as … and date of the dictionary as an in-text citation.
no author

Encyclopaedia or Hawkins (1997, p. 128) defines Hawkins, J. G. (Ed.). (1995). Kamus dwibahasa Oxford Fajar. (2nd ed.).
dictionary - with ethics as … Kuala Lumpur: Fajar Bakti.
author

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 7.2 Journal articles

Basic format for journal articles:

Author’s family name, Initial(s). (Year). Title of article. Title of journal, Volume no. (Issue no.), Page no.

Journal An example of citation in the text The entry in the reference list

Single author Ho (2007, p. 2) argues that… Ho, S. (2007). Knowledge sharing - a fear factor. Malaysian Management
Review, 42(2), 1-22.

Two or three Bilosvalavo and Lynn (2006, p. 774) Bilosvalavo, R., & Lynn, M. (2006). Mission statements in Slovene
authors acknowledge… enterprises: Institutional pressures and contextual adaptation.
Management Decision, 45(4), 773-788.

The impact of IT… (Li & Clifford, Li, G., & Clifford, N. (2007). When a talking computer agent is half
2007, p. 163). human and half humanoid. Human Communication Research, 33(2),
163-193.

More than four 2nd citation onwards George, B., Sims, P., Mclean, A. N., & Mayer, D. (2007). Discovering your
authors George et al. (2007) claim that … authentic leadership. Harvard Business Review, 85(2), 129-138.

Journal article It is a growing problem in the UK Anorexia nervosa. (1969). British Medical Journal, 10(2), 529-536.
with no author (“Anorexia Nervosa,” p. 530)…

Journal article …and this has been established by Eisend, M., & Schucherta, P. (2006). Explaining counterfeit purchases: A
from an Eisend and Schucherta (2006). review and preview. Academy of Marketing Service, 2006(2).
electronic Retrieved July 31, 2007, from
journal using http://www.amsreview.org/articles/ eisend12-2006pdf
electronic
database

TAR University College APA Referencing System 12

 7.3 Electronic publications

Basic format for electronic publications:

Author’s family name, Initial(s). (Year). Title of document or website, Date retrieved, from full URL address

Electronic
An example of citation in the text The entry in the reference list
publications

A World Wide The result of the test can… (Potter, Potter, J. (2005). The big five personality test. Retrieved July 11, 2007,
Web site 2005). from http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive

Document on Harvard referencing is a format of … Wikipedia. (2007). Harvard referencing. Retrieved July 23, 2007, from
World Wide Web (Wikipedia, 2007). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/harvard_referencing
with no author

Electronic book Holland (2004) maintains that… Holland, M. (2004). Guide to citing internet sources. Poole:
Bournemouth University. Retrieved July 10, 2007, from
http://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/library/using/guide_to_citing_int
ernet_source.html

Electronic thesis Crain (2000) postulates that… Crain, J. (2000). The effects of a formal induction program on newly
hired teachers’ perceptions on self-efficacy. PhD Thesis. University
of Kansas. Retrieved July 30, 2007, from UMI Proquest Dissertation
ATT990068.

Media releases Ong (2007) notes that sustainable Ong, K. T. (Minister of Housing and Local Government). (2007, June 16).
on the World living… Sustainable living in Malaysia. [Media release]. Kuala Lumpur:
Wide Web Ministry of Housing and Local Government. Retrieved July 30,
2007, from http://aplikasi.kpkt.gov.my/ucapan.nsf

Discussion lists Marsh (2007) postulates that… Marsh, A. (2007, July 30). What are these? Message posted to Google
Recreational Gardens list server, archived at
TAR University College APA Referencing System 13
 Electronic
An example of citation in the text The entry in the reference list
publications
or newsgroups http://groups.google.com/
group/rec.gardens/browse_thread/thread/e0ec899d3facbe61/29
56944565b8e75c#2956944565b8e75c

Email Amir (2007) confirmed this by email Personal communications such as conversations, letters and personal
on 1 July 2007… email messages are not included in a reference list.

Computer A programme was developed … MathWorks. (2001). MATLAB. (Version 6) [Computer programs].
programme (MathWorks, 2001). Natick, MA: The MathWorks Inc.

TAR University College APA Referencing System 14

7.4 Special publications and materials

Basic format:
Author’s family name, Initial(s). (Year). Title of item. Description of item. Place of publication: Publisher.

Special
publications and An example of citation in the text The entry in the reference list
materials

Conference paper It has been shown (Chang, 2003) that…
Chang (2003) contends that…
Chang, C. C. (2003, July 21-26). Malaysia’s outline perspective
plan towards prosperity in the trend of globalisation.
Paper presented at the Seventh World Chinese
Entrepreneurs Convention, Sunway Resort, Petaling Jaya.
Kuala Lumpur: The Associated Chinese Chambers of
Commerce and Industry of Malaysia.

Newspaper article As Fernandez (2007) notes in his articles, Fernandez, T. (2007, July 31). I didn’t make any threats:
with author … Kayveas. The Sun, p. 2.

Newspaper article (“Master Plan Boost for Northern Master plan boost for northern corridor. (2007, July 31). The
with no author Corridor,” 2007) Sun, p. 3.

Publication from a The plans include… (UNESCO, 1995). UNESCO. (1995). General information programme and
corporate body UNISIST. Paris: UNESCO.

Genting Berhad. (2007). Genting Berhad annual report 2006.

Kuala Lumpur: Genting Berhad.

Government The strategic approaches include… Ministry of Agriculture. (1998). The third national agriculture
article (Third National Agriculture Policy, 1998). policy. Kuala Lumpur: Ministry of Agriculture.

TAR University College APA Referencing System 15

 Special
publications and An example of citation in the text The entry in the reference list
materials

Patent Tadayuki, Kazuhsia and Atushi (1999) Tadayuki, O., Kazuhsia, Y., & Atsushi, N. (1999). Hard butter
show that… composition and its production. Japanese Patent 99-
78710.

Azlan Aziz. (1997). Methods and apparatus for a key

management scheme for internet protocols. United States
Patent Application 68-438.

Video or The process involves three stages… (Grey, Grey, M. (Producer). (1987). Mild steel with low current.
television 1987). [Video recording]. Cambridge: Welding Institute.
recording

Pamphlet or TAR College’s philosophy is… (TAR Tunku Abdul Rahman College. (2007). TAR College Prospectus
brochure College Prospectus, 2007). 2007/2008. [Prospectus]. Kuala Lumpur: Tunku Abdul
Rahman College.

Audio cassette The original broadcast (Leo, 1999) in Leo, M. (Speaker). (1999). War of the worlds. [Audio CD].
1938 is said to have caused mass panic London: Mercury Theatre.
amongst listeners.

CD ROMs and Hawkings (1994) states that… Hawking, S.W. (1994). A brief history of time: An interactive
DVDs adventure. [CD-ROM]. Seattle, WA: Crunch Media.

Standard The standards set by SIRIM (2003) states SIRIM. (2003). Code of practices for access of disabled persons
that… outside buildings (MS13311:2003). Shah Alam: SIRIM
Berhad.

TAR University College APA Referencing System 16

 Special
publications and An example of citation in the text The entry in the reference list
materials

Personal It has been confirmed by Seow (personal Personal communications such as conversations, letters and
communication communication, July 10, 2007) that this personal email messages are not included in a reference list
practice… is widespread. as they cannot be traced by the reader.

Thesis Lee (1995) recommends that … Lee, C. W. (1995). Characteristics of rubber products for
mining applications. Unpublished final year advanced
diploma project. Tunku Abdul Rahman College.

Document on Ball, Lee, Phan and Ra (2001) suggest that Ball, K., Lee, Y.H., Phan, O., & Ra, Y. S. (2001). Adult retraining
microfiche … and reskilling in Australia and South Korea. [Microfiche].
(ERIC Document No. ED451368).

Acts of Parliament The Service Tax (Amendments) (2000) Service Tax (Amendments). (2002).
states that …

Industrial Relations Act. (1967).

TAR University College APA Referencing System 17

7.5 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are some of the FAQs on referencing.

Question 1
If I read a book or a journal article by one author (Author 1) and he
mentions an idea by another author (Author 2), whose idea do I refer
to? How do I reference that?

You must mention both authors (Author 1 and Author 2) in your in-text
citations; and in your reference list, you only need to list the item you have
read, that is Author 1.

For example, if you read about an idea by Lim (Author 2) in a book by

Saunders (Author 1), you need to mention both the authors in your in-text
citations. Your in-text citations would appear as:

Lim (Saunders, 2003, p. 71) states that… or

Lim’s study (cited in Saunders, 2003, p. 71) indicates that… or
Saunders (2003, p. 71), in reporting Lim’s study, emphasized the aspect…

In the reference list, you list only Saunders’ (the source you read) and not
Lim’s (whose idea you only read about in Saunders’).

Question 2
How do I cite the authors’ names if they have the same family name in
the reference list? How do I show in my in-text reference which idea
belongs to which author?

You distinguish between the two authors in your assignment by adding

their initials to the in-text reference (which usually only has the family
name and date).

For example:

The theory was first suggested in 1970 (Johnson, H. T., 1971) but since
then, many researchers, including D. E. Johnson (2001), have rejected the
idea.

Question 3
How do I cite an author who has written more than one work in the
same year? How do I show which idea comes from which reference?

You put a lower case letter of the alphabet next to the year or date and
keep these letters in your reference list as well.

TAR University College APA Referencing System 18

For example:

In a recent publication, Bart (2004b) argued that mission statements of

most organization are underutilised and most organization had jumped
on the bandwagon of creating mission statements without knowing the
true purpose of the statement (Bart, 2004a).

The order of sequence in which you attach the letters is based on the
alphabetical order of the title of the work by the author.

Question 4
How do I cite information from my lectures, tutorials or study guides?

You do NOT cite your lectures, tutorials or study guides as sources unless
your lecturer has particularly said this is acceptable. This is because
lectures, tutorials and study guides are intended to give you an
introduction to a topic. In assignments where you undertake research, you
are expected to read widely and identify for yourself the main ideas that
are relevant from various sources. In addition, oral communication is not
generally referenced. Your lecturers and tutors do not reference their
comments. If you cite them as your source of an idea, it could be
inaccurate, possibly even plagiarism, because the lecturers might be
referring to someone else’s idea, not one of their own.

Question 5
What if I cannot find the author or a date in a website?

 When there is no name on a webpage, look for a sponsoring body like

an organisation or a government department responsible for the
information.
 Where there is no sponsoring body, use the title of the article or
document on the screen as the ‘author’.
 Where there is no date, use ‘n.d.’ (no date).

If a resource has no author and no date, you need to consider whether it is

a suitable source for academic work, as your work will suffer from lack of
credibility.

Question 6
How do I reference a graph or a figure that I copy or adapt?

A basic principle of APA referencing system is providing the author and

date as an in-text reference. This also applies when you use other people’s
pictures, graphs or figures. You also need to make it clear if you have
adapted the picture or graph for your own purposes.

TAR University College APA Referencing System 19

For example:

The Process

(AACSB, 2006, p. 6)

Question 7
How do I cite Malaysian or Asian names?

You will need to be aware of the various ways to cite Asian names. For
Chinese and Japanese names, use the writers’ family names when you are
citing them in your text. As for your reference list, put the writers’ family
names first followed by their initials.

For example:

Full name In-text Reference List

citation
Chinese Name Sheng (2003) Sheng, Y. L. (2003). The Chinese
Sheng Ye Lin dilemma. New South Wales: East
West Ltd.

Japanese Kimbara Kimbara, T. (2007). The digital

Name (2007) collapse. London: Penguin.
Tatsyo
Kimbara

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However, for Malay and Indian names, use the writers’ full names in both
the in-text citation and reference list.

For example:

Full name In-text Reference List

citation
Malay Name Mahathir Mahathir Mohammad. (1982). The
Mahathir Mohammad Malay dilemma. Petaling Jaya:
Mohammad (1982) Federal Publications.

Indian Name Bala Bala Ramasamy. (2003). FDI and

Bala Ramasamy uncertainty: The Malaysian case
Ramasamy (2004) study. Journal of Asia Pacific
Economy, 20(2). 75-79.

For names of other Asian writers such as Thai names, Cambodian names,
etc., you need to find out how other writers within your academic world
cite these names. Always refer to current journals or publications to see
how these Asian names are cited. If you are still unsure about this, refer to
various referencing guides which are available online.

Question 8

In the reference list, do I separate the various sources of references

that I have used in my in-text citations?

All references that you have referred to in your assignment or project

should be arranged in alphabetical order in one list with NO separation of
the sources into categories like books, journals, etc.

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 REFERENCES

Curtin University Library. (2008). APA referencing. Retrieved July 4, 2007, from
http://library.curtin.edu.au/referencing/apa.pdf

Saunders, M., Lewis, P., & Thornhill, A. (2005). Research methods for business
students. (3rd ed.). Harlow: Prentice Hall.

University of Purdue. (2008). APA formatting and style guide. Retrieved May 8,
2008, from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

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