APA CITATION RESOURCES

1. Official APA Guidelines

· The APA Manual (7 Edition): Simplified guidelines are available on the second cover
th

page.
· The website: https://apastyle.apa.org/: More APA resources

2. Purdue OWL (Perdue Online Writing Lab)

· Main website: https://owl.purdue.edu/
· APA resources:
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_g
uide/general_format.html Purdue OWL categorizes major areas within the APA
guidelines and provides example for each citation style. This website is very good for
quick searches on APA.

3. Google
· Google it!: If you have any question about APA, simply Google with the keyword:
“APA style.” For example: “how to cite unpublished dissertation APA style.” Make sure
to use updated resources with the latest APA version.
· Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/): Once you locate a specific article on
Google Scholar, use the quotation mark (“) below the article’s description to find its APA
citation. Be sure to double check before copying the citation.

4. Software/Program
· Microsoft Word: APA citations are available on the “References” tab
· Other citation programs: Mendeley, Zotero, Refworks, Endnote…

5. Recite
· Website: https://reciteworks.com/
· “Recite checks that your in-text citations match the reference list at the end of your
work”

APA CITATION COMMON MISTAKES

1. Capitalize every word in the title in the reference list

· Capitalize only the first word (and proper nouns, initials, acronyms)
· Example:
 Correct: Quinn, R., & Nguyen, C. (2017). Immigrant youth organizing as civic
preparation. American Educational Research Journal, 54(5), 972-1005.

Incorrect: Quinn, R., & Nguyen, C. (2017). Immigrant Youth Organizing as

Civic Preparation. American Educational Research Journal, 54(5), 972-1005.

2. Incorrect narrative citation for two authors

· Use “and” in the narrative
· Example:
Correct: Smith and Brown (2020) discussed major equity issues in education

Incorrect: Smith & Brown (2020) discussed major equity issues in education

3. Incorrect citation for three or more authors

· Use “et al.” in both parenthetical citation and narrative citation
· Example:
Correct: Martin et al., 2020

Incorrect: Martin et. al. or Martin et. al

4. Forget to italicize the name of the journal/book and its volume in the reference list

Correct:

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.

Incorrect:

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.

5. Verb tense
APA prefers past tense in literature review (e.g., the author found, the study explored, this issue
was examined…). More detail:
https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/verb-tense