APA :

Citations & Reference Page

Formatting
 What is APA?
 American Psychological Association is the most
commonly used format for manuscripts in the Social
Sciences.
 APA regulates
 Style
 In text Citations
 References
 A list of all sources used
 When is APA Style used?
 Term Papers
 Research Reports
 Empirical Studies
 Literature Reviews
 Theoretical Articles
 Methodological Articles
 Case Studies
 Text Citations
 Information from sources must be cited. This acknowledges
the author’s work, and allows the reader to access the
information in the References section of your paper
 Follow the (author, date) method of in-text citation. If no
date is available, write (n.d.) in place of the date
 The author's last name and the year of publication for the
source should appear in the text, for example (Jones, 1998).
 Text Citations
Three types of text citations:
1. Paraphrase (summary)
2. Short Quote = less than 40
words
3. Long Quote= more than 40
words
 Text Citations
Three key points in APA citations
1. Use author, date format whenever possible.
2. If the source is quoted, you MUST include
the page or paragraph number.
3. If author’s name is not available, use the
title of the document in place of the
author’s name
 In-text Citations: Paraphrase
 A paraphrase is material from a
source which has been summarized in
your own words.
 All paraphrases must be cited, using
the author’s last name and year of
publication.
 No page number is required.
 Paraphrase : Example
 If the author’s name is a part of the sentence structure,
the year follows the author’s names in parenthesis.
Quotation marks are not included.
 Example:
 Berk (2007) Author’s
found that children begin to play
last name, year of publication

organized games with rules, once they reach

school-age.
 Paraphrase : Example
 When the author’s name is not part of the sentence structure
(parenthetical citation), the author’s name and year of
publication are included at the end of the citation, in
parenthesis. Quotation marks are not included.
 Example:
 Studies conducted found that children begin to
use organized play and games with rules at
school-age (Berk, 2007).
Author’s last name, year of publication
 In-text Citations: What to include in the parentheses?
 If the author’s name is part of the sentence, place only the year of
publication in parentheses.
 Example:
Berk (2007) found that children begin to play organized games with
rules, once they reach school-age.
 When the author’s name is not part of the sentence, place both the name
and the year, separated by a comma, in parentheses
 Example:
Studies conducted found that children begin to use organized play and
games with rules at school-age (Berk, 2007).
 In-text Citations: Short Quote
 A direct quote is information included in a
paper, which is taken directly from the source.
 Short quotes = less than 40 words
 Enclosed within quotation marks
 Cited using the author’s last name, year of
publication, and page number (or
paragraph number, if page number is not
available.)
 Short Quote (< 40 words) Examples
 “Reading makes use of many skills at once,
taxing all aspects of our information-processing
systems” (Berk, 2007, p. 306).
 Research has shown that “mathematics teaching
in elementary school builds on and greatly
enriches children’s informal knowledge of
number concepts and counting” (Berk, 2007, p.
307).
Author’s last name, year of publication, page number
 Long Quote (>40 words) Example
 Quotes over 40 words must be block formatted.
 Quotation marks are not used. The entire block quote is
indented five spaces, and double-spaced.
 Example: Notice: the
quote is block
Berk (2007) found the following to be true: formatted
(indented 5
We have seen that middle childhood brings major advances in perspective taking,
spaces), but
the capacity to imagine what other people may be thinking and feeling. quotation
These changes support self-self esteem, understanding of others, and a wide
marks are not
used
variety of social skills. (p. 336)
Citations Note: with 3 or more authors, after the first text
citation, only the first author is named. The remaining
authors are included as “et al.”
 In-text Citations: Electronic sources
 When citing an electronic document, whenever
possible, cite it in the author-date style.
 If electronic source lacks page numbers, locate and
identify paragraph number or paragraph heading
 Example:
Recent research has yielded similar results (Smith, 1997,
para. 6).

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/
 In-text Citations: Unknown author
 When the author’s name is designated as “Anonymous”
cite in text the word Anonymous followed by a comma
and the date.
 Example:
(Anonymous, 1998)
 In the Reference list, an anonymous work is alphabetized
by the word Anonymous as the author with the remaining
publication data
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/
 In-text Citations: Unknown author
 When a work has no identified author, cite the
title of the reference and the year. If it is a long
title, use the first few words
 Use quotation marks around the title of an article, a
chapter or a webpage
 Italicize the title of a journal, a book, a brochure or a
report.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/
 In-text Citations: Unknown author
 Examples
 Recent research reveals (“Six Sites Meet,” 2006)
significantly… Use the title of the article with the year in the citation when no
author is named.

 Full publication title is “Six sites meet for comprehensive anti-

gang initiative conference.” Notice the title was shortened for
the in text citation because the title was long
 The book College Bound Seniors (2008) asserts that…

Use the title of the book with the year in the citation when no author is
named.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/
 In-text Citations: Unknown author
 Because there is no author listed for these sources, use the
title in place of the author’s name in the citation and on
the References page, in alphabetical order.
 Examples
 Recent research reveals (“Six Sites Meet,” 2006)
significantly…
 The book College Bound Seniors (2008) asserts that…

On the Reference page, use the title in the place of the

author’s name. Place in alphabetical order.
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/
 Reference Page Format
 References cited throughout text are listed in
alphabetical order by author’s last name on a new
page following the text.
 Hanging indentation is used for all references.
 Entire reference page is double-spaced
 Center the title References at the top of the page
• Do not bold, underline, or use quotation marks
for the title. APA Sample Reference Page:
http://www.vanguard.edu/uploadedFiles/Psychology/references.pdf
 Reference Page Format
 APA reference format always follows this basic formula regardless of the type of
source.
 References Formula
Author(s) Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title, Publication Data.
 Author (s) last names, include ALL authors as they are listed
 Year of publication--if no date is available, write (n.d)
 Title of the book or title of the article
 Publication data = where do I locate the source material? For example: Book
publishing company information, full website address, journal name, newspaper
name, magazine name or include issue and page numbers for journals, newspapers
and magazines
 What’s on a Reference Page?
Examples of Sources
1. Journal article with DOI (Digital Object Identifier):
Murzynski, J., & Degelman, D. (1996). Body language
of women and judgments of vulnerability to sexual
assault. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 26,
1617-1626. doi:10.1111/j.1559- 1816.1996.tb00088.x
2. Journal article without DOI:
Koenig, H. G. (1990). Research on religion and mental
health in later life: A review and commentary. Journal of Geriatric
Psychiatry, 23, 23-53.
 What’s on a Reference Page?
Examples of Sources
3. Journal article without DOI, retrieved online
 [Note: For articles retrieved from databases, include the URL of
the journal home page. Database information is not needed. Do
not include the date of retrieval.]:
Aldridge, D. (1991). Spirituality, healing and medicine.
British Journal of General Practice, 41, 425-427.
Retrieved from
http://www.rcgp.org.uk/publications/bjgp.aspx
 What’s on a Reference Page?
Examples of Sources
4. Book:
Paloutzian, R. F. (1996). Invitation to the psychology of
religion (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
5. Informally published Web document:
Degelman, D. (2009). APA style essentials. Retrieved
from http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty
/ddegelman/detail.aspx?doc_id=796
 What’s on a Reference Page?
Examples of Sources
6. Informally published Web document (no date):
Nielsen, M. E. (n.d.). Notable people in psychology of
religion. Retrieved from
http://www.psywww.com/psyrelig/psyrelpr.htm
7. Informally published Web document (no author, no
date):
Gender and society. (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://www.trinity.edu/~mkearl/gender.html
 What’s on a Reference Page?
Examples of Sources
8. Abstract from secondary database:
Garrity, K., & Degelman, D. (1990). Effect of server
introduction on restaurant tipping. Journal of Applied
Social Psychology, 20, 168-172. Abstract retrieved from
PsycINFO database.
9. Article or chapter in an edited book:
Shea, J. D. (1992). Religion and sexual adjustment. In J. F.
Schumaker (Ed.), Religion and mental health (pp. 70-84).
New York: Oxford University Press.
 What’s on a Reference Page?
Examples of Sources
10.Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
Disorders:
American Psychiatric Association. (2000).
Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental
disorders (4th ed., text rev.). Washington, DC:
Author.
 References
American Psychological Association (2009). The Basics of APA style
tutorial. Retreived from http://www.apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/basics-tutorial.aspx

American Psychological Association (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed), Washington, DC:
Author

Berk, L. (2007). Development through the lifespan

(4th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Degelman, D. (2009). APA style essentials. Retrieved from

http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/d
etail.aspx?doc_id=796

Purdue Online Writing Lab (2010). Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/

Schor, E. (1995). Caring for your school-age child; ages 5-12. New
York: Bantam Books.
End of Discussion