A Brief Guide to Citing
Sources in APA Style
Each
source
that you use in your paper must receive two types of
citations: an abbreviated in-text citation and a full
reference citation on the
last page of your paper.
The in-text citation is used each time you mention a source in the text of your paper. This abbreviated in-text citation refers to the full citation on your reference page at the end of your paper.
In-Text
Citations
First point: All in-text citations in APA
contain the same information: Author's last name + Year of
Publication. If there is no author listed, use a short
version of source's title in place of the author.
Second point: Whether you use an author’s
exact words (quotation) or translate
the same information into your own wording (summary
or paraphrase), you must provide an in-text
citation to the source you used.
|
In-Text
Citation for a Quotation
(Author’s Exact Words)
Original Text: (from
Rachel Adele, The Media Against Women,
2009) According to Adele (2009), "Deaths from colon cancer occur twice as often in women as in men, but the media have made it seem that breast cancer is the number one killer of women" (p. 12). |
Please note three things:
- A signal phrase such as "According to
..." or "Adele states, . . . " is used to introduce a
direct quote.
- The author’s last name together with
(2009) is an in-text citation and refers to the source
listed alphabetically on the last page of your paper.
Since the author's name ("Adele") is mentioned in the
sentence, it is not repeated inside the parentheses.
- A page number is used if
the information comes from a specific part of the
source. If the entire source is being referrred to,
there is no page number.
| In-Text
Citation for a Summary/Paraphrase (Your Own
Words) Original Text: (from Rachel Adele, The Media Against Women, 2009) “Deaths from colon cancer occur twice as often in women as in men, but the media have made it seem that breast cancer is the number one killer of women.” Your Wording in Your Paper: Although twice as many women die from colon cancer as men, the media choose to focus on breast cancer as the main threat to women (Adele, 2009, p. 12). |
Your
Source
is Not a Journal? Not a Problem
The example citations in the video above are for a
print journal. Increasingly, today's research papers
include more electronic sources than print ones. No
problem. For any in-text citation, use the same format:
(Author's Last Name + Year of Publication). If your source
does not list an author, use the source title in quote
marks in place of the author's last name. If the title is
more than five words, abbreviate it.
Last
Page References
Since you're using APA, the last page of your paper is
called References.
This word is plural (if you have more than one source), is
centered on the last page and boldfaced. This page lists
only the sources you used in your paper.
Citation machines automatically produce the format for in-text citations and entries on the References page. However, you must correctly identify the type of source (book, web site, magazine). After using any citation machine, be sure to check your citation for accuracy against the model formats listed at various web sites (see below).
Automatic
APA
Citations
CiteFast is one of
the best free pieces of software that automatically
formats sources for your references page and provides
in-text citations. CiteFast also allows students to
save sources and their annotations to the site.
Free university-based citation machines include:
CitationBuilder (NC State
University)
Knight Cite
(Calvin University)
(Note: If you use an article from the school’s online
library, you must choose “yes” to the question
“Was the resource found using a
database?”
A variety of web sites provide citation formats for the various types of sources you will encounter. Perhaps the best list of citation formats on the web is provided by UMUC's library: APA Citation Formats. The UMGC librarians are also available 24-7 to assist UMGC faculty and staff with citation-related questions: Ask/Chat with a Librarian.