APA Documentation Rules and Examples

Rosie Dunlap B.A.,M.Ed.,ABD. Mercy College Health Care Administration

What is APA Documentation S y e a s ocu e a o Style?

More than 3000 styles of documenting research exist. exist APA (American Psychological Association) is one of the most common citation styles styles. APA Documentation, an author-date style, provides guidelines for crediting research sources and for writing papers for science and social science disciplines disciplines. APA also mandates ethical standards for research practices practices.

General Tip: Using Sources p g Use f U reference guides and manuals t id d l to make the process of doing APA in-text citations and R f it ti d References pages easier. i Have an APA manual that shows you how to document sources near by as you do your research and write your paper. Use research selectively. Connect it y your thesis. directly to y

Why Document Sources?

To build your knowledge and resource list of key researchers in y y your field To give authority to writing by showing that you have done your research To give proper credit to the originator when using their work or ideas to avoid plagiarism To verify and find the original source in order to pursue additional research To avoid a failing grade or a lawsuit due to p g plagiarism.

What is Plagiarism?
To plagiarize is to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as ones own without crediting d f th ) ith t diti the source. (Websters New Collegiate Dictionary) Intentional plagiarism occurs when a person deliberately copies, in whole or in part, the work of another writer without providing documentation Unintentional plagiarism occurs when a person does not understand the rules for borrowing material from other sources and therefore provides inadequate documentation Self-plagiarism occurs when you use a single p piece of y your work for more than one writing g assignment

Avoiding Plagiarism g g
In order to avoid plagiarizing, you must: 1) D Document your source t
in the passage of your writing where you use the material (parenthetical or in text in-text citation) in a References page at the end of your paper (full-text citation)

2) Refrain from se p ag a s ) e a o self-plagiarism. You ca , ou can, however, revisit research from your earlier writing and expand on another aspect of it.

You and Your Source: Key Point

Think of the research process as a relationship between you and your source. Information does not come from thin air but is provided to you by human beings. You have an ethical responsibility t Y h thi l ibilit to identify the author (or corporate author) of the th research and t evaluate it worth h d to l t its th before presenting it to your audience.

Documenting Full Text Citations

Name of Author(s) may be individual or corporate; the author i your authority t th th is th it Date published Title of book or title of journal article Source information for article (publication name, volume, issue, year, volume issue year page numbers) Publisher Place of publication URL with date retrieved (if relevant) ( ) Database (if relevant)

Rules for Documenting Sources g

Provide the source whenever you use y direct quotations (passages that you use in your essay exactly as they appear in your source) ) You must give proper credit to authors if you paraphrase their work. Paraphrasing is "a restatement of a text, passage, or work giving the meaning in another form form. Even when you summarize of key ideas or facts, facts you must give credit to the source source.

Your Words vs. Borrowed Words Best Practice

As a general rule, provide at least four to five lines of your writing for every line of reference material that you cite. Provide a lead where you note the authors credentials and the context of the research. Discuss your view on the significance of th Di i th i ifi f the research This is in addition to sections of the essa that essay are composed completely of your own thoughts and ideas ideas.

Documenting Research In-Text In Text Attribute your source in body of essay by leading into b l di i t quotes and research t d h information with a context and credentials, where necessary: d ti l h
According to Professor Atkinson (2001), a child psychologist who researches th hild h l i t h h the effects of media violence on children, Television Television violence causes desensitization to the pain and suffering of others (p 51) others (p. 51).

Points to remember - APA:

Key the information in your in-text citation in text to the full text citation in your References list. Set up your References list in alphabetical y y order, by the last name of your source. The heading, References, is centered at p page. the top of the p g Provide References at end of essay

Points to remember - APA:

If the author or title of the source is obvious from the body of your essay do essay, not repeat the information in the parentheses:
There are various ways to introduce a quotation (Trimble 2000 p 140) (Trimble, 2000, p. 140). Trimble (2000) describes various ways to introduce a quotation (p 140) (p. 140).

Note that date always follows the sources name in APA style style.

Points to remember - Titles

Italicize book titles in the body of essay using title case (all main words are p ) capitalized):
Gates of Excellence: On Reading and Writing

In the References list, italicize book titles, , , but use sentence case (first words of titles and subtitles and proper nouns are capitalized):
Gates of excellence: On reading and writing.

Points to remember - Titles

Italicize the names of periodicals, which are considered proper nouns both in the nouns, body of essay and in the References list g using title case:
Clinical Social Work Journal

Article titles use title case and are placed in double quotation marks in the text of the y y essay: Dysfunctional Families in America Omit quotation marks and use sentence case in References list:
Dysfunctional families in America

References
Begin the References list on a new page at the end of your paper. Double-space Double space the References list list. If entry is more than one line in length, use hanging i d t f h i indent form f subsequent li for b t lines. Separate each major element (author, title, publication information) with a period.

APA BOOKS
Single author In-text Citation: (Banting, 1995 p. 14) (B ti 1995, 14). References Entry Banting, P. (1995). Body, Inc.: A theory of translation. Winnipeg, translation Winnipeg CA: Turnstone Press.

APA BOOKS
Two authors or editors In-text Citation (Violato & Marini 1989 pp 130 137) Marini, 1989, pp. 130- 137). References Entry Violato, C., Marini, A. (Eds). (1989). Vi l t C & M i i A (Ed ) (1989) Child development: Readings for teachers. New York, NY: Thompson Southwestern.

APA BOOKS
An edition other than the first In-text Citation (Hacker, 2004, 132). (H k 2004 p. 132) References Entry Hacker, D. (2004). A Canadian writer's reference, reference 4th ed Scarborough: ed. Nelson.

APA ARTICLES
In a scholarly journal In-text Citation (Kortenaar, 1995, pp. 53 54) (K t 1995 53-54). References Entry Kortenaar, N. T. (1995). Midnight's children and the allegory of history history. Ariel, 26 (2), 41-62.

APA ARTICLES
In a magazine In-text Citation (Howard, 2003, p. 160). (Howard 2003 p 160) References Entry Howard, B (2003 A H d B. (2003, August 15) P t bl t 15). Portable computing: power without the pounds. PC Magazine, 12(8), 125-128, 152, 160-161.

APA WEB SOURCES

An article in an online journal In-text In text Citation (Steele-Carlin, 2002, para. 4).
NOTE: If page numbers arent provided paragraph aren t provided, numbers are used instead. The symbol is also acceptable.

References E t R f Entry Steele-Carlin, S. (2002). Take courses from the comfort of your own home! Education World World, 21 paras. Retrieved December 19, 2009, from <http://www.educationworld.com>. p

APA WEB SOURCES

A Web Page In-text In text Citation (Noe, 2007, para. 4). NOTE: P NOTE Paragraph numbers are used i place of h b d in l f page numbers. References Entry Noe, B. (2007, Winter). Six criteria for effective writing. L k id S h l ff ti iti LakesideSchool.org. 6 paras. Retrieved December 19, 2008, from http://www lakesideschool org/ http://www.lakesideschool.org/

Useful Websites
http://www.apastyle.org/styletips.html http://www apastyle org/styletips html
Official APA site offering helpful tips for writers

Interactive APA Full Text Citation Builder: http://citationmachine.net/

Useful template for learning to cite sources, though additional formatting is required

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