A word of caution...
The best sources of information for your research paper are going to be books (print or electronic, doesn't matter) from the library catalog and articles from the library databases. They have already been vetted for quality by researchers and librarians, AND the library's website has premade citations for you. If you have to cite your source from scratch, as in the case of a website or non-library book, we do not recommend using citation makers like EasyBib or Citation Machine. Use the guidelines provided below to build an accurate and useful citation. It's not as hard as it looks!
In-line Citations
In-line Citations
In-line or in-text citations in the body of your paper point the reader to specific sources listed on your Works Cited page. They usually include the author’s last name or title (if no author is given) and the year of publication. For more information on in-text citations, visit Owl at Purdue's page on In-Text Citations. There are two ways to cite the source in the text: using the author's name in the text as part of the narrative, and using the author's name in a parenthetical reference. See below.
Author's name in text
Smith (2010) states that while Type 2 diabetes is often found in older adults, more recently it is also being found in children.
Author's name in parenthetical reference
While Type 2 diabetes is often found in older adults, more recently it is also being found in children (Smith, 2010).
Remember: anything you cite in the text of your paper need to have a full citation on the reference list page.
APA Resources In Our Catalog
Publication Manual (OFFICIAL) 7th Edition of the American Psychological Association by
A WALL STREET JOURNAL, USA TODAY, AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER. The newest official release of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition includes four different formats--spiral-bound and tabbed, paperback, hardcover, and ebook, all of which are in full color. It is the official source for APA Style. With millions of copies sold worldwide in multiple languages, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition is the style manual of choice for writers, researchers, editors, students, and educators in the social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, nursing, communications, education, business, engineering, and other fields. Known for its authoritative, easy-to-use reference and citation system, the Publication Manual also offers guidance on choosing the headings, tables, figures, language, and tone that will result in powerful, concise, and elegant scholarly communication. It guides users through the scholarly writing process--from the ethics of authorship to reporting research through publication. The seventh edition is an indispensable resource for students and professionals to achieve excellence in writing and make an impact with their work. The seventh edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect best practices in scholarly writing and publishing. All formats are in full color, with a new tabbed spiral version Easy navigation, with topics divided into numbered sections to help users quickly location the information they need Resources for students on writing and formatting annotated bibliographies, response papers, and other paper types, guidelines on citing course materials, and guidance on writing clearly, precisely, and concisely Dedicated chapter for new users of APA Style covering paper elements and format, including sample papers for both professional authors and student writers New chapter on journal article reporting standards (JARS) that includes updates to reporting standards for quantitative research and the first-ever qualitative and mixed methods reporting standards in APA Style Updated chapter on bias-free language guidelines for writing about people with respect and inclusivity in areas including age, disability, gender, participation in research, racial and ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality Updated chapter on essential style guidelines for scholarly writing, including punctuation, italics, capitalization, abbreviations, and numbers More than 40 new sample tables and figures Expanded guidance on ethical writing and publishing practices, including how to ensure the appropriate level of citation, avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism, and navigate the publication process More than 100 new reference examples covering periodicals, books, audiovisual media, social media, webpages and websites, legal resources, and many other document types Guidelines that support accessibility for all users, including simplified reference, in-text citation, and heading formats as well as additional font options
Call Number: Reference Desk BF76.7 .P83 2020ISBN: 9781433832154Publication Date: 2019-10-01
Making an APA reference/citation (from scratch)
The following are the basic formulas for the most commonly used types of sources for students. For more detailed instructions or for a type of source not mentioned here, refer to Owl at Purdue's APA Citation Guide or the APA Style Website .
Citing a book or eBook
Formula:
Last Name, Initials. (Publication Year). Title of book (edition if exists). Publisher.
Example for book by one author:
Gleick, J. (1987). Chaos: Making a new science. Penguin.
Example for book by two:
Cook, P., & Ludwig, J. (2000). Gun violence : The real costs (Studies in crime and public policy). Oxford University Press.
Example for book up to 20 authors:
Choi, D., Gao, Z., & Jiang, W. (2020). Attention to global warming. Review of Financial Studies, 33(3), 1112 - 1145. https://doi-org/10.1093/rfs/hhz086
Example for books with 21 or more authors:
Pegion, K., Kirtman, B. P., Becker, E., Collins, D. C., LaJoie, E., Burgman, R., Bell, R., DelSole, R., Min, D., Zhu, Y., Li, W., Sinsky, E., Guan, H., Gottschalck, J., Metzger, E. J., Barton, N. P., Achuthavarier, D., Marshak, J., Koster, R., . . . Kim, H. (2019). The subseasonal experiment (SubX): A multimodel subseasonal prediction experiment. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 100(10), 2043-2061. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-18-0270.1
Citing a database article
This refers to an article in a magazine or scholarly journal. All articles in the library's databases fall into this category. Follow the same rules as the book citations for articles that have more than one author. If an article has no author, just leave that part out of the citation. (Do NOT put "anonymous" or "no author".)
Formula:
Author(s). (publication date). Title of article in sentence case.Title of Journal, Volume, (Issue)pages. DOI (if there is one)
Example:
Choi, D., Gao, Z., & Jiang, W. (2020). Attention to Global Warming. Review of Financial Studies, 33(3), 1112 - 1145. https://doi-org/10.1093/rfs/hhz086
In APA 7 you may list either a DOI or URL link at the end of your reference, but not both. If there is no DOI or the URL/ "permalink" is not freely accessible to your reader, then you do not need to anything after the page number. Also, it is no longer required to include database information, expect for special cases.
Citing a website
If the content of a website has no author, just leave that part out of the citation. (Do NOT put "anonymous" or "no author".) Remember some websites have group author. If the website has no date use n.d. in parentheses
Formula:
Author(s) name. (publication date). Title of page in sentence case. Title of website. URL.
Examples:
Edgington, T. (2020, January 31). Brexit: What is the transition period? BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-50838994
National Institute of Mental Health. (2018, July). Anxiety disorders. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml
Finding a citation using the library's resources
After you have located an article that you want to cite, click on the record for that article. Then look for the "Cite" option on the right side of the screen.
Once you have clicked on that "Cite" option, you should be on a screen with several options toward the top showing you different styles of citation (MLA, Chicago, etc.). Scroll down to find the one that says "APA."
Now copy and paste this citation into your document, or write it down in your notes, and you have a citation for that source. Be sure to double-check the formatting: make sure article names have no extra marks, the titles of books or journals are italicized, and author's last name is spelt out and that the title is in sentence case. If there is a DOI make sure it is included.
Removing text formatting from copy & paste
If you are copying and pasting a citation -- or a direct quote, or any other text, really -- you may notice that when you paste it into Microsoft Word or a Google Doc, it carries formatting with it, including background colors. There are several ways to avoid this:
- Before you paste, right click in the place you would like to paste the text. From the menu that comes up, click "Keep text only" in MS Word or "Paste without formatting" in Google Doc.
- If you have already pasted your text, highlight the text.
- In MS Word, go to the Styles part of the Home toolbar, then click on the bottom-most arrow on that window. Once you click on that, some new options should come up. Click "Clear formatting" to get rid of all the extra formatting from the web.
- In Google Doc, click on the Format tab, then go down the menu and click "Clear formatting" to get rid of any extra formatting.
