Using APA Yes, you can

APA – American Psychological Assn. Author’s last name and year Common in sciences and some social sciences too Much more common to paraphrase rather than direct quote Entire lecture adapted Hacker, 2007

Providing background Use facts and statistics to provide background or to support generalizations ….willows have shown a decline in growth and fitness due to heavier grazing from ek and deer (Hebblewhite et al., 1995)

Explaining terms or concepts Crawley (1997) defined the compensatory growth hypothesis as increased carbon allocation to growth resulting from herbivory, such that a medium amount of herbivory would stimulate more growth.

Supporting your claims Willows are a primary food source for beaver; thus, when there is a willow decline, beaver populations also fall (Nolet, 2005)

Leading authority to your argument Small streams contain diverse species of fish, invertebrates, and algae (Wigington et al., 2006; Meyer et al., 2007) and are critical for retaining and removing nitrogen (Peterson et al., 2001) et al. is short for et alias, which is Latin for “and friends”

Cite borrowed ideas Any facts or ideas that you read in another source should be cited Cite early and often to show evidence and give examples for your claims If you use the language directly, you MUST use quotation marks, or it is plagiarism In science, we generally avoid direct quotation unless the language itself is compelling

Signal phrases These phrases will introduce citations Davis (2008) noted that… Past tense is preferable to present perfect tense: so Davis (2008) claimed is better than Davis (2008) has claimed Avoid passive voice –It has been noted –Davis (2008) noted Use only last names, i.e. Kleier (2008) rather than Catherine Kleier (2008)

Signal phrases continued List of signal phrases is on page 424 of Hacker Includes: Asserted Claimed Compared Observed Reported Suggested Wrote

Documenting Sources References Crawley, M. J. (1997). Plant-herbivore dynamics. In M. J. Crawley (Ed.), Plant Ecology (pp ). Oxford, England: Blackwell Science, Ltd. Dorn, R. D., & J. L. Dorn. (1997). Rocky Mountain region willow identification field guide. Golden, CO: U.S. Forest Service Rocky Mountain Region Hebblewhite, M. White, C.A., Nietvelt, C. G., McKenzie, J. A., Hurd, T. E., Fryxell, J. M., Bayley, S. E., Paquet, P. C. (2005). Human activity mediates a trophic cascade caused by wolves. Ecology, 86, Kleier, C. C., Carello, C., Hoffa, A. (2006) Willow (Salix spp.) disturbance in a subalpine forest. Poster presented at the annual meeting of the Ecological Society of America, Memphis, TN. Nolet, B. A., Broftova, L., Heitkonig, I. M. A., Vorel, A., Kostkan, V. (2005). Slow growth of a translocated beaver population partly due to a climatic shift in food quality. Oikos, 111, Weber, W. A. (1976). Rocky Mountain Flora. Boulder, CO: Colorado Associated University Press.

For more assistance Check Hacker See the library’s handout on APA: outs.APAcitationstyle.pdf outs.APAcitationstyle.pdf APA style guide from the online writing lab (owl) at Purdue University: 560/01/ 560/01/ Ask a librarian!