APA Style A Guide to Citing Sources First things first: What is a citation? APA citation style Why you need to cite your sources How to cite your sources References list In-text citations

First things first: What is a citation? A citation is a reference to a source used in a research project. Whenever you use another person’s ideas or words in a research paper, you must cite, or give credit, to that person. That’s called citing your source. Walker, S. (1994). Volcanoes: Earth’s inner fire. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda.

APA citation style Citations must be accurate and standard so that anyone who reads your research can easily find the information you used. APA style is a standard way of citing sources. This means each source you use should be formatted in a specific way. APA style was developed by the American Psychological Association.

Why you need to cite your sources 1.to find information 2.to show that you understand your topic 3.to avoid plagiarism There are three important reasons to cite your sources.

Why you need to cite your sources Citations help you remember where you got your information. You can return to a source for more information or to clarify facts. Citations help your readers locate information when they want to do more research.

Why you need to cite your sources They also show that other people support what you’ve written about your topic. Citations show that your research was careful and thorough.

Why you need to cite your sources Citations give credit to people whose ideas you use. Plagiarism is using someone else’s ideas or knowledge without giving that person credit. Avoid plagiarism by giving people credit for their ideas and their words.

1. At the end of your paper, add a References list. How to cite your sources Use two ways to cite your sources. 2. Within the paper, use in-text citations.

How to cite your sources A References list is a list of all the sources you used in your research paper. Here are some entries for part of a References list. McNulty, T. (2004, September). Under the volcano. Forest Magazine, Walker, S. (1994). Volcanoes: Earth’s inner fire. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda. Wood, C. (2007, September 13). Current volcanic activity. Retrieved October 29, 2007, from current.html

Walker, S. (1994). Volcanoes: Earth’s inner fire. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda. Author’s last name, First initial. (year of publication). Book title. City of publication: Publisher’s Name. References list Books Here is the basic format for a book entry in a References list. Walker, S. (1994). Volcanoes: Earth’s inner fire. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda.

Periodicals are publications that are published regularly, or periodically, such as newspapers, magazines, and journals. References list Periodicals

McNulty, T. (2004, September). Under the volcano. Forest Magazine, Author’s last name, First initial. (year, Month published). Article title. Magazine Title, volume number (if available), pages where article appears. Here’s the basic format for a magazine article entry for the References list. McNulty, T. (2004, September). Under the volcano. Forest Magazine, Author’s last name, First initial. (year, Month published). Article title. Magazine Title, volume number (if available), pages where article appears. If the article isn’t printed on consecutive pages, include each series of pages. Bruce, V. (2001, March/April). No apparent danger. National Geographic Adventure, 112– 118, 142–150. References list Periodicals Author’s last name, First initial. (year, Month published). Article title. Magazine Title, volume number (if available), pages where article appears. McNulty, T. (2004, September). Under the volcano. Forest Magazine, Author’s last name, First initial. (year, Month published). Article title. Magazine Title, volume number (if available), pages where article appears. McNulty, T. (2004, September). Under the volcano. Forest Magazine, McNulty, T. (2004, September). Under the volcano. Forest Magazine, Author’s last name, First initial. (year, Month published). Article title. Magazine Title, volume number (if available), pages where article appears. Bruce, V. (2001, March/April). No apparent danger. National Geographic Adventure, 112– 118, 142–150.

References list Citing nonprint sources There are many other kinds of sources besides books and magazines. You might use TV programs, DVDs, CDs, or Web sites. Web sites can be very useful as source material, but you must cite them properly.

Here’s the basic format for a Web site entry for the References list. Author’s last name, First initial. (year, Month day of publication, or n.d. if no date is available). Document title. Retrieved Month day, year, from URL References list Citing nonprint sources: Web site Wood, C. (2007, September 13). Current volcanic activity. Retrieved October 29, 2007, from current.html Wood, C. (2007, September 13). Current volcanic activity. Retrieved October 29, 2007, from current.html Author’s last name, First initial. (year, Month day of publication, or n.d. if no date is available). Document title. Retrieved Month day, year, from URL

References List Sources are put in the References list in alphabetical order, double-spaced, and indented one-half inch. Here is an example of a final References list. References McNulty, T. (2004, September). Under the volcano. Forest Magazine, Walker, S. (1994). Volcanoes: Earth’s inner fire. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda.

Listing all your sources in the References list is an important part of your research paper. In-text citations In the body of your paper, you also need to tell exactly where you found any information that came from other sources. You do that using an in-text citation.

In-text citations An in-text citation appears in the body of your paper wherever you use another person’s ideas, facts, or words. An in-text citation always refers to a source in your References list.

Walker, S. (1994). Volcanoes: Earth’s inner fire. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda. In-text citations To create an in-text citation, give the author’s last name and the year of the source’s publication. Put this information in parentheses at the end of the sentence, before the final punctuation. Experts believe that volcanoes are more likely to explode after years of inactivity (Walker, 1994). Readers can now find complete information about the source in your References list. Experts believe that volcanoes are more likely to explode after years of inactivity (Walker, 1994).

In-text citations If the author’s name appears in the sentence, include the year of the publication in parentheses directly after the author’s name. For sources without a year of publication, like many Web sites, you should include the initials (n.d.) in parentheses in place of the year. Dr. Sally Walker (1994) claims that volcanoes are more likely to explode after years of inactivity.

In-text citations Citations for a specific document within a Web site should appear in both the References list and the body of the text, but citations for an entire Web site should not appear in the References list. The Smithsonian’s Global Volcanism Web site provides information on volcanic activity for the past 10,000 years ( A citation for an entire Web site should only be cited within the body of the text. You should include the source title, a short description, and the URL.

Your Turn All of the examples in this presentation can be found in the References List Reference Sheet, which is part of the Student Handouts for the MLA/APA Styles feature. The handouts Your Turn: Create APA Source Citations and Your Turn: Create APA In-text Citations also provide opportunities to practice creating source and in-text citations.

The End