1. 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

2. First things first: What is a citation?
A citation is a reference to a source used in a research project.
Baines, D. (1995). Emigration from Europe Cambridge: University Press.
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.

3. 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.

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

5. 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.

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

7. 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.

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

9. 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.
Baines, D. (1995). Emigration from Europe Cambridge: University Press.
Brenner, R. (1998, October). Land of opportunity. Forbes, 66–68.
Library of Congress. (2003, March 28). Chinese and westward expansion. Retrieved November 20, 2008, from cubhtml/theme1.html

10. References list Books
Here is the basic format for a book entry in a References list.
Author’s last name, First initial. (year of publication). Book title. City of publication: Publisher’s Name.
Author’s last name, First initial. (year of publication). Book title. City of publication: Publisher’s Name.
Author’s last name, First initial. (year of publication). Book title. City of publication: Publisher’s Name.
Author’s last name, First initial. (year of publication). Book title. City of publication: Publisher’s Name.
Author’s last name, First initial. (year of publication). Book title. City of publication: Publisher’s Name.
Author’s last name, First initial. (year of publication). Book title. City of publication: Publisher’s Name.
Baines, D. (1995). Emigration from Europe Cambridge: University Press.
Baines, D. (1995). Emigration from Europe Cambridge: University Press.
Baines, D. (1995). Emigration from Europe Cambridge: University Press.
Baines, D. (1995). Emigration from Europe Cambridge: University Press.
Baines, D. (1995). Emigration from Europe Cambridge: University Press.
Baines, D. (1995). Emigration from Europe Cambridge: University Press.

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

12. References list Periodicals
Here’s the basic format for a magazine article entry for the References list.
Author’s last name, First initial. (year, Month published). Article title. Magazine Title, volume number (if available), pages where article appears.
Author’s last name, First initial. (year, Month published). Article title. Magazine Title, volume number (if available), pages where article appears.
Author’s last name, First initial. (year, Month published). Article title. Magazine Title, volume number (if available), pages where article appears.
Author’s last name, First initial. (year, Month published). Article title. Magazine Title, volume number (if available), pages where article appears.
Author’s last name, First initial. (year, Month published). Article title. Magazine Title, volume number (if available), pages where article appears.
Author’s last name, First initial. (year, Month published). Article title. Magazine Title, volume number (if available), pages where article appears.
Brenner, R. (1998, October). Land of opportunity. Forbes, 66–68.
Brenner, R. (1998, October). Land of opportunity. Forbes, 66–68.
Brenner, R. (1998, October). Land of opportunity. Forbes, 66–68.
Brenner, R. (1998, October). Land of opportunity. Forbes, 66–68.
Brenner, R. (1998, October). Land of opportunity. Forbes, 66–68.
Brenner, R. (1998, October). Land of opportunity. Forbes, 66–68.
If the article isn’t printed on consecutive pages, include each series of pages.
Newman, K. M. (2006, December). America: Through immigrant eyes. The Journal of American History, 125–127, 152–156.
Newman, K. M. (2006, December). America: Through immigrant eyes. The Journal of American History, 125–127, 152–156.

13. 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.

14. References list Citing nonprint sources: Web site
Here’s the basic format for a Web site entry for the References list.
Author’s last name, First initial (if available, otherwise list Sponsoring Organization). (year, Month day of publication, or n.d. if no date is available). Document title. Retrieved Month day, year, from URL
Author’s last name, First initial (if available, otherwise list Sponsoring Organization). (year, Month day of publication, or n.d. if no date is available). Document title. Retrieved Month day, year, from URL
Author’s last name, First initial (if available, otherwise list Sponsoring Organization). (year, Month day of publication, or n.d. if no date is available). Document title. Retrieved Month day, year, from URL
Author’s last name, First initial (if available, otherwise list Sponsoring Organization). (year, Month day of publication, or n.d. if no date is available). Document title. Retrieved Month day, year, from URL
Author’s last name, First initial (if available, otherwise list Sponsoring Organization). (year, Month day of publication, or n.d. if no date is available). Document title. Retrieved Month day, year, from URL
Author’s last name, First initial (if available, otherwise list Sponsoring Organization). (year, Month day of publication, or n.d. if no date is available). Document title. Retrieved Month day, year, from URL
Library of Congress. (2003, March 28). Chinese and westward expansion. Retrieved November 20, 2008, from cubhtml/theme1.html
Library of Congress. (2003, March 28). Chinese and westward expansion. Retrieved November 20, 2008, from cubhtml/theme1.html
Library of Congress. (2003, March 28). Chinese and westward expansion. Retrieved November 20, 2008, from cubhtml/theme1.html
Library of Congress. (2003, March 28). Chinese and westward expansion. Retrieved November 20, 2008, from cubhtml/theme1.html
Library of Congress. (2003, March 28). Chinese and westward expansion. Retrieved November 20, 2008, from cubhtml/theme1.html
Library of Congress. (2003, March 28). Chinese and westward expansion. Retrieved November 20, 2008, from cubhtml/theme1.html

15. 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
Baines, D. (1995). Emigration from Europe Cambridge: University Press.
Brenner, R. (1998, October). Land of opportunity. Forbes, 66–68.

16. In-text citations
Listing all your sources in the References list is an important part of your research paper.
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.

17. 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.

18. 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.
Many letters sent home to families were written with the intent of encouraging further emigration (Baines 1995).
Many letters sent home to families were written with the intent of encouraging further emigration (Baines 1995).
Readers can now find complete information about the source in your References list.
Baines, D. (1995). Emigration from Europe Cambridge: University Press.
Baines, D. (1995). Emigration from Europe Cambridge: University Press.

19. 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.
Dudley Baines (1995) notes that some letters sent home to families were written with the intent of encouraging further emigration.
Dudley Baines (1995) notes that some letters sent home to families were written with the intent of encouraging further emigration.
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.

20. 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.
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.
The Ellis Island Web site provides a timeline of American immigration along with numerous family histories (

21. 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.

22. The End