SOC101: Principles of Sociology (Cicero): APA

APA citation format calls for providing a web site URL (uniform resource locator) in order for the reader to easily and consistently locate web content cited.

Journal articles provide a different kind of "locator," called a digital object identifier (DOI); a permanent address, so to speak. The American Psychological Association describes a digital object identifier as "a unique string of letters, numbers, and symbols assigned to a published work to identify content and provide a persistent link to its location on the Internet.

The DOI is typically located on the first page of an electronic document near the copyright notice and on the database landing page for the document. When DOIs are available, include them in the reference information. Specifically, place the DOI at the end of the reference, and don’t add a period at the end of it." Here’s an example:

Author, A. (year). Title of article. Journal Title, X, xxx–xxx. doi:xxxxxx

(Austin, 1998)

If the author's name is mentioned in the narrative, then only the date need be given:

Austin (1998) compared institutional support

Two authors. Always use both names every time they are referred to in the text. Use the ampersand (&) to connect the names in the parentheses, but spell out "and" in the running text.

(Parker & Mokhesi-Parker, 1998)

Parker and Mokhesi-Parker (1998) in examining institutional design and function …

Three to five authors. Cite all the authors in text the first time a reference occurs; in subsequent citations, include only the surname of the first author followed by et al.

First reference:

(Parker, Mokhesi-Parker, AuthorC, AuthorD & AuthorE, 1998)

Subsequent references:

(Parker et al.)

Six or more authors. Cite in text only the surname of the first author followed by et al. and the year for the first and subsequent citations.

(Parker et al., 1998)

Group or corporate authors. Use the name of the body in the citation:

(World Bank, 1998)

Unknown author. Use the first few words of the title as the reference in the text:

("Structuring lawmaking", 2002)

Author is listed as "Anonymous". Use it as if it were the author's name.

(Anonymous, 2003)

When paraphrasing, APA style does not require page numbers in the in-text citation. However, authors are encouraged to include page numbers if it will help the reader locate the relevant information in longer texts. Consult with your professor regarding the need for page numbers for paraphrased information.

If the reference is to an exact quotation, the author, year and page number must be included. The page number can be given in parentheses at the end of the exact quotation or incorporated into the in-text citation.

Newman (1994) concluded "sibling conflict is so common that its occurence is taken for granted" (p. 123).

Such findings have prompted one researcher to conclude, “Sibling conflict is so common that its occurrence is taken for granted” (Newman, 1994, p. 123).

For exact quotations from sources without page numbers, use paragraph numbers, if available. If the paragraphs are not numbered, but there are headings, use the heading name and count the number of paragraphs after the heading to the paragraph containing the quotation. In some cases page numbers, paragraphs, and headings do not exist. In this case, omit the location of the reference altogether. (Publication Manual, sec. 3.39, p. 120)

(Smith, 2003, para. 1) or (Smith, 2003, ¶ 1)
 

(Greene, 2003, Discussion, ¶ 4)

For citations taken from secondary sources, include the secondary source in the reference list and mention the original work in the text.

Text citation:

Goldman and Goldman's study (as cited in Linebarger, 2001) found ....

Reference List:

Note: With all citations, regardless of format, the first line is flush to the left margin and all subsequent lines are indented one half inch (approximately 5 spaces).

Books

Articles

OWL at Purdue states:

"When referencing a print article obtained from an online database (such as a database in the library), provide appropriate print citation information (formatted just like a "normal" print citation would be for that type of work). By providing this information, you allow people to retrieve the print version if they do not have access to the database from which you retrieved the article. You can also include the item number or accession number or database URL at the end, but the APA manual says that this is not required.

If you are citing an article from a database that is available in other places, such as a journal or magazine, include the homepage's URL. You may have to do a web search of the article's title, author, etc. to find the URL." (Article From a Database)

Media

Web/Online

Note: Different web browsers break the text in different places of a URL. The URL should begin on the same line as the rest of the citation information, with a break inserted after a slash, if needed.

Government Information

Developed by the American Psychological Association, this style is widely used in the sciences and social sciences.

Each citation consists of two parts: the in text citation, which provides brief identifying information within the text, and the reference list (list of sources used) which provides full bibliographic information. APA Style gives prominence to the date of a publication. In-text citations use the author's last name and the date, separated by a comma, as a brief reference in the text of the article to refer the reader to complete information in the reference list.

For help with this or any other writing questions, please visit your local campus Writing Center.

BOOKMARK THESE SITES:

Click below:

ZoteroBib.org

APA Style Blog  (great for specific questions about how to cite something)

Purdue OWL APA - In-Text Citation Basics

Purdue OWL Vidcast - Videos on Reference List Basics