APA Guide

Citation Tools

APA CITATION SOURCES

Use BOTH these guides to help you properly cite your sources. Remember- you have:

1.) a works cited page at the end of your paper with a long list of full citations

2.) a brief in-text citation in your paper after a quoted or paraphrased sentence from a specific source.

MORE APA HELP:

APA Tutorial

APA Examples: from Lansing Community College Library

Author’s name in reference

If you do not cite the author’s name in your paper, then include both the author’s last name and the publication year in parentheses at the end of the sentence separated by a comma.

Example

Silent Spring was one of the first books to discuss dangers of pesticide use (Carsen, 1962).

References

Carsen, R. (1962). Silent spring. Greenwich, CT: Fawcett.

Parts of citation

Name of author. (Year of publication). Title (Edition). City of publication, State: Name of publisher.

APA Manual 6.11 (p. 174)


No author listed (cite by title)

Include the first few words of the title followed by the publication year in parentheses at the end of the sentence. Titles that are italicized in the reference list are italicized in text; titles that are not italicized in the reference list appear in quotation marks.

Example

Many in the liquor industry argue that the ban on television liquor advertising gives those in the beer and wine industry an unfair advantage (“Liquor Advertising,” 2002).

References

Liquor advertising on TV. (2002, January 18). In Issues & Controversies. Retrieved from http://www.fofweb.com/

Parts of citation

If the entry has no author listed, place the title in author position.

Example shown is for Articles only available in databases

Name of author. (Date of publication). Title of article. In Title of book/database. Retrieved from database URL

becomes:

Title of article. (Date of publication). In Title of book/database. Retrieved from database URL

APA Manual 6.15 (p. 176) 


Secondary sources

Whenever possible, use original source material, not secondary. If you must use an indirect source, include the primary source in the paper and the secondary source in the reference list. For example, if you read about Fruzetti’s work in an article by Martens, include Fruzetti in the in-text citation and Martens in your reference list.

Example

Fruzetti explained that no effective treatments for borderline patients had been established until the past decade (as cited in Martens, 2005)

References

Martens, W.H. (2005). Therapy on the borderline: Effectiveness of dialectical behavior therapy for patients with borderline personality disorder. Annals of the American Psychotherapy Association, 8(4) 5-13.

Parts of citation (Journal Article Example)

Name of author. (Year of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number), page range.

APA Manual 6.17 (p. 178)


Blog

Example

Some argue that the ability to open multiple tabs using Firefox make it a superior browser to Internet Explorer (Farkas, 2006).

References

Farkas, M. (2006, November 1). Firefox 2 is my new best friend. Information wants to be free. Retrieved from http://meredith.wolfwater.com/wordpress/index.php

Parts of citation

Author of blog entry. (Date of blog entry). Title of blog entry. Title of blog. Retrieved from Blog URL

APA Manual 7.11 #76 (p. 215)


Page or document from a website

TIP: When no date is available, use (n. d.)

Example

While many hospitals are excellent with children, Mott is ranked #2 in the state of Michigan according to Child Magazine (Hopson, 2007).

References

Hopson, K. (2007, January 4). Mott Children’s Hospital ranked top children’s hospital in state by Child Magazine. University of Michigan Health System. Retrieved from http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/ 2007/childmag.aspx

Kane, E. (1999). Dendroica kirtlandii. Retrieved from http:// animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/

Parts of citation

Name of author. (Publication date) Title of the page. Website title. Retrieved from Article URL

APA Manual 7.01 #8,11 (p. 200) 7.11 (p. 215)

Excerpted From Lansing Community College Library – APA Online Sources

Citing same source again in same paragraph?

If you cite the source at the beginning of the paragraph, you do not have to keep repeating the citation after every paraphrased (your words, their ideas) sentence in the paragraph if it is clear that the source is the same.

The “shout out” rule: Put the author’s name in the text of your sentences.

Put the author’s name into your first sentence (see example below). Within the same paragraph: If you use the author’s name in another sentence to let your reader know you are still using the same source, then you do not need to include the year.

Example From APA Style blog (see link below):

Morin (1988) described two separate but linked epidemics. . . . Morin distinguished the HIV epidemic from the subsequent AIDS epidemic. . . . Morin also discussed a third epidemic . . . . This third epidemic is as much a part of the pathology of AIDS as the virus itself (Morin, 1988).

REMEMBER: Always have a citation for every direct quotation (their exact words put in quotation marks) even if your entire paragraph is based on one source. A quote needs the author, year, and the page number so your reader can go back to the source to find the material that you have quoted.

APA Common Questions

Skip to toolbar
Site admin