Basic Academic Reference How To

Where did your information come from?

A guide to basic references for academic writing

Becka Barker, InstructorSCH School of Global Education and ExchangeHonors Summer Program

Are you writing about…

…a historical event?

…something in the news?

…something that is a reported fact?

…something that did not completely come from your own imagination?

…then you MUST tell readers where your information came from.

The American Psychological Association (APA) is a popular guide for listing information sources.

Here is the latest APA method for listing the most popular

information sources, such as

websites,

news articles, andBooks.

for websites:

Internet Movie Database. Retrieved July 14, 2009, from http://www.imdb.com/ title/tt0330373/

Name of website

URL

Date (when you

saw it)

For news articles:

Genn, A. (2003, August 24) Director takes leading role in women’s entertainment group. Long Island Business News, p. 2

Volume/Number

Date

Name of Newspaper

Name of article

Date

Page number

Author

For books:

Fox, J. (2009). The Myth of the rational market. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

Name of Book

Publisher name and

cityAuthor

When published

Publisher name and

city

Where do you list these books, websites, and news articles?

On a separate page after your essay, list your

sources in alphabetical

order (by author).

If you use any exact phrases or sentences in your essay from these

sources, be sure to do the following:

Use quotation

marks!

“ ”

List the author’s name, year, and page number where you found the

original words.

It is important to do this to show respect to authors and scholars who came before you.

Aristotle

AlbertEinstein

Confucius

youyour essay

If you DON’T do this, you are being dishonest. In Western universities, students are EXPELLED for

stealing other peoples’ ideas.

youyour essay

If you DON’T do this, you are being dishonest. In Western universities, students are EXPELLED for

stealing other peoples’ ideas.

GOOD references = a STRONG essayNO references = possible FAIL

Good luck and happy writing!