Using APA Style 2015

Beth DowneyResearch Services

MSU Libraries

Overview of APA

In-text References

Reference List

Other citation tools

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.)

APA Style Guide to Electronic References (e-book)

APA Style website’s blog

◦ http://blog.apastyle.org/

APA Formatting and Style Guide (Purdue)

◦ http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

http://guides.library.msstate.edu/citationguides

Examples and links for:◦ APA (including links to Purdue OWL, APA site and

e-book guide)

◦ MLA

◦ Chicago

◦ Harvard

Citing is about intellectual honesty:◦ Required in academia.

◦ Essential to retain integrity.

Citing is part of good research:◦ Connects to previous research.

◦ Adds to the collective knowledge.

◦ Assists future researchers.

◦ Credits others for their ideas.

◦ Defines the ideas that are unique.

◦ Gives your ideas authority.

The appropriation of another person’s ideas, processes, results, or words without giving appropriate credit.

Presenting the work of another as one’s own. Failing to credit sources used. Attempting to receive credit for work performed

by another. Failing to cite ALL resources used, including

Internet, databases, and other electronic resources.

Unique information.

Direct quotes.

Paraphrased passages.

“Borrowed facts.”

Anything that is not common knowledge.

American Psychological Association citation and formatting guidelines.

Originally created and sponsored in 1929 by the United States National Research Council, the first edition was published in 1952.

Also used in the fields of:◦ Anthropology◦ Education◦ Communication◦ Business ◦ Political Science◦ Other social sciences

Title page

Abstract

Introduction

Method

Results

Discussion

References

Footnotes◦ Additional explanations

◦ Copyright permissions

References◦ Sources used in your paper that identify unique

information.

Listing of the “recoverable” sources used in the paper.

Alphabetically by the surname of the first author.

Serves as an index for the reader; in-text references “link” to the main citation list.

For authors and editors, abbreviate first and middle names to initials only.◦ Invert all authors’ names (Author, A.B., Author,

C.D., Author, E.F.).

◦ Invert editors’ names when referencing edited book, but not a chapter within an edited book.

Titles normally are “sentence-style”; capitalize only first word of title, subtitle, and proper nouns.◦ Exceptions: periodicals and serials.

Author, A. B. (year of publication). Title of work: Capital

letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.

Johnson, S. (2002). Who moved my cheese? An amazing

way to deal with change in your work and in your

life. New York: Putnam.

Barnham, L., Priestley, P., & Targett, A. (1999). In search

of Cheddar man. Stroud, UK: Tempus.

Jacobowitz, S. (2005). Chuck E. Cheese at noon:

Adventures in parenting and higher education. In

R. H. Bassett (Ed.), Parenting & professing:

Balancing family work with an academic career

(pp. 133-140). Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt

University Press.

Ma, L., & Lillard, A. (2006). Where is the real cheese? Young children's ability to discriminate between real and pretend acts. Child Development, 77(6), 1762-1777. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8624.2006.00972.x.

If there is no DOI and the article was retrieved online, use the URL of the journal home page. Magazine articles, note, don’t normally use DOI; those citations can end at the page numbers.

Carter, L., Sumrall, W., & Curry, K. (2006). Say cheese! Digital collections in the classroom. Science and Children, 43(8), 19-23. Retrieved from http://www.nsta.org/elementaryschool

Print version:

Hevesi, D. (2010, August 3). Morrie Yohai, 90, the man

behind Cheez Doodles, is dead. The New York Times, p.

A16.

Online version:

Hevesi, D. (2010, August 2). Morrie Yohai, 90, the man

behind Cheez Doodles, is dead. The New York Times.

Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Landmark, S. A. (2004). Effect of vitamin D fortified

cheese on muscular strength in older adults

(Master's thesis). Available from ProQuest

Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No.

1425385)

Aryana, K. J. (1997). Microstructure of some dairy foods

and food protein gels (unpublished doctoral

dissertation). Mississippi State University,

Mississippi State, MS.

Downey, E. M., & Davidson, K. S. (2010, June). Graphic

novels on campus: Academic collaboration and

outreach with the K-12 community. Poster session

presented at the meeting of the American Library

Association, Washington, D.C.

Include report number.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services,

National Institutes of Health, National Heart,

Lung, and Blood Institute. (2003). Managing

asthma: A guide for schools (NIH Publication No.

02-2650). Retrieved from

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/prof/lung/asthma/a

sth_sch.pdf

Sabieh, C. (2002). American Chunky Blue Cheese Salad:

A Look at Multicultural Education. Retrieved from

ERIC database. (ED478571)

PZ Myers. (2007, January 22). The unfortunate

prerequisites and consequences of partitioning your

mind [Web log post]. Retrieved from

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/01/the_u

nfortunate_prerequisites.php

Screennames can be used by themselves ifauthor’s real name is unknown.

Mississippi State University [msstate]. (2012, December

13). Celebrate 75 yrs of MSU cheese & tell us how

you’re enjoying it this season, tweet a pic! Use

hashtag #SayCheeseState. bit.ly/Z3Nj9N [Tweet].

Retrieved from https://twitter.com/msstate/status

/279351983213801472

Showtime (2008, March 10). Time-lapse of 1200 lbs. of

cheese carved [Video file]. Retrieved from

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0bQh2ipARI

One Author◦ Johnson (2000) found no relationship between …

◦ However, no relationship has been found between … (Johnson, 2000).

Two Authors◦ Smith and Roberts (1995) suggested that …

◦ Others have suggested that … (Smith & Roberts, 1995).

◦ Note the “and” used to connect authors in the first example versus the ampersand in the second.

Three to Five Authors◦ According to Jackson, Leonard, and Pruitt (1986),

… [first citation in text]

◦ Jackson et al. provided clear evidence

[omit year from subsequent citations after first citation within a paragraph]

◦ Jackson et al. (1986) also found that … [subsequent first citation per paragraph thereafter]

Six or More Authors◦ According to Wirt et al. (2004), …

Multiple References◦ Previous studies (Smith, 2004; Williams &

O’Connor, 1999) showed …

Personal communications (e-mail, letters, phone interviews) generally aren’t retrievable sources. Therefore cite them in text, but not in the reference list.

◦ R.S. Thomson (personal communication, June 13, 2006) emphasized that …

◦ … although this has been denied by the author (R.S. Thomson, personal communication, June 13, 2006).

When citing a direct quote you must include the page or paragraph (in the case of an HTML document) in which it appears.

(Williams, 2004, p. 243)

(Peterson, 1995, ¶5)

Are references cited both in text and in the references list?

Do the text citations and reference list entries agree both in spelling and in date?

Are journal titles in the reference list spelled out fully?

Are the references (both in the parenthetical text citations and in the reference list) ordered alphabetically?

EBSCOhost

ProQuest Dissertations and Theses

Scopus

MSU Online Catalog

Use these as guides, but review computer-generated citations for accuracy.

Citation management software

Students - $50; Faculty - $75

Resource page◦ http://guides.library.msstate.edu/endnote

Instructional Media Center◦ http://guides.library.msstate.edu/imc

Thomas La Foe

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325-6781

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