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APA 6TH EDITION CITATION AND REFERENCING GUIDE

Regardless of the number of levels of subheading within a section, the heading structure for all
sections follows the same top-down progression. Each section starts with the highest level of
heading, even if one section may have fewer levels of subheadings, than another section (APA
6th edition).

In-Text Citation
According to the APA format, the following conventions should be followed when citing a
reference within the text:

In the flow of the text, cite only the surname of the author and then the (year) closed in
parentheses.
Example:
Illuminada (2006) found out that of the 50 participants…
If at the end of the text, (surname, year) closed in parentheses.
Example:
Even at an early stage the difference noted a clear exception (Illuminada, 2006).
When a work has two authors, cite both names every time the reference occurs in text.
When a work has three, four, or five authors, cite all authors the first time the reference
occurs; in subsequent citations, include only the surname of the first author followed by et al.
(not italicized and with a period after al) and the year if it is the first citation of the reference
within a paragraph.
Examples:
Alvastro, Farratini, Postradan, and Lastimosa (2008) initiated (for first citation in text.)
Alvastro et al. (2008) initiated (as succeeding first citation for every paragraph
thereafter.)
Alvastro et al. initiated (exclude the year from succeeding citations after first
nonparenthetical citation within a paragraph. Include the year in succeeding citations if
first citation within a paragraph is parenthetical.)
Put the names in a multiple-author citation in running text by the word and. In parenthetical
material, in tables and captions, and in the reference list, put the names together by an ampersand
(&):
Examples:
as Rafopla and Zurich (2006) revealed
as has been demonstrated (Garangi & Draforsa, 2008)

Table 2 presents the basic citation styles more clarity on the in-text citations (APA 6th ed.)

The use of secondary sources should be done sparingly, only if the original work is:
out of print;
not available through usual sources; and
not available in English. Give the secondary source in the reference list. In the text, name the
original work and give a citation for the secondary source (APA 6th edition).
Example, if Banan’s work is cited in Dacanay and you did not read Banan’s work, list
the Dacanay reference in the reference list.

References
References acknowledge the work of previous scholars and provide a reliable way to locate
it. The references cited in the manuscript do not need to be exhaustive but sufficient to support
the need for your research and to ensure the readers can place it in the context of previous
research and theorizing (APA, 6th ed.)
Start the reference list on a new page. The word References should appear in uppercase and
lowercase letters, centered. Double-space all entries. Use hanging indent format (i.e the first line
of each reference is set flush left and subsequent lines are indented). The references should be in
alphabetical order as per APA format.
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This reference is adopted from the Philippine Normal University Theses/Dissertation Guideline.

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