APA Referencing

REFERENCING
Referencing is the method used to ensure
that other research influences are
recognised within your paper.
Includes two main parts:
a citation within the text of your paper
a list of references at the end of
your paper

Why is referencing
important?
The idea is that you
acknowledge the source and
intellectual property of the
authors, while providing the
reader of your workwith
pointers towards the original
sources of information,
should they wish to
investigate further.

Why is referencing
important?
Correct referencing helps ensure that you
avoid being accused of plagiarism.
Referencing ensures that you can
demonstrate how your ideas build upon
the research of others.
If someone is reading your work, they
should be able to use your referencing to
find the articles you used in your paper.

Referencing is important in
research

How do I do referencing the proper way?

How do I cite a book? Journal?
A thesis?

MLA and APA

MLA
Modern Language Association
Cross-referencing
Manuscript guidelines
In-text (parenthetical) citations
Works Cited (not a
bibliography)
Supporting documents
(if required): annotated
bibliography footnotes and/or
endnotes

APA
American Psychological
Association
Cross-referencing
Manuscript guidelines
In-text (parenthetical) citations
References (not a
bibliography)
Supporting documents
(if required):
author note
abstract
footnotes
appendix: brief materials
(descriptions, lists, etc)

Differences
MLA
APA
author-page method
of citation
created for scholars in
English composition
and literature
authors full name on
first mention
use of the
rightlanguage for the
audience being
addressed

author-date method of
citation
created for
researchers in the
social sciences
authorslast names
only
objective tone,
scientific writing
economy of
expression

MLA
present tense verb in
signal phrase vs. past
tense
medium of publication
designation (ex. Print,
Web, etc.)
many purposes for
writing and research

APA
past or present
perfect tense verb in
signal phrase*
DOI (digital object
identifier) or
document number
two purposes for
writing and research

* Present tense is used to discuss

implications of
the results and to present conclusions (APA
66).

Purpose for writing and

conducting research
MLA
and
APA

to analyze, argue,
compare, contrast,
define, describe,
discuss, evaluate,
explain, illustrate,
inform, interpret,
narrate, report, show
cause and effect,
summarize, trace

To report original
research (your own)
To review literature
previously written
about a research topic

Features of APA Style

Title page required with running head

Abstract
Use of headings to help readers follow the
organization of the paper.
For an original research report: Method, Results,
Discussion. The introduction is not given a
heading.
Page numbers for quotations, paraphrases, and
summaries.
Thesis statementanswers a research question or
hypothesis.
For an original research report, what the
experiment has proven.
For a literature review, conclusions made by
researchers about the topic.

Title
Page

CITATIONS IN THE TEXT

1.

APA uses the author-date method of citation. The last name of the
author and the date of publication are inserted in the text in the
appropriate place.
2. When referencing or summarizing a source, provide the author and
year. When quoting or summarizing a particular passage, include
the specific page or paragraph number, as well.
3. When quoting in your paper, if a direct quote is less than 40
words, incorporate it into your text and use quotation marks. If
a direct quote is more than 40 words, make the quotation a
free-standing indented block of text and DO NOT use
quotation marks.

DIRECT QUOTATION
At the crux of any discussion concerning
the sixties, one inevitably comes up
against the word revolution (Green, 1999;
p17).

Citation within the text

For example:
Ayra (2003) critically re-evaluated the structure of their
research and opted to include a greater level of detail
about citations and referencing of sources.

OR
you can do this by putting the authors name and publication year in
round brackets at the end of the sentence to which the citation
refers; prior to the full-stop.
For example:
It was further argued that a number of structural elements were
missing from the design of the original study
(Ayra, 2003)
OR
you can provide the date and then the author(s) surnames.
For example:
In 2003, Ayras study surrounding the design of structural elements
demonstrated that

 In the reference list, you then put the full

details of the reference to enable a reader
to trace the source of information that you
used:
Example:
Ayra, C. (2003). Design of structural
elements. London: Spon Press.

Do I cite the author of the text book in

which I found the information or the author
of the original article or theory they are
talking about?
For example, you wanted to paraphrase some
information about Broadbents (2000) theory and
research that you found in Eysenck and Keanes (2003)
cognitive psychology text book.
This refers to the cited by convention, which is
discouraged and therefore best avoided wherever
possible.

Broadbents theory of attention (Broadbent, 2000, cited by Eysenck

and Keane, 2003) states that etc.

If you wished to just cite Broadbent (2000) for example, you would
look in Eysenck and Keane's references list for the reference to
which this relates. Then put the relevant Broadbent reference in
your references section.

Cited by convention
If you wanted specifically to pick up on Eysenck and
Keanes argument about Broadbents theory, you could
perhaps use the following:
Eysenck & Keane (2003) raise a particularly pertinent
point about Broadbents (2000) theory of attention etc.
and then include the references for both the text book
and the original Broadbent source in your references
section.
You do not need to include the Eysenck and Keane book
in your references section UNLESS you have cited them
specifically in the main body of the assignment..

The idea is that as you progress

through your course you will rely less
and less on text books, going to the
original journal articles instead and
forming your own conclusions.

What is the difference between a

reference list and a bibliography?
Reference list - list of all the information sources that you
have cited in your text
Bibliography - list of items that you have read, and has
informed your thinking, but not specifically cited in your
assignment
Make sure that for every different cited author (or
authors) you come across, that there is the original
source listed in your references section.
There must be an exact match between the sources
cited and the references listed.

Rules! Rules!

IN TEXT CITATION

AUTHOR RULES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

With One Author

With Two Authors
With Three to Five Authors
With Six or more Authors
No Identified Author
Two or more works in the same
parenthetical citation

Works by multiple authors:

When a work has 2 authors cite both
names every time you reference the work
in the text.

When a work has three to five authors cite

all the author names the first time the
reference occurs and then subsequently
include only the first author followed by
et al.

 If there are more than six authors, give the

first surname followed by et al.

In the reference list, all authors should be

listed..

Works by no identified
author:
When a resource has no named author,
cite the first few words of the reference
entry (usually the title).
Use double quotation marks around the
title of an article, chapter, or Web page.
Italicize the title of a periodical, book,
brochure, or report.

 For example:
The site seemed to indicate support for
homeopathic drugs (Medical Miracles,
2009).
The brochure argues for homeschooling
(Education Reform, 2007).

Two or more works in the

same parenthetical citation:
Citations of two or more works in the same
parentheses should be listed in the order
they appear in the reference list (i.e.,
alphabetically, then chronologically).
Several studies (Jones & Powell, 1993;
Peterson, 1995, 1998; Smith, 1990) suggest
that...

Specific parts of a source

Always give the page number for quotations or to

indicate information from a specific table, chart,
chapter, graph, or page. The word page is
abbreviated but not chapter. For example:
The painting was assumed to be by Matisse
(Powell, 1989, Chapter 6), but later analysis
showed it to be a forgery (Murphy, 1999, p. 85).

Specific parts of a source

If, as in the instance of online material, the
source has neither visible paragraph nor page
numbers, cite the heading and the number of the
paragraph following it.
This allows the reader to locate the text in the
source. For example:
The patient wrote that she was unimpressed by
the doctors bedside manner (Smith, 2006,
Hospital Experiences section, para. 2).

Author has published 2 or more items in

the same year
If two or more documents are by the same
author(s) in the same year, add lowercase letters after the year (a, b, c, etc.) to
distinguish between them in your text and
in your reference list.
Example:
Morris (1999a) concludes that

Author as organisation
If an organisations name is given instead of a
personal name, then list this as the author
Example: British Psychological Society (2007)

BOOKS

PRINTED MATERIALS

CITATIONS IN A REFERENCE
LIST
In general, references should contain the
author name, publication date, title, and
publication information. Include the issue
number if the journal is paginated by
issue.
For information obtained electronically
or online include the DOI.

All citations must be in the

Hanging Indent Format with
the first line flush to the left
margin and all other lines
indented.

 Publications with a group author (e.g. annual reports or government

documents) are often published by the group itself. In these cases the
publisher is listed as Author and the place of publication is often the city
of the corporations head office.

JOURNALS

JOURNAL ARTICLES
1. Journal Article with One Author
2. Journal Article with 2 to 7 Authors
3. Journal Articles with 8 or more
Authors

REFERENCE LIST

Journal with Eight or More

Authors
If an article has EIGHT OR MORE
authors, list the names of the first 6
followed by and then the last authors
name in the reference entry.

OTHER
REFERENCES.

Journal Article - Online

NEW to the 6th edition of the Publication Manual of the American

Psychological Association: DOI
APA no longer requires you to indicate if you found the article in a library
database (such as one provided by EBSCO or Proquest). The exceptions to
this are items found through online archival databases, such as JSTOR or
ERIC, which may be difficult or impossible to find elsewhere. If the items are
not easily located (e.g. are from ERIC or JSTOR), include the URL for the
databases search page.
Citing an online journal article is very similar to citing a paper version.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

a unique alphanumeric string assigned to
identify content and provide a persistent link to
its location on the internet
typically located on the first page of the
electronic journal article near the copyright
notice.
When a DOI is used in your citation, no other
retrieval information is needed. Use this format
for the DOI in references: doi:xxxxxxx

DOI

important

Electronic Books
Electronic book references are very similar
to print book references. Include either the
URL or DOI in the reference.

Online Documents (such as

Government documents)

Online Images

Citing Electronic Statistical

Information and Data
Data Sets
When citing a data set (raw data) from an aggregator such as DLI, ICPSR, Equinox
or <odesi>, use the following convention. First provide the name of the author, then
the year of the dataset release in parentheses. Then, give the full name of the dataset
in italics followed by the descriptor
e.g. [Data file and code book]. Include the following statement at the end of the citation to
indicate the URL where you found the data set: Retrieved from http://xxxxxx.

Blogs, Electronic Mailing

Lists, etc
In Text follow the author, date format as
shown in other resource examples.
General Reference: Author, A. A. (Year,
Month Day). Title of post [Description of
form]. Retrieved from http://www.xxxx
If only a screen name is available, use it, as
in the second blog example below. Note that
there are no italics used in these reference
entries.

Blogs, Electronic Mailing

Lists, etc

Blogs, Electronic Mailing

Lists, etc

Personal Communications
Personal communications can include letters, memos,
emails, personal interviews or telephone conversations.
Unlike published sources, personal communications are
cited within the text but generally not in the reference list
at the end of the paper as they are irrecoverable data.
In the in-text citation, the initials and surname of the
communicator should be included as well as an exact a
date as possible. The APA guidelines do not require that
you specify the type of personal communication (email,
interview, etc.). .
In Text: (P. K. Smith, personal communication, October
23, 2003)

Lecture Notes (class notes,

WebCT and PowerPoint)
According to formal APA guidelines, course
lecture notes taken by the student are
considered a form of personal communications
(unpublished, non-recoverable data). As such,
they would only be listed in an in-text citation
and not in the reference list.

Lecture Notes (class notes,

WebCT and PowerPoint)
In Text: In a lecture on January 15, 2008, to
a COMM 1000 class, Professor Smith
said
(A. B. Smith, COMM 1000 lecture,
January 15, 2008).

THESES

CONFERENCES

OFFICIAL REPORTS

MAPS

Tip:
When you are referencing online maps make sure you note the
author and not just the search engine, for example Tele Atlas
produce Google maps not Google themselves.

IMAGES

Tip:
If you are referencing an image from a website make sure
you reference the actual site and not the search engine used
such as Google images.

YOUTUBE AND PODCASTS

TELEVISION

Examples of Audio-visual
Material

Example of a Reference List

REFERENCE LIST

Motion Picture, Video

GROUP WORK
1. Each group is provided with an envelope,
containing journal articles, and some
papers.
2. Group 1- 3 are to write a REFERENCE
LIST based from the paper that was
given.
3. Group 4 6 are to write as if writing
their research paper, using all the reference
given (See envelope.)

GROUP WORK
4. You are given 30 minutes to complete
your work.
5. You can use your laptops to look for the
copies of the journals.
5. Choose a leader to present to class.