Why use APA citation style?
APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences, also including mots hard sciences, psychology, sociology, and related disciplines.
What does that really mean?:
APA employs in-text citations and a references list. APA in-text citations also ask you to include the year of publication as well as the author's last name and the page number of the source that you are using.
What does an in-text citation typically look like?:
If you are directly quoting from a work, include the author, year of publication, and the page number for the reference (preceded by "p."). Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.
According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).
Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA style" (p. 199); what implications does this have for teachers?
If the author is not named in a signal phrase, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.
She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.*
*example from the Purdue OWL
What does a work-cited citation typically look like?:
Your reference list should appear at the end of your paper. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body of the paper. Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in your text.
Your references should begin on a new page separate from the text of the essay; label this page "References" centered at the top of the page (do NOT bold, underline, or use quotation marks for the title). All text should be double-spaced just like the rest of your essay.*
*example from Purdue OWL
The general format for a citation in your works-cited list in APA will more or less follow this guideline:
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.
Citation Style Guides:
APA style has a specific formatting and style that requires you to include different elements in your work that a paper formatted in MLA would.
The Purdue OWL guide for APA includes more information on citing different in formats, as well as a sample paper formatted in APA style.
For more information, check out our citing sources guide.
