APA style and citations for dummies - Joe Giampalmi 2021

Playing by the rules: general guidelines
Formatting last impressions: reference list
Practicing safe cites: writing and citing sources

In this chapter

Formatting without fear of failure

Updating APA’s seventh edition reference guidelines

Learning the long and short of DOIs and URLs

Fuel injecting sources with annotations

Picture this: You finished writing your argument and you’re ready to begin your final back section, your list of sources. The correct way to prepare your sources is to bold and center the word References at the top of a new page that follows the end of your text. If your professor asks for an annotated list of sources, use the APA-required bolded heading, “Annotated Bibliography”. The reference list represents another lesson you learned in the sandbox: sharing — in this case, sharing the resources in your references with the academic community.

For many professors, your reference list is the resume of your research. With a quick glance, it reveals your qualifications as a college student. Your reference list shows the quality of the sources in your research, your knowledge of APA formatting, and your commitment to the world of scholarship.

In this chapter, I explain new reference guidelines from APA’s seventh edition (2019), guidelines for coordinating reference elements, and conventions and abbreviations that are specific to references. Additionally, I provide you with dozens of reference entry samples that you can use as models for listing your sources.

Unsure? Ask your professor to clarify

Here are some questions to ask your professor about references:

· Are any model references available?

· Is an annotated bibliography required, and how do you want it written?

· Do your requirements include any reference variations from APA’s seventh edition?

· Does the department have any guidelines available for references, or do we strictly follow APA?

This chapter addresses the following new APA seventh edition changes for reference list entries:

· References are revised and standardized.

· Audiovisual entries such as YouTube videos, PowerPoint slides, and TED Talks are expanded into a new category.

· Social media sources are addressed in a new category.

Playing by the rules: general guidelines

If you’re a rules follower and you like details, creating a reference list will please you as much as racking up another 15 credit hours. If you don’t like following rules, creating a reference list will be as unappealing as sardines on your pizza. The purpose of the reference list is to show your respect for scholarship by providing details of information that you take from experts’ sources.

APA updated their reference guidelines with the recently released Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition. Reference list updates clarify past issues and reduce reference entry requirements. Here’s a look at the updates:

· Personal communications such as email, interviews, texts, and lectures are cited in the text only and aren’t required in the reference list.

· General references to websites, webpages, common software, and apps are cited in text only and not in the reference list. General references to inspirational quotations by famous people aren’t usually cited and don’t appear in the reference list.

· Authors included in a reference item now number up to 20.

· DOIs (digital object identifiers), when available, are preferred to URLs.

· Journal article references always include the issue number. Locations of publishers are eliminated from reference entries. New examples are included for YouTube videos, PowerPoint slides, and podcasts.

· Social media, webpages, and websites are re-categorized to standardize formatting with blogs and other online platforms.

Formatting guidelines specific to the reference list include

· Center and bold References at the top of a new page following the end of the text of the paper.

· If you’re required to annotate your references, type Annotated Bibliography in place of References.

· Alphabetize entries by authors’ last names. If an author or group name is unavailable, enter the title in the position of the name.

· Alphabetize multiple authors by the last name of the first author listed:

· Cronway, E., & Applebaum, R.

· Davis, B., & Carson, J.

· Ellis, J., & Smith, K.

· Create a hanging indentation alignment by indenting successive lines a half inch from authors’ names.

· Formatting annotations are aligned with reference entries.

Here’s what some typical reference entries look like.