Student's guide to writing college papers, Fourth edition - Kate L. Turabian 2010
When and how to cite sources in your text
APA style
Citing sources
20.1 When and How to Cite Sources in Your Text
20.1.1 Parenthetical References
20.1.2 Forms of Parenthetical References
20.1.3 Footnotes
20.2 Reference List
20.2.1 Elements Common to All Bibliographical Entries
20.2.1.1 Author's Name
20.2.1.2 Date
20.2.1.3 Title
20.2.1.4 Publication Facts
20.2.1.5 Retrieval Information for Electronic Sources
20.2.2 Bibliographical Entries for Periodical Articles
20.2.3 Bibliographical Entries for Reference Works
20.2.4 Bibliographical Entries for Websites and Blogs
20.2.5 Bibliographical Entries for Books
20.2.5.1 Whole Books
20.2.5.2 Parts of Books
This chapter shows you how to use the APA citation style. In this style, you use parenthetical references to cite every instance in which you use a source. You must also create a bibliographical entry for each source, listing its author, date, title, and publication data. At the end, you collect these bibliographical entries into an alphabetical list, called a reference list. This list must include every source you mention in your text or in a parenthetical reference: conversely, every source listed in your reference list must also be cited in your paper.
How to Use This Chapter
This chapter presents models for the most common kinds of sources. You will find models of bibliographical entries in 20.2. The models are listed by kind of source: articles, reference works, websites and blogs, and books.
1. Find a model.
✵ Find the model that matches your kind of source. For instance, if you need to cite a scholarly journal article in an online database, find the example for “Online Journal.”
✵ Be certain that your source is in the same category as the example. If your source does not match any of the examples in this book, do not guess. Consult a more comprehensive guide, such as the PublicationManual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed. (Washington, DC: APA, 2009).
2. Match the model.
✵ Create your citation by exactly matching the bibliographical information on your source to each detail in the model, point for point. Make sure that your bibliography entry corresponds to the model in every detail, including capitalization, abbreviations, punctuation, and spacing.
✵ If your source has multiple authors, consult the information on authors' names in section 20.2.1.1.
3. Adjust, but only if necessary.
✵ You may make reasonable small adjustments if your source is the same kind as a model but its bibliographic information is slightly different. For example, if the person who put together a book of collected material is called a “compiler” rather than an editor, you may use the form for an edited volume and use the word “Compiler” where the model uses “Editor”: Jones, Henry. (Compiler). (1994). The Oxford Book of . . .
Many of you will use software packages that format citations for you automatically. You may let your software create a first draft of your citations, but do not trust it to produce the correct form. If you use an automatic citation builder, recheck each note and bibliographical entry. Find the appropriate example and match it to the citation point by point. It is easy to miss small but important details when a citation is already formatted for you, so go slowly and be careful.
20.1 When and how to cite sources in your text
20.1.1 Parenthetical References
You must indicate in your text every place where you use the words or ideas of a source (see chapter 10). The general rule is to insert a parenthetical reference with the author's last name, the year of the publication, and the page number(s) in the source. The author's name and the date tell readers how to find the details of that source in your reference list, and the page numbers tell them where to look in the source. In some cases, however, you have to give more information to help readers identify a specific source (see 20.1.2).
In most cases, you should insert the parenthetical reference immediately after the material from a source. For a quotation or paraphrase, insert the reference at the end of a sentence or clause (outside of any quotation marks and before a period or comma):
Technology feeds on itself. In many cases, the “diffusion” of an invention is more important than the invention itself (Diamond, 1997, p. 301).
If you quote or paraphrase several passages from the same work in a single paragraph, use only one parenthetical reference after the final quotation:
Technology feeds on itself. In many cases, the “diffusion” of an invention is more important than the invention itself. For example, the peel-off adhesive on Post-it notes was a valuable invention, but it also set off a whole industry of temporary adhesives. Through this “autocatalytic process,” the diffusion of a technology “speeds up at a rate that increases with time, because the process catalyzes it-self” (Diamond, 1997, p. 301).
If you mention the author in your text, add the year after the author and the page numbers after the quotation or paraphrase:
Technology feeds on itself. As Diamond (1997) explains, the “diffusion” of an invention can be more important than the invention itself” (p. 301).
For a block quote, add the parenthetical reference to the end with no period after it.
According to Jared Diamond (1997),
Because technology begets more technology, the importance of an invention's diffusion potentially exceeds the importance of the original invention. Technology's history exemplifies what is termed an autocatalytic process: that is, one that speeds up at a rate that increases with time, because the process catalyzes itself. (p. 301)
For ideas or methods, insert the reference at the end of the sentence(s) in which you first introduce or explain the borrowed material. Be sure to cite every source that influenced your thinking, even if you do not quote or paraphrase from it. A reader might think you're guilty of plagiarism if you seem to reflect the ideas of a text that you do not cite. (See chapter 10.)
20.1.2 Forms of Parenthetical References
Each parenthetical reference must point to one and only one source in your reference list. The standard form for these references includes the author's last name, the year of publication, and a page number (preceded by “p.” or “pp.”). If the work is listed by an editor or translator rather than an author, use that name but do not add ed. or trans. You may, however, need more or less information. If two or more authors have the same last name, add initials. If you refer not to a specific passage but to a whole work, do not include page numbers. There are other variants. These are most common:
Author Not Mentioned in Text
(Name, Year, Page)
Technology feeds on itself. In many cases, the “diffusion” of an invention is more important than the invention itself (Diamond, 1997, p. 301).
Author Mentioned in Text
(Year) . . . (Page)
Technology feeds on itself. As Diamond (1997) explains, the “diffusion” of an invention can be more important than the invention itself (p. 301).
Author with Same Last Name as Others in Reference List
(Initial + Name, Year, Page)
Technology feeds on itself. In many cases, the “diffusion” of an invention is more important than the invention itself ( J. Diamond, 1997, p. 301).
Two Authors
(Name & Name, Year, Page)
A “family life map” illustrating the relationships between children and their parents or other caregivers can be instrumental in understanding the problems an adolescent faces at home (Harper-Dorton & Herbert, 2002, p. 41).
Three—Five Authors
First Citation: (Name, Name, . . ., & Name, Year, Page)
Most economists believe that expectations about inflation primarily determine the relationship between stocks and bonds (Yang, Zhou, & Wang, 2009, p. 670).
Subsequent Citation: (Name et al., Year, Page)
Most economists believe that expectations about inflation primarily determine the relationship between stocks and bonds (Yang et al., 2009, p. 670).
Six or More Authors
(Name et al., Year, Page)
When we look at developing countries, however, inflation seems to follow very different laws (Habermeier et al., 2009, p. 69).
Work without an Author
(Short Title, Year, Page)
College officials once thought that the way to reduce binge drinking was to scare students (Drink and Die, 2008, pp. 2—3).
Multiple Citations with Different Authors
(Cite; Cite; Cite)
Most economists believe that expectations about inflation primarily determine the relationship between stocks and bonds, with the exception of developing economies (Yang et al., 2009; Habermeier et al., 2009).
Multiple Citations with the Same Author
(Name, Year, Year, . . . Year)
Cognitive researchers have stressed the importance of stories in learning (Schank, 1990, 1994, 2004, 2005).
20.1.3 Footnotes
In APA style, you do not use notes to identify citations. You may use notes for substantive comments, supplemental information, and so on.
Each note must be numbered with a corresponding raised number (or superscript) inserted in your text. Notes can be printed as footnotes, at the bottom of the page, or as endnotes, on a separate page at the end. Because you are likely to have few notes, you should treat them as footnotes, which are easier for readers to find. List each footnote at the bottom of the page that includes the corresponding numbered reference. Use a line about two inches long to separate the body text and the footnote. (If your software does not add one automatically, do it yourself.)