APA STYLE OF REFERENCING EXAMPLES
INTRODUCTION
A “citation” is the way you tell your readers that certain material in your work came from another source. It also gives your readers the information necessary to find that source again, including:
- Information about the author
- The title of the work
- The name and location of the company that published your copy of the source
- The date your copy was published
- The page numbers of the material you are borrowing
It is important (morally & legally) to acknowledge someone else’s ideas or words you have used. Academic writing encourages paraphrasing information you have researched and read. Paraphrasing means re-wording something you have read in to your own words. If you use someone else’s words or work and fail to acknowledge them – you may be accused of plagiarism and infringing copyright.
Referencing correctly enables the marker or reader of your assignment to locate the source of the information. They can verify the information or read further on the topic.
Referencing also allows for you to retrace your steps and locate information you have used for assignments and discover further views or ideas discussed by the author.
By referencing clearly and correctly, it demonstrates you have undertaken research on the assignment topic and located relevant information.
There are two main parts to referencing:
- The first indicating within your assignment the sources of the information you have used to write your assignment. This demonstrates support for your ideas, arguments and views. Sometimes this is referred to as: citing in text, in text citations or text citations
- The second part to referencing is the construction of a reference list. The reference list shows the complete details of everything you cited and appears in an alphabetical list on a separate page, at the end of your assignment.
APA STYLE OF REFERENCING (6TH EDITION)
APA is one of many referencing styles used in academic writing. APA stands for American Psychological Association. The Association outlines the style in the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association [APA] (6th ed.).
When you reference you use the standardised style to acknowledge the source of information used in your assignment.
It is important (morally & legally) to acknowledge someone else’s ideas or words you have used. Academic writing encourages paraphrasing information you have researched and read. Paraphrasing means re-wording something you have read in to your own words. If you use someone else’s words or work and fail to acknowledge them – you may be accused of plagiarism and infringing copyright.
Referencing correctly enables the marker or reader of your assignment to locate the source of the information. They can verify the information or read further on the topic.
Referencing also allows for you to retrace your steps and locate information you have used for assignments and discover further views or ideas discussed by the author.
BASIC RULES
- The reference list is arranged in alphabetical order of the authors’ last names.
- If there is more than one work by the same author, order them by publication date – oldest to newest (therefore a 2004 publication would appear before a 2008 publication).
- If there is no author the title moves to that position and the entry is alphabetised by the first significant word, excluding words such as “A” or “The”. If the title is long, it may be shortened when citing in text.
- Use “&” instead of “and” when listing multiple authors of a source.
- The first line of the reference list entry is left-hand justified, while all subsequent lines are consistently indented.
- Capitalise only the first word of the title and of the subtitle, if there is one, plus any proper names – i. e. only those words that would normally be capitalised.
- Italicise the title of the book, the title of the journal/serial and the title of the web document.
- Do not create separate lists for each type of information source. Books, articles, web documents, brochures, etc. are all arranged alphabetically in one list.
When creating the reference list entry for an information source you need to identify and record specific details. It might be useful to remember these Ws!
Who – wrote /edited it – author or editor When was it written – date What is it – title of book, title of the article & serial/journal, title of the web document Where was it published (Books) – place of publication– usually city & country and publisher’s name Where was the article located (Serial/journal) – volume number, issue number and page numbers of the article Where you located it (Internet sources) – URL – web address
HOW TO REFERENCE
In text citations
Even though you have put someone else’s ideas or information in your own words (i.e. paraphrased), you still need to show where the original idea or information came from. This is all part of the academic writing process.
When citing in text within an assignment, use the author/s (or editor/s) last name followed by the year of publication.
ONE AUTHOR
Example:
Water is a necessary part of every person’s diet and of all the nutrients a body needs to function, it requires more water each day than any other nutrient (Whitney, 2011).
or
Whitney (2011) state the body requires many nutrients to function but highlight that water is of greater importance than any other nutrient.
or
Water is an essential element of anyone’s diet and Whitney (2011) emphasise it is more important than any other nutrient.
Reference list entry:
Whitney, E. (2011). Understanding nutrition (12th ed.). Australia: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Note: This book did not have a city for place of publication, just a country.
This book has an edition. This information is included straight after the title
THREE, FOUR OR FIVE AUTHORS (CO-WORKERS)
If a work has three (3), four (4) or five (5) authors, cite all authors the first time and from then on include only the last name of the first author followed by the words et al. (‘et al.’ is Latin for ‘and others’)
Example:
Research can be defined as a systematic method of creating new knowledge or a way to verify existing knowledge (Watson, McKenna, Cowman & Keady, 2008).
Deciding on a research method demands the researcher consider carefully the problem or area of investigation being researched (Watson et al., 2008).
Reference list entry:
Watson, R., McKenna, H., Cowman, S., & Keady, K. (Eds.). (2008). Nursing reseach: Designs and methods. Edinburgh, Scotland: Churchill Livingstone Elsevier.
Note: The people were identified as the editors, hence ‘(Eds.)’ is a shortened version of Editors.
Six or Seven Authors
If a work has six (6) or more authors, cite only the last name of the first author followed by et al. each time you refer to this work.
Example:
(Mikosch et al., 2010)
Reference list entry: When a source has up to seven (7) authors, include all names in the reference list.
Mikosch, P., Hadrawa, T., Laubreiter, K., Brandl, J., Pilz, J., Stettner, H., & Grimm, G. (2010). Effectiveness of respiratory-sinus-arrhythmia biofeedback on state-anxiety in patients undergoing coronary angiography. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 66(5), 1101-1110.
Eight or more authors
When there are eight (8) or more authors, cite only the last name of the first author followed by ‘et al.’ each time you refer to this work.
Example: (Vissing et al., 2004)
Note in the reference list: When there are eight (8) or more authors, include the first six (6) authors’ names and then use ellipsis points (…) before concluding with the last author’s name.
Reference list entry:
Vissing, K., Brink, M., Lonbro, S., Sorensen, H., Overgaard, K., Danborg, K., … Aagaard, P. (2008). Muscle adaptations to plyometric vs. resistance training in untrained young men. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 22(6), 1799-1810.
Groups as authors
The names of groups that serve as authors (e.g., corporations, associations, government agencies) are usually written in full each time they appear in a text citation. The names of some group authors (e.g., associations, government agencies) are spelled out in the first citation and abbreviated thereafter. In deciding whether to abbreviate the name of a group author, use the general rule that you need to give enough information in the text citation for the reader to locate the entry in the reference list without difficulty. Some groups are recognised by an abbreviation (e.g., WHO for World Health Organisation). Refer to the APA manual, 2010, p. 176.
First text citation: (Ministry of Health [MOH], 2007).
Second & subsequent citations: (MOH, 2007).
Reference list entry:
Ministry of Health. (2007). Looking at long-term residential care in a rest home or hospital: What you need to know. Wellington, New Zealand: Author.
Note: If the author and publisher are the same – Author – can be used to indicate the publisher in place of the full name. See the example above.
Similar information referred to by more than one author
There may be occasion to refer to more than one source in relation to similar information. In this case, list the sources in alphabetical order within the brackets, separated by a semi-colon.
Example:
Resilience is seen as the ability to overcome adversary, combat stress and bounce back from hardship (Dawson, 2006; Overton, 2005).
Reference list entry:
Dawson, L. (2006). Wise up!: How to be fearless and fulfilled in midlife. Auckland, New Zealand: Random House New Zealand.
Overton, A. (2005). Stress less: Make stress work for you not against you. Auckland, New Zealand: Random House New Zealand.
Same author and same date
If a work has the same author and same date, differentiate between them by assigning lowercase letters a, b, c, etc. They are listed in the reference list alphabetically by title (excluding A or The). Refer to the APA manual, 2010, p. 178, 182.
Examples:
Eyes are susceptible to melanoma, even though it is rare (Cancer Society of New Zealand, 2013a).
According to the Cancer Society of New Zealand (2013b) the rate of…
Reference list entry:
Cancer Society of New Zealand. (2013a). Ocular melanoma: Information sheet. Retrieved from http://www.cancernz.org.nz/information/cancer-types/
Cancer Society of New Zealand. (2013b). Reducing your cancer risk. Retrieved from http://www.cancernz.org.nz/reducing-your-cancer-risk/
One work by one author, when the author is cited more than once in a paragraph
The rules for this are quite complex, mostly because there is one rule for citations in brackets (parenthetical) and other rules for citations that are part of the narrative.
‘Part of the narrative’ means that the reference is part of a sentence, and not in brackets.
Examples
If a citation is part of the narrative, it looks like ‘According to Jones (2013)…, or Jones (2013) states that….
If a citation is parenthetical, it looks like ‘(Jones, 2013)’.
The following are the details for common types of references. The information is usually found on the title page and the back of the title page of a book. For serials/journals, you will find the information included on the article plus the front cover or inside pages of a print serial. Webpages can take a bit of detective work. You may need to scroll to the bottom of the webpage to find a date and an author.
BASIC THINGS TO NOTE WHEN REFERENCING A BOOKS
- Author/s or Editor/s last name (surname) appears first, followed by initials (Bloggs, J.).
- Year of publication in brackets (2010).
- Full title of the book. Capitalise only the first word of the title and the subtitle, if any, and proper names. Italicise the title. Use a colon (:) between the title and subtitle.
- Include the edition number, if applicable, in brackets after the title or subtitle (3rd ed.) or (Rev. ed.). Note: No full stop, after the title, if there is an edition.
- Place of publication. Always include the city and 2-letter state code when published inside the USA, and the city & country, if published outside the USA (Fort Bragg, CA or Auckland, New Zealand or Benalla, Australia or Weybridge, England). If there are two or more places included in the source, then use the first one listed.
- Publisher’s name. Provide this as briefly as possible. Do not use terms such as Publishers, Co., or Inc. but include the words Books & Press. When the author and the publisher are the same, use the word Author as the name of the publisher.
EXAMPLES OF HOW TO REFERENCE A BOOK
Book – one author
Collier, A. (2008). The world of tourism and travel. Rosedale, New Zealand: Pearson Education New Zealand.
Book – place of publication
Note: always include the city and 2-letter state code when published inside the USA, and city & country if published outside the USA.
Airey, D. (2010). Logo design love: A guide to creating iconic brand identities. Berkeley, CA: New Riders.
Stein, R. (2001). Rick Stein’s seafood. London, England: BBC.
Book – editor
Aspinall, V. (Ed.). (2014). Clinical procedures in veterinary nursing (3rd ed.). Edinburgh, Scotland: Elsevier.
Book – author & publisher are the same
MidCentral District Health Board. (2008). District annual plan 2008/09. Palmerston North, New Zealand: Author.
Chapter in an edited book
Palmer, F. (2007). Treaty principles and Maori sport: Contemporary issues. In C. Collins & S. Jackson (Eds.), Sport in Aotearoa/New Zealand society (2nd ed., pp. 307-334). South Melbourne, Australia: Thomson.
McKinney, C., & Smith, N. (2005). Te Tiriti o Waitangi or The Treaty of Waitangi: What is the difference? In D. Wepa (Ed.), Cultural safety in Aotearoa New Zealand (pp. 39-57). Auckland, New Zealand: Pearson Education New Zealand.
CONCLUSION
APA (American Psychological Association) style is most frequently used within the social sciences, in order to cite various sources. This APA Citation Guide, revised according to the 6th edition of the APA manual, provides the general format for in-text citations and the reference page.
REFERENCES
How reference using APA style retrieved from http://blog.apastyle.org
A guide to the APA 6th ed. referencing style by staff from the UCOL Student Experience Team (SET) Library and Learning Services January 2015
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (6th ed.) retrieved from:
Apa style citation retrieved from http://www.umuc.edu/ library/libhow/apa_examples.cfm
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