APA Tutorial Part 2Citations and Parenthetical Documentation

Citations and Parenthetical

DocumentationThis portion of the tutorial will begin exploring when and how to use parenthetical documentation in your written work.

Parenthetical documentation or citation refers to the borrowing of an idea or written work (including quotations) from another source

This area is highly important as plagiarism occurs when the source of the information used in a paper is not given proper credit

When do I use parenthetical

documentation?When Quoting another author or person

A quotation can be defined as borrowing another’s work word for word. This practice is perfectly acceptable AS LONG AS YOU GIVE THE OTHER PERSON CREDIT FOR THE QUOTE.

Example quote

As you can see, the quote is placed within quotation marks, the author is listed, as are the year of publication and the page number(s) where the quote can be found.

Parts of the citation

As you’ve just seen, there are three main parts to citing as direct quote:

The author

The year the work was published

The page number(s) where the quote can be located in the work (paragraph number is used if the source is electronic and does not use page numbers)

This will typically look like this in your papers: “words in the quote” (Sanders-Thompson, 1996, p. 223-224).

Notice that the period falls AFTER the parenthesis, not at the end of the quotation.

When do I use parenthetical

documentation?When summarizing/paraphrasing another person’s work

A summary can be defined as borrowing information or an idea from another person, but putting the information or idea into your own words. Again, failure to give credit to the idea or information constitutes as plagiarism.

Example summary/paraphrase

As you can see, the summary/paraphrase contains no quotation marks; the author and the year of publication are both provided.

Parts of the citation

As you’ve just seen, there are two main parts to citing summarized/paraphrased information:

The author

The year the work was published

This will typically look like this in your papers: content being summarized (Allen, 2001).

Works with multiple authorsTwo authors: always cite both authors every time

the reference occurs in the text (i.e. Smith & Jones, 2006)

3, 4 or 5 authors: cite all authors the first time you cite the reference; each subsequent citation will use et al.

1st: (James, Jones & Jackson, 2003)

Thereafter: (James et al., 2003)

6 or more authors: use the first author and et al. for every citation (i.e. (Richardson et al., 2001) for a source by Richardson, Jenks, George, Lin, Jack & Sue, 2001)

This information can be found on p. 208 of the APA style manual

Works with other authors

Groups as authors: 1st text citation: (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 1999); Each subsequent citation: (NIMH, 1999)

No author listed: Use the first few words of the reference entry: title of an article or chapter (“Study Finds”, 2007); title of a periodical, book, brochure or report (College Bound Seniors, 2006).

Author is listed as Anonymous: use (Anonymous, 2003)

What do I do when many authors have a

similar idea?

As you can see, each of the authors is listed with the year of publication; a semicolon is used to separate them.

Notice the use of the ampersand (&) with multiple authors of a resource.

Other issues in Parenthetical

documentationMore than one author with the same last name: use the first initial- (J. Jones, 2005); (R. Jones, 2003)

Personal communication: Source: email from J. Howe; citation: (J. Howe, personal communication, June 17, 2008)

When a journal article has been accepted for publication, but has not yet been published, it is considered to be “in press”.

These apply to both direct quotes as well as paraphrases/summaries.

Modifying informationYou may modify information from the sources you use in a paper or presentation, but you must make it clear that you have made the changes.

Omitting material: use three spaces ellipses points (. . .) within a sentence to indicate that you have left out a portion of the information

Inserting extra material: use brackets [like this] to insert information by someone other than the original author

Adding emphasis: use italics [italics added] to emphasize or highlight portions of information

This information is available on p. 119-120 of the APA style manual

CopyrightAccording to Federal Law, copyright of material is considered to be established once the information is in a fixed and tangible form, such as written down or typed into a paper

If you wish to utilize information whose copyright is held by the APA, you may use up to 500 words without obtaining their permission. If citing more than 500 words, you must obtain express written consent to do so

If the copyright is held by someone other than the APA, you should contact them prior to using the material

Reminder: Quotes from movies, books, television, and music lyrics are all under copyright. Obtain permission before using.