Documenting SourcesAPA Format

Using & Documenting Sources

• Citation: giving credit for an idea or fact in the text of your report

• Documentation: giving the bibliographic information that readers would need to go back to your original sources

Citing Sources in Your Text

• If the author’s name is in your text, put the date in parenthesis– As Wesson notes (1999), . . . .– According to Dole and Wilfred (1998), . . . .

• If the author’s name is not used in the sentence, put the author’s name in the parenthesis with the date.– We know that. . . (Wesson, 1999).– Research (Dole and Wilfred, 1998) shows. . .

.

Referring to Sources in Your Text

• Page numbers are needed for quotations.– According to Dole & Wilfred, “Your writing

speaks volumes about you” (1998, p. 50).

• Page numbers are not needed for paraphrases.

– Dole & Wilfred (1998) point out that your writing indicates much about your abilities.

Creating A Reference List

• List everything you’ve cited in your text, but only what you have cited.

• Arrange references alphabetically by the author’s last name.

• If you have more than one source by the same author, arrange them chronologically.

Creating a Reference for a Magazine or Newspaper Article

Gerard, A. J. (2000, April). How photography will rescue e-commerce. PC Photo, 26-8.

1. Author’s name2. Date3. Title of article4. Title of magazine or newspaper5. Page numbers

Creating a Reference for a Magazine or Newspaper Article, continued

Gerard, A. J. (2000, April). How photography will rescue e-commerce. PC Photo, 26-8.

•Author’s Name•Last name first•Comma after last name•Initials, not first and middle names

Creating a Reference for a Magazine or Newspaper Article, continued

Gerard, A. J. (2000, April). How photography will rescue e-commerce. PC Photo, 26-8.

•Date•Year•Comma after year•Month or season•Period after closing parenthesis

Creating a Reference for a Magazine or Newspaper Article, continued

Gerard, A. J. (2000, April). How photography will rescue e-commerce. PC Photo, 26-8.

•Title of article•Use lower case•Capitalize only the first letter of the first word•Don’t use quotation marks•Use a period at the end of the title

Creating a Reference for a Magazine or Newspaper Article, continued

Gerard, A. J. (2000, April). How photography will rescue e-commerce. PC Photo, 26-8.

•Title of magazine or newspaper•Italicize or underline the magazine title•Capitalize the first and all the major words•Comma before pages

Creating a Reference for a Magazine or Newspaper Article, continued

Gerard, A. J. (2000, April). How photography will rescue e-commerce. PC Photo, 26-8.

•Page numbers•Give beginning and ending page numbers•End with period

Creating a Reference for a Book

McCrum, R., Cran, W., & MacNeil, R. (1992). The story of English. New York: Penguin.

•Authors’ names•Copyright date in parenthesis, followed by period•Italicize or underline the title, followed by period•Give city of publication (include state if city is not well known), followed by a colon•Give publisher

Creating a Reference for a Web Site

Library of California, U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services. (Visited site September 22, 2000). Librarians Index to the Internet. http://lii.org/

1. Individual or organization responsible for site

2. Date site was last updated, date you visited site

3. Title of site4. URL (Uniform Resource Locator/web

address) May put in angle <> brackets5. No period at end of URL