ESCC Learning Resource Center: Citation Help: APA

What is APA Style?

APA Style establishes standards of written communication concerning:

the organization of content
writing style
citing references
and how to prepare a manuscript for publication in certain disciplines.

Why Use APA?

Aside from simplifying the work of editors by having everyone use the same format for a given publication, using APA Style makes it easier for readers to understand a text by providing a familiar structure they can follow. Abiding by APA's standards as a writer will allow you to:

provide readers with cues they can use to follow your ideas more efficiently and to locate information of interest to them
allow readers to focus more on your ideas by not distracting them with unfamiliar formatting
and establish your credibility or ethos in the field by demonstrating an awareness of your audience and their needs as fellow researchers.

Adapted from The Purdue OWL.

Types of APA Citations

Author(s). (Publication Year). Book title. Publisher.

Example:

Carlson, K. (2009). Green your work: Boost your bottom line while reducing your carbon footprint. Adams Business.

Last Name, A. A. (Date published). Title of article. Name of Newspaper [City], pp. xx-xx.

Example:

Smith, John. (2010, February 18). Simpler green cleaning. New York Times, p. 3.

Last Name, A. A. (Date last modified). Title of webpage. Retrieved from URL

Example:

Hewitt, M. (2010). Reduce your amount of trash. Retrieved from http://life.familyeducation.com/recycling/environmental-education/36292.html?detoured=1

Last Name, A. A. (Year published). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), xx-xx. doi:xx.xxxxxxxxxx

Example:

Griswoid, W. (2013). Community education and green jobs. Adult Learning, 24(1), 30-36. doi: 10.1177/1045159512467322

Last Name, A. A.. (Year published). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), xx-xx. Retrieved from URL of publication's home page

Example:

Mattera, P. (2010). Will green jobs save us? Social Policy, 40(1), 44. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Personal communication (like a phone call, email, or interview) is NOT included in your reference list. Instead, parenthetically cite the communicator's name, the phrase "personal communication," and the date of the communication in your main text only.

Example:

(E. Robbins, personal communication, January 4, 2001).

In-Text Citations

After a quote, paraphrase, or summary an in-text (also called parenthetical) citation is needed. The information needed depends on the sentence structure.

If no information is given in the sentence, the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number go in the parentheses.

Example: "It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened" (Lowrey,1993, p. 1).

If you refer to the author in the sentence, follow it by the year of publication. Only the page number goes in the parentheses.

Example: According to Lowrey (1993), "It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened" (p. 1).

If the source does not have an author, use a shortened version of the title in the parentheses.

Example: "It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened" ("Giver", p. 1).

If the source does not have a date, use n.d. in the parentheses.

Example: "It was almost December, and Jonas was beginning to be frightened" (Lowrey, n.d., p. 1).