APA Citation Style

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APA Citation Style

• William T Forbes
• Kaplan University

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When to cite?

• Whenever you are referring to an idea that is not
  uniquely your own, one that has been drawn from
  another source, you must cite that idea as
  someone elses. The most common example is from
  a periodical or book
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department (Jones, 2005).

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When to cite?

• The citation follows the expression of the idea
  typically at the end of a sentence (an exception
  would be when you express two or more ideas in
  one sentence
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department (Jones, 2005).

This is the citation
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When to cite?

• The order of the citation is important, and
  should include, in parenthesis, the authors
  name, a comma, and the year of publication
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department (Jones, 2005).

Author name
Year
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When to cite?

• You must cite the particular book each time you
  draw from it not just the first time you use it
  in a text.

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When to cite?

• If your citation refers to a specific page or
  pages, you should also include that in your
  citation
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department (Jones, 2005, p. 48).

Page number
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When to cite?

• Important if you directly quote a text, you must
  put the quote in quotation marks
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department according to one source (Jones, 2005,
  p. 48).

Note the gray portion is a direct quote from the
Jones source
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When to cite?

• As mentioned earlier, you might have two ideas
  from two different sources (notice the placement
  of the first citation after the first idea)
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department (Jones, 2005, p. 48) as well as
  teaching citizens how to handle their own crime
  problems (Smith, 1998).

2nd idea
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When to cite?

• Almost without exception, your in-text citation
  should connect to an entry in your reference
  list toward the end of your paper. Reference
  list formats are covered later
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department (Jones, 2005, p. 48).

Reference list
Jones, A. (2005). Community Policing.
Hartford, CT Scholarly Publishers, Inc.
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When to cite?

• You may also at times refer to works without the
  parenthesis, if it flows better with your
  paper
• Jones has stated that community policing involves
  developing a relationship between citizens and
  the police department (2005, p. 48).

Note the author is left out because it was
mentioned earlier in the sentence
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When to cite?

• Here is another example of not using parenthesis
• In 1998, Jones reported that community policing
  involves developing a relationship between
  citizens and the police department (p. 48).

In this instance the author and the year are
mentioned in the prior sentence. The page
number (specific to the idea) is the only
citation listing. If you are referring to the
entire works idea, you might not even have the
page number in parenthesis.
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Examples No authors

• What if your source does not have an author
  listed anywhere? You will list the first few
  words of the title of the work
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department (Policing in Action, 2005).

Title synopsis
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Examples No date

• What if your source does not have a publish date
  listed anywhere? You will list the author, and
  n.d. for no date
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department (Jones, n.d.).

n.d. no date
Note if you dont have an author or a date, your
citation might read (Policing in Action, n.d.)
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Examples Two authors

• Your book or periodical might have more than one
  author. You must list both authors every time
  you draw and idea from that particular source
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department (Jones Smith, 2005, p. 48).

2nd Author
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Examples Three to Six Authors

• If you have three to six authors, you cite two
  different ways. The first time you cite the
  source, you list all authors
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department (Jones, Smith, White, 2005).
• Each additional time you cite this source in your
  paper, you only list the first author, and follow
  it up with et al.
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department (Jones, et al.).

et al. stands for and others
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Examples Agency as Author

• Perhaps you have a source that lists an agency,
  such as a government agency, as the author (and
  not an individual). In this instance you simply
  list that agency within the citation
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department (U.S. Department of Justice, 2005).

Agency listed
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Examples Personal Communications

• Personal communications, such as e-mails,
  interviews, phone interviews, etc. are cited
  within your text, but they are NOT listed in the
  reference list
• Arthur Jones stated that community policing
  involves developing a relationship between
  citizens and the police department (personal
  communication, May 8th, 2005).

This will NOT be listed in the reference list
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References

• Recall that almost without exception, your
  in-text citation should connect to an entry in
  your reference list toward the end of your paper.
  
• Community policing involves developing a
  relationship between citizens and the police
  department (Jones, 2005, p. 48).

Jones, A. (2005). Community Policing.
Hartford, CT Scholarly Publishers, Inc.
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References - Formatting

• References are formatted in the fashion below.
  The reference is in hanging indent style, with
  the first line not indented and all lines that
  follow indented.
• Jones, A. (2005). Community Policing. Hartford,
  CT Scholarly Publishers, Inc.

Hanging indent
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References - Formatting

• In general, the author is listed first last name
  first, first initial next. The year is listed in
  parenthesis after that. The title is then
  displayed in italics. If it is a book, the city
  (and possibly the state) of publication is
  offered, followed by a colon and the publishing
  company name.
• Jones, A. (2005). Community Policing. Hartford,
  CT Scholarly Publishers, Inc.

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References - Formatting

• Reference lists are in alphabetical order by the
  authors last name.
• Multiple authors for the same reference are
  listed in alphabetical order.
• If you have more than one reference by the same
  author, you list them in order by the year of
  publication.
• Use as opposed to and in listing multiple
  authors

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Reference Examples 2-6 authors

• All authors (up to six) are listed in
  alphabetical order.
• Anderson, M., Bell, J., Jones, A. (2005).
  Community Policing. Hartford, CT Scholarly
  Publishers, Inc.

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Reference Examples More than 6 authors

• The first six authors are listed, every author
  after that is referred to as et al. (and
  others).
• Anderson, M., Bell, J., Connors, G., Davis, L.,
  Engram, P., Jones, A., et al. (2005).
  Community Policing. Hartford, CT Scholarly
  Publishers, Inc.

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Reference Examples Periodical

• A periodical, such a magazine or newspaper, is
  referred to like below. The title of the article
  is listed after the year. The name of the
  periodical is next, followed by the volume number
  and pages.
• Jones, A. (2005). Community Policing. River City
  Monthly, 55, 25-32.

The periodical name and volume number are in
italics
Page s, not in italics
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Reference Examples Periodical

• A periodical, such a magazine or newspaper, is
  referred to like below. The title of the article
  is listed after the year. The name of the
  periodical is next, followed by the volume number
  and pages.
• Jones, A. (2005). Community Policing. River City
  Monthly, 55, 25-32.

The periodical name and volume number are in
italics
Page s, not in italics
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Reference Examples Internet/Print Periodical

• An internet/print periodical is listed in a
  reference list like any other periodical, however
  it also includes the retrieval date and web
  address (Note example is of a periodical that is
  also printed note volume and page s)
• Jones, A. (2005). Community Policing. Community
  Policing Weekly, 55, 25-32. Retrieved May 8th,
  2005, from http//www.compolicing.net

Note web address and retrieval date
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Reference Examples Internet only Periodical

• An internet only periodical is listed in a
  reference list like any other periodical, however
  it also includes the retrieval date and web
  address. Note also the retrieval date may differ
  from the publish date (if known).
• Jones, A. (2001). Community Policing.
  International Association of Community
  Policing, 55, Article 2. Retrieved May 8th,
  2005, from http//www.compolicing.net

This can be a hyperlink
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Reference Examples Govt. / Private Organization

• Internet publications from organizations,
  government or private, will many times not
  display an author. The agency name is listed
  instead of the author.
• U.S. Department of Justice (n.d.). Community
  Policing. Retrieved May 8th, 2005, from
  http//www.usdoj.gov

Note n.d for no date. This can be used for
any reference without a date
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Reference Examples Govt. / Private Organization

• What about a private organization? Here is an
  example
• Higgins Institute (1999). Community Policing.
  Retrieved May 8th, 2005, from http//higginsin
  st.com

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Reference Examples Link from School Website

• Some websites, such as college or university
  sites, have links to informative articles. These
  links are handled as follows
• Jones, A. (1999). Community Policing. Retrieved
  May 8th, 2005, from the University of Nebraska,
  Criminal Justice Research Section web site
  http//www.unl.edu/cj/compolicing

Note the website (Nebraska) is distinct from
the article (authored by Jones), so it is noted
specifically in the reference list.
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Reference Examples Newspaper on the Web

• Many newspaper have their articles on the web
  now. Here is how you list this in your reference
  list
• Jones, A. (2005). Community Policing Under Fire.
  River City Bugle. Retrieved May 8th, 2005,
  from http//www.rcbugle.com

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Important Points

• You must credit others for their work APA will
  do this for you
• If this credit isnt given, you might be
  committing plagiarism
• You must connect your citations to a link in the
  reference list (with the exception of personal
  interviews)

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Important Points

• Consult the APA Publication Manual or
  http//owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/research/r_
  apa.html (Purdue Universitys English Lab APA
  website) for further information. This
  Powerpoint is merely a basic primer in APA
  formatting.