Citing Your Sources in APA

Alright guys, it is getting close to that time where you're going to need to learn how to cite your sources in your paper.

I'm going to give you the basic run down in this blog as to how to cite scholarly journal articles within your paper as well as how to create the bibliographic entry you'll need at the end of your paper.

First, let's start with how to create the bibliography.

Citing scholarly articles in APA is relatively simple. Just follow the following formula:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number. Retrieved from http://www.journalhomepage.com/full/url/

For example:

Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 8. Retrieved from http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html

Make sure you indent your second line of your source entry.

In your bibliography, follow these simple rules:

1. Indent the lines after the first line of your entry. (Hanging indent)
2. Alphabetize your reference list by author's last name.
3. Always include the full journal title, which means you spell things and punctuate things exactly.



In-Text Citations:

If you are using a short quotation from your source, you need to use the author, publication year, and page number for the reference. Always introduce the quote using the author's last name and the year.

For example:
According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).

For longer quotations (40+ words), you need to leave off the quotations marks and put the quote in its own, indented block of text. Still introduce the quote using the author and year of publication. Add the page number at the end.

For example:

Jones's (1998) study found the following:
Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time citing sources. This difficulty could be attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase a style manual or to ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)

If you are summarizing or paraphrasing material from a source, you just have to include the author and year of publication. It's a good idea, though, to try to give the page number even though it is unnecessary.


For more information on how to cite sources, go to Perdue OWL's website at https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/section/2/10/


Sources used for this instruction tool:

In-Text Citations: The Basics. (n.d.). Retrieved November 8, 2014, from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/

Reference List: Electronic Sources (Web Publications). (n.d.). Retrieved November 8, 2014, from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10/