APA Citation Style

A reference that allows a writer to acknowledge the source s/he used

in a formal academic paper (mini disclaimers).
Placed both in text and in a chapter placed after an academic paper
(except when the writer is using the footnote and endnote system)

In-text citation (in red) placed within the paraphrased text:

Failing to acknowledge the original author of your borrowed ideas
violates the rights of that author (Hunter, 2003).

Reference entry placed in a chapter after the paper proper:

Hunter, J. (2003). The importance of citation. Retrieved January 1,
2010, from http://web.grinnell.edu/Dean/Tutorial/EUS/IC.pdf

Citation
 To acknowledge the author who came up with the idea
For the reader to determine the reliability of the
information you presented
To establish credibility as a writer
In case the reader wants to know more about your sources
To respect intellectual property rights (and avoid getting
sued by the author)

Why cite?
 The academic community will consider your paper
unreliable (and accuse you of plagiarism).
You will get a final grade of 5.0.
You might get suspended from the university.
You might get sued by the author.

What will happen if you do

not cite?
 Direct quotations
Idea, thesis or opinion from another author
Experts theory or opinion
Facts that are not common knowledge*
The Chinese fishing industry produces 800,000 tons of fish
annually.
The first international coffee syndicate was based in Germany.
Statistical/numerical data
Special definitions given by a specific author

*examples from www.citationmachine.net/apa/cite-a-website

When should you cite?

 Facts considered as common knowledge
President Benigno Aquino III is the fifteenth president
of the Philippines.
Plato was a philosopher in classical Greece.
China is a country located in Asia.
Dictionary definitions that are common knowledge and
vary little from source to source
A cat is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal
with soft fur, a short snout, and retractile claws
Firsthand information

When is it okay not to

cite?
 APA (American Psychological Association)
Education, Psychology, and Sciences
MLA (Modern Language Association)
Humanities
Chicago/Turabian
Business, History, and the Fine Arts
Others

Kinds of Citations
Information needed
Paraphrased
Authors SURNAME
Year
Direct Quotation
Authors SURNAME
Year
Page/s or paragraph number

How to place in-text

citations (APA style)
Secondhand information

Paraphrased info (Surname, year).

According to Neo-Marxist critics, the superstructure, which includes

institutions and mass media companies, is controlled by the ruling class
(Borchers, 2006).

According to Surname (year), paraphrased info.

According to Borchers (2006), Neo-Marxist critics believed that the

superstructure, which includes institutions and mass media companies,
is controlled by the ruling class.

Paraphrased
Thirdhand information

Gearhart (1979), as cited in Borchers (2006), introduced the

womanization of rhetoric, an idea of a rhetoric that encourages
every participant to share their insights and acknowledge the
differences among each other at the same time.

Gearhart (1979, as cited in Borchers, 2006) introduced the

womanization of rhetoric, an idea of a rhetoric that encourages
every participant to share their insights and acknowledge the
differences among each other at the same time.

Paraphrased
The womanization of rhetoric is an idea of a rhetoric that
encourages every participant to share their insights and
acknowledge the differences among each other at the same
time (Gearhart, 1979, as cited in Borchers, 2006).

Paraphrased
Secondhand information

According to Neo-Marxist critics, the superstructure,

which includes institutions and mass media companies, is
controlled by the ruling class (Borchers, 2006, p. 1).

According to Borchers (2006), Neo-Marxist critics

believed that the superstructure, which includes institutions
and mass media companies, is controlled by the ruling
class" (p.1).

Direct quotation
Thirdhand information

The womanization of rhetoric is an idea of a rhetoric that

encourages every participant to share their insights and
acknowledge the differences among each other at the same
time (Gearhart, 1979, as cited in Borchers, 2006, p.1).

Direct quotation
Gearhart (1979) , as cited by Borchers (2006), stated that
The womanization of rhetoric is an idea of a rhetoric that
encourages every participant to share their insights and
acknowledge the differences among each other at the same
time (p.1).

Direct quotation
Gearhart (1979, as cited by Borchers, 2006), stated that
The womanization of rhetoric is an idea of a rhetoric that
encourages every participant to share their insights and
acknowledge the differences among each other at the same
time (p.1).

Direct quotation
Reference entry
An entry in a reference list that contains details about a cited
source

Reference List
A chapter of an academic paper that lists down all the
reference entries of cited sources
Placed after the paper proper
Labeled as References
Each reference entry follows a certain format

APA Reference Entry

Book

Surname, A.A. (Year published). Book title. Location published:

Publisher.
Finney, J. (1970). Time and again. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Book title format

Capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title and the first letter of
the first word of the second title, if any.
Capitalize the first letter of any proper noun.
Italicize the title

Ex: The brave dog Marty: A childs tale

How to make a reference

entry
Journal

Author, A.A.. (Publication Year). Article title. Journal

Title, Volume(Issue), pp.-pp.
Jameson, J. (2013). E-Leadership in higher education: The
fifth age of educational technology research. British Journal
of Educational Technology, 44(6), 889-915.

How to make a reference

entry
Journal (online with a direct object identifier)

Author, A.A.. (Publication Year). Article title. Journal

Title, Volume(Issue), pp.-pp. doi
Jameson, J. (2013). E-Leadership in higher education: The
fifth age of educational technology research. British Journal
of Educational Technology, 44(6), 889-915. doi:10.1037
/0278-6133.24.2.225

How to make a reference

entry
Journal (online without DOI)

Author, A.A.. (Publication Year). Article title. Journal

Title, Volume(Issue), pp.-pp. Retrieved date, from link
Jameson, J. (2013). E-Leadership in higher education: The
fifth age of educational technology research. British Journal
of Educational Technology, 44(6), 889-915. Retrieved January
1, 2015, from http://www.aurora.
edu/documents/academics/resources/learning-center/apa-
ref090308.pdf

How to make a reference

entry
Author, A.A.. (Publication Year). Article title. Journal
Title, Volume(Issue), pp.-pp. Retrieved date, from link
Jameson, J. (2013). E-Leadership in higher education: The
fifth age of educational technology research. British Journal
of Educational Technology, 44(6), 889-915. Retrieved January
1, 2015, from http://www.aurora.
edu/documents/academics/resources/learning-center/apa-
ref090308.pdf

Opt out the Retrieved from portion if the journal was not
retrieved online

How to make a reference

entry
In making a reference list for a journal, take note of the following
title format:

ARTICLE title format:

DO NOT italicize the article title.
Capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title and the first
letter of the first word of the second title, if any.
Capitalize the first letter of any proper noun.

JOURNAL title format

Italicize the journal title.
For capitalization, leave the capitalization as it was orginally
capitalized.

How to make a reference

entry
Surname, A.A. (Year published). Article title. Website
title. Retrieved date, from link

The Freeman. (2015). SAF 44 legacy is opportunity for

redemption. Philippine Star. Retrieved June 21, 2015, from
http://www.philstar.com/freeman-
opinion/2015/02/10/1422179/editorial-saf-44-legacy-
opportunity-redemption

*Rule of capitalization for the title is the same as that of a

book title. For the website title, leave the title as it was
orginally capitalized.

Online source
No Author
Place Anonymous if the author is indicated by the source as Anonymous
(Anonymous, 2010)
Anonymous. (1970). Time and again. New York, NY: Simon and
Schuster.
Place the company name if the source was posted/published by a company
(The Freeman, 2015)

Possible scenarios
No Author
Place the first two words of the title of the source.
Enclosed in quotation marks if article, chapter, or web page.
(Time Relativity, 2016)
Italicized if periodical, book, brochure, or report.
(Disaster Reduction, 2013)
Two authors
If in narrative text, place and between the two authors
surnames
Johnson and Jones (2009)
If in parenthetical material and reference list, place an
ampersand in between their surnames.
(Johnson & Jones, 2009)
Johnson, J. & Jones, J.

Possible scenarios
Three, four or five authors
State all the names in their first text citation
(Sharp, Aarons, Wittenberg, & Gittens, 2007)
Sharp, Aaron, Wittenberg and Gittens (2007)
State the first authors name followed by et al. in
subsequent text citations
(Sharp et al., 2007)
Sharp et al. (2007)

Possible scenarios
Six or more authors
In all text citations, place et al. after the first author
(Mendelsohn et al., 2010)
Mendelsohn et al. (2010)

Possible scenarios
Two or more works in the same parenthetical citation
use a semicolon to separate the sources
order of the sources should coincide with their order in
the reference list
Several studies (Jones & Powell, 1993; Peterson, 1995,
1998; Smith, 1990) suggest that...

Possible scenarios
No date

Place n.d. (for no date)

(Satalkar, n.d.)
Satalkar, B. (n.d.). Water aerobics. Retrieved from
http://www.buzzle.com

Possible scenarios
No pagination

Place para. to indicate the paragraph number instead

(Satalkar, n.d., para. 1)

Possible scenarios
Direct quotation takes up more than one page of the
source

Place pp. as abbreviation for pages

(Johnson, 2010, pp. 1-2)

Possible scenarios
Direct quotation is more than 40 words long

Make a block quotation

must be introduced by an introductory
sentence/paragraph
should be indented inch from the left margin (where
you would usually start a new paragraph)
parenthetical citations should be placed AFTER the last
sentences end punctuation
the author and the year of the citation may be placed
within the introductory sentence/paragraph, but the page
number should always be placed AFTER the last
sentences end punctuation
maintain the same spacing throughout
 If the direct quotation is more than one paragraph long,
indent the succeeding paragraph within the block
quotation.
 Allot a SEPARATE chapter for your reference list
labeled as References.
Arrange your reference entries in alphabetical order with
the first letter of the authors names as basis.
Indent the second and succeeding space of EACH
reference entry.
The format of the spacing is double spaced.

The APA Reference List

Taken from: http://www.aurora.edu/documents/academics/resources/learning-center/apa-ref090308.pdf