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Research Process: APA Citation

APA Manual

The APA manual is the offical guide of APA citation formatting. You can find the manual at the reference desk and in the reference section of the library's collection.

Sample APA Paper

Click the image for an informative example of a research paper with explanations of APA formatting:

More Questions? APA Resources

Diana Hacker's APA Style:  The Social Sciences has extensive information on in-text citation and creating a list of references.

The OWL at Purdue:  APA Style  Another source of information about in-text citation and creating a list of references.

EasyBib  A guided citation builder -- entering your citation information and EasyBib will help you format your citation.

References List

The last page of your essay is called the "References" list. This is where you list the full citation of your sources in APA format.

This page will help you create an APA References List.

APA List of References

When you use outside sources, you will need to create a references list that tells your reader all the information they need to go find the source themselves if they want to.  Commonly used sources include:

Books

Highmore, B. (2001). Everyday life and cultural theory. New York:  Routledge.

Articles from Databases

Howard, K. R. (2007). Childhood overweight: Parental perceptions and  readiness for change. The Journal of School

aaaaaNursing, 23
(2), 73-79. Retrieved from PsycINFO database. (2007-05057-003)

Websites

Cain, A., & Burris, M. (1999, April). Investigation of the use of mobile phones while driving. Retrieved January 15, 2000,

aaaaafrom http://www.cutr.eng.usf.edu/its/mobile_phone_text.htm

Encyclopedia Entries

Bergmann, P.G.  (1993).  Relativity.  In The new encyclopaedia Britannicaa(vol 26, pp. 501-508).  Chicago: 

aaaaaEncyclopaedia Britannica.

  APA In-Text Citation

Basic Format for a Short Quote

Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author’s last name followed by the year of publication in parentheses. Put the page number (preceded by “p.”) in parentheses after the quotation.

Critser (2003) noted that despite growing numbers of overweight Americans, many health care providers still “remain either in ignorance or outright denial about the health danger to the poor and the young” (p. 5).

Basic Format for a Longer Quote

Longer quotes are indented to set them off.

A Report by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2004) outlined trends that may have contributed to the childhood obesity crisis, including food advertising for children as well as

a reduction in physical education classes and after-school athletic programs, an increase in the availablity of sodas and snacks in public schools, a growth in the number of fast food outlets..., and the increasing number of highly processed, high-calorie and high-fat grocery products.  (p. 1)

Basic Format for a Summary or Paraphrase
 
Include the author’s last name and the year either in a signal phrase introducing the material or in parentheses following it.
 
According to Carmona (2004), the cost of treating obesity is exceeded only by the cost of treating illnesses from tobacco use.