APA Referencing: A Comprehensive Guide
What should you understand about APA Referencing?
APA (American Psychological Association) style is one of the most frequently used style of referencing, in order to cite various sources.
Where is it applied?
APA referencing is basically used in all non-technical assignments like the reports, essays, case study etc. in the topics like Nursing, Marketing, etc.
Types of Application?
APA is used in two ways, in assignments;
- Referencing
- In-Text Citation
In-text citations are made like this: In-text citations consist of the author's name and year of publication inserted at an appropriate point in the text.
Example:
Sternberg (1993) suggests results should be carefully analyzed...
OR
... a discussion of results analysis (Sternberg., 1993)
Direct quotations and in-text citations
Page numbers are always included in the in-text citation for direct quotations. In Direct quotations 40 words or less should be typed within the text surrounded by double quotation marks.
Example:
Using graphics in an assignment has visual impact, but you need determine the purpose and importance of including them "The preparation of graphic materials requires careful attention to organization and content" (American Psychological Association., 2010 p. 126).
Reference lists, at the end of your assignments, are made like this:
A reference list entry includes information about the source such as author, publication date, title, place of publication and publisher, but may include additional information depending on the type of source.
Example:
American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.).
Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
Bjork, R. A. (1989). Retrieval inhibition as an adaptive mechanism in human memory. In H. L. Roediger& F.I.M. Craik (Eds.), Varieties of memory and consciousness (pp. 309-330). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Fischer, K., Demetriou, A., & Dawson, T. L. (1992). The development of mental processing: efficiency, working memory and thinking. Boston: Blackwell Publishing.
Sternberg, R. J. (1993). The psychologist's companion (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
What’s the difference between APA and HARVARD REFERENCING?
| TYPE | APA | HARVARD |
|---|---|---|
|
List Of References |
Names “References” | Name “Reference List” |
| Edited Work |
Marked with “(Ed[s].).” Which is followed by the title of the edited work |
Marked with “ed[s].” or “edited by” which us followed by the editor’s name[s] and then the title |
|
Date of Publication Of A Citation |
Always Parenthesized | Is not Parenthesized |
|
Page No. Of The Cited Work In The In-Text Citation |
Doesn’t use a colon “(Mundy., 2001)” |
Introduced With a Colon, e.g. “(Mundy, 2001:30)” |
How is a reference list prepared?
A reference list is generally written at the end of the assignment and it list out full citations for sources used in the assignment.
Book and book chapter:
Each reference should include four elements: (1) Author/Editor/Producer (2) Date (3) Title of the work and (4) Publication Information.
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Title of the work. Place name: Publisher.
E Books:
If the item is available online, a retrieval statement or DOI is required after (3) Title. Exclude (4) Publication Information.
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Title of the work. Retrieved from http://... Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Title of the work. https://doi.org/xx-xxxxxxx
A chapter in an edited book:
When a book consists of many chapters written by different authors, reference each chapter you used.
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Chapter title. In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of the book (pp.xx-xx). Place name: Publisher.
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Chapter title. In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of the book (pp.xx-xx). Retrieved from http://...
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Chapter title. In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor (Eds.), Title of the book (pp.xx-xx). https://doi.org/xx-xxxxxxx
A journal article available online
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Article title. Title of Periodical, x(x), pp-pp. https://doi.org/xx-xxxxxxx
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Article title. Title of Periodical, x(x), pp-pp. Retrieved from http://...
Online documents / Web pages
Include the same elements as for a book, but exclude the publication information and add a retrieval statement in its place: (1) Author (2) Date (3) Title (4) Retrieval statement. Include a retrieval date if the source material is likely to change over time (Publication Manual, p. 192).
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Title of the webpage. Retrieved from http://...
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year). Title of the webpage. Retrieved from ...website: http://...
Author, A., & Author, B. (Year, Month Day). Title of the webpage [Description of form]. Retrieved Year, Month Day from http://...
You need to keep some points in mind:
- The reference list starts on a new page (APA, 2010, p. 37), and is arranged alphabetically by author's last name (APA, 2010, p. 181).
- References are double spaced with the second and subsequent lines of each reference indented (APA, 2010, p. 37).
- Include only the references that were used when writing the paper (APA, 2010, p. 180).
- The title of the reference list 'References' should be centered (APA, 2010, p. 37).
- In the reference list single authors go before multiple authors (APA, 2010, p. 182), for example: Fischer, K. W., (1992)... before Fischer, K., Demetriou, A., & Dawson, T. L. (1992)....
These were some of the major points everyone needs to know about APA referencing, but it is always advisable to practice as the more references you write the more familiar you will get with it. Referencing list needs to be very precise and consistent. There’s a lot to learn in referencing as referencing is an important part of all your academic assignments. But, still if you have doubts contact us and we would love to help you.
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