Learn more about paper formatting and commonly cited sources in APA.

1. APA paper formatting &
citations

2. WHY DO WE CITE?
• Gives credit to other researchers ideas and publications.
• Helps you to avoid plagiarism by citing in-text quotations and ideas.
• Demonstrates to your reader that your paper is well researched.
• Allows your reader to find the sources you used in your research
through your Works Cited page.

3. APA OVERVIEW
American Psychological Association
Citation style typically used in the humanities
disciplines such as:
Social Sciences (Psychology, Linguistics, Sociology,
Economics)
Business
Education
Nursing
Includes four main sections to the paper: title page,
abstract, body of paper, and references.

4. PAPER FORMATING
Set-up: 12pt font, Times New Roman, 1” margins, double spaced
 Do not add extra space between the title and each paragraph!
Page Header: a page header appears at the top of every page. It includes:
 Page number – flush right
 Running Head – shortened version of your paper’s title, cannot exceed 50 characters including space and
punctuation, in all capital letters, flush left.
Title Page: first page of paper, contains the running head, full title of the paper,
author’s name, and school’s name.
 Note: the page header on the title page starts with the words Running head followed by a colon and then the
shortened title of the paper. The page header on all subsequent pages should only include the shortened title of
the paper in capital letters and the page number.
Abstract: a 100-150 word paragraph providing an overview of the paper.
Immediately follows the title page with the word “Abstract” centered at the top.
Do not indent the abstract paragraph, all text should be left justified.
References: a list of resources used when writing the paper. Begins on a new
page at the very end of the paper with the word “References” centered at the top.

5. IN-TEXT CITATIONS
Author-Date System
 Signal Phrase: the source is introduced by a signal phrase that contains the
author(s) last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses.
 EXAMPLE: As researchers Yanovski and Yanovski (2002) have explained, obesity was once considered
“either a moral failing or evidence of underlying psychopathology” (p. 592).1
 Page Number: after the source is introduced and is either quoted or paraphrased it
is followed by the page number(s) referenced in parentheses.
 Reference List: Every source cited in-text should have a corresponding entry in the
Reference list. The reader can review the Reference List at the end of the paper to
see full publication information for the sources used. The author-date in-text
information provides the necessary information for the reader to find the full
information in the Reference List.
The signal phrase is one example of how a quote or paraphrase can be cited in-text.
In-text citations can also be all contained within one parenthetical citation.

6. IN-TEXT CITATIONS - EXAMPLES
 One to Two Authors
 With Signal Phrase: 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).2
 Without Signal Phrase: Sibutamine suppresses appetite by blocking the reuptake of the neurotransmitters
serotonin and norepinephrine in the brain (Yanovski & Yanovski, 2002, p. 594).3
 If two authors, give the names of both each time you cite the work.
 Three to Five Authors
 First time cited in paper: In 2003, Berhowitz, Wadden, Tershakovec, and Cronquist concluded
“Sibutramine . . . must be carefully monitored in adolescents, as in adults, to control increases in [blood
pressure] and pulse rate” (p. 1811).4
 Subsequent Citations: As Berkowitz et al. (2003) advised, “Until more extensive safety and efficacy data
are available . . . weight-loss medications should be used only on an experimental basis for adolescents”
(p. 1811).5
 Six or More Authors
 McDuffie et al. (2002) tested 20 adolescents, aged 12-16, over a three-month period and found that
orlistat, combined with behavioral therapy, produced an average weight loss of 4.4 kg, or 9.7 pounds (p.
646).6

7. IN-TEXT CITATIONS – ODD BALLS
 Author Unknown
 If no author is known, use the title of the work in the signal phrase or provide the first word or two of the title in
the parenthetical citation. If the source is a short work such as a journal article or book chapter the shortened
titles should be in quotes; if it is a longer work such as a book the titles should be in italics.
 EXAMPLE: Children struggling to control their weight must also struggle with the pressures of television
advertising that, on the one hand, encourages the consumption of junk food and, on the other, celebrates thin
celebrities (“Television,” 2002).7
 Date Unknown
 Most likely to occur when citing an online source such as a website.
 Use the abbreviation “n.d.” for no date. (Magnus, n.d.).8
 Page Number Unknown
 Page numbers are required when quoting directly from a print source, but the case in which a page number is not
known will most likely to occur when citing an online source such as a website.
 When no page numbers are known include whatever information that might be helpful to the reader in locating the
particular section of the source being quoted, such as paragraph numbers or headings. (Hall, 2008, para. 5).9
 Indirect Source
 An indirect source is a source cited in another source. Use the original source in your signal phrase and the
secondary source in the parenthetical citation and reference list.
 EXAMPLE: Former surgeon general Dr. David Satcher described “a nation of young people seriously at risk of
starting out obese and dooming themselves to the difficult task of overcoming a tough illness” (as cited in Critser,
2003, p. 4).10

8. LONG QUOTATIONS
When the quote is forty or more words, off-set the quote by indenting it one-
half inch from the left margin.
Introduce the quote as normal with a signal phrase, followed by a colon :
Do not put quotation marks around the indented quote or single space the
quote. The indent is indication this is a direct quote.
Example:11
Botan and Vorvoreanu (2008) examine the role of gender in company practices of
electronic surveillance:
There has never been accurate documentation of the extent of gender
differences in surveillance, but by the middle 1990s, estimates of the proportion of
surveyed employees that were women ranged from 75% to 85% . . . Ironically, this
gender imbalance in workplace surveillance may be evening out today because
advances in surveillance technology are making surveillance of traditionally male
dominated fields, such as long-distance truck driving, cheap, easy, and frequently
unobtrusive (p. 127).

9. REFERENCES - FORMATTING
The References page should always start on a new page at the end of
the paper.
Center the label “References” at the top of the page.
Double space all citations, but do not include an extra line between
citations.
All entries are listed alphabetically by last name. If a work has no
author, alphabetize it by the title.
Indent the second and all following lines of a citation.
All authors’ names are inverted (last name first followed by the
initials for first and middle name).

10. REFERENCES EXAMPLES
Reference Materials12
 Basic Format (print)
 Author Last Name, A. A. (Year of publication). Entry title. Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. (Vol.
#, pp. #-#). Location: Publisher.
 EXAMPLE: Bergmann, P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The New Encyclopedia Britannica. (Vol. 26, pp. 501-508).
Chicago, IL: Encyclopedia Britannica.
 Basic Format (electronic w/no author)
 Entry name. (Year of publication). In Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Retrieved from
http://www.website.url
 EXAMPLE: Feminism. (n.d.). In Encyclopædia Britannica online. Retrieved from
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/724633/feminism

11. REFERENCES EXAMPLES
Books13
 Basic Format
 Author Last Name, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location:
Publisher.
 EXAMPLE:
 Whole book: Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal
publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
 Article or chapter from book: O'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's gender role journeys: A
metaphor for healing, transition, and transformation. In B. R.
Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp. 107-123). New
York, NY: Springer.
eBooks14
 Basic Format
 Author Last Name, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Retrieved from
http://www.bookwebsite.url
 EXAMPLE:
De Huff, E. W. (n.d.). Taytay’s tales: Traditional Pueblo Indian tales. Retrieved from
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/dehuff/taytay/taytay.html

12. REFERENCES EXAMPLES
Journal Articles
 Print Journal Articles15
 Basic Format:
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume
number(issue number), pages.
 EXAMPLE:
Zhang, L.-F. (2008). Teachers’ styles of thinking: An exploratory study. The Journal of Psychology,
142, 37-55.
 Online Journal Articles (from a Database)16
 Basic Format:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume
number, page range. doi:0000000/000000000000
 EXAMPLE:
Brownlie, D. (2007). Toward effective poster presentations: An annotated bibliography. European
Journal of Marketing, 41, 1245-1283. doi:10.1108/03090560710821161
Note: the numbers at the end of a citation for an online journal article is called a DOI or digital object
identifier. This is a stable identify for the article; this replaces using the URL of the online article.

13. REFERENCES EXAMPLES
Websites
 Short Work from a Website
 Basic format: Author, A.A. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Website title. Retrieved from URL
 EXAMPLE:17
Shiva, Vandana. (2010, January 22). “Bioethics: A third world issue.” NativeWeb. Retrieved from
http://www.nativeweb.org/pages/legal/shiva.html
- If the author of the website is unknown, use the title of the site or if citing a specific page, use the title of
the page.
- If the date is unknown, use the abbreviate (n.d.).

14. ZOTERO
Reference Management Software
 Helps with:
 Storing and managing information
 Creating in-text citations
 Creating Reference List page
Download Zotero from the Jenks Library Website
 http://library.gordon.edu/research-at-jenks/zotero

15. RESOURCES
A Writer’s Reference – Diana Hacker
 Ref. PE 1408 .H2778 2009
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
 Ref. Desk BF 76.7 .P83 2010
Purdue OWL
 https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/