53a The basics of APA style
Why does academic work call for very careful citation practices when writing for the general public may not? The answer is that readers of academic work expect to get certain information from source citations:
- Source citations demonstrate that you’ve done your homework on your topic and that you are a part of the conversation surrounding it.
- Source citations show that you understand the need to give credit when you make use of someone else’s intellectual property. (See Chapter 18 for details.)
- Source citations give explicit directions to guide readers who want to look for themselves at the works you’re using.
The guidelines for APA style tell you exactly what information to include in your citation and how to format that information.
TYPES OF SOURCES
Look at the Directory to APA Style for guidelines on citing various types of sources— print books (or parts of print books), print periodicals (journals, magazines, or newspapers), and digital written-word sources (an online magazine or newspaper article, or a book on an e-reader). A digital version of a source may include updates or corrections that the print version of the same work lacks, so it’s important to provide the correct information for readers. For sources that consist mainly of material other than written words—such as a film, song, or artwork—consult the “other sources” section of the directory. And if you can’t find a model exactly like the source you’ve selected, see the box in 53c.
ARTICLES FROM WEB AND DATABASE SOURCES
You need a subscription to look through most databases, so individual researchers almost always gain access to articles in databases through the computer system of a school or community library that pays to subscribe. The easiest way to tell whether a source comes from a database, then, is that its information is not generally available for free to anyone with an Internet connection. Many databases are digital collections of articles that originally appeared in edited print periodicals, ensuring that an authority has vouched for the accuracy of the information. Such sources often have more credibility than much of what is available for free on the Web.
Parts of citations
APA citations appear in two parts of your text—a brief in-text citation in the body of your written text and a full citation in the list of references, to which the in-text citation directs readers. The most straightforward in-text citations include the author’s name, the publication year, and the page number, but many variations on this basic format are discussed in 53b.
In the text of her research essay (see 53d), Tawnya Redding includes a paraphrase of material from an online journal that she accessed through the publisher’s Web site. She cites the authors’ names and the year of publication in a parenthetical reference, pointing readers to the entry for “Baker, F., & Bor, W. (2008)” in her references list, shown on the next page.
Content notes
APA style allows you to use content notes, either at the bottom of the page or on a separate page at the end of the text, to expand or supplement your text. Indicate such notes in the text by superscript numerals (1). Double-space all entries. Indent the first line of each note five spaces, but begin subsequent lines at the left margin.
SUPERSCRIPT NUMBER IN TEXT
The age of the children involved in the study was an important factor in the selection of items for the questionnaire.1
FOOTNOTE
1Marjorie Youngston Forman and William Cole of the Child Study Team provided great assistance in identifying appropriate items for the questionnaire.