What is 7th APA Style?

In academic writing, you are required to cite your sources. Here in this module, we'll be looking at the 7th APA Style (American Psychological Association). The APA style is used in a variety of disciplines including nursing, business, social work, education, and other behavioral and social sciences. APA values currency of work and thus cites by author(s) and year.

Why do you cite your sources?

• It adds credibility to your writing and supports your ideas

• It helps your reader find the sources you reference to read for themselves

• It ensures the accuracy of scientific and scholarly knowledge

• It protects and acknowledges intellectual property rights

When should you cite your sources?

• Direct Quotations: When you use the author’s exact words

• Paraphrasing: When you summarize someone else’s words or ideas

• Facts: When you mention something that is not common knowledge

• Images: When you use pictures, charts, and graphics that someone else created in a presentation

Citation vs Reference list vs Bibliography

A citation is a reference to a book, article, video, website, or other information source for the purpose of giving credit to the author. Citations also give your work more credibility because your readers can find out exactly where you got your information from. Citations typically include: author names, title, publisher, publisher location, date of publication, journal title, volume, issue, and/or page numbers. Citing your sources is a fundamental research skill.

A reference list contains ONLY those sources that you have specifically referred to in your academic writing (by way of summary, paraphrase or direct quote).

A bibliography is a list of additional texts that you have read but not specifically referred to in your academic writing. They should be listed separately after the reference list.

Let's review what we have learned so far.....

1. Why do we need to cite our sources in academic writing?

2. When should we include citations in our writing?

3. What is the difference between citation, reference list and bibliography?

Book

1. Author(s). Note: List each author's last name and initials as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. Use an ampersand (&) before the final author's name.

2. (Year).

3. Title of the book. Note: For works that stand alone (e.g. books, reports), italicize the title. Only capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle and any proper nouns.

4. (Edition). Note: If there is an edition or volume, include it in parentheses and use abbreviations of ed. or vol.

5. Publisher. Note: You do not need to include the publisher location or databases where you retrieved it.

Article or chapter in an edited book

1. Author(s). Note: List each chapter author's last name and initials as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. Use an ampersand (&) before the final author's name.

2. (Year).

3. Title of the chapter. Note: For works that are part of a greater whole (e.g. articles, chapter), use sentence case. Only the first word of the title and subtitle and proper nouns are capitalized.

4. In Editor(s), Note: List each editor's last name and initials as A. A. Editor, B. B. Editor, & C. C. Editors, include (Ed.) or (Eds.) in parentheses, and end with a comma.

5. Title of the book Note: For works that stand alone (e.g. books, reports), italicize the title. Only capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle and any proper nouns.

6. (pp.xx-xx).

7. Publisher. Note: You do not need to include the publisher location or databases where you retrieved it.

Journal article

1. Author(s). Note: List each author's last name and initial as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. Use an ampersand (&) before the final author's name. Read more from the APA Style website if there are 21 or more authors.

2. (Year).

3. Title of the article. Note: For works that are part of a greater whole (e.g. articles, chapter), use sentence case. Only the first word of the title and subtitle and proper nouns are capitalized.

4. Title of the Journal, Note: Italicize and capitalize each word in the journal.

5. Volume Note: Italicize the journal volume. If there is no issue, include a comma before the page range.

6. (Issue), Note: If there is a issue number in addition to a volume number, include it in parentheses.

7. Page range.

8. DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Read more about DOIs from the APA Style wesbite.

Magazine article

1. Author(s). Note: List each author's last name and initials as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. Use an ampersand (&) before the final author's name.

2. (Year, Month Date). Note: You do not need to abbreviate the month.

3. Title of the article. Note: For works that are part of a greater whole (e.g. articles, chapter), use sentence case. Only the first word of the title and subtitle and proper nouns are capitalized.

4. Title of the online newspaper or publication. Note: Capitalize each word in the publication and italicize. If the publication has an associated newly newspaper in print, use the newspaper article reference example .

5. URL

Theses and dissertation

1. Author. Note: List the author's last name and initials as Author, A. A. There is usually only one author for a thesis or dissertation, you don't need to include any faculty advisers.

2. (Year, Month Date). Note: Provide as specific a date as is available.

3. Title of the dissertation or thesis [Doctoral dissertation or Master's thesis, Name of University]. Note: For works that stand alone (e.g. books, dissertations, theses), italicize the title. Only capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle and any proper nouns. The title page will indicate whether it's a Doctoral dissertation or Master's thesis and list the name of the university granting the degree.

4. Source. Note: Include the name of the database or institutional repository where you can access the work (e.g. ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global, PQDT Open, CSU ScholarWorks) here.

5. URL Note: If available it's available.

Website

1. Author(s). Note: List each author's last name and initials as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. If there is no author, spell out the name of the organization or site.

2. (Year, Month Date). Note: Read more about date formats from the APA Style website. Provide as specific a date as is available. Use the date last updated, but not the date last reviewed or copyright date. If there is no date, use (n.d.).

3. Title of page or section. Note: Italicize the title of the page.

4. Source. Note: Usually the official name of the website. If the source would be the same as the author, you can omit the source to avoid repetition.

5. URL

For more citation styles, check out the following websites:

https://libraryguides.vu.edu.au/apa-referencing/7GettingStarted

https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/apa_changes_7th_edition.html

https://guides.himmelfarb.gwu.edu/APA