APA: Why Bother?

[Pages:23]APA: Why Bother?

? American Psychological Association (APA) citations serve several important purposes.

? Citations link information in the text to the appropriate references. When citations are missing, readers do not know which sources were consulted.

? Citations add credibility to your writing. Doctoral students must review and analyze peer-reviewed literature to develop an informed position about a topic. Assertions, personal opinion, and experience are not scholarly. Citations document the sources you consulted when writing the paper.

? Citations help avoid plagiarism. Scholarly writers must credit other authors for their research and ideas. Using information from other sources without citations leads readers to credit you for someone else's ideas.

? This tutorial is not a replacement for the APA manual. Rather, this presentation is designed to help writers become more efficient at looking up information about citation formats in the 6th edition of the APA manual.

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What is a citation?

? A citation is left by a writer to lead readers from information in the text to the reference list.

? When a proper citation is provided, readers can easily flip to the reference list at the end of the paper and locate the source of the information.

? According to the APA manual (2009), citations help readers "to locate the source of information in the alphabetical reference list at the end of the article" (p. 174).

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When should a citation be used?

? Citations must be used when a writer paraphrases or quotes the work of another author.

? Statistics, facts, opinions, and theories based on the work of other authors require citations.

? If the information came from anyone other than you, a citation is needed.

? Citations are important for doctoral students, because scholarly writing is grounded in the existing literature.

? Assertions and personal opinion are strongly discouraged because they are subject to bias.

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The "Says Who?" Test

? This is one of the fastest ways to determine if information in a paper should have a citation. After the information is provided, ask, "Says who?" If the answer is anyone other than the writer, the information needs a citation. Try this test on the following passages.

Approximately 90% of all American households have at least one videogame console. Says who?

Scientific leaders believe space exploration should receive increased funding from Congress. Says who?

Bioterrorism is defined as the deliberate use of biological materials to harm and frighten the public. Says who?

? In all of these situations, the ideas are based on statistics, facts, opinions, or theories from other authors. Thus, all the passages require citations. If, on the other hand, the information comes from the writer, a citation is not needed. The absence of a citation communicates to readers that the information is from the writer.

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Common Knowledge

? There is only one exception to the "Says who?" rule. When information is common knowledge, a citation is optional. Common knowledge is information that is widely known by most people. The following are some examples of information that would be considered common knowledge. Humans need oxygen to breathe. Common knowledge Birds have feathers. Common knowledge Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Common knowledge Many people use the internet. Common knowledge

? Writers should not assume that information known to them is common knowledge to everyone. If there is any doubt about whether something is common knowledge, a citation should be provided.

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General Citation Forms

Writers typically use a combination of parenthetical and in-text citations.

Parenthetical Citations: All of the citation information is placed inside

parentheses.

No Space

(Jackson, 2003)

Author's Last Comma Name

In-text Citations ? Some or all of the citation information is placed within the text of the paper, with the remaining elements inside parentheses.

Research by Jackson (2003) found evidence supporting the theory of intercontinental drift.

Author's Last Name

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Citation for a Direct Quotation

? The content of a citation varies based on the type of information used. If the information is a direct quotation, the citation should include the author's last name, year, and page number.

Direct Quotations with Page Information

Parenthetical Citation

In-text Citation

"Americans often do not understand traditional Japanese customs" (Okamura, 2006, p. 2).

Okamura (2006) suggests, "Americans often do not understand traditional Japanese customs" (p. 2).

? APA indicates that there is a space before the page or paragraph number.

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