APA: Why Bother?

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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