5 Facts You Need to Know About APA Citation

As you start having to source and cite your information more for college papers or professional articles and books, you might start off by feeling overwhelmed. It can be quite the head-scratcher at first determining exactly which type of format is needed in the first place. It can take a bit to get used to the formatting behind your citations and figuring out exactly what needs to be included. However, after doing it often enough, it won’t slow you down nearly as much while you are writing. Below are five facts to keep in mind that you should always remember about APA (American Psychological Association) citations.

Which Papers Need APA in the First Place?

Every citation format was created for a specific type of writing that deals with a certain subject matter. The APA style was basically born in 1929 in an article published in the Psychological Bulletin where the guidelines for the format were laid out. However, it did take a bit of time to start catching on.

So it makes perfect sense that since the APA style was created by the American Psychological Association and was first started in the Psychological Bulletin, that this type of format was made for writing that deals with psychology and other social sciences. This would include anthropology, sociology, as well as education and other fields. If you aren’t writing about the social sciences, then there is a good chance that you should be using the MLA format or even Chicago style.

Your APA Paper Should Have Four Parts

Knowing the APA formatting style means more than just figuring out how to correctly put the information needed in the correct order while citing a source. APA papers usually have four major sections. It has a title page with, of course, the title, the author’s name, and the school it is affiliated with.

The second part of an APA paper is one that is sometimes forgotten. It is called the abstract section. It is simply a brief summary of about 200 words detailing what your paper is about. Think of it as a preview to what the reader is about ready to take in.

The third section is the main body of the APA paper. It is the actual essay itself. The meat of the whole paper and the reason why someone is reading it. You may have the prettiest cited APA sources a person has ever seen, but if the body of the paper is not interesting, it will not matter one bit.

Lastly, the fourth section of the APA paper is the reference list. It is a categorized list of the the sources you used in the writing of your paper. If you cited any information in your paper, which you better have to get a passing grade, it must be referenced in this section.

Remember the In-Text Citations for APA

While writing your amazing paper, you need to remember to include the citations in the text of it otherwise your professor will believe your paper is much less amazing than originally thought. These are called in-text citations and are written in the APA format style by having the author’s last name followed by the year the book or article came out.

It is much easier to do than you may think. For instance, if you are referring to information that you have gathered from a book written by famed psychologist B.F. Skinner that was first published in 1950, you would simply have: (Skinner, 1950). But remember at the end of the paper to have the extended information on the source in your references list.

Formatting for the APA Reference Page at the End

The reference page at the end of the paper should begin on a brand new page with a heading on it that simply reads “References”. The title needs to be centered at the top. After you have this completed, you are ready to list your sources in alphabetical order. By being able to list all the references alphabetically, it will save you time as long as you are up to date on knowing the order of the alphabet.

Keep in mind not to indent the first line of a reference, but each additional line after should be indented over instead. The reference section is usually double-spaced as well.

The Order Needed for Each APA Citation

This is when citations can get confusing. Depending upon the formatting style, the order of all the information can leave you wondering why there isn’t just one universal way to cite all sources regardless of the subject matter. However, until that day arrives, here is a quick breakdown for the APA references page.

If you are citing a journal article, you would start with the author’s name, the year it was written, the name of the article, the name of the publication it came from, and then the pages of the magazine in which this article can be found. There are numerous times when an article or book has multiple authors, and it is up to you to put all of their names in alphabetical order.

Listing a book on your references list is actually easier than an article. You would simply have the authors name, the year it was first published, the name of the book, and then finally the name of the publisher. Citing books in APA format is relatively simple.

When it is all said and done, knowing what to do for APA citations will only make you a better writer in the long run. And don’t let the process get you down. The amount of times you need to cite sources in life is probably not going to be too immense. In case you need help creating your first APA citations, try our online citation generator. It offers an easy way to create citations in various formats, and is easier to use than other citation generators out there. So keep your chin up and keep on citing your sources.

5 Reasons Every Student Should Know How to Cite

Teachers generally will have their students start citing information from various sources beginning around junior high. It may start off just here and there as they are asked to cite during their essays, but by the time they are in high school most teachers will require it.

Students usually don’t enjoy citing sources simply because it takes longer to write their assignments. Also, it can become a bit complicated getting used to the different formats that teachers require. For instance, your Science teacher might require an APA format while your English instructor could want an MLA. It takes some time to get used to citing sources and figuring out the formats, but it is needed. Listed below are five reasons every student needs to know how to cite their information.

1. Strengthen Your Argument

Writing papers for school means more than just sharing your views on certain topics. If your argument is that the Arts need to be taught in high school to prevent it from getting its budget severely cut, then it is a great idea not to go off of full emotion alone. Cite sources from experts and entertainers on how the Arts are beneficial to all students. Your opinion matters, of course, but it matters more when you can cite other impressive sources to back it up.

2. To Give Credit Where Credit Is Due

Have you ever heard how the great inventor Thomas Edison invented the light bulb? We have all had this information passed down to us in and out of school. But there is something that you may not know. Edison gets the credit, but he probably shouldn’t. In the book The Age of Edison: Electric Light and the Invention of Modern America, the author Ernest Freeberg details how the light bulb was actually the work of many inventors. Edison was never shy of self-promotion, though, and took hold of the credit and wouldn’t let go. And don’t even get me started on how Edison “borrowed” numerous ideas from Nikola Tesla.

As you can see by this example, it is important to give credit where credit is due otherwise you may look like a thief. Even if it is just borrowing a quote here and there from people, you must cite where the quote came from originally. You may think stealing only happens when someone physically takes an item from somebody else, but stealing can happen with ideas and words as well. Plagiarizing in a paper is not a good look for anyone.

3. Research Is Required

Citing information and sources in college courses is a given. It needs to be done. Your professors want to see these references and citations for many reasons, but perhaps the main one is to know that you have completed your appropriate research on the topic.

How many people do you know in your life that will start speaking on a topic they know absolutely nothing about but act like an expert on it? If you are listening to this person and know better, this probably drives you crazy. Not only have they not performed the research needed on the subject, but they try passing themselves off as an expert in the field. By citing sources in your papers, you avoid looking like the know-it-all that is just blowing smoke.

4. It Gives Credibility to You as a Writer

If you are reading a nonfiction book or article and certain facts are given out without any citations, then in the back of your mind you won’t believe it as much as if it was supported with citations. Unless the person writing the book or article is the lead expert on the subject, you will have doubts about the legitimacy of the text.

This same thing will happen to you when someone is reading text that you wrote. If you write that global warming is nothing but a sham created to put people into a frenzy about the possibility of the world ending, then you will want to cite experts that believe the same thing otherwise you will be labeled a crackpot. Citing sources gives you a certain credibility as a writer that you otherwise would not receive.

5. Allows Your Readers to Research More About the Topic

Have you ever read a book or article and it interested you so much that you immediately wanted to run out and find more material about the subject? It seems the more books I read about the JFK assassination the more I realize that I have to continue reading more. I don’t think I will ever get around to solving it completely, but it is a topic that is fascinating on so many levels.

By having sources cited, it provides an immediate link to more material about the topic so the person will not have to go digging on their own. References and citations at the end of your paper will be a goldmine of material for those readers that want to learn more.

Don’t Think of It as Extra Work

It may be tough in the beginning when you are first asked to start citing sources, but it is a much-needed process to provide you credibility as a writer. As you climb through the levels of education, more and more is going to be asked of you. This includes writing in a professional and mature way.

Luckily for you in this day and age, there is certain technology that can make formatting so much easier. Navigate to our homepage to generate your citations in seconds. No longer are you going to have to look at your notes to keep the different formats straight like we all did before computers and the internet. Now you can just put in the information on your source and it spits it out all formatted for you and ready to go. Technology really is an amazing thing even when you are merely considering the advances in how it allows you to become a better writer.

10 Common Citation Mistakes

If you are writing a research paper for a class in college or a well thought out article for publication, providing citations that back up your thoughts goes a long way. It is all part of the scholarly writing process. Without proper citations, people may believe that you are pulling facts and quotes out of midair. To put it simply, they won’t take you or your writing seriously.

The truth is that even if an individual includes citations, there is a chance they are doing it wrong. Adding citations correctly can be a bit tricky. Plus, depending on the format that you are using, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago, it can easy to get confused. Below is a list of some of the most common citation mistakes a person may make in their writing. By knowing what citation errors to avoid, you are preparing yourself to become a better writer down the road.

1. Not Knowing the Difference Between Citations and References (If There Is Any)

This can be puzzling for even the best authors. And there is not an easy answer for this. Citations are generally included in the actual body of the paper with direct quotes or something related to the author or publication that you received the information from. References are generally thought of as being at the end of the paper. Any citation you use in the body should be represented by an entry in the reference list. However, with that said, if you are writing in MLA format, the end of the paper is called “Works Cited” instead of “References” which is often used at the end of the APA writing style used to cite sources.

2. Forgetting Page Numbers

When citing specific information for a book or long article, it is best to use the page number that you gathered the information from. While there is a very small chance that someone will want to dig up the information from the exact page that you have listed, it is always a good idea to cover your bases.

3. Leaving Out Citations Completely

If you are lucky enough, maybe your high school teacher will not require citations in your writing. However, they are actually doing you a disservice because by the time you arrive for your first college course, you better realize how to use them at least semi-accurately. If you just choose to leave out citations and use broad terms like “One study showed that…” without having anything to back it up with, your writing is not going to be taken seriously.

4. Using Old Information

When writing about something to do with the medical field or some similar arena, try to use the most up to date information possible to back up your thinking. What may have been true 50 years ago may not be thought of as correct today. For example, in the past when doctors were removing tonsils, they would use a device called a tonsil guillotine, literally chopping off the tonsil. This resulted in many people bleeding out. Nowadays, they are much more likely to do a tonsillectomy in a different way.

5. Missing Punctuation

When you first start writing down citations, it can be a mystery when trying to figure out why there is to be a comma or a period in a certain place. It may seem like there is no rhyme or reason to it. However, there are those that will look at your citations and immediately notice where you have made mistakes in your formatting. Usually these people are professors that will be giving you a grade on your work. It is always a good idea to have a couple of examples of correct punctuation in citations before you start writing out your own.

6. Not Keeping Citations in Alphabetical Order

Citations need to be correctly alphabetized. If there are a few authors for a particular publication, you must put them in alphabetical order by their last names. Think of it like lining up for your classroom in grade school. Alphabetical order by the last name was always required. The citations in the paper should be alphabetized as well as the references list at the bottom of the paper. This way it will be much simpler to find the corresponding information.

7. Mangling Spelling

Although there are certain names that are difficult to spell, that does not give you the right to jumble up the spelling. Learn how to spell the names correctly and keep it the same throughout the whole paper. If you aren’t positive on the spelling, then by completing a little bit of research online you should be able to get a very good idea on just how to put the letters together correctly.

8. Not Citing Paraphrased Words

If you are taking someone else’s words and paraphrasing them into your own, you are still required to provide a citation. This is the case because you are still using information from another person’s work, so that information still needs to be referenced and cited accordingly. By including citations in this type of situation it can help you avoid accusations of plagiarism. Plagiarism is the last thing you want to be accused of in any paper you write.

9. Including Unnecessary Citations

In a few of your classes, you may run into a professor that asks for a minimum amount of citations. But don’t just start throwing in citations when you don’t need them. Something else to keep in mind, instead of putting the same citation after each sentence in a paragraph, just place it at the end of the whole paragraph instead. A single citation at the end of the paragraph can be used in place of including one at the end of each sentence.

10. Forgetting Web Addresses

The invention of the internet changed the world of education instantly. There is so much information online that you could start reading now and never get through even a quarter of it before you die. Furthermore, it keeps growing by the second. More and more is added constantly. Research is often completed now directly online because of this. Don’t leave off any websites that you have gained information from. Provide the needed links to ensure you are giving out credit where credit is due.

Which Citation Format to Use and When? Cases of APA, MLA, and Chicago

It seems that every level of schooling requires a person to learn another way to format research papers and cite sources. How many of us scratched our heads when the teacher would say to be sure to use MLA, APA, or Chicago formatting? It was difficult enough writing the paper, but how are we supposed to remember which style is which? Most of us would just quietly whisper to a friend in class and ask what makes that style and formatting different, and then we were always met with a shrug in return.

If that wasn’t confusing enough, most of the time it can depend on the individual subject itself. Certain subjects are more likely to use one style over the others. Once in a while, you may have a teacher that will just say use whatever style you like, but those instances are rare and far between.

What Is a Citation Exactly?

For those that do not write often enough and are unfamiliar with citations, a citation is a way to give credit to an individual or individuals for their work that you may use to support your own research or thoughts. When the teacher or publisher says to be sure to cite your sources, they are speaking about giving credit where credit is due. It helps to protect you down the road from claims of plagiarism if you include this information usually at the end of your paper.

Most of the time, a citation will include, if appropriate, the author’s name, date, location of the publishing company, journal title, or DOI (Digital Object Identifier). The citation style specifies the exact information necessary for a citation and how the information is put in order according to that format. Below is a list of the big three major formatting styles and when to use them whether you are writing research papers, articles, or books.

APA (American Psychological Association)

The APA formatting style is used often in education and other professions. In fact, it is used for subject areas and disciplines in psychology, engineering, science, and social sciences. This covers quite a large range of subjects in school, so you may often hear your instructor asking for citations in the APA format. To break it down a bit further and pinpoint the differences between the big three, APA style uses parenthetical in-text citations and a “References” list at the end of the paper to link sources you have used to back up your findings.

MLA (Modern Language Association)

The formatting style perhaps most used in education is the MLA. It is used primarily for the humanities, including courses such as English, Art History, Philosophy, Music, Religion, and Literacy. All of these subjects require a good amount of writing, so it is quite common for the teacher to ask that all papers be formatted under the MLA style. MLA is similar to APA where parenthetical in-text citations are allowed, however, at the end of the paper it should be a “Works Cited” list to link sources instead of “References”.

Chicago Style

The Chicago formatting style (created originally by the University of Chicago) is usually more involved than the other two, and it is used often in business, history, and the fine arts. Instead of in-text citations like the ones used in MLA and APA, Chicago uses footnotes and endnotes where the full source is cited at the end of the page. Historical research is notorious for choosing the Chicago style as they believe that it enables the reader to focus more on the information rather than distracting parenthetical information when sources are cited. Then with the footnotes provided, if the reader wants to track down the source to read that, too, then they just do so at the end of the paper.

What Are the Differences?

There are subtle differences between the three when citing sources at the end of the paper. Besides it being titled “References”, “Works Cited”, or “Footnotes”, there are formatting discrepancies as well. Below is an example on how to cite the legendary novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer according to the different styles.

APA Citation

Twain, M. (1998). The adventures of Tom Sawyer. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications.

MLA Citation

Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 1998. Print.

Chicago Citation

Twain, Mark, 1835-1910, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, 1998.

As you can see, there are slight disparities between the three styles. The formatting is unique to each, so depending upon what your instructor or publisher is asking for, stick with that style the whole way through.

Try to Familiarize Yourself with the Three Formatting Styles

The key is to not feel overwhelmed when choosing which formatting style to write with. Unless you are a writer or trying to get through school, the odds are that you will only need to use these styles rarely. How often do people ask for you to cite sources in an email? Does your mom ask you to cite your sources for all the letters you write her? Probably not.

Even the most experienced writers will have to study the style for a few minutes to make sure they have the information in the correct order at the end of the paper. Plus, if you have a comma or period out of place, the odds are that the teacher or the editor won’t even notice. Just try your best and get it as close as you can to fitting that style. It can be difficult to find all the information needed for citations at the end of the paper, so you may have to do some creative formatting anyway when putting it all together. The main emphasis should be on what you are writing about, and if you need to, protect yourself against any claims of plagiarism by giving credit where it is due.