Citations and References
7. In-Text Citations
APA 7th Edition uses the author-date citation system. Whenever you refer to someone else's work in your paper, you need to provide an in-text citation. This includes direct quotations, paraphrases, and summaries. The basic format is (Author, Year).
For example, if you're citing a work by Smith (2020), your in-text citation would be (Smith, 2020). If you're directly quoting Smith, you would also include the page number: (Smith, 2020, p. 25). If the author's name is part of your sentence, you only need to include the year in parentheses: "Smith (2020) argues that..."
For works with two authors, include both names in the citation: (Smith & Jones, 2020). For works with three or more authors, include the first author's name followed by "et al.": (Smith et al., 2020). Remember to be accurate and consistent with your citations. Proper citation is crucial for avoiding plagiarism and giving credit to the original authors.
When citing multiple sources in a single citation, list them alphabetically and separate them with semicolons: (Jones, 2018; Smith, 2020; Williams, 2019). This can be useful when you're making a general statement supported by several different studies. Keep in mind that the order of the citations matters!
8. The References List
At the end of your paper, you need to include a complete list of all the sources you cited in your paper. This is called the "References" list. Start the references list on a new page after the body of your paper. Center the word "References" (without bolding or italics) at the top of the page.
List your references in alphabetical order by the first author's last name. Each entry should follow a specific format depending on the type of source (e.g., journal article, book, website). Use a hanging indent for each entry, meaning the first line is flush left, and subsequent lines are indented by 0.5 inches. You can easily create a hanging indent in Word by using the "Paragraph" settings.
The format for a journal article is: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), Page numbers. DOI or URL. For a book, the format is: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. Publisher.
Pay close attention to the specific formatting requirements for each type of source. There are many online resources and style guides that can help you create accurate and consistent references. Remember, the references list is a crucial part of your paper. It demonstrates the depth of your research and allows your readers to verify your sources.
