Preparing Notes and References, APA Format
DePauw University Writing Center

When writing a documented paper, keep in mind two basic principles for citing your source:

  1. Your reader must be able to find the source from the information in your citation.
  2. Your reader must be able to immediately determine which information is borrowed from a source and which information is your own.

Forms for footnoting may vary depending upon the discipline or the department you are writing for. At DePauw, many professors of History, Art History, Religious Studies and others prefer the formats presented in the Chicago Manual of Style. In general, though, the humanities (English, languages, History, Religion, Philosophy, Art, Music) use the style recommended by the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the social sciences use the form recommended by the American Psychological Association (APA). This guide is adapted from the American Psychological Association format.

<General Principles for Quoting and In-Text Citation

If you quote directly, even if you use no more than a word of phrase, you must place quotation marks around the quoted material.

Bayley’s goal in designing her assessment tool was to "document infant behavior and predict later development" (Stantrock, 1997, p. 168). One limitation of the Bayley is the limited age-range it tests; children must be between two months and two-and-one-half-years-old for assessment (Rice, 1998).

APA format requires in-text citation; this citation is a parenthetical note including the author’s last name, date and page number – for example, (Stantrock, 1997, p. 168). Unlike MLA and Chicago formats, APA format requires that the page number be preceded by "p." When you use this form, the reader must rely on your "References" for complete bibliographic information.

Notice that in the above example, the second sentence does not contain quoted material. However, if you paraphrase (rephrase in your own words), you must still cite your source, including a full documentation in the reference list.

WARNING: If your "paraphrased" material uses primarily the wording of your source, you are in danger of plagiarizing. Either use quotation marks or completely reword and restate the source. The second sentence could also have been written this way:

According to Rice (1998), one limitation of the Bayley assessment is the limited age-range it tests; children must be between two months and two-and-one-half-years-old.

When you are writing an analytical research paper, you are expected to do more than simply string together quotes or paraphrased sections of sources; a substantial portion of the paper should be your own ideas, judgments and conclusions about the subject.

References

A reference list following the APA style is arranged alphabetically by author’s last name. If no author is provided, alphabetize by the title of the article or book.

The following examples show you the standard form for providing bibliographic information in APA style. Notice that whether the source is a book or journal article, the format includes three parts:

The author/date and title are separated from the rest of the information by periods. The city is separated from the name of the publisher by a colon (:). You will find the correct bibliographic information by looking at the title page, not the book jacket or book-binding.

Mercer, R.T. (1991). Parents at risk. New York: Springer Publishing Company.

When citing journals, books, and audiovisual media, use the copyright date as the date of publication. When citing monthly magazines, newsletters, or papers and posters presented at meetings, also include the month. When citing daily or weekly publications like newspapers, include month, day and year. The examples below provide the correct format.

The bibliography is labeled "References" in APA format. This heading should appear, centered at the top of "Reference" page. All entries should be double-spaced and second and subsequent lines of individual entries should be indented ½ inch. (See models below).

Underlining/Italicizing: Unlike MLA and Chicago formats, "article" titles do not appear in quotation marks. In the reference list, works published as a separate entity (books, journals, newspapers) are underlined and a work included in a larger collection (chapters, articles, abstracts) is listed but not off-set by quotation marks.

Capitalization: Note that only the first words of books’ and articles’ titles and subtitles are capitalized. However, all words in a journal’s or a newspaper’s name are capitalized.

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DePauw Writing Center tutors are happy to assist you with further questions. More information can be found in:

American Psychological Association. (1994). Publication Manual (4th ed.). Washington D.C.:

Author.

Hacker, D. (1997). A Pocket Style Manual (2nd ed.). Boston: Bedford Books.

Sample References

A Book by a Single Author:

Mercer, R.T. (1991). Parents at risk. New York: Springer Publishing Company.

An Edition:

Berk, L.E. (1996). Infants, children, and adolescents (2nd ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

A Book by Two or More Persons:

Batshaw, M.L., & Perret, Y. (1992). Children with disabilities: A medical primer. Baltimore:

Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Anastasio, N. J., Frankenburg, W.K., & Fandal, A. W. (1982). Identifying the developmentally

delayed child. Baltimore: University Park Press.

A Work in an Anthology:

Als, H. (1992). Individualized, family-focused developmental care for the very-low birthweight preterm infant in the Neonatal 

Intensive Care Unit. In S.L. Friedman, & M.D. Sigman (Eds.), The psychological development of low-birthweight children: Annual advances in applied developmental psychology, (pp. 25-35). Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing Corporation.

Lester, B.M. (1981). The continuity of change in neonatal behavior. In C.C. Brown (Ed.),Infants at risk: Assessment and

intervention and update for health care professionals and parents (pp. 1-5). Boston: The Children’s Hospital Medical Center.

An Article in a Reference Book:

Clayman, C.B. (Ed.). (1989). The American Medical Association encyclopedia of medicine.

New York: Random House.

Articles in Periodicals:

When citing periodical articles, arrange the information in the following order:

  1. Author’s name
  2. Date of publication
  3. Title of the article
  4. Name of the periodical
  5. Volume number
  6. Issue number
  7. Page numbers

An Article in a Journal Paginated by Issue:

Barab, S.A., Squire, K. D. & Dueber, W. (2000). A Co-evolutionary model for supporting the emergence of authenticity. 

Educational Technology, Research and Development, 48 (2), 37-62.

An Article in a Journal Paginated by Volume:

Bendersky, M., & Lewis, M. (1994). Environmental risk, biological risk, and developmental outcome. Developmental Psychology, 

30, 484-494.

Siegel, L.S. (1983). Correction for prematurity and its consequences for the assessment of the

very low birth weight infant. Child Development, 54, 1176-88.

An Article from a Daily Newspaper:

Barr, S. (2000, September 16). Health tab of federal workers to rise 10.5%: prescription price cited in 4th straight increase. The 

Washington Post, pp. 1,2.

Hawkes, N. (2000, July 31). Care home residents get medicine in food. The London Times, p. 1.

Electronic Media:

The general format for references to on-line information is:

Author, I. (date). Title of article. Name of Periodical [On-line], xx. Available: specify path

If an on-line source does not list an author, provide as much information as possible:

Infant Mortality Rates vary by race and ethnicity: New report examines contributing causes. (19 February 2000). Centers for 

Disease Control and Prevention New Releases and Fact Sheets [On-line]. Available Internet:

www.cdc.gov/nchs/releases/99facts/99sheets/infmort.htm