In addition to listing references at the end of an article, APA style also refers to citations within the actual text. APA stands for American Psychological Association, which provided a set of standards for writing references in research papers, journals, and similar articles.
An introduction
Written works that use APA style have content that is characterized by double spacing between each line. Make sure all pages are standard size, or 8.5″ x 11″ to be exact. The margins for all the sides of a page should span one inch (1″). Most APA-style papers are in Times New Roman font size 12.
Aside from theses and journals, academic articles that do not involve research, such as essays, may also require such a format.
A guide to pricing
Citations ensure that researchers and students do not simply take someone else’s original statement or research paper as their own. These can be identified as quoted ideas, sometimes paraphrased, that convey information or opinion. You can find in-text citations within sentences, and paragraphs can contain multiple of them.
Learn various approaches to APA-style in-text citation through this comprehensive guide.
If a reference involves a single author
First, write the author’s last name. This is followed by a comma and then the year the author’s reference material, such as a textbook, was published. While both the last name and the date are often enclosed in parentheses (), in some cases only the date is included. For more precision, you can add the page number where the statement is found in your reference.
Examples: (Zhang, 2003); according to Kaplan (1996); (Tomlinson, 1997, p. 314)
If a reference mentions several authors
Many published works worth citing involve two or more authors. It is important to acknowledge the contributions of each author with respect.
In APA style, the last names of two authors in parentheses must be joined with an ampersand (&). Since this is a quote, please refrain from using “and”; this is more appropriate in actual text than formal writing. After citing the last names, place a comma and follow with the year of publication.
In case you need to cite three authors, separate the first two last names with a comma. Place a comma and then an ampersand (&) between the second and third last names. Put a comma after the third last name before citing the year of publication.
The use of ampersand (&) still applies in citations involving four or five authors. When you need to cite six authors, start by typing the last name of the first author. After that, type “et al” followed by a semicolon. Based on Latin, the phrase “et al” means “and others” in layman’s terms. After the comma, indicate the year of publication and enclose them all in parentheses.
Feel free to add the page number of the reference if you wish.
Examples: (Schmidt & Bjørnstad, 2005); (Kozlovsky, Makarov, and Darin, 1989, p. 762); (MacNally et al., 2001)
If a referral involves organizations such as government agencies
You can get referrals from organizations instead of people. This includes a post authored by a particular organization, such as a government agency. Just type the name of the organization, followed by a comma and the year of publication.
If you continually mention an organization in your work, you can use its acronym after your full name at the beginning.
Examples: (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2003); later: (CDC, 2003)
If a reference lacks an author
When you find a reference that doesn’t come with an author, simply give the title of the reference material or type the first word or two. Longer papers should be italicized or underlined; instead, shorter works are written in quotation marks.
Examples: (Fundamentals of Microbiology, 1999); (“Sub-Saharan Civilization”, 1991)
Today, APA-style citation is widely used in research and academia. Furthermore, this style classifies a research paper into four main parts: the title page, the abstract, the body, and the references.