25 APA Citation Style, 6th edition: General Style Guidelines
General Guidelines for Writing a Paper: APA Style
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All sources of information and data, whether quoted directly or paraphrased, are cited with parenthetical references in the text of your paper (p. 170).
Example: (Walker, 2003).
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Double-space your entire paper, including the References list and any block quotes (pp.171, 180).
Citations In Text
How to Cite a Direct Quote (pp.170-171)
How to Cite Summaries or Paraphrases
Even if you put information in your own words by summarizing or paraphrasing, you must cite the original author or researcher and the date of publication. You are also encouraged to provide a page or paragraph number; check with your instructor to see if page numbers are required.
For example, a paraphrase of Gibaldi’s earlier quotation might be identified as follows:
Within the research paper, quotations will have more impact when used judiciously (Gibaldi, 2003, p. 109).
You may want to check out The Owl at Purdue for more tips on paraphrasing.
How to Cite Sources when the Primary Authors have the same Surname (p.176)
How to Cite Different Numbers of Authors
How to Cite Information If No Page Numbers Are Available (pp.171-172)
How to Cite Information When You Have Not Seen the Original Source (p.178)
How to Cite when you are Altering a Direct Quote
Creating a Reference List
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Start the Reference list on a new page and include the word “References” in uppercase and lowercase centered. (pp, 180-192)
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The References list should be double-spaced. Each entry should be formatted with a hanging indent (p.180).
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References cited in text must appear in the References list and vice versa. The only exceptions to this rule are personal communications and classical works; they are cited in text only and are not included in the References list (p.174).
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Use ONLY the initial(s) of the author’s given name, NOT the full name (p.184).
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If the References list includes 2 or more entries by the same author(s), list them in chronological order with the earliest first (p. 182).
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If the author’s name is unavailable, use the first few words of the title of the article, book or Web source, including the appropriate capitalization and italics formatting (pp.176-177). E.g. (Scientists Say, 2000).
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Arrange References entries in one alphabetical sequence by the surname of the first author or by title or first word if there is no author (pp.181-183). Ignore the words A, An, and The when alphabetizing by title.
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In titles and subtitles of articles, chapters, and books, capitalize only the first letter of the first word and any proper nouns, except in parenthetical (in text) citations (p.185).
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Italicize book titles, journal titles, and volume numbers. Do NOT italicize issue numbers.
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Do NOT include retrieval dates unless the source of the material may change over time such as a blog entry or wikis. (p.192)
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If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is listed on either a print or an electronic source it is included in the reference (pp.188-192). A DOI is a unique alphanumeric string that is used to identify a certain source (typically journal articles). It is often found on the first page of an article. Example: doi:10.1080/14622200410001676305
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When the References entry includes a URL that must be divided between two lines, break it BEFORE a slash or dash or at another logical division point. Do NOT insert a hyphen if you need to break a URL or a period at the end of the URL. (p.192).
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For a helpful list of some of the abbreviations used in References (such as Vols. for Volumes) check out page 180 of the APA Manual.