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NAST 1100: Nurse Aide Fundamentals with Dana Jackson

Library resources for students taking NAST 1100

What is APA Style?

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association Sixth Edition cover art

Style refers to rules for documenting the sources used in your research paper. It prevents plagiarism by giving credit to others for ideas expressed within your paper. Style makes papers easier to read because it establishes consistent formats and rules for things like abbreviations and numbers. Style allows readers to cross-reference research, which can lend more credibility to the writer.

There are many different styles used in writing, depending on the writer's audience and profession. For example, journalists typically use the Associated Press Stylebook. MLA or Modern Language Association, is typically used in the humanities. 

This LibGuide is a quick resource for citing references and using and understanding APA Style, often used in the social and behavioral sciences . It does not replace the official style guide -- the sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. If you have questions about citing sources in your work, consult the manual and talk to your instructor.

Reference Examples

Book

APA: Last, F. M. (Year Published). Book. City, State: Publisher.
Example: Carley, M. J. (1999). 1939: The alliance that never was and the coming of World War II. Chicago, IL: Ivan R. Dee.

Chapter/Anthology

APA: Last, F. M. (Year Published). Section title. In F. M. Last (Ed.), Book/Anthology (Edition, Page(s)). City, State: Publisher.
Example: Melville, H. (1989). Hawthorne and his mosses. In N. Baym (Ed.), The Norton anthology of American literature (3rd ed., pp. 12-34). New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company.

Magazine

APA: Last, F. M. (Year, Month Date Published). Article title. Magazine Title, Page(s).
Example: Pressman, A. (2008, September 29). Bottom fishing in rough waters. BusinessWeek, 27.

Newspaper

APA: Last, F. M. (Year, Month Date Published). Article title. Newspaper Title, Pages(s).
Example: Campoy, A. (2008, September 23). Gasoline surges in southeast after Ike. The Wall Street Journal, p. A14.

Journal

APA: Last, F. M., & Last, F. M. (Year Published). Article title. Journal Title, Volume(Issue), Page(s).
Example: Bharadwaj, P., & Ward, K. T. (2008). Ethical considerations of patients with pacemakers. American Family Physician, 78, 398-399.

Website

APA: Last, F. M. (Year, Month Date Published). Article title. Website Title. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL
Example: Friedland, L. (2008, September 22). Top 10 natural and wildlife adventure travel trips. About.com. Retrieved from http://adventuretravel.about.com
*Note: Include exact URL when not properly indexed or easy to find. Otherwise, include homepage URL. Include retrieval date if source information may change over time.

Online Database (Journal)

APA: Last, F. M. (Year Published). Article title. Journal Name, Volume (Issue), Page(s). Retrieved Month Date, Year, from URL
Example: Ahn, H., & Kim, K. (2008). Using genetic algorithms to optimize nearest neighbors for data mining.Annals of Operations Research, 263(1), 5-18. Retrieved from the Academic Search Premier database
*Note: Include retrieval date if source information may change over time. For URL, Use homepage URL of publisher. If none, use the homepage database URL. If published only online, use unique URL. APA6 explains database names are not necessary, so you may omit this.

How to Format Web Resources

Sources Published Directly Online

Website names: Sources published directly online have no in print originals, and therefore, it is important to include online publication information. With APA 6, this means primarily the URL. The new APA guidelines suggest that a website name is not always needed, given that it can be deduced from the URL or by visiting the site. Generally include the website name if the content is published by the website.

URLs: Unlike APA 5, where you would often include the exact URL, APA 6 recommends to only cite the homepage URL, and only the exact URL if the page is not properly indexed or easy to find from the homepage. For blog posts, user contributed content, and discussion forums, APA 6 recommends including the exact URL.

Date retrieved: Unlike APA 5 where the date of retrieval is included in every online citation, APA 6 recommends including it only if the source material may change over time. Also keep in mind that you can use “Available from” instead of “Retrieved from” when the URL leads to information on how to obtain the cited material rather than to the material itself.

DOIs: If an article has a digital object identifier (DOI) number, you need only the DOI number, and no URL or retrieval date.

Citing an article from an online only resource

Freidland, L. (2008, September 22). Top 10 natural and wildlife adventure travel trips. Retrieved from http://adventuretravel.about.com

Citing an entire website with no identifiable electronic publication date

EasyBib.com. (n.d.). Retrieved June 22, 2009, from http://www.easybib.com

Citing an article from an online only news source

Chen, S. (2009, May 7). Growing up is hard with mom in prison. CNN. Retrieved http://www.cnn.com

Citing an article from an online newspaper

Shorto, R. (2009, April 29). Going Dutch. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

Note that when citing online sources in APA, generally follow the same structure of its in print equivalent, and then follow this information with the date of access and the URL.

Citing an online only journal

Glotzer, R., & Federlein, A. (2007). Miles that bind: Commuter marriage and family strength. Michigan Family Review, 12, 7-31. Retrieved June 22, 2009, from http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/textidx?c=mfr;cc=mfr;q1=Miles%20that%20Bind;rgn=main;view=text;idno=4919087.0012.102
*Note: The above example has a poorly indexed URL and the material may change over time. Hence the URL is included.

Citing a journal article with a digital object identifier

Oakley, R. (2004). How the mind hurts and heals the body. American Psychologist, 12(1), 25-47. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.59.1.29

If you are citing an online only book, the electronic information replaces the publication information.

Citing an online-only book

Eckel, B. (n.d.). Thinking in Java (3rd ed.). Retrieved from http://www.bruceeckel.com

Sources Published Indirectly Online

As opposed to some sources published directly online (by a website), other sources may be originally in print, or in another medium, and found online. Cite these sources as you would in their original form, and then add the relevant web information (date accessed and URL).

Citing a book originally in print found online

Catton, B. (2005). The Civil War. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Retrieved from http://www.books.google.com

Citing a newsletter found online with no page information

Puzzanchera, C. (2009, April). Juvenile arrests 2007. Juvenile Justice Bulletin. Retrieved from http://www.ncjrs.gov

Citing a video found online

West, K. (2009). Amazing [Online Video]. Roc-A-Fella Records. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=at4OQvNlxSw
*Note: Because this is from a website with user generated content, the exact URL is included, instead of the homepage.

Citing a painting viewed online

Picasso, P. (1921). Three musicians [Painting found in Museum of Modern Art, New York]. Retrieved from http://www.artquotes.net

Citing a blog post

Schonfled, E. (2009, September 13). Shutterfly buys Tiny Pictures for a tiny price. TechCrunch. Retrieved from http://www.techcrunch.com
*Note: Because blog posts are informally published, do not italicize the article titles.

Sources found in online databases typically have been published elsewhere. Include as much as the original publication information as possible. The new APA rules explain that database names are not necessary, but can be included as supplementary information.

Citing an originally in print journal article found in a database

Ahn, H., & Kim, K. (2008). Using genetic algorithms to optimize nearest neighbors for data mining. Annals of Operations Research, 263(1), 5-18. Retrieved from Academic Search Premier