ENGL 101: Carver, K. (Fall 2024): APA Citations

Click on the green arrow inside the box to listen to the tutorial, or see the full screen tutorial by clicking the link at the bottom.

A Quick Look at the Two Parts of a Citation

1. The brief in-text citation lets your reader know where the information in your paper came from, as you are using it. Usually, this means the author(s) and year.
2. The full References citation is on a separate References page, letting your reader know, in detail, where to find that source.

Below is an example of how the two citation pieces fit together in APA style:

The In-Text Citation

Gordon and Cui (2015) found compelling evidence suggesting that a person’s career outcomes in adulthood are more of a product of the quality of their childhood relationships with their parent(s), or other adult guardians, rather than the quality of the education they received.
 

References

Gordon, M. S., & Cui, M. (2015). Positive parenting during adolescence and career success in young adulthood. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 24(3), 762-771. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10826-013-9887-y

What is APA?

"APA style" is the citation and paper formatting style used in health sciences and social sciences.
 

The American Psychological Association (APA) states:

"When editors or teachers ask you to write in "APA Style," they are referring to the editorial style that many of the social and behavioral sciences have adopted to present written material in the field. APA Style was first developed 80 years ago by a group of social scientists who wished to establish sound standards of communication. Since that time, it has been adopted by leaders in many fields and has been used by writers around the world."

APA Style Handouts

Here are some handouts (in both .docx and .pdf formats) featuring examples citations for sources you might find through TCC's Library and the Web.

References

In-Text Citations

Citing Social Media

Purdue OWL Guides: APA 7 

Using MS Word to Create Citations

Watch the short video (2:46 mins) below to see how to format a bibliography, center a title (such as "works cited" or "references"), and create the "hanging indent" for citations: