RCE 672: Research and Program Evaluation: APA Citations

• Follow the author-date method of in-text citation
  •  (Last Name, Year) appears in the sentence you’re citing
  • A complete reference should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper

• If you are paraphrasing an idea you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference. It is best practice to provide the page number.
• Example of paraphrasing with author's name:

According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners.

• Example of paraphrasing without author's name:

APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998, p. 199).

For a complete example of an APA paper click the link to visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab sample APA Paper.

• If you are directly quoting include the author, year or publication, and page number for the reference (preceded by “p.”)
• Example of direct quotation with author's name:

According to Jones (1998), “students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time” (p. 199).

• If the author’s name is not in the signal phrase, place the author’s last name, year of publication, and page number in the parentheses after the quotation.
• Example of direct quotation without author's name:

She stated, “Students often had difficulty using APA style” (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.

• Direct quotations 40 words or longer should be in a free-standing block of typewritten lines without quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented 1/2 inch from the left margin. Type the entire quotation on the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout. The parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.
• Example of long quotation:

Jones’s (1998) study found the following:

Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time citing sources. This difficulty could be attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase a style manual or to ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)