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Type of Source
Go to ...Types of Article References
Types of Book References
Types of Encyclopedia References
Types of other References
Example of a Reference list
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APA Documentation
When you use the words or original ideas of another person in your writing, you need to document, or give credit to, the sources of those words or ideas. If you use exact words from the original, quotation marks are necessary. If you paraphrase or restate the idea in your own words, don't use quotation marks, but document the source.
In the APA (American Psychological Association) format,* one of several documentation formats, you briefly identify our sources in the text of your paper, then give the full information in the Reference List at the end of the paper.
Identify Sources in the Text
Cite the author's last name in the text of your paper. Then, in parentheses, include the publication date and any other information required. If you don't name an author in your text, give the author's name and date in parentheses at the end of the sentence, along with other required information. See the examples below.
If you refer to the entire contents of a reference and mention the author:
According to Larson (2009), there is a trend toward waiting to marry and toward postponing the birth of the first child.
If you do not mention the author in the text, include it at the end of the sentence, separated from the publication date by a comma:
Child support payments can be withheld from wages in more and more states (Schorr, 2001).
If you refer to a specific portion of a reference, include the page or chapter number at the end:
Fredersen (1997) notes that "natural fathers aren't the only ones raising children on their own. As more families split up, social workers note that stepfathers increasingly are being called on to bring up other people's kids" (p.62).
At the turn of the century many men worked long hours, which entailed their absence from the family for most of the day: That was not a rejection of fatherhood but a necessary element of it (MacNeil & O'Brien, 2002, chap. 5).
If you refer to publications with no author given, include the first 1-3 key words from the title instead of a name. If no date is supplied, then type n.d. instead. Some digital full-text sources do not have page numbers. In these cases, page numbers may be omitted from the in-text citation, but a paragraph number may be used instead:
Homes with absent fathers cost taxpayers $99.8 billion per year ("National Fatherhood," n.d., para. 2).
The Reference List
A reference list has all the sources mentioned in your paper, arranged in alphabetical order by the authors' last names or, if a source doesn't list an author, by the first word of the title (ignore a, an, and the). If you have a type of source not covered in the examples below, ask the faculty librarian to show you the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). [See an example of an alphabetized Reference List below.]
Reference List Examples by Type of Reference
Online (web) sources indicated with double plus sign ++
ARTICLES
| Reference Type: | List Example: |
|---|---|
| Newspaper article with author given | Schorr, B. (2001, April 12). States cracking down on fathers dodging child-support payments. New York Times, pp. A1, A14. |
| ++ Periodical article directly from the Web | Cullen, L., & Grossman, L. T. (2007, October 15). Fatherhood 2.0 Time, 170(16), 63-66. Retrieved from http://www.time.com |
| ++ Magazine article from an online database with no DOI | Evans, G. (1998, May 15). A father's place is in the home. New Statesman & Society, 11,(4385), 22-23. Retrieved from http://www.newstatesman.com |
| ++ Scholarly journal article from an online database with a DOI | Forste, R. L., Bartkowski, J., & Jackson, M. A. (2009). "Just be there for them": Perceptions of fathering among single, low-income men. Fathering: A Journal for Theory, Research, & Practice about Men as Fathers, 7(1), 49-69. doi:10.3149/fth.0701.49 |
BOOKS
| Reference Type: | List Example: |
|---|---|
| Book with editors | MacNeil, L., & O'Brien, M.B. (Eds.). (2002). The father figure (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Tavistock. |
| Book with an author | McBain, R. W. (2005). The father as actor and hero. |
| ++ Electronic version of a print book | O'Connor, F. (1999). My father's son [NetLibrary version]. |
| A work or chapter within a larger work | Valsiner, J. (1989). The father's role in the social network of the Soviet child. In M.E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development (pp. 187-201). New York, NY: Wiley. |
ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLES
| Reference Type: | List Example: |
|---|---|
| Specialized, multi-volume encyclopedia | Cappenberg, R. P. (2004). Family crises. In R. J. Corsini, (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychology (2nd ed., Vol 2, pp. 8-9). New York, NY: Wiley. |
| ++ Online encyclopedia article | Kohama, S. (2002). Genetics: Parental influence. In D. J. Ekerdt (Ed.), Encyclopedia of aging (Vol. 2, pp. 553-555). Retrieved from http://www.gale.cengage.com/gvrl |
OTHER WORKS
| Reference Type: | List Example: |
|---|---|
| Government document (If the author and publisher are the same, put "Author" for the publisher.) |
U.S. Department of Justice. (1991). Child-support payment laws (ACLW Publication 16). Washington, DC: Author.. |
| Pamphlet | Weiderman, S. G. (1995). Becoming a father. Chicago, IL: National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse. |
| Audiovisual | Wilson, P. (Producer). (1994). When fathers desert families [DVD]. Los Angeles, CA: Maxwell. |
| ++ Radio or television transcript from an online database | Gross, T., and Canada, G. (1998, January 13). Reaching up for manhood. In T. Gross (Producer), Fresh air. Philadelphia, PA: National Public Radio. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org |
| ++ Web page whose content may change over time | National fatherhood initiative research. (n.d.) Retrieved March 1, 2009, from http://www.fatherhood.org/research.asp |
Example - References
Note: Always integrate all source types (print, online, etc.) into a single alphabetical list that is double-spaced.
References
Cappenberg, R. P. (2004). Family crises. In R. J. Corsini, (Ed.), Encyclopedia of psychology
(2nd ed., Vol 2, pp. 8-9). New York, NY: Wiley.
Cullen, L., & Grossman, L. T. (2007, October 15). Fatherhood 2.0 Time, 170(16), 63-66. Retrieved
from http://www.time.com
Evans, G. (1998, May 15). A father's place is in the home. New Statesman & Society, 11,(4385),
22-23. Retrieved from http://www.newstatesman.com
Forste, R. L., Bartkowski, J., & Jackson, M. A. (2009). "Just be there for them": Perceptions of
fathering among single, low-income men. Fathering: A Journal for Theory, Research, &
Practice about Men as Fathers, 7(1), 49-69. doi:10.3149/fth.0701.49
Gross, T., and Canada, G. (1998, January 13). Reaching up for manhood. In T. Gross (Producer),
Fresh air. Philadelphia, PA: National Public Radio. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org
Kohama, S. (2002). Genetics: Parental influence. In D. J. Ekerdt
(Ed.), Encyclopedia of aging
(Vol. 2, pp. 553-555). Retrieved from http://www.gale.cengage.com/gvrl
MacNeil, L., & O'Brien, M.B. (Eds.). (2002). The father figure (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Tavistock.
McBain, R. W. (2005). The father as actor and hero.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
National fatherhood initiative research. (n.d.) Retrieved March 1, 2009, from
http://www.fatherhood.org/research.asp
O'Connor, F. (1999). My father's son [NetLibrary version]. Retrieved from http://netlibrary.com
Schorr, B. (2001, April 12). States cracking down on fathers dodging child-support payments.
New York Times, pp. A1, A14.
U.S. Department of Justice. (1991). Child-support payment laws
(ACLW Publication 16). Washington,
DC: Author.
Valsiner, J. (1989). The father's role in the social network of the
Soviet child. In M.E. Lamb (Ed.),
The role of the father in
child development (pp. 187-201). New York, NY: Wiley.
Weiderman, S. G. (1995). Becoming a father. Chicago, IL:
National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse.
Wilson, P. (Producer). (1994). When fathers desert families
[DVD]. Los Angeles, CA: Maxwell.
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Last updated: 10/25/2012 -mp
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