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 the exact words from the original, quotation marks are necessary. If you paraphrase or restate the idea in your own words, dont use quotation marks, but document the source. In the APA (American Psychological Association) format,* one of several documentation formats, you briefly identify your 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 authors last name in the text of your paper. Then, in parentheses, include the publication date and any other information required. If you dont name an author in your text, give the authors 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 Farber (1984), 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, 1994). If you want to refer to an entire web site: The Texas Attorney Generals Office web site has Texas child support information (http://www.oag.state.tx.us/). If you refer to a specific portion of a reference, add the page or chapter number, separated by a comma: Exception: Some full-text sources, retrieved from the Internet, do not have page numbers. In these cases, page numbers may be omitted from the in-text citation. Thorton (1992, p. 62) notes that natural fathers arent 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 peoples kids. 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 (McKee & OBrien, 1982, 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: Fathers today no longer know who they are or what their wives and children expect from them (Fatherhood, 1990, p. 5), and this increases the likelihood they will abandon their families. 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 doesnt 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 on this sheet, ask the librarian to show you the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). The most BASIC RULES for the reference list are: Books Last name, Initials. (Publication year). Title of book. City and state where published: Name of publisher. Periodicals Last name, Initials. (Publication date). Title of article. Title of periodical, volume number, page numbers. Online Sources When possible, give two dates for online sources: the date the material was published and the date you retrieved it. Indentation Use a hanging indent style: the first line should be flush left and subsequent lines should be indented at least five spaces. Check the example reference list for variations. OTHER RULES: A second work by the same author List in date order, with older before newer. Repeat the authors name. Works by multiple authors If there are six or fewer authors, give names and initials for all. If there are more than six authors, give the first six names followed by et al. Information from the Internet Always furnish at least a document title or description, at least one date (if the document is undated, then just the date of retrieval), and an Internet address (URL). If possible, identify the authors as well. Check the APA Web page for further information -http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html *Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2001. Example Reference List Always list sources in alphabetical order. Online Periodical Directly from the Web Carson, M. (1998, April 27). Does he or doesnt he? Time, 151. Retrieved September 21, 2002, from http://www.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/1998/dom/980427/ notebook.does_he_or_does27.html Full-text Periodical Article from an Online Database Evans, G. (1998, May 15). A fathers place is in the home. New Statesman & Society, 11, 22-23.

Retrieved July 28, 2002, from Academic Search Premier database. Magazine article with an author (If no author, list by title, then date) Gold, J.K. (1992, April 12). When fathers raise children alone. U.S. News and World Report, 53, 6162. 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: National Public Radio. Retrieved July 31, 2002, from eLibrary database. Specialized, Multivolume Encyclopedia Kappenberg, R.P. (1994). Family crises. In Encyclopedia of psychology (2nd ed.). (Vol. 2, pp. 8-9). New York: John Wiley & Sons. Scholarly journal article (If the journal is continuously paginated, omit issue number.) Larson, E. (1988). Cross-cultural studies of fatherhood. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 47(3), 18-24. Book with editors McKee, L. & OBrien, M.B. (Eds.). (1982). The father figure (3rd ed.). New York: Tavistock. Book Parke, R. (1987). Fathers. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Newspaper article with author given Schorr, B. (1994, April 12). States cracking down on fathers dodging child-support payments. New York Times, pp. A1, A14. Pamphlet Seiderman, S. (1995). Becoming a father. Chicago: National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse. WWW Page Sheppard, L. (1998, April 13). Father involvement shows positive outcomes. Retrieved July 29, 2002, from http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu /news/news 980413g.html Government document U.S. Department of Justice. (1991). Child-support payment laws (ACLW Publication 16). Washington, DC: Author. A work or chapter within a larger work Valsiner, J. (1981). The fathers 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: Wiley. Audiovisual Wilson, P. (Producer). (1994). When fathers desert families [Video]. Los Angeles: Maxwell. Note: Please write down the URL and access date for citations when downloading; they may not appear in your document. Wed like to hear from you! If you have any comments, questions or suggestions, send email to library@austincc.edu Austin Community College, Library Services, 2004 Last updated 3/04