Documenting Sources of Information

It is an expected academic practice that students will refer to (or cite) the sources of ideas, data and other
evidence in written assignments. This is not just practice for tradition’s sake, but done for valid academic
reasons. There are four main reasons related to academic studies why documenting sources of information is
important:
1. to support your arguments and give credibility to the information you present in assignments;
2. to enable your tutors to check the accuracy and validity of the evidence presented;
3. to enable your tutors and other interested readers to trace the sources you cite and to use the same
evidence for their own purposes;
4. to avoid the accusation of plagiarism.

What is a bibliography?
A bibliography is an alphabetized list of sources that have been used to compile data, typically in an article,
essay, or research paper. This list is found at the end of the work and allows the person reviewing the data to
verify the veracity of the statements and/or figures presented in the data itself. It also allows a writer to give
proper credit for quotes or key phrases that have been written and presented in a source that they may have
referenced in their paper so as to avoid plagiarism.

What is plagiarism?
One general definition of plagiarism is to knowingly take and use another person’s work and, directly or
indirectly, claim it as your own.

How to cite and make references using the APA format?

What is APA style?
APA style is a writing style and format for academic documents such as scholarly journal articles and books.
It is commonly used for citing sources within the field of social sciences. APA style is widely used, either
entirely or with modifications, by hundreds of other scientific journals (including medical and other public
health journals), in many textbooks, and in academia (for papers written in classes).

How to Cite a Book in APA?

Use the following template to cite a book using the APA citation format:
Author, A. (Year of Publication). Title of work. Publisher City, State: Publisher.
Example:
Finney, J. (1970). Time and again. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

With two authors:

Author, A., & Author, B. (Year of Publication). Title of work. Publisher City, State: Publisher.
Example:
Finney, J., & Smith, K. (1970). Time and again. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

With three, four, or five authors:

Author, A., Author, B., & Author, C. (Year of Publication). Title of work. Publisher City, State: Publisher.
Example:
Finney, J., Simpson, P., & Smith, K. (1970). Time and again. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

Note: When citing a book in APA, keep in mind:

 Capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title and any subtitles, as well as the first letter of any
proper nouns.
 The full title of the book, including any subtitles, should be stated and italicized.

How to Cite a Magazine in APA?

Use the following template to cite a book using the APA citation format:
Author, A. (Year, month of Publication). Article title. Magazine Title, Volume(Issue), pp.-pp.
Example:
Tumulty, K. (2006, April). Should they stay or should they go? Time, 167(15), 3-40.
Note: When citing a magazine in APA, keep in mind:
 You can find the volume number with the other publication information of the magazine.
 You can typically find page numbers at the bottom corners of a magazine article.
 If you cannot locate an issue number, simply don’t include it in the citation.

How to Cite a Website in APA?

Citing a general website article with an author
APA Format Structure
Author, A. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Article title. Retrieved from URL
Example:
Simmons, B. (2015, January 9). The tale of two Flaccos. Retrieved from http://grantland.com/the-triangle/the-
tale-of-two-flaccos/
Citing a general website article without an author
Article title. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Retrieved from URL
Example:
Teen posed as doctor at West Palm Beach hospital: police. (2015, January 16). Retrieved from
http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Teen-Posed-as-Doctor-at-West-Palm-Beach-Hospital-Police
288810831.html

How to Cite a Journal Article in APA?

Use the following template to cite a journal article using the APA citation format:
Author, A. (Publication Year). Article title. Periodical Title, Volume(Issue), pp.-pp.
Example:
Nevin, A. (1990). The changing of teacher education special education. Teacher Education and Special
Education: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Council for Exceptional Children, 13(3-4),
147-148.

How to Cite a Newspaper Article in APA?

Use the following template to cite a book using the APA citation format:
Author, A. (Year, Month Date of Publication). Article title. Newspaper Title, pp. xx-xx.
Example:
Rosenberg, G. (1997, March 31). Electronic discovery proves an effective legal weapon.The New York Times,
p. D5.
Note: When citing a newspaper article in APA, keep in mind:
 Precede page numbers for newspaper articles with p. (for a single page) or pp. (for multiple pages).
 If an article appears on discontinuous pages, give all page numbers, and separate the numbers with a
comma (e.g., pp. B1, B3, B5-B7).

What is an In-text Citation?

Include an in-text citation when you refer to, summarize, paraphrase, or quote from another source. For every
in-text citation in your paper, there must be a corresponding entry in your reference list.
APA in-text citation style uses the author's last name and the year of publication, for example: (Field, 2005).
For direct quotations, include the page number as well, for example: (Field, 2005, p. 14).

Example paragraph with in-text citation

A few researchers in the linguistics field have developed training programs designed to improve native
speakers' ability to understand accented speech (Derwing, Rossiter, & Munro, 2002; Thomas, 2004). Their
training techniques are based on the research described above indicating that comprehension improves with
exposure to non-native speech. Derwing et al. (2002) conducted their training with students preparing to be
social workers, but note that other professionals who work with non-native speakers could benefit from a
similar program.

References
Derwing, T. M., Rossiter, M. J., & Munro, M. J. (2002). Teaching native speakers to listen to foreign-accented
speech. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 23(4), 245-259.
Thomas, H. K. (2004). Training strategies for improving listeners' comprehension of foreign-accented
speech (Doctoral dissertation). University of Colorado, Boulder.

General Guidelines
In-text references should immediately follow the title, word, or phrase to which they are directly relevant,
rather than appearing at the end of long clauses or sentences. In-text references should always precede
punctuation marks. Below are examples of using in-text citation.
Author's name in parentheses:
One study found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is familiarity with the
topic (Gass & Varonis, 1984).
Author's name part of narrative:
Gass and Varonis (1984) found that the most important element in comprehending non-native speech is
familiarity with the topic.
Direct quote: (include page number)
One study found that “the listener's familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the interpretation
of the entire message” (Gass & Varonis, 1984, p. 85).
Gass and Varonis (1984) found that “the listener’s familiarity with the topic of discourse greatly facilitates the
interpretation of the entire message” (p. 85).