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HSC 198: Sexual Health in the Media

Using citations from the library databases

Most library databases provide you with a citation for their articles. They're a good starting point, but they usually have some errors. Most errors are have to do with incorrect capitalization, so they're easy to fix. 

I recommend that you familiarize yourself with the basic APA citation rules (see the next section on this page) so you know what needs to be corrected. 

Here's an example of an incorrect citation, from the Education Source database:

In the citation, most of the words in the article title are capitalized, which is not correct.

Note: the journal in this example has a volume number, but no issue number. This is becoming more common as more journals become online-only!

Quick & Dirty APA Reference

Most APA citations have two parts:

In-Text Citations

In-text citations should have:

  • the author's (or authors') last name
  • the year of publication
  • the page number(s), if you're using a direct quote

There are two ways to do in-text citations:

  • Parenthetical citations – all citation information is in parentheses

    Ex. Some studies have found that students with disabilities are not always encouraged to go to college (Elmore, Veitch, & Harbor, 2018).

  • Narrative citations – citation information is split up

    Ex. Elmore, Veitch, and Harbor (2018) found that students with disabilities are not always encouraged to go to college.

General rules for in-text citations:

  • The quotation mark goes before the parentheses
  • The period goes after the parentheses
  • If the quotation is on just one page, use "p." before the page number. If the quotation spans across two pages, use "pp." (see the "Books" example)

Reference List Citations

Most things in reference list citations should be lowercase - the exceptions are:

  • The first letter of the first word of the title
  • The first letter of the first word after a colon (see the "Magazine & Journal Articles" example)
  • Proper nouns (see the "Magazine & Journal Articles" example)
    • Not sure if something is a proper noun? Google it!

Citation Types You May Use

Books

In-text citation

"There are more valuable things in life than safety and comfort. Learn. You owe it to yourself" (Okorafor, 2011, pp. 228-229).

Reference list

Okorafor, N. (2011). Akata witch. Viking.

Note: The general format of book citations is:

  • The author's last name, followed by their first initial (and middle initial, if they choose)
  • The year of publication
  • The title of the book, which is italicized
  • The name of the publisher

Book chapters

In-text citation

Example #1

Elmore, Veitch, and Harbour (2018) argue that "Going to college with a disability is an incredibly unique experience" (p. 19).

Note: Notice that I'm using the "narrative" style of in-text citation here. Because I'm using the narrative style, I write out the word "and" before the last author's name.

Example #2

Some studies have found that students with disabilities are not always encouraged to go to college (Elmore, Veitch, & Harbor, 2018).

Note: In this example, I use the "parenthetical" style, so I use an & (ampersand) instead of the word "and".

Reference list

Elmore, K., Veitch, H., & Harbour, W.S. (2018). The lived experiences of college students and recent college graduates with disabilities. In M. Grigal, J. Madaus, L. Dukes III, & D. Hart (Eds.), Navigating the transition from high school to college for students with disabilities (pp. 19-42). Routledge.

Note: The general format for book chapter citations is:

  • The author's (or authors') last names, followed by their first initial (and middle initial, if they choose)
  • The publication year
  • The chapter title
  • The word "In", followed by the first initial (and middle initial, if they choose) and last name of the editor(s). I'm not sure why APA style doesn't have you put this part in the same format as the authors, but they don't.
  • The phrase (Eds.) after the editors' names
  • The book title, in italics
  • The page numbers (use pp. here since you're mentioning multiple pages)

Magazine & Journal Articles

In-text citation

Masta (2018) notes that participants in her study were "most at ease interacting with other Native American students" (p. 29).

Reference list

Masta, S. (2018). Strategy and resistance: How Native American students engage in accommodation in mainstream schools. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 49(1), 21-35.

Note: The general format for article citations is:

  • The author's (or authors') last name, followed by their first initial (and middle initial, if they choose)
  • The publication year
  • The article title
  • The journal or magazine title, in italics
  • The volume number, also in italics
  • The issue number, in parentheses but not in italics
  • The page numbers

Websites

In-text citation

Lederman (2018) notes that although OER can save students money, in many cases, "the institution itself is picking up the costs that were formally borne by the students, through some combination of direct subsidies to instructors to create the content and a loss of textbook revenue to a campus store, among other costs".

Note: In most cases, websites don't have page numbers, so you'll leave them off.

Reference list

Lederman, D. (2018, July 25). Calculating (and acknowledging) the costs of OER. https://www.insidehighered.com/digital-learning/article/2018/07/25/community-college-confronts-costs-open-educational-resources

Note: The general format for website citations is:

  • The author's (or authors') last name, followed by their first initial (and middle initial, if they choose)
  • The year and day published; if you can't find a date on the webpage, use n.d. in the parentheses
  • The website title, in italics
  • The URL to the website - make sure not to put a period after the URL

How to do a hanging indent

When putting together a reference list in APA style, the first line should be normal, but all other lines should be indented. This is called a hanging indent. Here's how you can do it.

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