Citations

1. Citations • Why we need them in academic papers • Part of the process of building on other people’s work; peer-review • To follow up (interested want to know more) • To verify (curious, skeptical about finding, skeptical about accuracy of paraphrase) • “High concentrations of exogenous dopamine has been proven to restore the sensitivity of D2 receptors to normal (Seeman, Guan and Van Tol, 1993)” [my reaction was “Really?? The reference allowed me to check] • To know to whom to attribute a finding or conclusion (we reject statements such as “It’s widely known”; it’s been established) • In fact, in academic writing, very little accepted on authority or as “common knowledge”

2. Example from Introductory section of recent article on advances is diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Disease (Ikonomovic, Klunk, Abrahamson, Mathis, Price, Tsopelas et al., 2008): • “Clinically symptomatic Alzheimer’s disease can be diagnosed with high accuracy at academic centres (Lopez et al., 2000a), but diagnosis in the community is less accurate (Pearl, 1997). Non-Alzheimer’s disease dementia cases are not infrequently misdiagnosed as Alzheimer’s disease (Mayeux et al., 1998)…” • These authors have expertise in field of Alzheimer’s diagnosis, yet….. • Implication: >>>>

3. If you state: “Marijuana is the most widely used psychoactive drug among today’s youth.” • What’s your source? Why should we have confidence in that statement Something you’ve assumed; or stating because you heard it somewhere? Q. is where? • In fact, not true

4. Examples of unattributed statements from student papers: • “A lot of the stress causing panic attacks is sub-conscious. A person doesn’t realize their own thoughts” • [aside from poor phrasing and grammaticity: older view; not widely believed; I’d like to know source- what led student to this belief? Was it an appropriate reference?] • “Cocaine is another kind of strong drug [how defined?]. It is more powerful than marijuana. [by what criterion? Reference?]”

5. Examples from student papers where having proper citation was useful/important ….

6. In-text (within-text) citations • These are the brief references to sources that appear in the body of the text • In APA format, they provide just enough info to unambiguously lead reader to the full reference in the bibliography • To learn where they’re used, and how they vary, carefully examine an article done in APA format • e.g., see Michael Bozarth’s article in Reader (p. 51-58), “Pleasure systems in the brain” • Then consult an APA within-text citation guide as needed (see link on my “Brain & Behavior” homepage)

7. Don’t remember where it’s permissible to use “et al.”? – look it up! • Quick summary: • In text: Up to 5 authors- name all 1st time; give just lead author’s name followed by “et al.” if you cite again. • More than 5 authors: Use the lead author + “et al.” format from the start • In bibliography: Up to 6 authors: Name all of them (don’t mimic ProQuest format!) • More than 6 authors: List 1st 6, followed by “et al.”

8. Is APA-style the “correct” format • What’s wrong with superscripts + endnotes? • Why isn’t naming the first 4 authors of a multi-author article good enough? (ProQuest does it- surely they’re not wrong! • Not “wrong”: simply different formats • There are good reasons to use a consistent format • Why APA? • Because we have decreed it! • Truly, because most widely used in psychology and social sciences

9. The need for a consistent citations format • Information you need for citing a reference may come from variety of sources • notes you wrote on scrap of paper when reading article onscreen or a book • printout of an article located through ProQuest or PubMed • article reprinted in the course Reader • The formats in which the bibliographic information appears may differ from source to source >>

10. Typical Proquest citation info: An examination of the role that intercollegiate athletic participation plays in academic achievementMaloney, Michael T, McCormick, Robert E., Kinsbourne, Barry J.The Journal of Human Resources. Madison: Summer 1993. Vol.28, Iss. 3; p. 555 (16 pages) How this should appear in APA format (academic journal reference): Maloney, M.T., McCormick, R.E. & Kinsbourne, B.J. (1993). An examination of the role that intercollegiate athletic participation plays in academic achievement.The Journal of Human Resources, 28 (3),555-570.

11. >>> general problem • Many students copy information blindly • Don’t include information just because you have it (e.g. ProQuest lists it). • e.g., Proquest lists location of publisher of academic journal- but you don’t need (shouldn’t use) this info for article citation • Learn the APA requirements for the type of source you’re citing • Note: they differ for academic journals, magazines, books, web documents, etc. • Pull out just the info you need; look up anything that’s missing (in the article itself!) • “translate” where necessary

12. APA citations: Common misunderstandings, common errors • A journal article found in an online database or on a website requires the same information as for the original • PLUS “retrieved from” statement

13. A very common error: • Copeland, J. (2005). Cannabis-related problems and their management. Retrieved March 9, 2006 from Proquest database • What’s missing? • The name of the journal (and volume number and page references) • Why it’s important: [discuss] • Gives reader quick info about the source >> establishes reliability (and appropriateness)

14. The proper reference: • Copeland, J. (2005). Cannabis-related problems and their management. Drugs and Alcohol Today, 5, 20-25. Retrieved March 9, 2006 from Proquest database • What this info told me: • Not a peer-reviewed journal • Quite unreliable • The “retrieved from” statement supplies supplemental information. Purpose: • May help reader access article • To resolve possible issues where online version differs from print version

15. An even worse example of a bibliography citation: • http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/reprint/183/3/ (this was the entire citation!)

16. Another common error Arnold, P.D. & Richter, P.A. (2001, November). Is obsessive-compulsive disorder an autoimmune disease? Journal of the Canadian Medical Association, 165 (10), 1353-1358. • What’s the problem here? • In APA format, you don’t include the month for academic/scientific journals • Picky-picky? • Not really: It’s an important clue as to nature of source; e.g., would be used for magazine like Discover

17. As previously noted: • Don’t copy information blindly • Establish the nature of your source (journal article; article in multi-author book with editor; anonymous online article, etc. • Review the APA requirements for the type of source you’re citing (Learn the most common ones!) • Note: they differ for academic journals, magazines, books, web documents, etc. • From the information at hand, pull out just the info you need, look up anything missing.

18. Tip: Always use the .pdf version of of an article if available • More accurate representation of the original • Can get the publication info from the article title and header/footers • Tip: Proquest’s “APA formatted” citations are NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME! Many errors.