Writing a Scholarly Paper as APA Part II

1. Writing a Scholarly Paper as APAPart II

2. Using APA in the body of your paper.

3. Where do you put the information about your sources in an APA research paper? APA requires information in two places: • In in-text citations, right in the body of your paper AND • At the end of your paper, on the references page.

4. American Psychological Association (APA) • Also called the “name-and-year” system of documenting sources because these are the two pieces of information you insert into the body of your paper. • Emphasizes how recent the information is. • Used by people writing about the social sciences, business, health sciences, etc.

5. In the following examples of APA in-text citations, the actual source information is in yellow. Notice that where you insert this information can signal the beginning and end of the material you borrowed.

6. Examples of APA in-text citations with quotations: Hobson (2009) argues that college professors are actually “alien invaders from another planet” (p. 18).One authority argues that college professors are actually “alien invaders from another planet” (Hobson, 2009, p. 18).

7. Secondary Sources Hobbs notes that although some humans are startled by the sight of little green men and women, the shopaholic aliens “have significantly stimulated the economy” (as cited in Russell, 2010, p. 94).

8. Personal communication, in-text citation ONLY Example: Aliens love to drink motor oil (Freels, personal communication, February 26, 2010).

9. Rules for in-text citations • Place at the end of borrowed material. • Always include the author’s last name and the date of publication. • Include the page number for direct quotations or a specific part (i.e.: paraphrased items) of a paginated source. • Use a comma between elements and the abbreviation “p.” for “page” or “pp.” for “pages.” • APA rarely refers to names of sources within in-text citations – use author(s’) name(s)

10. No author? • If no author is listed, use a short title enclosed in parentheses. Example: (“Cognitive Dissonance”)

11. Two frequently asked questions about in-text citations • Do I need to keep inserting the name of the author of my source over and over again? • If I’m using the same source a lot, how often do I need to insert an in-text citation?

12. Answers • In both cases, you insert the information as often as you think the reader needs it. • Keep asking yourself, “Will the reader know where I found the information in this sentence or paragraph?” and “Whose words/ideas/language am I using?” • If you’re not sure, add another in-text citation. It’s better to use too many than too few. • You may also consider using less of that specific source.

13. Your in-text citation tells the reader to look at your references page in order to find complete publishing information for that source.

14. In fact, savvy researchers always check the references list at the end to find additional sources that will help with their own research and scholarly writing projects. You might want to try this yourself!

15. Final advice: Finding helpful information • APA guidelines: www.apastyle.org • owl.english.purdue.edu 3. Help with any part of the writing process: Visit the Writing Center.

16. APA, Part II, will address references pages.