Citing Sources
Whenever you use information that is
not common knowledge (for example, we all know the sun rises in the
east, but most of us do not know the interior temperature of the sun),
you must state your source. The citation should be at the end of the
sentence or paragraph which includes the cited information. Standard
science APA style (based on the publication manual of the American
Psychological Association) is as follows:
The surname of the author and the year of publication are inserted in the text at the appropriate point:
Smith (1983) compared reaction times…
In a recent study of reaction times (Smith, 1983)
described the method..Smith also found..
If a direct quote is used, the style is:
Smith (1983) found that “the placebo effect,
which had been verified in previous studies,
disappeared when this technique was used” (p.276).
OR
“the placebo effect, which had been verified
in previous studies, disappeared when this technique
was used” (Smith, 1983, p.276). • (Note: the period comes at the end of the reference, after the parentheses)
References are the sources you actually used in your paper. A bibliography, on the other hand, is a listing of works you read, but did not necessarily use.
In the Reference listing, the standard science style is (notice the tabs):
Lampton, Christopher. (1982). Coral Reefs in Danger. Connecticut:
The Millbrook Press.
Lublin, Sarah. (1980, December 5). On idle: the unemployed.
The Wall Street Journal, pp. 1, 25.
Palvio, A. (1975). Perceptual comparisons. Memory and Cognition,
3, 635-647.
Do not number the reference listings.
For Internet citations:
in the text:
1) (author’s last name, Online) if author known
OR
2) (Title, Online) if author unknown
in the references:
1) DiStefano, Vince. Guidelines for writing. if author known
[Online] 1996. Available http:www.usa.
net/vinced/home.html. May 6, 1997.
first date is document date, second is date accessed
2) Judgmental Process and Content. [Online] if author unknown
1995 Available http: www. Xxx/xyz.
html. September 5, 1995.
first date is document date, second is date accessed
Important to Notice: Long web addresses are cut off and wrapped into the next line. They are not simply moved to the next line, leaving large spaces in the formatting. Also important is that web addresses are NOT surrounded by < and >.
You may NOT cite your textbook, Wikipedia or Microsoft Encarta as a source. You may use them as a starting point for your research (like Google), but they may NOT be listed as a reference. Only .edu, .gov, or .org internet sources are allowed!.
Any Internet source (only .edu, .gov, and .org allowed) must be evaluated, using a standard evaluation form, which is available below (2-pages-in-one version here).
Smith (1983) compared reaction times…
In a recent study of reaction times (Smith, 1983)
described the method..Smith also found..
If a direct quote is used, the style is:
Smith (1983) found that “the placebo effect,
which had been verified in previous studies,
disappeared when this technique was used” (p.276).
OR
“the placebo effect, which had been verified
in previous studies, disappeared when this technique
was used” (Smith, 1983, p.276). • (Note: the period comes at the end of the reference, after the parentheses)
References are the sources you actually used in your paper. A bibliography, on the other hand, is a listing of works you read, but did not necessarily use.
In the Reference listing, the standard science style is (notice the tabs):
Lampton, Christopher. (1982). Coral Reefs in Danger. Connecticut:
The Millbrook Press.
Lublin, Sarah. (1980, December 5). On idle: the unemployed.
The Wall Street Journal, pp. 1, 25.
Palvio, A. (1975). Perceptual comparisons. Memory and Cognition,
3, 635-647.
Do not number the reference listings.
For Internet citations:
in the text:
1) (author’s last name, Online) if author known
OR
2) (Title, Online) if author unknown
in the references:
1) DiStefano, Vince. Guidelines for writing. if author known
[Online] 1996. Available http:www.usa.
net/vinced/home.html. May 6, 1997.
first date is document date, second is date accessed
2) Judgmental Process and Content. [Online] if author unknown
1995 Available http: www. Xxx/xyz.
html. September 5, 1995.
first date is document date, second is date accessed
Important to Notice: Long web addresses are cut off and wrapped into the next line. They are not simply moved to the next line, leaving large spaces in the formatting. Also important is that web addresses are NOT surrounded by < and >.
You may NOT cite your textbook, Wikipedia or Microsoft Encarta as a source. You may use them as a starting point for your research (like Google), but they may NOT be listed as a reference. Only .edu, .gov, or .org internet sources are allowed!.
Any Internet source (only .edu, .gov, and .org allowed) must be evaluated, using a standard evaluation form, which is available below (2-pages-in-one version here).