1 APA Style Reference Citations Library Resource Guide WHAT IS A REFERENCE CITATION? A reference citation is the documentation needed to make your paper acceptable for academic purposes. It gives authoritative sources for your statements, helps the reader gain access to those sources, and acknowledges the fact that the information used in a paper did not originate with the writer. WHAT IS APA'S STYLE OF REFERENCE CITATION? APA style uses the author/date method of citation in which the author's last name and the year of the publication are inserted in the actual text of the paper. It is the style recommended by the American Psychological Association and used in many of the social sciences. The American Psychological Association addresses new electronic formats in a separate guide, which UT students can access in book format or online through the library. Several of the examples in this guide come from one of these sources. The American Psychological Association offers some guidance and examples at http://www.apastyle.org/ . The Writing Center, on the first floor of Carlson, also offers help to students who are writing papers. This guide only summarizes a few main points regarding APA style. For full information, please consult the two APA guides below. BF 76.7 .P83 2001 REF (available in Reference and Reserves at Carlson Library) Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5 th ed.) by The American Psychological Association. BF 76.7 .P833 2007 REF (available in Reference or at http://utmost.cl.utoledo.edu/record=b2574984 ) APA Style Guide to Electronic References by The American Psychological Association. WHEN USING APA STYLE, DO I NEED TO USE FOOTNOTES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE? No, by inserting reference citations in the text, you eliminate the need to use footnotes at the bottom of the page or at the end of your paper. The citations in your end-of-paper references list should give readers enough information to locate each source. NOTE: It is suggested that you consult with your instructor or advisor for the style preferred by your department. Be consistent and do not mix styles! Inquire at the Information/Reference Desk for style manuals available at Carlson Library. EXAMPLES OF REFERENCE CITATIONS IN TEXT--APA STYLE 1. If author's name occurs in the text, follow it with year of publication in parentheses. Example: Piaget (1970) compared reaction times... 2. If author's name is not in the text, insert last name, comma, year in parenthesis. Example: In a recent study of reaction times (Piaget, 1978)…