APA Paper GuidelinesThe Ethics of Writing Your Paper

ORGiving Credit When it is Due

ORPlagiarism = Failure

Your paper is created based on your synthesis of the ideas of others. Anytime you use the original ideas of others, either

quoted directly or paraphrased, you MUST cite the original source.

Citing Original Sources/Ideas

Citing material is handled in two ways when using APA style.

•Parenthetical citations are used in your paper to mark the location of borrowed material. •These citations point the reader to the paper’s References list, where full citations for all resources used in the paper are provided.

In-text citations will appear immediately after the paraphrase or direct quotation, not at the end of a

paragraph that contains the borrowed material.

Remember, keep the citations close so the reader knows to what they

refer!

Basic Requirements for Citations•Author’s last name•Year of publication•Page number from which material can be found in the original source(Smith, 2003, p. 237)

Handling Direct Quotations:

A direct quotation is a word for word use of someone else’s original idea.

Quotations with fewer than 40 words are incorporated into the text of the paper.

Direct quotations are enclosed in quotation marks.

Citing Direct Quotations:

Signal phrase:Taylor (2007) concluded,“The cost of obesity is

exceeded only by the cost of treating illnesses caused by tobacco use” (p. 549).

No Signal phrase“The cost of obesity is

exceeded only by the cost of treating illnesses caused by tobacco use” (Taylor, 2007, p. 549). The influences of obesity are clearly far reaching and costly.

Paraphrasing SuccessfullyA paraphrase is your effort to put another’s original idea into your own words.

Paraphrasing takes effort.

It is not enough simply to substitute a few words with synonyms or anonyms.

It is not enough just to change the order of a few words.

Citing Paraphrased Material

Signal phraseAccording to Hogan

(2004), historians have unfairly judged Hoover’s response to the Great Depression (p. 401).

No signal phraseHistorians have unfairly

judged Hoover’s response to the Great Depression (Hogan, 2004, p.410).

APA does not require a page number to be cited with a paraphrase; however, APA notes the inclusion of a page number as a “best practice.” Make sure you know your professor’s preference.

References Page•The References page is the last page of your paper.•The heading “References” is centered at the top of the page.•Here you provide a complete citation for ALL the works that you have cited in your paper.•The listing is arranged alphabetically by author’s last name.•A hanging indent is APA standard for the page.

References Page

• APA requires a very specific format for all citations;

• specific capitalization rules apply; • specific placement and use of punctuation is

required,• and italics rather than underlining is used for

major titles.

In order to understand APA References page format, consult reliable resources found on the

library’s website.

http://www.sjcme.edu/library/index.htm