A Quick Guide To The APA Citation Style

The APA or American Psychological Association citation style is a widely popular format of referencing academic texts. Citing an extensive research paper is not at all an easy task. Complicated and time-consuming, many students resort to online APA citation generators to ease up the process.

Though most online generators are more or less accurate, they are quite prone to glitches and packet losses. This write-up presents a detailed guide for the APA citation and can act as the perfect reference for writers.

1.In-text citations

APA style in-text citations follow (Auth, Date, Page Number) format. The page numbers are optional and added when direct quotes are used in the text.

2.Title Page Formatting

A research paper’s title page must inform readers about the topic, author and essential details about the course and subject.

If you are using a free APA citation generator to make your title age, then make sure the output follows the below-given format:

The author’s name is given in full. The first name precedes the middle name while the last name succeeds it.

The name of a department must follow the university name in the course details. A comma should separate them both.

The course name and number comes next.

Following that, we have the instructor’s name.

And, finally, we have the due assignment submission date that should follow the local format.

Make sure that the online APA citation generator capitalizes every word in the title. Remember to write everything in bold using the Times New Roman font in size 12 pt.

3.Journal Article Referencing

Whether it’s an APA or Chicago citation maker, most of them are freeware which casts a shadow of doubt on their accuracy. Learning the basics of APA referencing can thus be helpful under certain circumstances.

While citing a journal article, the correct referencing format is

Author, A.A., & Author, B.B. (Year). Title of the article.

Name of the periodical, volume (issue), #-#.https://websitename.domain/xxxx

Write author names in the inverse, that is, the surname comes ahead of the first name. The first name should be in initials and separate from the surname with a comma splice.

Retain the author naming order form the source. Mention the publication year within parentheses and capitalize the first word of the title of the article.

Capitalize every important word in journal-title and italicize the whole thing.

Next up, write the page numbers referred to and finish the reference by stating the website name.

4. Citing a book

The following is the correct format of citing a book in the APA format:

Author, A.A., & Author, B.B. (Copyright Year). Title of the chapter

In A.A. Editor & B.B. Editor (Eds.), Title of the book (Edition., #-#).

Publisher.URL

Author naming is the same as that of journal articles. The copyright year must be placed within parentheses. Next up are the book chapter and the names of the editors. Write “In” and then add the editor’s initials and last names without inversion.

Follow up with the italicized title of the book, the edition, and the pages used for reference. Finally, write the URL, if any.

And that’s a wrap for this write-up. Go through the above well and use this little guide to tally the output of your chosen APA citation generator. Adios!