Need Help?
Should I use APA Format?
If you are in a class or any of the following subjects are your major, you should probably use APA format:
- Psychology
- Counseling
- Communication (varies depending on professor)
- Education
- Rehabilitation
- Nursing
- Social Work
What is a DOI?
DOI stands for Digital Object Identifier. It is a persistent, unique number that identifies a piece of online or digital information, such as a journal article, a chapter in an online book, a data set, a map, and so on. Students most often encounter DOIs when they're citing journal articles. Keep in mind that not every journal article will have a DOI assigned to it! Look for the DOI on the first page of the article, either at the top or bottom. You need to include them in your citation as they are very helpful when trying to locate the article later.
If you don't see the DOI:
Visit CrossRef.ORG
Search for the article to find the article's DOI.
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APA 7th ed. Citation StyleThis includes the frequently used resource types and basic citation formats of those resource types.
Citation Management System
A citation management system can help you organize, manage, and annotate your references when working on projects or assignments. Below are some examples.
Note: There are free versions of the below-mentioned citation management systems.
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EndNoteEndNote is a commercial reference management software package, used to manage bibliographies and references when writing essays and articles. It is produced by Clarivate Analytics (Web of Science publishers).
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MendeleyMendeley is a reference manager that is used to manage and share research papers and generate bibliographies for scholarly articles.
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ZoteroZotero is a free and open-source reference management software to manage bibliographic data and related research materials (such as PDF files). It is produced by the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University.
Websites for APA (American Psychological Association) Format
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APA Formatting and Style Guide from Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL)Best place online to get this information (from Purdue University's Writing Center).
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WSU Writing Center Mini-Manual for Using APA Style in Research PapersThis mini-manual, created by the WSU Writing Center staff, covers typical material (books, articles) that you would cite in a paper. It is a .pdf file.
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APA Manual 7th ed. Supplemental MaterialsThe materials below are intended as supplementary material to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition. Due to space and printing limitations, they are referenced from but not printed in the actual Manual.
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The Basics of APA StyleFrom the APA itself. This is a basic online tutorial for people who are unfamiliar with APA style.
Be aware that this tutorial was created for the 6th edition.
APA Manual
The most recent edition of this book is available for a 2-hour loan at the Circulation Desk.
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Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by Call Number: BF76.7 .P83 2010ISBN: 9781433832161Publication Date: 2019-10-01Most current version of the APA Manual (6th edition). Updates a lot of the online/electronic resource citations.
Citation Rough Draft
When searching in a database, you can find a generated citation for a resource.
- Click on the resource you want to use for your project or assignment.
- Click Cite in the right sidebar titled "Tools".
- Scroll down to the citation style you need.
- Double-check the information in the citation rough draft for errors.
- Copy and paste the rough draft citation.
- Edit errors before turning in the project or assignment.
In the below image, you can see a screenshot of the above-mentioned cite button. In the purple box is the cite button. In the red box is the citation style.
In the below image, you can see errors in the generated citation. The author's name is in all caps, the article title is improperly capitalized, and the DOI is not listed. Be aware of this when using generated citation tools.
Questions? Ask your librarian!
