APA Tutorial Part 2
Citations and Parenthetical Documentation
Citations and Parenthetical
Documentation
This portion of the tutorial will begin exploring when
and how to use parenthetical documentation in your
written work.
Parenthetical documentation or citation refers to the
borrowing of an idea or written work (including
quotations) from another source
This area is highly important as plagiarism occurs when
the source of the information used in a paper is not
given proper credit
When do I use parenthetical
documentation?
When Quoting another author or person
A quotation can be defined as borrowing another’s
work word for word. This practice is perfectly
acceptable AS LONG AS YOU GIVE THE OTHER
PERSON CREDIT FOR THE QUOTE.
Example quote
As you can see, the quote is placed within quotation marks, the author is
listed, as are the year of publication and the page number(s) where the quote
can be found.
Parts of the citation
As you’ve just seen, there are three main parts to citing
as direct quote:
The author
The year the work was published
The page number(s) where the quote can be located in
the work (paragraph number is used if the source is
electronic and does not use page numbers)
This will typically look like this in your papers: “words
in the quote” (Sanders-Thompson, 1996, p. 223-224).
Notice that the period falls AFTER the parenthesis, not at the end of
the quotation.
When do I use parenthetical
documentation?
When summarizing/paraphrasing another person’s
work
A summary can be defined as borrowing information
or an idea from another person, but putting the
information or idea into your own words. Again,
failure to give credit to the idea or information
constitutes as plagiarism.
Example summary/paraphrase
As you can see, the summary/paraphrase contains no quotation marks; the
author and the year of publication are both provided.
Parts of the citation
As you’ve just seen, there are two main parts to citing
summarized/paraphrased information:
The author
The year the work was published
This will typically look like this in your papers: content
being summarized (Allen, 2001).
Works with multiple authors
Two authors: always cite both authors every time the
reference occurs in the text (i.e. Smith & Jones, 2006)
3, 4 or 5 authors: cite all authors the first time you cite
the reference; each subsequent citation will use et al.
1st: (James, Jones & Jackson, 2003)
Thereafter: (James et al., 2003)
6 or more authors: use the first author and et al. for
every citation (i.e. (Richardson et al., 2001) for a source
by Richardson, Jenks, George, Lin, Jack & Sue, 2001)
This information can be found on p. 208 of the APA style
manual
Works with other authors
Groups as authors: 1st text citation: (National Institute
of Mental Health [NIMH], 1999); Each subsequent
citation: (NIMH, 1999)
No author listed: Use the first few words of the
reference entry: title of an article or chapter (“Study
Finds”, 2007); title of a periodical, book, brochure or
report (College Bound Seniors, 2006).
Author is listed as Anonymous: use (Anonymous,
2003)
What do I do when many
authors have a similar idea?
As you can see, each of the authors is listed with the year of publication; a
semicolon is used to separate them.
Notice the use of the ampersand (&) with multiple authors of a resource.
Other issues in Parenthetical
documentation
More than one author with the same last name: use the
first initial- (J. Jones, 2005); (R. Jones, 2003)
Personal communication: Source: email from J. Howe;
citation: (J. Howe, personal communication, June 17,
2008)
When a journal article has been accepted for
publication, but has not yet been published, it is
considered to be “in press”.
These apply to both direct quotes as well as paraphrases/summaries.
Modifying information
You may modify information from the sources you use
in a paper or presentation, but you must make it clear
that you have made the changes.
Omitting material: use three spaces ellipses points (. . .)
within a sentence to indicate that you have left out a
portion of the information
Inserting extra material: use brackets [like this] to insert
information by someone other than the original author
Adding emphasis: use italics [italics added] to
emphasize or highlight portions of information
This information is available on p. 119-120 of the APA style manual
Copyright
According to Federal Law, copyright of material is
considered to be established once the information is in
a fixed and tangible form, such as written down or
typed into a paper
If you wish to utilize information whose copyright is
held by the APA, you may use up to 500 words without
obtaining their permission. If citing more than 500
words, you must obtain express written consent to do
so
If the copyright is held by someone other than the
APA, you should contact them prior to using the
material
Reminder: Quotes from movies, books, television, and music lyrics are all
under copyright. Obtain permission before using.