Citing Sources APA: Thirteen Golden Rules for Flawless Writing

Updated: 22nd May, 2024 |

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Hello!

Was it you asking “What is APA style format?”

You’ve come to the right place! Here, you can:

learn the answer to questions such as “what is APA format” and “what is APA citation”;
see plenty of great examples;
learn professional tips;
acquire and perfect new skills!
Are you ready? Let the good times roll!

Thirteen Significant Elements to Remember

Now it’s time to get your Lucky Thirteen – check these tips of correct APA format style:

Reference every idea you take from a certain source.
When quoting, offer the page range, the author’s first name and the year of publishing.
For the same author’s works of the same year, use title indications.
For sources with no author, use the site or the source title.
Never use the web address of a site as a parenthetical citation!
Use block quotes for quotations over 40 words long.
Don’t use too many block quotes.
Always try paraphrasing instead of quoting.
Use various verbs of speech for paraphrasing
(e.g., “the author says, claims, states, asserts, explains, reports, announces, demonstrates, depicts, describes, stresses, emphasizes, observes, assures, doubts, argues, refutes, denies, proves right/wrong, presupposes, convinces, persuades, etc. that…”).
Use various conjunctions and conjunctive words for paraphrasing the author’s ideas
(e.g., according to the author, as the author suggests, taking into account the author’s opinion, etc.)
Support every claim you make with a piece of evidence from the source.
Check that every quotation has a corresponding bibliography entry.
Take a deep breath and drink a cup of coffee. You’ve made it!

Are you impressed? That’s not the end of the story yet! You’re in for plenty of more tips on the APA style format!

Check a Fascinating Citation-Making Machine!

And now welcome the unforgettable, the one and only APA citation maker! With the help of this device, you can handle any source for your APA bibliography. Just pick the elements you need for a citation for APA papers, follow the tips you’ll get a perfect list of sources in APA formatting style!

APA sources citing

The Elements	Citing APA: Examples & Explanations
Author(s)/Editors	Less than 5 Firstname, L.L. (lastname), Firstname, L.L. (lastname), […] & Firstname, L.L. (lastname) (Eds.) 5 and more Firstname, L. (lastname), et al. NB! et al. must be in italics and with a dot at the end.
Date	(Year, Month, Day).
Key Title	Chapter title/Article title, NB! Use lowercase letters
Issue, Volume, Page Range	117 (24), 16-58, DO NOT use p. or pp. to indicate the page range!
General Title	Book title/Journal Title NB! Use uppercase letters for journal name. NB! Use italics!
Edition, Volume(s)	nth ed., Vol(s). 1, 2-18.
The data medium	[CD], [DVD], etc.: Shakespeare, W. (2010). Hamlet’s Soliloquy. Hamlet [CD]. London, England: Big Pig Music Limited.
The Location/Site, the Publisher/Organization)	Written documents New York, NY: Routledge. Don’t forget to use the state ISO code! Online sources Retrieved March 17 2011 from Princeton, NJ: Princeton University: http://www.princeton.edu/main/ Remember to insert “Retrieved (Month Day Year) from” before the location name!

Differentiating between APA and MLA Format

Be careful – don’t mix the APA format with its sibling, the MLA format:

Citation MLA

Full firstname and lastname;
Uppercase and lowercase titles;
The year is stated after the publisher;
Inverted commas for article titles;
Works Cited list.

Citation APA

Initials for the lastname;
Lowercase titles;
The year is stated after the name of the author;
Plain text for article titles;
Reference List.

Well, now you surely know the answer to the question, “what is APA formatting?” – so why don’t you create your own reference list using APA style formatting right now?