Citation Help & Academic Honesty

You must attribute others' ideas, research, images, graphs, and quotes in your papers and presentations.  When you are unsure what to cite, please review the links under Tutorials and Quizzes, or talk to your instructor for guidance. 

The Binghamton Writing Initiatives' Writing Center can help with citation questions and source integration.

Font:  Unless your instructor specifies otherwise,  Times New Roman, 12-point font is assumed, which is the default font permitted in earlier styles of APA.    APA 7th edition does allow for other fonts, particularly for web-based reading, and are specifed in the APA Manual. 

Margins:   1 inch margins. 

Running Head:  For Student papers this is a left justified Page Header of the just the page number.   

For Professional/graduate papers, this is a left justified Page Header consisting of the paper title (all in caps) and the page number, no more then 50 characters total. 

If in doubt, use the Professional papers option, since this was standard in the earlier verions of the APA Manual. 

Title Page: The title page should contain the page number; the title (bolded). author(s) names, Department/Program for submission, Course number and name, Instructor, and date.  

The font should match the rest of the paper; and should be double spaced as shown here on the Student Title Page example.

Professional papers and graduate level papers may require the Professional page set up, which is shown further down the page. 

APA Style uses both author and date for in-text citations.    Page numbers or paragraph numbers (when page numbers are not available, such as from online sources not in PDF form) only need to be included when directly quoting or when paraphrasing a specific idea.   

General points regarding in-text citations:

• In the case of multiple authors for one work, include up to the first three authors, followed by "et al." If three authors are not enough to distinguish in the text between works, add as many additional names as necessary to make the second work unique. 
   
• Long quotes - 40 characters in length or more - are formatted as block quote. 
   
• Sources that are not easily retreivable. such as: MyCourse readings, personal communications, interviews, emails, quotes from research participants have specific rules in-text citation and Reference List use  Please refer to the APA Manual.
   
• Multiple works can be cited in sentence, as long as it not confusing to the reader. 
   
• If using a direct quote, or paraphrasing specific information, a page number is required.  If a page number is not given, you an use paragraph numbers, and if necessary, paragraph numbers with Chapter/Section headings to guide the reader to the correct place in the work.  (Discussion, para. 1)
   
• Edited books: If citing only one chapter from an edited book, then the author for the in-text citation should be the chapter author.  Edited volumes are only cited under the editors names if you are using the multiple chapters or citing the book in full.  Page numbers are still only used for the in-text citaiton if using a direct quote or paraphrase.

Examples of in-text citations:

1. Shiva (2002) argues that denying poor people access to water is a form of terrorism.   
    
2. Denying poor people access to water is tantamount of terrorism (Shiva, 2002).  
    
3. By 2025, 817 million people are projected to live in countries that have inadquete water supplies (Shiva, 2002, p. 2)   - page number included because writer is paraphrasing a specific point of information taken from the text
    
4. As Shiva (2002, p. 15) notes, "The solution to an ecological crisis is ecological, and the solution for injustice is democracy. Ending the water crisis requires rejuvenating ecological democracy."  - page number provided because it is a direct quote

Reference List

• The Reference list should be in its own section - use page breaks to start and end the References.  The section is at the end and is labeled References (heading centered)
   
• Use the same font as the rest of the paper
   
• References are arranged alphabetically by the leading authors' last name.  If there is more then one work by the same author, then place in chronological order, starting with the earliest work. 
   
• Authors are listed in the order they appear in the publication.  The format for the names are last name, first inital., middle initial.  (If the middle initial is given)  -- for example, Shiva, V.E. 
   
• For works with multiple authors, include up to and including 20 authors.   
   
• For works with 21+ authors, list 19 authors, then use ellipses, and then add the final authors name. 
   
• Pay attention to the capitlization, puncation and formatting used in your list.
   
• Use double spacing and a hanging indent of .5 (for any citation is two lines or more, the first line should be at the margin, and the following lines should be indented by .5)     For information on how to create hanging indents, see the links the bottom of this section. 

Reference List Entries

Each entry has four elements:

1. Author - individual or organization.  If an author can not be identified, the title is used to place the entry on the list in alphabetical order. 
    
2. Date - the year of publication.  For items that are published or updated regularly, such as newspapers, the day and month may be included. 
    
3. Title - this is written in sentance case, and in cases titles are not clear, there is enough information provided for the reader to clearly identify the item. 
    
4. Source - this may include the journal tite, web url or other information, or book title if the work is book chapter. 

• Journal titles are written with major words capitalized, unless the source indicates non-standard capitlization.   If that is the case, use the title as given (COSMOS)
   
• The title of the article is written in sentence case. 
   
• The title of the journal and volume number are the only pieces given in italics. 
   
• If a DOI or URL is given, do not end the citation with a period. 
   
• If there is an element not provided - such as issue number, then you can skip it. However, be aware that the information may only be present on the PDF of the article, and not on the entry in the database.
   
• If you are using articles that are primary sources (ie digitized newspapers, newsletters, etc) or from specialized databases such as Cochrane, please see the last entry for more information.

Journal articles - print  

Author Lastname, Firstname Initials (year). Article title. Journal Title, volume(number), pages. 

example:

Mix, V.L. (2012). Fear and loathing in library land: Staff development utlizing humor. Dttp: Documents to the People, 40(2), 20-23.

Journal articles - electronic 

Electronic journal articles should be cited with a doi or other unique electronic identifer (earticle number or a URL if available in a OpenAccess journal).

Author Lastname, Firstname Initials (year). Article title. Journal Title, volume(number), pages, access

examples: 

Elam, M. & Sundqvist, G. (2011). Meddling in Swedish success in nuclear waste management. Environment Politics, 20(2), 243-263, https://doi.org./10.1080/09644106.2011551030

Aristeidou, M. Heroudotou, C., Ballard., H.L., Young, A.N., Miller, A.E., Higgins, L.& Johnson, R.F. (2021). Exploring the participation of young    citizen scientists in scientific research: The case of iNaturalist. PLOS ONE, 16(1), Article e0245682. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0245682
 

Journal articles  - electronic - no DOI or open URL available

APA 7th edition  (section 9.30) recommends that if the journal article is widely and easily available, even if it is available through a library database requiring a log in, then treat it as a print article.   For example, if an article is in a peer-reviewed or popular journal in an Ebsco-hosted or Proquest-hosted database (an aggregator) then it is necessary to provide a permalink or other URL when a DOI is not available. 

If an source is beleived to be unique to that database and can not be found elsehwere, then the access information should be provided (see "Electronic articles only availabe from one source" below). 

This is a change from previous versions of APA.

Newspaper and magazine articles 

Since these are published weekly or daily, more date information is given.    The rules about when to provide a URL or DOI remain the same. 

Electronic - retrevied through the Libraries databases:
Grose. J. (2020, December 12). Moms on the COVID frontlines. New York Times (Onlne). 

The title is given in the database as New York Times (Online) and thus, is reflected as such in the citation. 

Electronic - read online at the NYT website
Grose. J. (2020, December 12). Moms on the COVID frontlines. New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/23/parenting/medical-worker- moms.html

Print
Grose. J. (2020, December 12). Moms on the COVID frontlines. New York Times,  A5-A7.

Electronic articles only available from one source

If a work is of "limited circulation,"  - that you need to be on a specific site (free or paid) to get access to the article, then APA requires that you provide the name of the source as part of the citation.   This includes online pre-print archives, instutituional repositories, and archives. 
 

Cochrane reviews are not available anywhere other then on the Cochrane site
Lorentzen, A.K., Davis, C. & Penninga, L. (2020). Interventions for frostbite injuries. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews,  https://10.1002/14651858.CD012980.pub2     

Article available on a pre-print server.   Later versions of the article might be available elsewere.  But this version is unique to the archive. 
Batty, G.D, Deary, I. Gale. C. Pre-pandemic cognitive function and COVID-19 mortality: prospective cohort study. bioRxiv: http://medrxiv.org/cgi/content/short/2021.02.07.21251082

• Edition is provided for everything about the first (2nd ed., 3rd ed,) 
   
• The book title is written in sentence case and is in italics.
   
• Multiple authors are handled similarly as with articles. If the book is an edited collection, then (eds.) is used after the author(s) to designate their role. 
   
• If multiple publishers are listed, two can be listed (with a semicolon between them).  Publisher city and state are no longer required.

Books, print

Author, (year). Title (edition). Publisher.

Pratchett, T. (2003).  Monstrous regiment: A novel of Discworld. Harpur Collins Publishers. 

Books, electronic with a DOI or Open URL 

Rommer, S. Hedman, P. Olsson, M., Frid,L., Sultana, S. & Mulligan, C. (eds). (2019). 5G core networks: Powering digitilization. Academic Press; Elsevier.  https://doi.org/10.1016/C2018-0-01335-3

Coates, T. (2015). Between the world and me. Random House Publishing Group; One World.  https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/between-the-world-and-me

E-books accessed through the library without a DOI

APA 7th edition  (section 9.30) recommends that if the only online access address is one that points to a library-access database, then cite the book as a print book.

This guidance is a change from previous versions of APA, so if in doubt, check with your professor if you should follow this, or use the 6th edition guidance.

Individual chapters from an edited book

Chapter author, (date). Title of chapter. In Book editors (Eds.), Title of book, (pp. pages of chapter). Publisher. 

Burt. K. (2020). Self-discovery, free will and change: The ethics of growing up in the fantasy world of Terry Pratchett. In Noone, K & Leverret, E.L.  (Eds.)., Terry Pratchett's ethical worlds: Essays on identity and narrative in the Discworld and beyond (pp. 45-60). MacFarland and Company, Inc. 

For an online edited book, follow the rules given above.  

Dissertations

Print, unpublished

de Rouen, A.T. (2014). Change and continuity: An analysis of the socio-spatial fabric of the Tesvikiye-Nisantiasi, 1945-1960. [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. Binghamton University. 

Electronic, from a database

Abubakari: M. (2019). A mixed methods study of food outlet accessibility in Broome County, New York: Analyses from an indisciplinary feminist geography and social epemiology framework. (Publication No. 27547967).  [Doctoral dissertation, Binghamton University]. Proquest Dissertations and Theses Global.

Video and films

Films

Director (date). Title. Producer/Production.  URL, if applcable. 

Bauman, S. (Director). (1988). The artist was a woman.  Filmakers Library.

Information on the format of the film/video is not necessary unless the format of it essential to information obtained, such as using commentary or a specific version.   

Introduction to Citation Styles: APA 7th ed