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GEOG 2560: Introduction to Urban, Regional & Environmental Planning

Basics of APA citation

Two kinds of citation

  • In-text citations are attached to individual sentences that you write.
  • Reference list entries are compiled in a list at the end of your paper.
  • You should use BOTH kinds of citations for ALL your sources.

Basic pattern

In-text citations

Author + Date

Reference list entries

Author + Date + Title + Source

Source: Where can someone else find this title?

Avoiding plagiarism

To avoid plagiarism, you should be citing all the information in your paper that comes from outside sources. Try this:

  1. For each sentence in your paper ask yourself: "How do I know this? Was this something I learned from a source, or is it my own idea?"
  2. Any time the information came from another source, there should be an associated in-text citation to a credible source

Sources for learning APA citation

Citations for different source types

Caution!

Always check over computer-generated citations. They often have mistakes!

Journal articles

Author’s Last name, Author’s First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other authors, if any. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal italicized, Volume number italicized(Issue number), Page numbers. DOI or URL

Tip: Use zbib.org to help generate article citations. Just enter the DOI and click Cite!

Books

Author’s Last name, Author’s First and Middle initials. (Year of publication). Title italicized. Publisher.

Tip: When looking at an item in Library Search, click the "citation" button to generate a citation.

screen capture of a library search page

Newspaper articles

Author’s Last name, Author’s First and Middle initials, & Last names and initials of other authors, if any. (Year, Month and Day of publication). Title of article. Title of Newspaper italicized. URL for article

Tip: In the NewsBank database you can click the button with a quotation mark and a "c" to generate a citation. After clicking, select APA under "copy citation information".

Screen capture of NewsBank database showing citation button

Reports from government agencies

Organization Name. (Year). Title of report italicized (Report Number). DOI or URL

Tip: On data.census.gov, there is a citation button on the bar above your data table. If you don't see it, click the three dots to see more tools.

screen capture from census data website

Webpages

Author (person or organization). (Date published or updated). Title of webpage italicized. Site Name. URL

  • No date? Use (n.d.) in place of the date.
  • Does this page change frequently? Include a retrieval date. Example:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2023, October 20). COVID Data Tracker. Retrieved October 23, 2023, from https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#datatracker-home

Librarian

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Micaela Carignano
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Librarian:
1050 Waldo Library
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Subjects: Geography and Maps