RTM 330: Women, Leisure, and Ethnicity in the United States

This guide is a quick introduction to the American Psychological Association (APA) 7th Edition Style for citations, basic format, and sample annotated bibliography. Please be sure to consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 7th edition and/or the APA Style website for additional details.

Most Notable changes from APA 6th edition to 7th edition

1. Publisher location is NOT included for book citations.
2. In-text citations from works with three or more authors is shortened from the first time mentioned to (Hernandez et al., 2020)
3. Include up to 20 authors in the reference.
4. DOIs need to be formatted as clickable URLs such as https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1400256   
5. Don’t include “Retrieved from” in front of a URL unless a retrieval date is needed.
6. For website citation include the website name, unless it is the same as the author.
7. Clear guidelines for citing media contributors that are not authors or editors.

8. Citation examples are provided for different types of online sources including: podcasts, youtube videos, and social media posts.
9. Use the singular “they” as a gender neutral pronoun instead of he or she.
10. Clear format guidelines are provided for student and professional research papers.
11. More flexibility in font choices/size and include:
    1. Calibri 11
    2. Arial 11
    3. Lucida Sans Unicode 10
    4. Times New Roman 12
    5. Georgia 11
12. The running head on the title page no longer includes the words Running head. It now only includes the title of the paper and the page number.
13. Student papers do not need to include a running head. (Unless specified from your instructor)
14. At the end of a sentence, use one space instead of two.

• All visual illustrations/images should be labeled Figure, and then numbered consecutively in italics.  (ex. Figure 1).
• When referring the figure (in-text), make sure to capitalize Figure.  Do not refer to the image as “the figure below” or “the figure above.”
• Image should be centered in the paper.
• Image captions include title of image and a brief explanation.  Also provide source and copyright information.
• Do not put a period after the URL.

You will need to provide as much information as possible.

• Name of creator/creator/username of the image.
• Role of the creator in parenthesis such as artist, sculptor, etc.
• Year of creation in parenthesis. If there is no date available put (n.d.)
• Title of image (in italics). If there is no title, create a description of the work.
• Type of work (ex. illustration, map, cartoon, photograph, etc)
• Retrieved from URL or database name

Last-name, first-name initial. (Role of the creator). (Year of creation). Title of image or description of work. [Type of work]. Retrieved from URL/database

Example:

The aurora borealis (see Figure 1) is a natural multicolor light display produced by solar wind particles seem in high latitude regions

Image Caption

Figure 1. Aurora Over Calgary and Spokane. This figure illustrates the aurora borealis aboard the International Space Station.  Image credit: NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center via Flickr.

Works Cited

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. (2012) Aurora Over Calgary and Spokane. [Digital Image].  Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/nasamarshall/14743833915/

• Citation engages you in a scholarly conversation. By citing work, you're able to support it, show where's it's wrong, or expand it.  Properly formatted citations allow your readers to follow up on the work you've used so they can participate, too.
• Citation bolsters your authority. Citation makes your arguments more credible and persuasive.
• Citation gives credit to the original authors for their work. Scholars aren't paid for their contributions to peer-reviewed journals.  The credit that accrues to them when they're cited is the only way they can be rewarded for their efforts.

1. Cite as you go. Keep a rough draft of your References list, using the pre-formatted citations from OneSearch or the databases, as you find sources.  As you read and take notes, make sure to include a parenthetical reference to the source.
2. Stay focused on your own, original thesis.  Your research paper should make an original argument that you personally develop, although it is grounded in the literature and supported by evidence.  While the early stages of your research process might involve mostly notes on sources, by your final draft the focus should be on your own argument in your own words.
3. To that end, use direct quotations sparingly.  No more than 10% of your final draft should be direct quotations.
4. If a direct quotation is over 40 words long, start it on a new line, indented an extra half inch, with no quotation marks. See an example of this type of block quotation here.
5. When in doubt, cite.