Guidelines For Using the APA Citation Style

While many different sources may list the APA citation style as one and the same, in fact, the guidelines that apply to different publications are slightly different. Even within the same publication, each citation style will differ slightly. These guidelines are the same for all of the main APA citation styles.

The APA citation style is a three-part type of document. This means that you start with the author's name, followed by the title of the paper (excluding any bylines). Then, you follow that with a brief synopsis of the paper (if there is any), and then you will have the name of the source where you will get your citation. After all of this, you finish with the full text of the paper.

The main reason why the APA citation style is three parts is to make it easier for people to recognize where they should begin to use the source. With one standard style, the source is usually within the paper, but with the three-part style, the source is always inside the paper. As a result, when people read the paper, they know which part of the paper they should use.

While some people prefer a one or two paragraph form of an article, the APA citation style offers a much more concise form of writing an article. There is no need to get bogged down with too much information. Simply begin with the author's name and then continue with the author's title, and then you'll be on your way to getting your citation.

While it may seem awkward to have the author's name that is being used as the source is after the title, this is not the case. The fact is that you should put the author's name first, after the title. However, you are not required to do this, so it is up to you to decide what is best for you.

The source will always appear right after the title, and this is also the place that you are most likely to see a signature line. This signature line will show how the source came about and what sources are considered valid. If the source says "copyright by"from" without the "by," you can simply leave it out, and the source will be accepted as valid.

The final part of the APA citation style is the summary. This is the summary of the paper and will include the title and date of the paper. This section is not necessary, and you are free to write the full paper without including it. However, when doing a short article, the summary will help to make the citation much easier to read.

These are just some of the general guidelines that you should use when writing an article. It is important to remember that the three-part style is standard, but there are still plenty of different formats for articles. The best way to learn about all of these different formats is to talk to an editor, or perhaps to get a book and read a few different styles of the article.

Citation is an expression used to indicate that the information you’ve used in your writing belongs to someone else. Citing sources of information is extremely important as the content does not belong to you originally. Acknowledging someone else's effort for his work is extremely important and absence of citation in such a case is termed as plagiarism. Adding resources to your work makes it credible and provides evidence of intellectual honesty.

There are many styles discovered for citation purpose including APA, ML A, ASA, Bluebook, Harvard referencing, and Vancouver system. Each citation style has a different format which has to be followed strictly when citing sources. There are specified citation styles for different disciplines. Also, many organizations have discovered unique styles which could fit their needs.

The American Psychological Association has abbreviated its citation style as the APA style. It is one of the most commonly used citation style preferred in social sciences. APA citation style is also known to be a specified format used to link text to its source. It requires a reference list to be mentioned at the end of the text or presentation. The in-text citation does not give details about the source which makes requirement for a detailed reference list. The APA citation style mentions the author’s name, journal’s name, year of publication and the page of extracted text.

The reference list should also be arranged according to the given APA format. The entries in the reference list should be alphabetically arranged with the author’s name, titles, and page numbers. Indentation of the beginning line should be flushed to the left margin. The subsequent lines should leave 5 spaces after the left margin. It is important to use single citation at a time to avoid mistakes. Examples on each citation style can further guide you on how to you use them accurately.