Unit 4

Running Head: SHORT TITLE1 Title of the Paper Your Name Kaplan University

In APA, we cite in two ways: In-text citations Reference page citations

Quoting is when we take someone else’s ideas word-for-word. Paraphrasing is when we borrow someone else’s idea, but we put it in our own words. It’s okay to use some of the original words, but mostly it has to be our own.

All citations require at least two pieces of information. For the most part, these two pieces are the author’s last name and the year the document was published. This information is put in parentheses at the end of the sentence wherein the information is found. Example: Many people feel guilty eating so much around the holidays (Chagala, 2009). **Notice that this was not a direct quote, so there were no quotation marks around any part of the sentence. The sentence was entirely paraphrased.

If a sentence directly references the author, do not repeat the author’s name in parenthesis. Make sure, however, that you put the year of publication right after the author’s name instead of at the end of the sentence. Example: According to Chagala (2009), many people feel guilty eating so much around the holidays.

A direct quote in a sentence requires the author’s name and the year of publication, but it also requires one more thing: the page number. Think of it this way—because you are being more specific by giving a direct quote (rather than a paraphrase), you need to be more specific in your citation. Example: According to Chagala (2009), “the guilt felt for overeating around the holidays is immense” (p. 8). OR: Oftentimes “the guilt felt for overeating around the holidays is immense” (Chagala, 2009, p. 8).

If there is no author listed, use the first couple words of the title. Example: Many people feel guilty eating so much around the holidays (“Holiday Guilt,” 2009)

If there is no date listed, use n.d. Example: Many people feel guilty eating so much around the holidays (Chagala, n.d.)

If the source is electronic and there are not page numbers to use for a direct quote, use the paragraph number and write “para.” in front of it. Example: According to Chagala (2009), “the guilt felt for overeating around the holidays is immense” (para. 8). OR: Oftentimes “the guilt felt for overeating around the holidays is immense” (Chagala, 2009, para. 8).

Quotes of more than 40 words are blocked. They are indented, and they do not have quotation marks. Example: Here is the line before the block quote. As soon as my quote starts, I indent the whole thing like this: Here is my quote. Pretend that it is more than forty words long. That is why I indented it and did not use quotation marks. When I am done, I go back to my paragraph as you can see on the next line (Chagala, 2010, para. 7). And here I finish off the rest of my paragraph.

Formatting Alphabetize entries Do not number entries Double space the entire document Indent the second and subsequent lines 5 spaces

Book Chagala, J.E. (2009). How to write the best papers possible: a quick and easy guide. San Diego, CA: Chagala Publishing Company. Website Smith, J. (2009). I love to write analytical papers and short stories. Retrieved from

Personal communication like s are cited only in-text. They are not cited in a reference page. Example: (J. Doe, personal communication, October 1, 2010)