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FES 522: Research Methods in Social Science (Tynon)

Why Use a Citation Style?

The mark of a good bibliography is that someone on the other side of the world will be able to find the articles you read from the information you provide in your bibliography. And it makes you look like a smart researcher.  The burden is on you to be clear. 

APA Citation Style

The American Psychological Association citation style is one of the more common citation formats for the those writing in the social sciences.  Online help for using this format is provided at the links below.  

  • Using APA format
    A guide provided by Purdue University's Online Writing Guide.
  • Citation Machine
    This handy tool (from The Landmarks Project) lets you take the information you have gathered about your reference and format it for an APA publication.
  • The Basics of APA Style
    This is a free online tutorial from APA.

Zotero

Zotero icon

Zotero is a free tool that collects, manages, and cites research sources. It's easy to use and lives in your web browser where you do your work. Zotero works with the Chrome, Safari, and Firefox browsers. Zotero allows you to attach PDFs, notes and images to your citations, organize them into collections for different projects, and create bibliographies using Word (for Mac or Windows), Google Docs, or OpenOffice.

References can be added to a Zotero library in many different ways:  directly from databases, journal websites, Google Scholar or websites, via PDF, and by entering them manually.

Learn more about using Zotero at OSULP's Zotero LibGuide.

American Psychological Association (APA) Style Examples

Albins, M. A., & Hixon, M. A. (2013). Worst case scenario: potential long-term effects of invasive predatory lionfish (Pterois volitans) on Atlantic and Caribbean coral-reef communities. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 96(10-11), 1151–1157.
Frazer, T. K., Jacoby, C. A., Edwards, M. A., Barry, S. C., & Manfrino, C. M. (2012). Coping with the lionfish invasion: can targeted removals yield beneficial effects? Reviews in Fisheries Science, 20(4), 185–191.
Sullivan, H. A., McCreedy, C., & Morris, J. A. (Eds.). (2013). The invasive lionfish: assessments and impact management. Hauppage, New York: Nova Science Publishers, Inc.