APA Citation: Introduction

What is APA?

APA style is a writing style and formatting guide for academic documents. It was created by the American Psychological Association in response to a growing need for formalization in social sciences  and is now also used widely within the fields of health, communications, business and more. In APA, you must "cite" sources that you have paraphrased, quoted, or otherwise used to write your research paper. 

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association

Call Number: BF 76.7 P83 2020
Published: 2020
Find it at the VCC Library

 

Why use APA?

APA style adds credibility and consistency to your writing and helps prevent plagiarism.

There are two major reasons to cite your sources:

1. To give credit for words or ideas belonging to another author. Failure to do this is plagiarism and can result in a failing grade and other negative consequences.
2. So your instructor can verify your work. Your instructor should be able to take your citation and easily find the source you used. It is important that your citations be accurate.

APA Style Tips

Cite your sources in two places

• In the body of your paper where you add a brief in-text citation.
• In the Reference list at the end of your paper where you give more complete information for the source.

Refer to an online guide 

• When using a guide, ask yourself, 'What am I referencing?' identifying the type of source you want to reference (e.g. book, article, video, etc.) will help you find relevant examples.

Use our paper formatting resources: 

• Check out videos on how to use the hanging indent tool, insert running heads, and more in MS Word.

As a VCC student, you have access to databases that have built-in citation tools. Watch the video below to learn how to use these tools. Don't forget to double-check your citations with an APA guide!