Principles of Management: APA Citation

Need more assistance? Check out our APA LibGuide!

Our APA LibGuide has all the information you need (including examples) to help you properly cite your sources using APA citation style.

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The American Psychological Association (APA) style is a collection of formatting, citation  and stylistic rules that the APA sets for writers of research papers for academic coursework assignment and for publication. 

For more detailed information, consult the APA 6th Edition Manual. Also feel free to consult a librarian for more help.

Be sure to check this APA TUTORIAL from the Online Writing Lab from Purdue University for help in formatting your essay - it shows you how to structure and format your essay, recommends ways to reduce bias, identifies how to avoid plagiarism, shows how to cite references in-text, and provides selected reference examples.

REMEMBER:  You are expected to cite your sources IN-TEXT as well as in your Reference List.

1. Begin your list of references on a new page at the end of the paper. Put the word References centered about one inch from the top of the page.
2. Double-space throughout.
3. Type the first line of an entry flush left, and indent any additional lines one-half inch (5 spaces).
4. For an annotated bibliography, add a brief abstract in block format after the citation. Start the abstract on a new line and indent it an additional 2 spaces.
5. Alphabetize the reference list by the last names of the authors (or editors).
6. Invert all authors’ names and use initials instead of first names. With two or more authors, use an ampersand (&) before the last author’s name. Separate the names with commas. Include a space between authors’ initials if more than one name (i.e. Brown, J. A.)
7. For two or more works by the same author, arrange the entries by year, the earliest first.
8. Arrange two or more works by the same author in the same year alphabetically by title.
   1. Add the letters “a,” “b,” etc. after the year, i.e. (2002a).
   2. Do this also for articles in journals.
   3. For articles in magazines and newspapers, use the full date in the reference list: (2001a, July 7).
9. If a work has no author or editor, move the title to the author position and alphabetize by the first word of the title other than A, An, or The.
10. Italicize the titles and subtitles of books, but do not italicize article or chapter titles.
11. Capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle (and all proper nouns). Capitalize names of periodicals as you would capitalize them normally.
12. Many publishers now assign a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) to journal articles, which provide a persistent link to its location on the internet. Provide the DOI if it is available. Reference to the database is no longer necessary with a DOI.
13. Abbreviations for “page” and “pages” (“p.” and “pp.”) are used before page numbers of newspaper articles and articles in edited books but not before page numbers of articles appearing in magazines and scholarly journals.

Ethical use of information reflects an understanding that borrowed information is to attributed to its creator(s) and/or that property rights may be ascribed to intellectual and creative work, including music, the written word and video. 

Clear as mud, right? Actually, there are two ways that very clearly deal with this concept. They are plagiarism and copyright. Both deal with giving credit where credit is due and using other people's work correctly. Even though information, words, and ideas are not concrete, they still can be stolen.

According to Morningside College Student Handbook, "In an academic community, students are encouraged to work together to help each other learn. Because of the many different learning styles, this kind of environment will foster the academic development of all students involved. Yet all work a student submits or presents as part of course assignments or requirements must be his or her own original work unless expressly permitted by the instructor. This includes individual and group work in written, oral, and electronic forms as well as any artistic medium." You can read more about plagiarism in the Student Handbook.

The most common form of plagiarism when it comes to resources and research is misrepresentation of the work of others as one's own and using someone else's ideas or words without giving credit.

You can avoid plagiarism. Carefully cite your sources when you use them in your assignments. This includes: when you quote directly from a source, when you paraphrase or summarize a source's information, and even when you apply an idea from a source to your argument. You must cite the source in the text of your paper and also in a PowerPoint presentation and have a works cited page, which lists all the sources you used.