Citations 101

"APA" stands for American Psychological Association, and this style of citations is usually used in the sciences and social sciences (think sociology, economics, and business).

We recommend that you create all your citations in NoodleTools because that will ensure your citations are in proper APA format.

In lieu of NoodleTools, we suggest you visit the Purdue Online Writing Lab's APA overview, which includes specific examples of in-text citations, references, sample papers, and more.

APA General Guidelines

• Paper Setup: one inch margins, double spaced, size 12 Times New Roman font
• Paper Sections: Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, References

APA In-Text Citations - Basic Guidelines

• General author/date formats when summarizing or paraphrasing: Sentence (Lastname, Pub Year, p. #).
  • Ex.: Paraphrasing is an important skill (Arnstein, 2016, p. 56).
  • Ex.: According to Arnstein, paraphrasing is an important skill (2016, p. 56).
• Direct quotes also need author, publication year, and page number:
  • Ex.: "Learning to paraphrase separates mediocre authors from great ones" (Arnstein, 2016, p. 56).
  • Ex.: According to Arnstein (2016), "learning to paraphrase separates mediocre authors from great ones" (p. 56).
• Block quote only when the quote is longer than 40 words. The parenthetical citation for block quotes comes after the closing punctuation: word. (p. 56)
• Italicize the titles of books, movies, television series, documentaries, or albums.
  • Ex.: Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2011) is a story about modern medicine and ethics.
• The titles of journal articles, television episodes, and song titles go in quotation marks.
  • Ex.: Rebecca Skloot wrote about the complex legal considerations and dilemmas of those who employ service animals in her article "Creature Comforts" for New York Times Magazine (2008).

APA References - Basic Guidelines

• Double spaced, alphabetical by author's last name
• Books: Author Last Name, Author First Name Initial(s). (Year). Title. Location: Publisher.
• Journal Articles: Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages.
• Websites: Author, A. A. & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of page [Format description when necessary]. Retrieved from URL.

APA Citation Format for Class Handouts

• In-Text Citations: Sentence (Teacher Last Name, Class Term and Year).
  • Ex.: Regular handwashing is one of the best ways to remove germs, avoid getting sick, and prevent the spread of germs to others (Hirsch, Fall 2015).
• Reference Format: Teacher Last Name, Teacher First Initial. (Class Term and Year). Title of Handout. [Class Handout, Name of Class]
  • Ex. Hirsch, J. (Fall 2021). Everything You've Ever Wanted to Know About Handwashing but Were Afraid to Ask. [Class Handout, Introduction to Public Health].
• If you're making a NoodleTools citation for class handouts:
  • Select "File, app, or eBook"
  • In the "Type of file/software/app" box, put "Class Handout, Name of the class"
  • List the teacher as "Author" and the title of the handout as the "Title of the document"
  • In the Date written/created box, put in the class term and year.

APA Citation Format for Course Packs

• In-Text Citations: Sentence (Original Author Last Name, Original Year/Course Term and Year, p. #)
  • Ex.: Regular handwashing is one of the best ways to remove germs, avoid getting sick, and prevent the spread of germs to others (The CDC, 2019/Fall 2021, p. 2).
• Reference Format: Original Author Last Name, First Initial. (Class Term and Year). Name of Work. In Teacher Last Name, Teacher First Initial. (Author), Title of Coursepack (p. #). The Chapin School (Original work published in Year).
  • Ex. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (Fall 2021). When and How to Wash Your Hands. In Hirsch, J. (Author), Introduction to Public Health Course Pack (p. 2). (Original work published in 2019).
• If you're making a NoodleTools citation for a course pack:
  • Select "Anthology/Collection"
  • List the original author, title, and publication year in the "Story, Essay, Poem, Longer Work" section
  • Put in the page number(s) of the excerpt for the course pack (not any original page numbers)
  • List the teacher as "Author" and the title of the course pack as the "Title of anthology"
  • Publisher is The Chapin School, Year is the Class term and year.