Referencing

Referencing acknowledges the sources that you

use to write your essay or assignment paper.
In-text citations are used throughout your
writing to acknowledge the sources of your
information.
The full references for the citations are then
listed at the end of your assignment paper in the
References list.
 Why is there a need to
include citations and
references in our technical
paper?
 •Academic honesty
•Research Malpractice
•Plagiarism
About the APA Style
• The American Psychological Association (APA)
style is a widely used author-date system of
referencing or bibliographic citation.
• This guide covers basic explanations and
examples for the most common types of
citations used by students.
• Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (7th ed)
IN-TEXT CITATION: REFERENCING
SOURCES WITHIN THE TEXT
• Throughout the text of your paper, you need to
acknowledge the works used in your writing.
• Whenever you present a statement of evidence such
as a quote, or when you use someone else's ideas,
opinions, or theories in your own words (paraphrasing),
you must acknowledge the work(s) by providing the
author’s name and date of publication in the text.
• An explanation of how to cite a work within your paper
is given below and with each reference example in this
guide.
If you use the name of the author(s) in your writing,
place the year of publication of the work in
parentheses after the author’s name. This is known
as a narrative in-text citation.
If you refer to a work in the text of your paper and you are not using the
author’s name in your narrative, place the author's last name and the year
of publication of the work in parentheses within or at the end of the
sentence. This is known as a parenthetical in-text citation.
 The choice between
parenthetical and
narrative in-text citation
depends on the writer and
the flow of the narrative.
• If a paraphrase or summary continues over
several consecutive sentences cite the work
on the first mention. It is not necessary to
repeat the citation as long as it is clear to
your reader that you are referring to the
same work.
When a parenthetical in-text citation (with author
and year) is used earlier in the paragraph,
subsequent narrative mentions of the work in the
same paragraph do not need to include the year.
This rule only applies when the citation could not
be confused with another in the paragraph and
should only be used in instances when the name
is given in the narrative. e.g.
• Pay particular attention to the citation
format required for references with
multiple authors or editors.
• The use of et al. is used for three or more
authors or editors.
• See examples for two authors, three to
twenty authors and twenty-one and
more authors.
Note: Page numbers are not required when paraphrasing or
summarizing. However, if you would like to direct your reader
to a specific section or paragraph you may include the page
number or page range.

• If you directly quote fewer than 40

words, enclose the quotation using
double quotation marks within the text.
The year of publication of the work
along with the page number(s)* of the
quote should be provided in
parentheses.
• When there are no page numbers, but the sources
contain headings or numbered paragraphs, use a
section name or paragraph number e.g. Jones
(2008, Introduction section) or Roberts (2008, para.
5).
• If the paragraphs are not numbered, manually count
the paragraphs and include the paragraph number
after the heading, e.g. Anderson (2005, Discussion
section, para. 2). For video or audiobooks use a
timestamp e.g. Palmer (2013, 2:30:40).
If the quotation is greater than 40 words it
should be displayed in a double-spaced indented
block (1.27 cm) without quotation marks.
If you use more than one source to
write a statement in your paper, the
citation can be presented using semi-
colons between works as follows:
 Works that you cite in your
writing are listed in detail at
the end of your document in
a reference list.
Reference List
• A reference list includes details of the works
cited in your paper.
• It starts on a separate page at the end of your
assignment paper and is titled References in
bold.
• Each item cited in the reference list must have
been cited in your paper.
• All sources appearing in the reference list must
be ordered alphabetically by surname.
Bibliography
• In contrast to the reference list, a
bibliography includes details of
sources not cited in your paper
that were used to support your
research.
• While the APA style does not use
bibliographies you may sometimes be
required to include one in addition to a
References list. These items should also be
• The reference list should be double-spaced
(both within and in between entries) with
hanging indents used for the second and
subsequent lines of each entry.
• A hanging indent is where the first line starts at
the left margin and subsequent lines are
indented (approx. 1.27 cm or five spaces). You
can use your word processor to automatically
format the double-spacing and hanging indents.
• Italics is the preferred format for titles
of books, journals, and videos.
• Article and chapter titles are not
italicized or placed within quotation
marks.
• Volume numbers are italicized but
issue numbers are not.
Capitalization in APA style is very specific. For
reference, the following general rules apply:

1. Book titles - Capitalize the first letter

of the first word of the title and the
first letter of the first word after a
colon.
• Ageing and aged care in Australia
• Brave new brain: Conquering mental
illness in the era of the genome.
Capitalization in APA style is very specific. For
reference, the following general rules apply:

2. Article, chapter, or section titles -

Capitalize the first letter of the first word
of the title and the first letter of the first
word after a colon.
• e.g. Personal resilience as a strategy for
surviving and thriving in the face of
workplace adversity: A literature review.
 Proper nouns, acronyms, and
abbreviations that are normally
capitalized should be capitalized
in the reference list and citations.
Online and Print References
1. When referencing online and print resources it is necessary
to provide details about the author, date, title and location.
2. In APA 7 the location is described as the source element,
where readers can retrieve the work, in a reference.
For example, the source element for a journal article includes
the journal title, volume and issue number, and for a book it is
the publisher.
3. A digital object identifier (DOI) must be included in the
source element when one is available. A DOI is always
presented as a URL with the prefix https://doi.org/ for both
print and online works.
•When a DOI is not available for a
printed work leave it out.
Shortening URL

• URL shortening services such as

bitly or shortDOI can be used to
shorten URLs that take up
excessive space in a reference list.
Ensure that the shortened URL
directs to the correct page.
Referencing Secondary Sources
• The Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (7th ed) advises that
secondary sources should be used sparingly, such as
when an original work is out of print.
• In these instances, you may want to quote or
paraphrase a source (A) that is referred to within
another source (B).
• You should not cite source A as though you read the
original work. You must cite the source (A) through
the secondary source (B) that you actually read.
For example, the book you are using is
written by Smith who quotes another author
called Jones. In your essay you wish to use
Jones’ idea. In-text you should acknowledge
both the primary source (Jones) and
secondary source (Smith). Include the
publication date of the primary source if
known:
The publication date of the primary source is
left out if it is not known:
Provide only the details of the secondary
source in your reference list:
Different Works of the Same
Author
• If you have references for multiple works by the same
author surname, each of the works with the same
author surname is listed alphabetically in the reference
list by the initials of the first author, irrespective of the
names of the other authors or the years. In the text,
citations are differentiated by including the first author’s
initials even if the year of publication is different e.g.
Different Works of the Same
Author
• For different works by exactly the same
author(s), published in the same year, you
should differentiate the works by including
‘a’, ‘b’ or ‘c’ etc. after the year when citing
in-text and in the reference list e.g.
Examples: Books and Book
Chapters
Examples: Books and Book
Chapters
Examples: Books and Book
Chapters
Examples: Books and Book
Chapters
Examples: Books and Book
Chapters
Examples: Books and Book
Chapters
Examples: Edited Book
Examples: Chapter, Article, or
Section in a Book
II. Journal Article, Newspaper
Articles, Conferences
• The format for more than one author is the
same for all sources including journal
articles, therefore, refer to the examples for
books in this guide.
 OTHER
MATERIALS
Audio
Recording

Use descriptors such as [Song],

[Album]. For online audio see
Podcast Episode example.
WEBPAGES AND WEBSITES

• When referencing webpages include the following

elements:
- Author/editor/compiler
- Date
- Title
- Name of website (if not named as the author)
- Retrieval date if the source could change over time
e.g. Facebook page, Twitter profile.
- URL