APA Style Guidelines

Referencing materials
Citing sources
Plagiarism

Referencing Materials

Referencing Journal Articles

Single Author
Jonassen, D. H. (2000). Toward a design theory of problem solving. Educational Technology Research & Development, 48(4), 63-85.

Multiple Authors
Jonassen, D., Prevish, T., Christy, D., & Stavrulaki, E. (1999). Learning to solve problems on the Web: Aggregate planning in a business management course. Distance Education: An International Journal, 20(1), 49-63.

Journal with no volume numbers
Dornisch, M. M. & Land, S. M. (2002). A conceptual framework for the integration of multiple perspectives with distributed learning environments. Journal of Computing in Higher Education, 13, 3-27.

Referencing Books

Single Author
Jonassen, D. H. (2000). Computers as mindtools for schools: Engaging critical thinking. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

If the text is not the first edition
Driscoll, M. P. (2000). Psychology of Learning for Instruction (2nd Edition). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Edited Text
Reigeluth, C. M. (Ed). (1999). Instructional-design theories and models: A new paradigm of instructional theory. Mahway, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Chapter in edited text
Salomon, G. (1993). On the nature of pedagogic computer tools: The case of the writing partner. In S. P. LaJoie & S. J. Derry (Eds.), Computers as cognitive tools. Hillsdale, NJU: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Book with no author
Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary. (1961). Springfield, MA: Mirriam.

Referencing Magazine Newspaper Articles

Magazine Article (one author)
Meinel, C. (2001, October). Code red for the web. Scientific American, 285, 42-51.

Magazine Article (no author)
Is your kid caught up in the web? (1997, May). Consumer Reports, 62, 27-31.

Newspaper Article (one author)
Runkle, J. (2003, July 22). Former teacher may need new attorney. The Lock Haven Express, p. A1.

Newspaper Article (no author)
Student loan interest rates at all-time los. (2003, July 21). The Lock Haven Express, p. A2.

Internet and CD-ROM Resources

Internet article based on a print source
Howe-Steiger, L. & Donohue, B. (2002, January 12). Technology is changing what's "fair use" in teaching -- again. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 10(4). Retrieved July 16, 2003, from http://epaa.asu.edu/epaa/v10n4.hml.

Web page, no author
[Title]. [Date]. Retrieved [date] from [source].

Web page, no date
[Author]. (n.d.). [Title]. Retrieved [date] from [source].

Web page, no author, no date
[Title]. (n.d.). Retrieved [date] from [source].

Referencing Non-print Materials

Videotape
[Name] (Producer), & [Name] (Director). (1979). [Title]. (Motion picture). [City, State: Publisher].

Film
[Name] (Director). (1979). [Title]. (Film). [City, State: Publisher].

(Cassette):
[Name]. (Author and speaker). (1989). Title. [Cassette]. [City, State: Publisher].

(Musical recording):
[Name]. (1995). [Title]. On [Name] [CD]. [City, State: Publisher].

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Citing Sources

When you make statements are that supported by previous authors and research

  1. Citations are often made at the end of a sentence. The authors' last names, followed by a comma, followed by the year of the article should be placed in parentheses before the period.
    • Research has indicated that elaborative interrogation has been effective when learners’ repertoires include a rich knowledge base (Willoughby, Wood, & Kahn, 1994).
  2. Citations may have the authors as a subject of the sentence or as the object of the sentence
    • Meyer, Brandt, and Bluth (1980), for example, emphasize the need to help students more efficiently glean information from text, since much of the information covered in our schools is presented via written prose.
  3. When there are multiple authors, all authors' names should be listed the first time the work is cited first, but for subsequent citations, the work may be referred to by the first author's name followed by et al. and the year.
    • Many researchers recognize the need to help students more efficiently acquire information from text (Pressley et al., 1987).
  4. When there is more than one study to support a point, each should be cited, in alphabetical order of the first author's last name, separated by a semi-colon
    • Much research has been conducted that suggests that by including questions in learning environments, learning can be improved (Anderson & Biddle, 1975; Andre, 1979; Rickards, 1979).
  5. Any time your words might be similar enough to those of an author to be considered plagiarising, quote the author's words, placing quotation marks around the author's words, and including the page number of the citation
    • According to the learning as knowledge acquisition view “learning occurs when a learner places new information in long-term memory” (Mayer, 1999, p. 143).

Note: in case a, the & is used to separate authors; in case b the word "and" is spelled out. If there are two authors, the citation will be: author a & author b, year.

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Plagiarism

  1. What is plagarism? Plagarism involves two things: using anothers' words as your own and using anothers' ideas as your own.
  2. When you rephrase what someone else has written, you want to be sure that nearly all of the words in your sentence were not in the original sentence. If this cannot be done, quote what the other person has said. You should minimize the quotations you use, however. Paraphrase, but be careful about how you do so.
  3. Even when you paraphrase what someone else has written, be sure to give that person credit for his or her idea. Refer to where you read the idea that you are discussing.

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