In Searchlight Basic you learned that it is essential that you refer to sources you have used. To do this, you use a specific method, a citation style. The most commonly used citation style is the APA style. In this module, you will learn:
how to create a reference to your source in the text itself
what the difference is between citing and paraphrasing
how to make a bibliography
The estimated time needed for the course is 45 minutes. You may stop part-way through and continue where you left off at a later time. The course is based on APA 7.
During Searchlight Basic you learned that when quoting or paraphrasing, you have to show where you obtained the original text. That way, you demonstrate that you have not conceived the text yourself and it enables the reader to verify the information at its source. By meticulously mentioning your sources, you ensure that your readers take you seriously.
These quotes are governed by strict rules, the citation styles. This is useful, because as an author you will not have to make up how to write down a quote. As a reader, you can see at a single glance how a quote is made up, quite convenient if you need to plough through numerous publications and bibliographies.
Many fields of study use their own citation style, which means there are hundreds of different styles. As a result, you will be able to quickly recognise source acknowledgements in the literature you are reading for your research.
The APA citation style is commonly used, by Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, among others.
The principle
The principle of the APA style consists of two steps. You list a brief reference to your quote or paraphrase in you text and then a detailed description to it in a bibliography.
One principle, many variants
You often have to deal with different types of sources - books, articles, websites, etc. These all need to be described in different ways. It is not necessary to know all the rules by heart, there are plenty of manuals you can use to look them up (both online and hardcopy). Here, we will show you some of the most common types of citation. It would be a good idea to learn at least these few by heart.
Let us go back to those two steps. We will explain the most important rules for each separate step.
1 Reference in the text
For each quote or paraphrase, you list a brief reference to the source from which the quote was taken or on which your paraphrase is based. This reference consists of the surname of the author and the year of publication.
You will need to put a quote between quotation marks and mention the page number(s) in your reference.
You can list your reference either after the quote or paraphrase, or in the main body of the text itself.
In the main body of the text (paraphrase): author (year)
In the main body of the text (quote): author (year) “text” (page).
After the quoted text (paraphrase): text (author, year).
After the quoted text (quote): “text” (author, year, page).
To bear in mind
Surnames regularly contain a prefix. These are listed before the main part of the surname (including Dutch surnames), for example:
De Boer, F.
De Coninck, H.
De Crescenzo, Luciano
Number of authors: 1-2
A book or article may have been written by multiple authors, rather than by just one. Because of this, your quotes will be mutually divergent: an article by one author will produce a very different quote than an article by twenty.
Also, the style of writing will depend on the number of authors and on whether you wish to mention the authors' name or names within the running text or after the quoted text.
1-2 authors
you should always acknowledge them. Put “and” between the two authors’ names in the main body of the text, or “&” after a text.
In the main body of the text:
After the quoted text:
Number of authors: 3 or more
State the name of the first author, followed by “et al.” (Latin abbreviation meaning “and others”).
Within the running text:
After the quoted text:
2 The reference list
You list the description of the sources you used in a reference list. These could include books, journal articles, videos, etc. The descriptions differ, but all answer the same questions:
For example:
Allen, J., & Farber, S. (2018). How time-use and transportation barriers limit on-campus participation of university students. Travel Behaviour and Society, 13, 174-182.
To bear in mind
The author acknowledgement consists of the surname and initials (for example, Bom, J.J.)
A description may contain a maximum of 20 authors’ names.
In case of 21 or more authors, put three dots between the 19th and the last.
The name of a stand-alone publication should be in italics. This applies as follows:
a book: title of the book
a chapter from a book: title of the book
a journal article: title of the journal and volume number
If the source concerns a book which has been compiled by an editor, you need to name the editor, followed by (Ed.)
If the author concerns an organisation, you should list it where the author’s name would have been (for example, Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences).
Reproduce both title and subtitle exactly from the publication, including the punctuation mark separating them. Should this not be included, use a colon.
After the first line of the description, indent subsequent lines. That way, your reference list will give a clear overview classified by authors.
Description of a book
The description of a book consists of:
Author(s) (year of publication). Title and subtitle. Publisher.
The title and subtitle of the book should be in italics.
A report is described the same way as a book. The only difference is the report number - you put it in brackets after the title (not in italics).
Description of an article from a journal
The description of a journal article consists of:
Authors (year of publication). Title of the article. Name of the journal, volume(number), page numbers from - to.
For example:
Kornack, D. & Rakic, P. (2001). Cell Proliferation Without Neurogenesis in Adult Primate Neocortex. Science, 294(5549), 2127-2130
To bear in mind:
The name of the journal and the volume number should be in italics.
Digital versions of journal articles often have a special code which represents a permanent internet location, known as the Digital Object Identifier (DOI). Draw up this code is drawn up like a URL.
For example:
Kornack, D. & Rakic, P. (2001). Cell Proliferation Without Neurogenesis in Adult Primate Neocortex. Science, 294 (5549), 2127-2130. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1065467
Description of a newspaper article
The description of a newspaper article consists of:
Authors (year, Month and day of publication). Title of the article. Name of the newspaper, page numbers from – to.
Example:
Brody, Jane. (2021, June 15). Wake up to good news about coffee. The New York Times, pp 7-8.
To bear in mind:
The name of the newspaper and possibly of a section is stated in italics
In the case of digital newspaper articles, state the URL
In case you found the article in a database, such as NexisUni, do not state the URL nor the name of the database. Should the database not mention any page numbers, you may omit these.
Example:
Smialek, Jeanna. (2021, June 16). Here is where inflation stands. The New York Times.
Description of a web page
It’s not always clear who the author is and when the information was put online. Can’t find an individual author? State the name of the organization responsible as the author.
No date mentioned? In this case, state “n.d.” after the author’s name.
The description of a web page consists of:
Author (year of publication, day). Title of the web page. Name of the website. Retrieved Month day, year, from http://.... or https://...
Searchlight APA is based on De APA-Richtlijnen uitgelegd(APA Guidelines explained), 3rd ed. The American guidelines stipulate that you only need to refer to the retrieval date if the website can be expected to change at some point. In De APA-Richtlijnen uitgelegd, however, one has opted to always state this date (De APA-Richtlijnen uitgelegd, p. 71)
Arrangement and layout of your reference list
You should start your reference list on a new page and use “References” as your title.
Arrange the source descriptions in alphabetical order of the author’s names. Do this letter by letter, and apply the “nothing comes before something” rule. In the case of multiple publications by one author, the oldest publication should be listed first.
For example:
Letter by letter
Ter Zanen, B.
Van Zanen, P.
“Nothing comes before something”
Os, F.
Oss, F.
Oldest first:
Peters, B. (1999)
Peters, B. (2012)
NB: Surname prefixes are treated in accordance with the American notation guidelines for author names. This means surnames are listed by prefix, the first letter of which is written in capitals (for example: Van der Togt, H.).
More information
You have now been introduced to the APA citation style and the guidelines for the most important types of source. Do you need more information? Below are a few suggestions.
(nb: to open these links from within Brightspace, click right and choose "open in new window")
Het arrangement Searchlight: APA style is gemaakt met
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American Psychological Association (2019). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). American Psychological Association.
Poelmans, P., & Severijnen, O. (2020). De APA-richtlijnen: Over literatuurverwijzing en onderzoeksrapportage. Coutinho.
Werkgroep APA (2021). De APA-richtlijnen uitgelegd: een praktische handleiding voor bronvermelding in het Hoger Onderwijs. Surf. Verkregen van: https://www.auteursrechten.nl/apa
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