How to Document Sources When Writing a Paper

Information is only as good as its source. The quality of the information you use can strengthen your paper's argument. Quality is largely determined by the source of the information. When writing a paper, let your readers know that the information you are presenting from outside sources is credible and reliable. Allow readers to easily navigate through source information by documenting the sources you used on a separate page attached to your paper. If necessary, your American Psychological Association (APA) style reference list allows a reader to trace your information back to its original source.

Things You'll Need

  • APA Reference Style Guide
  • Word processing program.
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Instructions

  1. Print Book

    • 1

      Type the author's last name and first initial, separated by a comma. Place a period after the author's first initial.

    • 2

      If there is more than one author, separate the authors' names with a comma. Place an ampersand before the final author's last name.

    • 3

      Enclose the publication date in parentheses and follow it with a period.

    • 4

      Type the book's title in italics, but only capitalize the first letter in the title's first word. Place a period after the title.

    • 5

      Include the book's edition number, enclosed in parentheses, if it has one. Place a period after the edition number. When a book has an edition number, do not place a period between it and the book's title.

    • 6

      Type the place of publication and the name of the publisher. Separate with a colon.

    • 7

      Place a period after the name of the publisher.

    Magazine

    • 8

      Type the author's last name and first initial, separated by a comma. Place a period after the author's first initial.

    • 9

      Enclose the publication date in parentheses, followed by a period. Insert the date by the year, month and day. Separate the year and month with a comma. Separate the month and day with a space.

    • 10

      Type the magazine article's title, capitalizing the first letter in the first word. Place a period after the title.

    • 11

      Type the title of the magazine in italics and use standard title capitalization rules. Place a comma after the magazine title.

    • 12

      Type the magazine's volume and issue number without a space. Enclose the issue number in parentheses and follow with a period.

    • 13

      Type the article's beginning and ending page numbers, separated with a dash and followed by a period.

    Webpage

    • 14

      Type the author's last name and first initial, separated by a comma. Place a period after the author's first initial.

    • 15

      Enclose the publication date in parentheses, followed by a period. Insert the publication date, which in most cases will be a year. If the webpage offers additional information, you may include it.

    • 16

      Type the title of the webpage in italics, but only capitalize the first letter in the title's first word. Place a period after the webpage's title.

    • 17

      Type the words "Retrieved from" and then insert the URL of the webpage.

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