When writing an academic paper, the presentation of information in the text is critical. Various citation styles are used to help organize the knowledge and data taken from various scientific sources. One of the most widely used citation styles is the American Psychological Association style (APA). This essay will provide essential items regarding quoting information and formatting references that are necessary when writing a paper in this style.
First, it is worth paying attention to the mentioning of the sources when writing a work in the APA style. Hence, it is vital to remember that the text may contain both direct citations of information from sources and paraphrasing or parenthetical citations. When specifying an excerpt from a scientific work, it is necessary to indicate the author’s surname, the year of publication, and the page on which the text is located, for example (Smith, 2022, p.1) (American Psychological Association, 2020). When paraphrasing, it is enough to indicate the author’s surname and the year of publication, for example (Smith, 2022). The second item to remember is that in the absence of the author, the italicized source’s name is indicated in parentheses. In addition, when quoting two authors in APA formatting, the authors’ surnames are indicated in alphabetical order.
After determining the necessary sources from which the information and data were taken, reference formatting is necessary for the work. The first rule is the arrangement of literary sources in alphabetical order. When using books, the author’s surname, initials, year of publication, name of the source, and publisher must be indicated (“Reference examples,” n.d.). When referring to a scientific article, the author’s surname and initials, the year of publication, the journal’s name, volume, and issue number and pages are indicated. A mandatory aspect when formatting references in APA is specifying the doi or a link to a scientific article.
In conclusion, the formative nature and organization of information in a scientific paper are of practical importance. When using the American Psychological Association citation, it is necessary to remember several rules regarding mentioning information sources and compiling a reference list for them. This is because these items may differ depending on the kind of citation, direct or parenthetical, or on the presence of the author of the selected work. Regarding the formatting of the list of used papers, it is also essential to take into account the kind of reference and the presence or absence of information about the authors of the papers.
References
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). American Psychological Association.
Reference examples. (n.d.). APA style. Web.