Step 3: APA
Step 3:
Quote and cite your sources!
What is APA?
APA is a style used for documenting sources of information. That means, any information or ideas (whether it's "quoted" word-by-word or changed into your own words) that you include in your speech need to mention where you got that information from.
Every source you use NEEDS to be cited! No matter if it's online or in paper, from the library or somewhere else, or whether you copy every word or change it!
APA tells you the "rules" on how to do it.
How and where do I cite?
1) In your speech outline, include a parenthetical citation (in-text citation.) Between parentheses, include the authors' last name, a comma, and the year of publication of the book, article, etc. Like this (Brown, 2021).
2) In your speech, you might say things like "According to scientist Erika Brown,..." See your professor's instructions.
3) When you turn in your assignment, include a page that has the title "References" at the top (without the quotation marks) and then list your 4 sources, in alphabetical order, written in the specific format shown in the APA Guide.
How do I get the citations right?*
The APA Manual tells you the format for your references, depending of the format.*
A book is cited like this:
Example:
An academic journal article is cited like this:
Example:
A newspaper or magazine article that you got from the databases is cited like this:
Example:
However, there are always variations or special cases, for example your article might not have an author, or have 10 authors (what do you do?!)
For special cases, check the APA Guide, the textbook, or ask a librarian!
*Important! Because of the website limitations, the citations in this page are not in the proper spacing. In a Word document, you will need to make these references indented with a format called "hanging indentation" and lines double spaced.