What is the APA Format or Text Citation Style?

There are many different ways in which you cite your writing. APA is one of them. It basically stands for American Psychological Association. This term was coined in 1929 by a group made up of different fractions of the society.

The APA publication manual deals with how to write a report or paper. It has set down a few rules and regulations regarding how to cite, what font to use, how to add headings into your paper and how to use grammar and punctuation.

It may all seem very difficult to understand, when looked upon together. But our job is to make it easier for you. That can be easily done by breaking the format down to a few main parts. The most important of the whole APA format is the text citation. You should have a strong grasp on how to cite within the text, while using the APA format.

Basics of APA Format

Let me take you through the basic of APA format for writing papers. Here is a list of things which you should take care of when you are writing a paper, using the APA format.

1. The whole of your text should be double-spaced and typed.
2. There should be 1” margins on both side of the text.
3. The font size should be 12.
4. The font you use should be Times New Roman.
5. There should be a page header on the top of every page.
6. The page number should be flush right.

Main Sections in an APA Format

Title Page

The title page should have the following components:

1. Title
2. Authors name
3. Institutional affiliation

Abstract

This is brief summary of the whole of your paper. Find complete information on abstract writing in APA format on this page.

Main Body

The main body consists of a logical flow of facts, statements, arguments in favor of the main topic by following a particular style of academic writing.

References/Bibliography

Find complete information and guide on using references in APA Style here.

APA Text Citation

Nowadays, you do not only use books as reference in your papers and reports. There is a vast variety of reference material now available. Under the APA format, guidelines are available for citation of eBooks, websites, interviews, Facebook, twitter, and many other forms of referencing.

You might not use all these reference tools for your text citation. The main source of reference is books. There are many different situations for which APA has given guidelines for. Let’s take a look at a few.

Single Author

Example of Single Author

It is important to keep to keep in mind the small formats and procedures of the APA format.  (Khalid, 2012, p. 1)

As you can see from the quote above how the citation for a single author is given. You have to write the author’s last name, the year of publication and the page number, following the quote. It has to appear in the format given in the above example. Always remember to use the last name of the author. The title of the publication, the complete author name should then be listed in the bibliography.

Citing Author Names in APA Format

Single Author Named in Text

Example of Single Author Named in Text

Daariya Khalid has pointed in her work the proper way to use text citation. (2012, p. 1)

This is the format for making a reference to an author’s work while using the name in the sentence. For this type of text citation, you should mention the year of publication and the page number after the quote. Later on as with the above mentioned example, you have to mention the complete name of the work and the year of publication in the bibliography, at the end of your work.

Two Author Citation

Now this might seem redundant, but there are many books written by two authors. In such a case you are using such a book, follow the same format as the single author text citation.

Quotation Citation in APA Format

Citing Short Quotes in APA Format

There are many times where you will use small quotes by different people. This is to support your work and your argument.

Example of Short Quote Citation

The method to do so is the following:

According to Jones (1998), "Students often have difficulty using the APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).

OR

Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA style" (p. 199); what implications does this have for teachers?

OR

She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.

These three methods are for when you have a small quote to cite in your work. Be sure to note where there are commas, full stops and other punctuation. As punctuation is also a part of the APA format.

Citing Long Quotes in APA Format

At times you may want to use a long quotation by an author, in your work.

Example of Long Quote Citation

The method to do this is the following.

Jones’s (1998) study found the following:  

Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time citing sources. This difficulty could be attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase a style manual or to ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)

Be sure to indent after the first line, this is an indication of a quotation.