The document provides an overview of APA citation style, explaining why citations are important, how to format in-text citations and reference list entries, and providing examples of direct quotes, paraphrases, and reference list entries for various source types like books and journal articles. It covers topics such as using signal phrases, handling multiple authors, and including page numbers in citations. Additional resources for APA style are also listed.

1. APA-style Citations:
A Necessary Evil, like Congress

2. The Writing Center
• CUE 303 (main) and Terrell Library
• Hours: CUE 303, M-Th 9-4, F 9-2; Terrell, M-Th 4-6
• Email: writing.center@wsu.edu
• Staffed by undergraduates in several disciplines
• They will help you at every stage of the writing
process
• Drop-in service; no need to make an appointment
– Do try to go early. You’ll likely have to wait for a bit if
you go near midterm or finals week

3. Why Cite?
• To avoid plagiarism
• To help out other researchers
– Your references may help someone else find a good
resource
• So that someone can go and look at your
references
– So that they can read the reference material for
themselves
– So that they can decide for themselves whether your
conclusions are sound

4. Everybody Quotes Somebody
Sometime . . .
The thing is, if you have some information, you have to tell your reader where
you got it. Citing your source lets your reader look up the information for herself,
if she feels like it. That means that if you directly quote someone, like this:
As Maddow (2012) says, “Reagan’s annual budget deficit ballooned from
2 percent to a record 6.3 percent of GDP in his first two years in office”
(p. 68).
Or paraphrase someone, like this:
According to Maddow (2012), Reagan’s budget deficit rose from 2 to 6.3
percent of GDP during his first two years in office (p. 68).
You have to cite your source.

5. But Jamie, How Do I Do That?
I’m glad you asked! There are a number of ways to cite your sources,
and they mostly depend on what is it that you’re citing—a book, a
journal article, a website, an interview. Citations can be broken
down into two basic categories:
- in-text citations, also called parenthetical citations (in other
words, you cite your source in the body of your essay)
- bibliographic citations, also called a “References” list, which
is a separate page at the end of your essay
And yes, you DO NEED BOTH OF THESE THINGS. If you make an in-
text citation, whatever it is you cited also has to appear in your
references.

6. Signal Phrases
The first thing to think about is setting up your quote. How does your reader
know you’re about to quote somebody, that you’re moving from your own voice
to someone else’s? In APA, you can use what’s called a signal phrase, which
signals to the reader that you’re about to quote someone.
As Maddow (2012) says, “Reagan’s annual budget deficit ballooned
from 2 percent to a record 6.3 percent of GDP in his first two years in
office” (p. 68)
According to Maddow (2012), Reagan’s budget deficit rose from 2 to
6.3 percent of GDP during his first two years in office (p. 68).
Note that the signal phrase includes the author’s name, the date of the
publication in parentheses, and an active verb.

7. Do You Have to Use a Signal Phrase?
No. You are not required to. If you don’t want to use a signal
phrase because you’re just paraphrasing or you think it interrupts
the flow of your thought, you can create an in-text citation
following the information that includes the author’s (or authors’)
name(s). Here’s what that looks like:
One problem with the current refugee system is that there
are questions about whose responsibility it is to care for
refugees (Betts & Collier, 2017, p. 47).
If you have two authors, you should list both authors’ last names.
Note that there’s an ampersand between the authors’ names in
the parenthetical citation.

8. Do You Have to Include Page
Numbers?
• You’re only required to use page numbers if
you’re quoting directly (that is, with quotation
marks).
• If you’re paraphrasing, you’re ENCOURAGED
to include page numbers in the parenthetical
citation, but you aren’t required to.
• For my part, I always go ahead and do it
because I normally cite things in MLA and
MLA is obsessed with page numbers.

9. What if You Have More Than Two
Authors?
Three to five authors: list all author’s names (in the order in which they
appear on the publication) THE FIRST TIME you mention them. It should
look like this:
Maddow, Chang, Shapiro, and Spier (2012) found that . . .
Remember to use an ampersand before the last author’s name when it’s
in parentheses:
(Maddow, Chang, Shapiro, & Spier, 2012, p. 4).
For all subsequent citations, just use the first author’s name followed by
et al.
Maddow et al. (2012), or (Maddow et al., 2012, p. 4)

10. What if You Have More Than Five
Authors?
For six or more authors, use the first author’s name
followed by et al. in all cases.
Citations can become infinitely complex. What if
you have works by two different authors with the
same last name? What if you have two works by the
same author in the same year? What if you don’t
know the author’s name? For questions like these,
you need a style guide, or a style manual.

11. Style Guides
My very favorite style guide is Purdue
University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL). It has
templates, sample papers, and all the
information you’ll need to create proper
citations. You can find a link on the “Additional
Resources” slide at the end.

12. Got Any More Examples?
Direct quote, no signal phrase:
“Fifty years ago, Botswana was dirt poor: landlocked and
semi-arid with pitifully inadequate infrastructure” (Betts &
Collier, 2017, p. 114).
Note that there’s an ampersand between the authors’ last names,
since they’re in parentheses.
Direct quote, signal phrase:
Betts and Collier (2017) observed that “Fifty years ago,
Botswana was dirt poor”(p. 114).
Note that there’s an “and” between the authors’ names, since
they’re not in parentheses.

13. References List
For each work you cite in the text of your paper, you
need a bibliographic citation, or an entry in your
References list.
For books, the basic template looks like this:
Author, A.A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Subtitle.
Publication city: Publisher.

14. Reference Entry Example
That means that, for the freshman Common
Read this year, Refuge: Rethinking Refugee
Policy in a Changing World by Alexander Betts
and Paul Collier, an APA-style reference entry
would look like this:
Betts, A. & Collier, P. (2017). Refuge: Rethinking
refugee policy in a changing world. New
York: Oxford University Press.

15. Once More Time
Template:
Author, A.A. (Year of publication). Title of work:
Subtitle of work. Publication city: Publisher.
Citation for Betts and Collier:
Betts, A. & Collier, P. (2017). Refuge: Rethinking
refugee policy in a changing world. New
York: Oxford University Press.

16. References List
Rules:
• Reference entries should have a hanging
indent, so that the first line is left-justified and
all subsequent lines are indented.
• Entries should be double-spaced.
• Entries should be arranged alphabetically by
author’s last name.

17. Sample Reference List
References
Betts, A. & Collier, P. (2017). Refuge: Rethinking
refugee policy in a changing world. New
York: Oxford University Press.
Maddow, R. (2012). Drift: The unmooring
of American military power. New York:
Broadway Paperbacks.

18. Templates
Direct quote, no signal phrase:
“Quotation” (Author last name & author last name, year of
publication, p. number).
Note that there’s an ampersand between the authors’ last names, since
they’re in parentheses.
Direct quote, signal phrase:
Author and author (year of publication) verb (found, observed,
wrote, etc.) “Quotation”(p. number).
Note that there’s an “and” between the authors’ names, since they’re not in
parentheses.
Reference entry:
Author, A.A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Subtitle of work.
City of publication: Publisher.

19. Additional Resources
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL):
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
The WSU Undergraduate Writing Center, CUE 303