1. APA Citation Tutorial
Part I: Research Resources

2. By the end of Part I, you will be able to
• List the most frequently used types of
research resources
• Describe unique characteristics of each type of
research resource
• Classify research resources when you see
them

3. Take a moment to think:
where do you find information?
When you’re doing any type of research, you
likely find information in a number of different
places.

4. While there are many different types of research
resources available, you will most likely be using
research found in the following formats:
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Journal articles
Books
Book chapters
Websites
Government documents
Reference works

5. Each of these different types of research
resources will be cited in slightly different ways.
In order to cite your resources appropriately and
accurately, you first need to be able to identify
what type of resource you are trying to cite.
Let’s look at each of these frequently used
research resources in depth…

6. Journal Articles
Description:
A journal is a collection of articles usually
written by scholars in an academic or
professional field. Articles in journals can
cover very specific topics or narrow fields
of research.
Characteristics:
Appropriate for scholarly research, contain
few advertisements, contain technical
language or jargon, geared toward
specialists, individual articles are usually 710 pages long
Examples: Nature, Computers and
Education, Journal of Computer Assisted
Learning

7. Books
Description:
Books cover virtually any topic, and in a
more comprehensive way than journal
articles are able to. Books provide
background information and context.
Characteristics:
Longer than journal articles (usually several
hundred pages), written or edited by
individuals or a group of individuals, can be
geared toward a general population or
specialists,
Examples: Drupal for education and elearning, What the best college teachers do,
Psychology of learning for instruction

8. Book Chapters
Description:
Scholarly books are often edited by an
individual, but include chapters authored by
different individuals. In this case, the
chapter can be treated as its own research
resource.
Characteristics:
Author will be listed at the beginning of the
chapter, table of contents will list authors next
to chapter titles, chapters will be on very
specific topics, geared toward specialists
Examples: Men's and women's gender role
journeys: A metaphor for healing, transition (a
chapter in the book Gender issues across the
life cycle)

9. Websites
Description:
The Web allows you to access most types
of information on the Internet through a
browser. One of the main features of the
Web is the ability to quickly link to other
related information. The Web contains
information beyond plain text, including
sounds, images, and video.
Characteristics:
Found on the web, may be geared toward a
general audience, may not have gone
through a rigorous review process, may not
list an author
Examples: WebMD, Wikipedia, www.vt.edu,
lcweb.loc.gov (Library of Congress website)

10. Government Documents
Description:
An item published under the
authority of a governmental agency.
Characteristics:
Can be produced at local, state, and
federal government levels (municipal
(city), county, state legislature, or
federal agencies such as the U.S.
Congress or Department of
Education), can be geared toward
specialists, will be freely available
(usually via the web), will often list an
agency or organization as the author
Examples: US Census, Congressional
reports, Encouraging girls in math and
science (a US DOE report)

11. Reference Works
Description:
Reference works, like encyclopedias, are
collections of short, factual entries often
written by different contributors who are
knowledgeable about the topic.
Characteristics:
Will include background information, can be
general or specialized, entries are often short,
offer key ideas and concepts in different
research areas, often organized in an
alphabetical order
Examples: World Book, Encyclopedia
Britannica, GaleEncyclopedia of Genetic
Disorders, DSM-5

12. Now that we’ve discussed the unique
characteristics of each type of research resource
that you are likely to use, it is time to test your
understanding.
Click on the link above in order to complete the
activity (Activity 1) for this section, and to get a
sense of how well you understand and are able to
identify the different types of research resources.
When you are finished, continue on to Part II:
Creating Citations