Intern’s Corner: Referencing and Citing Sources Part IV: APA Style
This is the fourth installment of the referencing and citing sources series. In this series, I provide tips for using the OWL to help you locate the necessary information for citing your sources. The previous blog posts were Referencing and Citing Sources Part I: Printed Books, Part II: Database and Website, and Part III: Web Pages This week I will focus on APA style.
APA style tutorials on OWL
The OWL has a plethora of information regarding how to properly cite and reference sources as well as various tutorials such as APA Refresher, APA Style, APA References, and APA In-Text Citations.
APA refresher module
If you have not used APA style in a while, you might want to check out the APA Refresher. The OWL APA Refresher offers modules in in-text citations, referencing, formatting, and style. Each module has 30 or more slides providing practice questions, instructional content, and quizzes to test your knowledge. There are also hyperlinks embedded within the slides for additional support.
(Example of practice question and reference list example)
(Example of quiz question for formatting in APA style)
(Example of writing style for APA paper)
APA style module
The beginning of the APA Style module discusses how the style is used as well as sections one might find within a paper utilizing APA style. The module advises you to speak with your instructor regarding how they would like you to format your writings as well as remember that APA guidelines can change, and you should stay current with the latest information. The module dives deeper with a how-to-video on in-text citations and practical examples.
APA references module
After the APA Style module, there is a module for APA references. This module touches on the various mediums one can find sources and how to reference them such as television, film & video; online newspaper article; thesis & dissertation; and other sources (abstract, book review, and software).
APA in-text citation module
The in-text citation module is found within the APA Style module listed above. The in-text citation module provides a quick video on how your citations should appear within your paper as well as a refresher regarding paraphrasing and summarizing.
(Screenshot of APA In-Text Citation video regarding summarizing and paraphrasing)
Final thoughts
There is a lot of information you can find on the OWL to help you prepare a well referenced and properly cited research paper. I encourage you to go onto the other tutorials the OWL has to offer, such as APA Formatting Guide, APA Headings, APA Activity, and APA Side By Side for further comprehension.
In the next installment in the series, I will dive deeper into how the OWL helps learners with MLA style.
Ginger Hamblin is an intern for the Excelsior University Online Writing Lab. She has been a student of Excelsior University for almost two years and is pursuing her Bachelor of Science – Liberal Arts in Professional and Technical Writing. She is a writing enthusiast, painter, wife, and mother of three boys.