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Biological Sciences

Use this guide when conducting research in biology, botany, and related disciplines.

APA Quick Guide

 

It may help to know why you are required to cite sources and why you are using the APA style guide for this course.

 Article 1 Section 8 of the Constitution gives Congress the Power, “To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.” Those writing and discoveries are known as "intellectual property." Merriam-Webster defines "intellectual property" as, "property (such as an idea, invention, or process) that derives from the work of the mind or intellect." The U.S. government protects intellectual property. With some limits, you can draw on the ideas and words of others for use in your own work as a student and as a teacher as long as you credit sources appropriately. 

There are many citation styles including APA, MLA, and Chicago. This class uses APA. Citation styles lend themselves to use in specific disciplines. Read this article from Yale University to learn why scholars in different academic disciplines tend to prefer certain styles over others. 

Please call or email the library anytime you need help with references and citations. The Reference Librarians will return your email within three business days with the information that you need or will set up an in-person appointment or a zoom appointment to provide further assistance.

Contact us: reference@mtech.edu

 

 

"References" is the correct title for your list of sources. This list is arranged alphabetically by author last name. The first line of each reference is not indented. All other lines are indented. References should be double spaced.

 

Online Journal Article, including articles found in databases

Author Last name, First initial. (Publication Year). Article title. Journal Title, Vol(Issue #), Page range. DOI 

 

Webpage

Author Last name, First initial. (Year, Month, Day). Page Title. Website title. URL

 

Podcast Episode

Last name of host, First initial of host. (Host). (Year). Title [Audio podcast]. Producer. URL

 

Online Newspaper Article

Author Last name, First initial. (Year, Month, Day). Title of article. Title of newspaper. URL

 

Print Book

Author Last name, First initial. (Year). Title and subtitle. Publisher.

 

E-Book

Author Last name, First initial. (Year). Title [eBook edition]. PublisherURL if applicable

 

Print Journal Article

Author Last name, First initial. (Publication Year). Article title. Journal Title, Vol(Issue #), Page range. 

 

Photograph

Photographer Last name, First initial. (Year photograph was taken). Title or short description of     

       photograph [Photograph]. Publication or name of website where you found the photograph. URL

 

Personal Communications

Interviews, emails, and other personal communications that can't be retrieved by the reader aren't included in the reference list, but they should be cited in-text.

(First initial Last name, personal communication, date).

If you state the name of the author in your narrative, the author name is omitted in the in-text citation.

(personal communication, date).

 

Click here for further information about APA. Source: George Mason University Writing Center

 

Online Journal Article, including articles found in databases

Example:

SadatHoseini, A., Shareinia, H., Pashaeypoor, S., & Mohammadi, M. (2023). A cross-cultural concept analysis of

    healing in nursing: a hybrid model. BMC Nursing22(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-023-01404-8

 

Webpage

Example with a named author:

Gilmore, Tayler. (2023, August 5). NASA researchers measure sinking land in American Samoa. NASA.       

    https://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/goddard/nasa-researchers-measure-sinking-land-in-american-samoa/

Example with a group author:

American Psychological Association. (n.d.) Disaster and response. https://www.apa.org/topics/disasters-response

 

Podcast Episode 

Example:

Natisse, K.M. (Host). (2022). Freedom diving [Audio podcast]. NPR. 

     https://www.npr.org/2022/09/29/1126052986/freedom-diving

 

Online Newspaper Article

Smith, M. (2024, March 5). Jury selected for bounty hunt homicide trial in Butte. Butte

Standard. https://mtstandard.com/news/local/crime-courts/jury-selected-bounty-hunt-homicide-trial-

butte/article_cb77ddde-da76-11ee-a186-57c1a7d8cb1f.html

 

Print Book

Example with one author:

French, S. (2016). Philosophy of science: key concepts. Bloomsbury Academic. 

Example with multiple authors:

Jackson, J., Mehl, J.P., & Neuendorf, K.E. (2005). Glossary of geology. American Geological Institute.

 

EBook

Example:

Isermann, R. (2011). Fault-diagnosis applications: model-based condition monitoring: actuators, drives, machinery,

     plants, sensors, and fault-tolerant systems. [eBook edition]. Springer. 10.1007/978-3-642-12767-0 

 

Print Journal Article

Example:

Smirnov, V. (1968). The sources of ore-forming material. Economic Geology, 63(4), 380-389. 

 

Photograph

Example:

Staplekamp, B. (2015). Lion drinking water. [Photograph]. National 

     Geographic. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/cecil-african-lion-anniversary-death-trophy-hunting-

     zimbabwe

 

Personal Communications

Interviews, emails, and other personal communications that can't be retrieved by the reader aren't included in the reference list, but they should be cited in-text.

(K. Carroll, personal communication, March 5, 2024).

If you state the name of the author in your narrative, the author name is omitted in the in-text citation.

(personal communication, March 5, 2024).

 

Click here for further information about APA. Source: George Mason University Writing Center


Guidance from the APA Style Team

When a prompt is entered into a text-generating tool, the results may vary each time. Predictive text can't be recreated, so the APA Style Team doesn't regard the prompt itself as a useful piece of data. The APA Style Team encourages writers to include their prompts in their narrative text and to include the full text of the generated response in an appendix. 

APA models references and citations of generated text from existing guidelines for referencing and citing software found in Chapter 10 of the 7th edition of the APA Style Guidelines. 

 

Reference Example

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Sept 1 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat

In-Text Citation Examples

  • Parenthetical citation: (OpenAI, 2023) - or- (OpenAI, 2023; see Appendix A for the full transcript).

  • Narrative citation: OpenAI (2023)

 

In addition to a list of references at the end of a paper or presentation, APA format requires in-text citations. 

 

Paraphrasing:

When paraphrasing an idea from one of your references, you'll include the author and the year from the full reference entry on your reference page. APA does allow for the writer to also include page numbers when creating in-text citations in cases when the page number would be useful in helping the reader to locate the information in the source. Page numbers are generally useful when citing long works.

Examples

According to Carroll (2021), Public speaking becomes less stressful with practice.

-or-

Public speaking becomes less stressful with practice (Carroll, 2021).

 

Quoting: 

When quoting directly from one of your references, you'll include the author, year, and page number (if there is a page number) from the full reference entry on your reference page. 

Examples

According to Carroll (2021), "students often had difficulty sleeping the night before an exam" (p. 199).

-or-

Carroll (2021) found "students often had difficulty sleeping the night before an exam" (p. 199).

 

Click here for further information about APA. Source: George Mason University Writing Center

 

DOI stands for, "Digital Object Identifier." A DOI is a string of characters that is assigned to a written work or other type of object in order to identify the object.

The APA style guide calls for including a DOI in a reference entry when the DOI can be found. When searching Montana Tech's databases, many articles have a DOI posted in the bibliographic information, often alongside the author, title, and date of publication. 

A DOI is different than a URL in that a DOI is a permanent identifier. URLs can move, but DOIs will remain constant. The long-term goal of the DOI system is to be able to locate objects with one identifying piece of information. 

DOI Guidelines:

  • APA reference entries should include a DOI or a URL for any digital content.
  • When both the DOI and the URL can be located, use the DOI in the reference entry. Don't include both the DOI and the URL. 
  • If a DOI can't be located for digital content, do include the URL in the reference entry.
  • The DOI or URL belong at the end of a reference entry.