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]. Publisher. URL 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 Nursing, 22(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.
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.
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-
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
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: