Basic Rules For Making Citations In An APA Format Dissertation

Every dissertation needs to have the proper citations. The style of formatting you follow dictates what sort of arrangement your citations should follow and you must understand the rules if you wish to write a correct paper. Your paper must include citations to give due credit to the works from which you have sourced your information. If you are using your own words for the purpose of indirectly referring to the work of another author, it is imperative that you mention the actual source.

How to cite authors

  • If there is one author, all you have to do is state the last name and the year of publication of the book.
  • For two authors, the last names of both and the publication year will suffice.
  • If there are more than two authors, you have to cite every author the initial time. After that, just the last name of the first author along with "et al.” and the publication year should work.
  • In case the book or journal has a corporate author, the name of the group must be mentioned every time in order to prevent confusion. Abbreviations may be used for the latter.

How to cite certain portions of text

If you must cite a certain portion of text, it is necessary to mention the page, the chapter, the figure, the equation or table in order to help the readers find it. Paragraph numbers must be mentioned in case of electronic sources. If it is a web page, refer to the author, which year it is as well as the page number.

Proper way to cite quotations

If the quotation you wish to include in the text is short and less than 40 words, you can incorporate it in the text and then enclose the same in double quotation marks. Mention the author and page number along with year of publication. If the quotation happens to cross the 40-word limit, you might try a separate block quotation in the next line which is indented five spaces and does not have any quotation marks.

What are indirect citations?

This is used when you are citing a particular work that has been covered in a different work, like an explanatory sentence containing the name of the original author. You must then include the source which you consulted for your reference in the dissertation paper.