C. Worrell (Eds.), (pp. 345–359). American Psychological Association.
Parenthetical citation: (Aron et al., 2019)
Narrative citation: Aron et al. (2019)
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Culture. In . Retrieved September 9, 2019, from |
Parenthetical citation: (Merriam-Webster, n.d.)
Narrative citation: Merriam-Webster (n.d.)
National Cancer Institute. (2019). (NIH Publication No. 18-2059). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. |
Parenthetical citation: (National Cancer Institute, 2019)
Narrative citation: National Cancer Institute (2019)
The specific agency responsible for the report appears as the author. The names of parent agencies not present in the group author name appear in the source element as the publisher. This creates concise in-text citations and complete reference list entries.
Harvard University. (2019, August 28). [Video]. YouTube. |
Parenthetical citation: (Harvard University, 2019)
Narrative citation: Harvard University (2019)
APA Databases [@APA_Databases]. (2019, September 5). [Tweet]. Twitter. Gates, B. [@BillGates]. (2019, September 7). [Thumbnail with link attached] [Tweet]. Twitter. |
Parenthetical citations: (APA Databases, 2019; Gates, 2019)
Narrative citations: APA Databases (2019) and Gates (2019)
News From Science. (2019, June 21). [Image attached] [Status update]. Facebook. |
Parenthetical citation: (News From Science, 2019)
Narrative citation: News From Science (2019)
Fagan, J. (2019, March 25). . OER Commons. Retrieved September 17, 2019, from National Institute of Mental Health. (2018, July). . U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. Woodyatt, A. (2019, September 10). . CNN. World Health Organization. (2018, May 24). . |
Parenthetical citations: (Fagan, 2019; National Institute of Mental Health, 2018; Woodyatt, 2019; World Health Organization, 2018)
Narrative citations: Fagan (2019), National Institute of Mental Health (2018), Woodyatt (2019), and World Health Organization (2018)
The following supplemental example references are mention in the Publication Manual:
Archival document and collections are not presented in the APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition . This content is available only on the APA Style website . This guidance has been expanded from the 6th edition.
Archival sources include letters, unpublished manuscripts, limited-circulation brochures and pamphlets, in-house institutional and corporate documents, clippings, and other documents, as well as such nontextual materials as photographs and apparatus, that are in the personal possession of an author, form part of an institutional collection, or are stored in an archive such as the Archives of the History of American Psychology at the University of Akron or the APA Archives. For any documents like these that are available on the open web or via a database (subscription or nonsubscription), follow the reference templates shown in Chapter 10 of the Publication Manual.
The general format for the reference for an archival work includes the author, date, title, and source. The reference examples shown on this page may be modified for collections requiring more or less specific information to locate materials, for different types of collections, or for additional descriptive information (e.g., a translation of a letter). Authors may choose to list correspondence from their own personal collections, but correspondence from other private collections should be listed only with the permission of the collector.
Keep in mind the following principles when creating references to archival documents and collections:
Frank, L. K. (1935, February 4). [Letter to Robert M. Ogden]. Rockefeller Archive Center (GEB Series 1.3, Box 371, Folder 3877), Tarrytown, NY, United States.
Zacharius, G. P. (1953, August 15). [Letter to William Rickel (W. Rickel, Trans.)]. Copy in possession of Hendrika Vande Kemp.
Allport, G. W. (1930–1967). Correspondence. Gordon W. Allport Papers (HUG 4118.10), Harvard University Archives, Cambridge, MA, United States.
To cite specific letters in the text, provide the author and range of years as shown in the reference list entry, plus details about who wrote the specific letter to whom and when the specific letter was written.
Berliner, A. (1959). Notes for a lecture on reminiscences of Wundt and Leipzig. Anna Berliner Memoirs (Box M50), Archives of the History of American Psychology, University of Akron, Akron, OH, United States.
Allport, A. (presumed). (ca. 1937). Marion Taylor today—by the biographer [Unpublished manuscript]. Marion Taylor Papers, Schlesinger Library, Radcliffe College, Cambridge, MA, United States.
Subcommittee on Mental Hygiene Personnel in School Programs. (1949, November 5–6). Meeting of Subcommittee on Mental Hygiene Personnel in School Programs. David Shakow Papers (M1360), Archives of the History of American Psychology, University of Akron, Akron, OH, United States.
Smith, M. B. (1989, August 12). Interview by C. A. Kiesler [Tape recording]. President’s Oral History Project, American Psychological Association, APA Archives, Washington, DC, United States.
Sparkman, C. F. (1973). An oral history with Dr. Colley F. Sparkman/Interviewer: Orley B. Caudill. Mississippi Oral History Program (Vol. 289), University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS, United States.
Psychoanalysis institute to open. (1948, September 18). [Clipping from an unidentified Dayton, OH, United States, newspaper]. Copy in possession of author.
Sci-Art Publishers. (1935). Sci-Art publications [Brochure]. Roback Papers (HUGFP 104.50, Box 2, Folder “Miscellaneous Psychological Materials”), Harvard University Archives, Cambridge, MA, United States.
[Photographs of Robert M. Yerkes]. (ca. 1917–1954). Robert Mearns Yerkes Papers (Box 137, Folder 2292), Manuscripts and Archives, Yale University Library, New Haven, CT, United States.
U.S. Census Bureau. (1880). 1880 U.S. census: Defective, dependent, and delinquent classes schedule: Virginia [Microfilm]. NARA Microfilm Publication T1132 (Rolls 33–34), National Archives and Records Administration, Washington, DC, United States.
Read the full APA guidelines on citing ChatGPT
OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat
Author: The author of the model is OpenAI.
Date: The date is the year of the version you used. Following the template in Section 10.10, you need to include only the year, not the exact date. The version number provides the specific date information a reader might need.
Title: The name of the model is “ChatGPT,” so that serves as the title and is italicized in your reference, as shown in the template. Although OpenAI labels unique iterations (i.e., ChatGPT-3, ChatGPT-4), they are using “ChatGPT” as the general name of the model, with updates identified with version numbers.
The version number is included after the title in parentheses. The format for the version number in ChatGPT references includes the date because that is how OpenAI is labeling the versions. Different large language models or software might use different version numbering; use the version number in the format the author or publisher provides, which may be a numbering system (e.g., Version 2.0) or other methods.
Bracketed text is used in references for additional descriptions when they are needed to help a reader understand what’s being cited. References for a number of common sources, such as journal articles and books, do not include bracketed descriptions, but things outside of the typical peer-reviewed system often do. In the case of a reference for ChatGPT, provide the descriptor “Large language model” in square brackets. OpenAI describes ChatGPT-4 as a “large multimodal model,” so that description may be provided instead if you are using ChatGPT-4. Later versions and software or models from other companies may need different descriptions, based on how the publishers describe the model. The goal of the bracketed text is to briefly describe the kind of model to your reader.
Source: When the publisher name and the author name are the same, do not repeat the publisher name in the source element of the reference, and move directly to the URL. This is the case for ChatGPT. The URL for ChatGPT is https://chat.openai.com/chat . For other models or products for which you may create a reference, use the URL that links as directly as possible to the source (i.e., the page where you can access the model, not the publisher’s homepage).
Works included in a reference list.
The reference list provides a reliable way for readers to identify and locate the works cited in a paper. APA Style papers generally include reference lists, not bibliographies.
In general, each work cited in the text must appear in the reference list, and each work in the reference list must be cited in the text. Check your work carefully before submitting your manuscript or course assignment to ensure no works cited in the text are missing from the reference list and vice versa, with only the following exceptions.
There are a few kinds of works that are not included in a reference list. Usually a work is not included because readers cannot recover it or because the mention is so broad that readers do not need a reference list entry to understand the use.
Information on works included in a reference list is covered in Sections 2.12 and 8.4 of the APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition
*This guidance has been expanded from the 6th edition.*
The DOI or URL is the final component of a reference list entry. Because so much scholarship is available and/or retrieved online, most reference list entries end with either a DOI or a URL.
Follow these guidelines for including DOIs and URLs in references:
Follow these guidelines to format DOIs and URLs:
https://doi.org/ xxxxx
When a DOI or URL is long or complex, you may use shortDOIs or shortened URLs if desired.
Home / Guides / Citation Guides / How to Cite Sources
Here is a complete list for how to cite sources. Most of these guides present citation guidance and examples in MLA, APA, and Chicago.
If you’re looking for general information on MLA or APA citations , the EasyBib Writing Center was designed for you! It has articles on what’s needed in an MLA in-text citation , how to format an APA paper, what an MLA annotated bibliography is, making an MLA works cited page, and much more!
The Modern Language Association created the MLA Style, currently in its 9th edition, to provide researchers with guidelines for writing and documenting scholarly borrowings. Most often used in the humanities, MLA style (or MLA format ) has been adopted and used by numerous other disciplines, in multiple parts of the world.
MLA provides standard rules to follow so that most research papers are formatted in a similar manner. This makes it easier for readers to comprehend the information. The MLA in-text citation guidelines, MLA works cited standards, and MLA annotated bibliography instructions provide scholars with the information they need to properly cite sources in their research papers, articles, and assignments.
The American Psychological Association created the APA citation style in 1929 as a way to help psychologists, anthropologists, and even business managers establish one common way to cite sources and present content.
APA is used when citing sources for academic articles such as journals, and is intended to help readers better comprehend content, and to avoid language bias wherever possible. The APA style (or APA format ) is now in its 7th edition, and provides citation style guides for virtually any type of resource.
The Chicago/Turabian style of citing sources is generally used when citing sources for humanities papers, and is best known for its requirement that writers place bibliographic citations at the bottom of a page (in Chicago-format footnotes ) or at the end of a paper (endnotes).
The Turabian and Chicago citation styles are almost identical, but the Turabian style is geared towards student published papers such as theses and dissertations, while the Chicago style provides guidelines for all types of publications. This is why you’ll commonly see Chicago style and Turabian style presented together. The Chicago Manual of Style is currently in its 17th edition, and Turabian’s A Manual for Writers of Research Papers, Theses, and Dissertations is in its 8th edition.
The world of citations may seem cut and dry, but there’s more to them than just specific capitalization rules, MLA in-text citations , and other formatting specifications. Citations have been helping researches document their sources for hundreds of years, and are a great way to learn more about a particular subject area.
Ever wonder what sets all the different styles apart, or how they came to be in the first place? Read on for some interesting facts about citations!
You may be familiar with MLA and APA citation styles, but there are actually thousands of citation styles used for all different academic disciplines all across the world. Deciding which one to use can be difficult, so be sure to ask you instructor which one you should be using for your next paper.
While a majority of citation styles are named for the specific organizations that publish them (i.e. APA is published by the American Psychological Association, and MLA format is named for the Modern Language Association), some are actually named after individuals. The most well-known example of this is perhaps Turabian style, named for Kate L. Turabian, an American educator and writer. She developed this style as a condensed version of the Chicago Manual of Style in order to present a more concise set of rules to students.
How specific can citation styles get? The answer is very. For example, the “Flavour and Fragrance Journal” style is based on a bimonthly, peer-reviewed scientific journal published since 1985 by John Wiley & Sons. It publishes original research articles, reviews and special reports on all aspects of flavor and fragrance. Another example is “Nordic Pulp and Paper Research,” a style used by an international scientific magazine covering science and technology for the areas of wood or bio-mass constituents.
The US Census Bureau estimates that approximately 39.5 million people live in the state of California. Meanwhile, about 43 million citations were made on EasyBib from January to March of 2018. That’s a lot of citations.
The word “citations” can be traced back literally thousands of years to the Latin word “citare” meaning “to summon, urge, call; put in sudden motion, call forward; rouse, excite.” The word then took on its more modern meaning and relevance to writing papers in the 1600s, where it became known as the “act of citing or quoting a passage from a book, etc.”
The concept of citations always stays the same. It is a means of preventing plagiarism and demonstrating where you relied on outside sources. The specific style rules, however, can and do change regularly. For example, in 2018 alone, 46 new citation styles were introduced , and 106 updates were made to exiting styles. At EasyBib, we are always on the lookout for ways to improve our styles and opportunities to add new ones to our list.
Here are the ways accurate citations can help your students achieve academic success, and how you can answer the dreaded question, “why should I cite my sources?”
Citing their sources makes sure that the reader can differentiate the student’s original thoughts from those of other researchers. Not only does this make sure that the sources they use receive proper credit for their work, it ensures that the student receives deserved recognition for their unique contributions to the topic. Whether the student is citing in MLA format , APA format , or any other style, citations serve as a natural way to place a student’s work in the broader context of the subject area, and serve as an easy way to gauge their commitment to the project.
Having many citations from a wide variety of sources related to their idea means that the student is working on a well-researched and respected subject. Citing sources that back up their claim creates room for fact-checking and further research . And, if they can cite a few sources that have the converse opinion or idea, and then demonstrate to the reader why they believe that that viewpoint is wrong by again citing credible sources, the student is well on their way to winning over the reader and cementing their point of view.
The point of research projects is not to regurgitate information that can already be found elsewhere. We have Google for that! What the student’s project should aim to do is promote an original idea or a spin on an existing idea, and use reliable sources to promote that idea. Copying or directly referencing a source without proper citation can lead to not only a poor grade, but accusations of academic dishonesty. By citing their sources regularly and accurately, students can easily avoid the trap of plagiarism , and promote further research on their topic.
By researching sources to back up and promote their ideas, students are becoming better researchers without even knowing it! Each time a new source is read or researched, the student is becoming more engaged with the project and is developing a deeper understanding of the subject area. Proper citations demonstrate a breadth of the student’s reading and dedication to the project itself. By creating citations, students are compelled to make connections between their sources and discern research patterns. Each time they complete this process, they are helping themselves become better researchers and writers overall.
Make in-text/parenthetical citations as you need them.
As you are writing your paper, be sure to include references within the text that correspond with references in a works cited or bibliography. These are usually called in-text citations or parenthetical citations in MLA and APA formats. The most effective time to complete these is directly after you have made your reference to another source. For instance, after writing the line from Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities : “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…,” you would include a citation like this (depending on your chosen citation style):
(Dickens 11).
This signals to the reader that you have referenced an outside source. What’s great about this system is that the in-text citations serve as a natural list for all of the citations you have made in your paper, which will make completing the works cited page a whole lot easier. After you are done writing, all that will be left for you to do is scan your paper for these references, and then build a works cited page that includes a citation for each one.
Need help creating an MLA works cited page ? Try the MLA format generator on EasyBib.com! We also have a guide on how to format an APA reference page .
While reading up on paper formatting may not sound exciting, being aware of how your paper should look early on in the paper writing process is super important. Citation styles can dictate more than just the appearance of the citations themselves, but rather can impact the layout of your paper as a whole, with specific guidelines concerning margin width, title treatment, and even font size and spacing. Knowing how to organize your paper before you start writing will ensure that you do not receive a low grade for something as trivial as forgetting a hanging indent.
Don’t know where to start? Here’s a formatting guide on APA format .
Collecting outside sources that support your research and specific topic is a critical step in writing an effective paper. But before you run to the library and grab the first 20 books you can lay your hands on, keep in mind that selecting a source to include in your paper should not be taken lightly. Before you proceed with using it to backup your ideas, run a quick Internet search for it and see if other scholars in your field have written about it as well. Check to see if there are book reviews about it or peer accolades. If you spot something that seems off to you, you may want to consider leaving it out of your work. Doing this before your start making citations can save you a ton of time in the long run.
Finished with your paper? It may be time to run it through a grammar and plagiarism checker , like the one offered by EasyBib Plus. If you’re just looking to brush up on the basics, our grammar guides are ready anytime you are.
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Last Updated: October 19, 2022 Fact Checked
This article was reviewed by Gerald Posner . Gerald Posner is an Author & Journalist based in Miami, Florida. With over 35 years of experience, he specializes in investigative journalism, nonfiction books, and editorials. He holds a law degree from UC College of the Law, San Francisco, and a BA in Political Science from the University of California-Berkeley. He’s the author of thirteen books, including several New York Times bestsellers, the winner of the Florida Book Award for General Nonfiction, and has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in History. He was also shortlisted for the Best Business Book of 2020 by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing. There are 12 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 162,786 times.
If you’re citing a research article or paper in APA style, you’ll need to use a specific citation format that varies depending on the source. Assess whether your source is an article or report published in an academic journal or book, or whether it is an unpublished research paper, such as a print-only thesis or dissertation. Either way, your in-text citations will need to include information about the author (if available) and the date when your source was published or written.
To cite a research paper in-text in APA, name the author in the text to introduce the quote and put the publication date for the text in parentheses. At the end of your quote, put the page number in parentheses. If you don’t mention the author in your prose, include them in the citation. Start the citation, which should come at the end of the quote, by listing the author’s last name, the year of publication, and the page number. Make sure to put all of this information in parentheses. If there’s no author, use the name of the organization that published the paper or the first few words from the title. To learn how to cite published and unpublished sources in your reference list, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No
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American Psychological Association (APA) Style is used by writers in the social sciences:
Business, Communications, Education, Geography, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology & Anthropology, and Women's & Gender Studies
When formatting a citation in APA style, pay particular attention to italics, punctuation, indentation, and capitalization.
Many more samples of citations presented in the APA style can be found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association . Please consult this book or a librarian for help with unusual resources.
All of the following samples are taken from:
(In the above sample, the name of the organization is the author. Note that only proper names are capitalized in the title, and the edition number follows the title.)
Book: (This sample from Purdue OWL )
Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Book with an Editor:
Robinson, D. N. (Ed.). (1992). Social discourse and moral judgment . San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
Note: italicize the title of the book and do not capitalize any words in titles except the first word, proper names, and after a colon. Use the author's or editor's initials only for first and middle names.
Chapter from an Edited Volume or Anthology :
Haybron, D. M. (2008). Philosophy and the science of subjective well-being. In M. Eid & R. J. Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 17-43). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
Scholarly Article:
Fuentes, A. (2016). Contemporary evolutionary theory in biological anthropology: Insight into human evolution, genomics and challenges to racialized pseudo-science. Revista Cuicuilco , 23 (65), 293-304.
Note: Do not set off the title of the article with quotes, italics, underlines, or capital letters (except for the first word, proper names or after a colon). Italicize the title of the journal and capitalize all words in the title of the journal. This sample includes the volume number (23) which is italicized to set it off from the other numbers. The issue number (65) appears in parentheses and is not italicized. You will also notice that there is no space left between the volume number and the first parenthesis for the issue number.
Scholarly Article (with multiple authors):
Calvo, M. G., & Lang, P. J. (2004). Gaze patterns when looking at emotional pictures: Motivationally biased attention. Motivation and Emotion, 28 , 221-243. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:MOEM.0000040153.26156.ed
Note: This sample includes the volume number (28), which is italicized to set it off from the page numbers. There is no issue number in this example because the journal is paginated by volume. Provide the DOI when available for electronic documents. If a DOI is not available for a scholarly article retrieved online, you should supply the URL of the journal's homepage (NOT the URL from the database). Note authors' names, indentations, spare use of capital letters, page numbers, and use of periods and commas.
Popular Article (with two authors):
Kandel, E. R., & Squire, L. R. (2000, November 10). Neuroscience: Breaking down scientific barriers to the study of brain and mind. Science, 290, 1113-1120.
Note: Do not set off the title of the article with quotes, italics, underlines, or capital letters (except for the first word, proper names, or after a colon). Italicize the title of the magazine and capitalize all keywords in the title. Italicize the volume number to set it off from the page numbers.
Newspaper Article:
Scwartz, J. (1993, September 30). Obesity affects economic, social status. The Washington Post , pp. A1, A4.
Note: Do not set off the title of the article with quotes, italics, underlines, or capital letters (except for the first word, proper names or after a colon). Italicize the title of the newspaper and capitalize all keywords in the title of the newspaper.
Webpage Examples: (These samples from Purdue OWL )
Author, A. A. & Author B. B. (Date of publication , or n. d. if no date ). Title of page [Format description when necessary]. Retrieved from https://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
Eco, U. (2015). How to write a thesis [PDF file]. (Farina C. M. & Farina F., Trans.) Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/...How_to_write_a_thesis/.../Umberto+Eco-How+to+Write+... (Original work published 1977).
If the page's author is not listed, start with the title. If the date of publication is not listed, use the abbreviation (n.d.):
Spotlight Resources. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/about_the_owl/owl_information/spotlight_resources.html
Only include a date of access when page content is likely to change over time (ex: if you're citing a wiki):
Purdue University Writing Lab [Facebook page]. (n.d.). Retrieved January 22, 2019, from https://www.facebook.com/PurdueUniversityWritingLab/
Nonperiodical Web Document or Report (Examples: government data such as U.S. Census): (This sample from Purdue OWL )
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication, or n.d. if no date). Title of document . Retrieved from https://Web address
Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderland, L., & Brizee, A. (2010, May 5). General format. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Note: Italicize the title of the website but do not capitalize any words except the first, proper names, and the first word following a colon.
For citing company or industry reports from the library's MarketLine database, also see:
https://guides.library.ualberta.ca/apa-citation-style/business
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association 7.07
If map is within a book, cite as In Title of book after [Type of map].
Cite primary contributors in the Author's space followed by their contributing role in parentheses.
Other forms for [Type of map] include:
Use (n.d.) for No date.
Title of map. (Year). [Type of Map]. Publisher Location: Publisher.
Citation Examples:
Plattsburgh, Clinton County: Dannemora, Peru, Keeseville, Champlain, Rouses Point, New York State, 3rd ed.
(1999). [Road map]. Clifton Park, NY: Jimapco.
Topographical Map:
Berlin, N.Y. - Mass. - VT. (1988). [Topographical map]. reston, VA: U.S. Geological Survey.
Online Map:
Follow the map citation guidelines as above, but also include a stable URL where the map is found.
Title of map. (Year). [Type of map]. Retrieved from http://xxx.xx
Manhattan sightseeing map. (2010). [City map]. Retrieved from http://www.ny.com/maps/shopmap.html
MTA Metro-North railroad. (2010). [Railroad map]. Retrieved from http://www.mta.info/mnr/html/mnrmap.htm
MTA New York City subway. (2010). [Subway map]. Retrieved from http://www.mta.info/nyct/maps/submap.htm
Since the APA manual does not give direct information for citing every type of source, including charts or graphs, they instruct you to follow the example that is most like the source you are trying to cite. Be sure to provide enough information so your readers can locate the source on their own. When possible provide author or creator, year of publication, title, and publishing and/or retrieval data. When citing a chart, graph or map it may be best to follow the citation style for the format in which the information is presented.
All captions for charts should follow the guidelines below for captions for figures.
Captions for Figures (Charts, Graphs, and Maps): Publication manual of the American Psychological Association 5.20-5.25
All captions should be labeled as Figure followed by a number. The caption should begin with a descriptive phrase and include a citation to the original source and copyright information at the end.
Figure 1. Relations between trust beliefs and school adjustment at T1 and loneliness changes during development in early childhood. All paths attained significance at p> .05. Adapted from “The Relation Between Trust Beliefs and Loneliness During Early Childhood, Middle Childhood, and Adulthood,” by K. J. Rotenberg, N. Addis, L. R. Betts, A. Corrigan, C. Fox, Z. Hobson, & … and M. J. Boulton, 2010, Personality and social psychology bulletin , 36, p. 1090. Copyright 2010 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.
Documentaries or Feature Films:
David, L., Bender, L., Burns S.Z. (Producers), & Guggenheim, P.D. (Director). (2006). An inconvenient truth [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.
Note : If a film is not available in wide distribution, add the following to the citation after the country of origin: (Available from Distributor name, full address and zip code).
More examples and samples of papers written using the APA style can be found at the following websites:
This page contains sample papers formatted in seventh edition APA Style. The sample papers show the format that authors should use to submit a manuscript for publication in a professional journal and that students should use to submit a paper to an instructor for a course assignment. You can download the Word files to use as templates and edit them as needed for the purposes of your own papers.
Most guidelines in the Publication Manual apply to both professional manuscripts and student papers. However, there are specific guidelines for professional papers versus student papers, including professional and student title page formats. All authors should check with the person or entity to whom they are submitting their paper (e.g., publisher or instructor) for guidelines that are different from or in addition to those specified by APA Style.
The following two sample papers were published in annotated form in the Publication Manual and are reproduced here as PDFs for your ease of use. The annotations draw attention to content and formatting and provide the relevant sections of the Publication Manual (7th ed.) to consult for more information.
We also offer these sample papers in Microsoft Word (.docx) format with the annotations as comments to the text.
Finally, we offer these sample papers in Microsoft Word (.docx) format without the annotations.
These sample papers demonstrate APA Style formatting standards for different professional paper types. Professional papers can contain many different elements depending on the nature of the work. Authors seeking publication should refer to the journal’s instructions for authors or manuscript submission guidelines for specific requirements and/or sections to include.
Sample papers are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Chapter 2 and the Concise Guide Chapter 1
View all instructional aids
These sample papers demonstrate APA Style formatting standards for different student paper types. Students may write the same types of papers as professional authors (e.g., quantitative studies, literature reviews) or other types of papers for course assignments (e.g., reaction or response papers, discussion posts), dissertations, and theses.
APA does not set formal requirements for the nature or contents of an APA Style student paper. Students should follow the guidelines and requirements of their instructor, department, and/or institution when writing papers. For instance, an abstract and keywords are not required for APA Style student papers, although an instructor may request them in student papers that are longer or more complex. Specific questions about a paper being written for a course assignment should be directed to the instructor or institution assigning the paper.
Although published articles differ in format from manuscripts submitted for publication or student papers (e.g., different line spacing, font, margins, and column format), articles published in APA journals provide excellent demonstrations of APA Style in action.
APA journals began publishing papers in seventh edition APA Style in 2020. Professional authors should check the author submission guidelines for the journal to which they want to submit their paper for any journal-specific style requirements.
Quantitative professional paper template: Adapted from “Fake News, Fast and Slow: Deliberation Reduces Belief in False (but Not True) News Headlines,” by B. Bago, D. G. Rand, and G. Pennycook, 2020, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , 149 (8), pp. 1608–1613 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000729 ). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.
Qualitative professional paper template: Adapted from “‘My Smartphone Is an Extension of Myself’: A Holistic Qualitative Exploration of the Impact of Using a Smartphone,” by L. J. Harkin and D. Kuss, 2020, Psychology of Popular Media , 10 (1), pp. 28–38 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000278 ). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.
Mixed methods professional paper template: Adapted from “‘I Am a Change Agent’: A Mixed Methods Analysis of Students’ Social Justice Value Orientation in an Undergraduate Community Psychology Course,” by D. X. Henderson, A. T. Majors, and M. Wright, 2019, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology , 7 (1), 68–80. ( https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000171 ). Copyright 2019 by the American Psychological Association.
Literature review professional paper template: Adapted from “Rethinking Emotions in the Context of Infants’ Prosocial Behavior: The Role of Interest and Positive Emotions,” by S. I. Hammond and J. K. Drummond, 2019, Developmental Psychology , 55 (9), pp. 1882–1888 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0000685 ). Copyright 2019 by the American Psychological Association.
Review professional paper template: Adapted from “Joining the Conversation: Teaching Students to Think and Communicate Like Scholars,” by E. L. Parks, 2022, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology , 8 (1), pp. 70–78 ( https://doi.org/10.1037/stl0000193 ). Copyright 2020 by the American Psychological Association.
These papers came from real students who gave their permission to have them edited and posted by APA.
Home » How to Cite Research Paper – All Formats and Examples
Table of Contents
Research paper citation refers to the act of acknowledging and referencing a previously published work in a scholarly or academic paper . When citing sources, researchers provide information that allows readers to locate the original source, validate the claims or arguments made in the paper, and give credit to the original author(s) for their work.
The citation may include the author’s name, title of the publication, year of publication, publisher, and other relevant details that allow readers to trace the source of the information. Proper citation is a crucial component of academic writing, as it helps to ensure accuracy, credibility, and transparency in research.
There are several formats that are used to cite a research paper. Follow the guide for the Citation of a Research Paper:
Last Name, First Name. Title of Book. Publisher, Year of Publication.
Example : Smith, John. The History of the World. Penguin Press, 2010.
Journal Article
Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Title of Journal, vol. Volume Number, no. Issue Number, Year of Publication, pp. Page Numbers.
Example : Johnson, Emma. “The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture.” Environmental Science Journal, vol. 10, no. 2, 2019, pp. 45-59.
Research Paper
Last Name, First Name. “Title of Paper.” Conference Name, Location, Date of Conference.
Example : Garcia, Maria. “The Importance of Early Childhood Education.” International Conference on Education, Paris, 5-7 June 2018.
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title of Webpage.” Website Title, Publisher, Date of Publication, URL.
Example : Smith, John. “The Benefits of Exercise.” Healthline, Healthline Media, 1 March 2022, https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-exercise.
News Article
Last Name, First Name. “Title of Article.” Name of Newspaper, Date of Publication, URL.
Example : Robinson, Sarah. “Biden Announces New Climate Change Policies.” The New York Times, 22 Jan. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/22/climate/biden-climate-change-policies.html.
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of book. Publisher.
Example: Smith, J. (2010). The History of the World. Penguin Press.
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number), page range.
Example: Johnson, E., Smith, K., & Lee, M. (2019). The Effects of Climate Change on Agriculture. Environmental Science Journal, 10(2), 45-59.
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of paper. In Editor First Initial. Last Name (Ed.), Title of Conference Proceedings (page numbers). Publisher.
Example: Garcia, M. (2018). The Importance of Early Childhood Education. In J. Smith (Ed.), Proceedings from the International Conference on Education (pp. 60-75). Springer.
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day of publication). Title of webpage. Website name. URL
Example: Smith, J. (2022, March 1). The Benefits of Exercise. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/benefits-of-exercise
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day of publication). Title of article. Newspaper name. URL.
Example: Robinson, S. (2021, January 22). Biden Announces New Climate Change Policies. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/22/climate/biden-climate-change-policies.html
Please note that there are two main variations of the Chicago style: the author-date system and the notes and bibliography system. I will provide examples for both systems below.
Author-Date system:
Notes and Bibliography system:
JOURNAL ARTICLES:
RESEARCH PAPERS:
NEWS ARTICLES:
Format: Author’s Last name, First initial. (Year of publication). Title of book. Publisher.
Example: Smith, J. (2008). The Art of War. Random House.
Journal article:
Format: Author’s Last name, First initial. (Year of publication). Title of article. Title of journal, volume number(issue number), page range.
Example: Brown, M. (2012). The impact of social media on business communication. Harvard Business Review, 90(12), 85-92.
Research paper:
Format: Author’s Last name, First initial. (Year of publication). Title of paper. In Editor’s First initial. Last name (Ed.), Title of book (page range). Publisher.
Example: Johnson, R. (2015). The effects of climate change on agriculture. In S. Lee (Ed.), Climate Change and Sustainable Development (pp. 45-62). Springer.
Format: Author’s Last name, First initial. (Year, Month Day of publication). Title of page. Website name. URL.
Example: Smith, J. (2017, May 23). The history of the internet. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/topic/history-of-the-internet
News article:
Format: Author’s Last name, First initial. (Year, Month Day of publication). Title of article. Title of newspaper, page number (if applicable).
Example: Thompson, E. (2022, January 5). New study finds coffee may lower risk of dementia. The New York Times, A1.
Author(s). (Year of Publication). Title of Book. Publisher.
Smith, J. K. (2015). The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business. Random House.
Journal Article:
Author(s). (Year of Publication). Title of Article. Title of Journal, Volume Number (Issue Number), page numbers.
Johnson, T. J., & Kaye, B. K. (2016). Interactivity and the Future of Journalism. Journalism Studies, 17(2), 228-246.
Author(s). (Year of Publication). Title of Paper. Paper presented at Conference Name, Location.
Jones, L. K., & Brown, M. A. (2018). The Role of Social Media in Political Campaigns. Paper presented at the 2018 International Conference on Social Media and Society, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Example: National Aeronautics and Space Administration. (2019, August 29). NASA’s Mission to Mars. NASA. https://www.nasa.gov/topics/journeytomars/index.html
Example: Johnson, M. (2022, February 16). Climate Change: Is it Too Late to Save the Planet? CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/16/world/climate-change-planet-scn/index.html
In-text citation: Use superscript numbers to cite sources in the text, e.g., “The study conducted by Smith and Johnson^1 found that…”.
Reference list citation: Format: Author(s). Title of book. Edition if any. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.
Example: Smith J, Johnson L. Introduction to Molecular Biology. 2nd ed. New York: Wiley-Blackwell; 2015.
In-text citation: Use superscript numbers to cite sources in the text, e.g., “Several studies have reported that^1,2,3…”.
Reference list citation: Format: Author(s). Title of article. Abbreviated name of journal. Year of publication; Volume number (Issue number): Page range.
Example: Jones S, Patel K, Smith J. The effects of exercise on cardiovascular health. J Cardiol. 2018; 25(2): 78-84.
In-text citation: Use superscript numbers to cite sources in the text, e.g., “Previous research has shown that^1,2,3…”.
Reference list citation: Format: Author(s). Title of paper. In: Editor(s). Title of the conference proceedings. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication. Page range.
Example: Johnson L, Smith J. The role of stem cells in tissue regeneration. In: Patel S, ed. Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Regenerative Medicine. London: Academic Press; 2016. p. 68-73.
In-text citation: Use superscript numbers to cite sources in the text, e.g., “According to the World Health Organization^1…”.
Reference list citation: Format: Author(s). Title of webpage. Name of website. URL [Accessed Date].
Example: World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) advice for the public. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public [Accessed 3 March 2023].
In-text citation: Use superscript numbers to cite sources in the text, e.g., “According to the New York Times^1…”.
Reference list citation: Format: Author(s). Title of article. Name of newspaper. Year Month Day; Section (if any): Page number.
Example: Jones S. Study shows that sleep is essential for good health. The New York Times. 2022 Jan 12; Health: A8.
Author(s). Title of Book. Edition Number (if it is not the first edition). Publisher: Place of publication, Year of publication.
Example: Smith, J. Chemistry of Natural Products. 3rd ed.; CRC Press: Boca Raton, FL, 2015.
Journal articles:
Author(s). Article Title. Journal Name Year, Volume, Inclusive Pagination.
Example: Garcia, A. M.; Jones, B. A.; Smith, J. R. Selective Synthesis of Alkenes from Alkynes via Catalytic Hydrogenation. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2019, 141, 10754-10759.
Research papers:
Author(s). Title of Paper. Journal Name Year, Volume, Inclusive Pagination.
Example: Brown, H. D.; Jackson, C. D.; Patel, S. D. A New Approach to Photovoltaic Solar Cells. J. Mater. Chem. 2018, 26, 134-142.
Author(s) (if available). Title of Webpage. Name of Website. URL (accessed Month Day, Year).
Example: National Institutes of Health. Heart Disease and Stroke. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/heart-disease-and-stroke (accessed April 7, 2023).
News articles:
Author(s). Title of Article. Name of News Publication. Date of Publication. URL (accessed Month Day, Year).
Example: Friedman, T. L. The World is Flat. New York Times. April 7, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/07/opinion/world-flat-globalization.html (accessed April 7, 2023).
In AMA Style Format, the citation for a book should include the following information, in this order:
Lodish H, Berk A, Zipursky SL, et al. Molecular Cell Biology. 4th ed. New York, NY: W. H. Freeman; 2000.
In AMA Style Format, the citation for a journal article should include the following information, in this order:
Chen H, Huang Y, Li Y, et al. Effects of mindfulness-based stress reduction on depression in adolescents and young adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(6):e207081. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.7081
In AMA Style Format, the citation for a research paper should include the following information, in this order:
Bredenoord AL, Kroes HY, Cuppen E, Parker M, van Delden JJ. Disclosure of individual genetic data to research participants: the debate reconsidered. Trends Genet. 2011;27(2):41-47. doi:10.1016/j.tig.2010.11.004
In AMA Style Format, the citation for a website should include the following information, in this order:
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. How to protect yourself and others. CDC. Published February 11, 2022. Accessed February 14, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/prevention.html
In AMA Style Format, the citation for a news article should include the following information, in this order:
Gorman J. Scientists use stem cells from frogs to build first living robots. The New York Times. January 13, 2020. Accessed January 14, 2020. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/13/science/living-robots-xenobots.html
One author: Daniel J. Solove, The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet (Yale University Press 2007).
Two or more authors: Martha Nussbaum and Saul Levmore, eds., The Offensive Internet: Speech, Privacy, and Reputation (Harvard University Press 2010).
Journal article
One author: Daniel J. Solove, “A Taxonomy of Privacy,” University of Pennsylvania Law Review 154, no. 3 (January 2006): 477-560.
Two or more authors: Ethan Katsh and Andrea Schneider, “The Emergence of Online Dispute Resolution,” Journal of Dispute Resolution 2003, no. 1 (2003): 7-19.
One author: Daniel J. Solove, “A Taxonomy of Privacy,” GWU Law School Public Law Research Paper No. 113, 2005.
Two or more authors: Ethan Katsh and Andrea Schneider, “The Emergence of Online Dispute Resolution,” Cyberlaw Research Paper Series Paper No. 00-5, 2000.
WebsiteElectronic Frontier Foundation, “Surveillance Self-Defense,” accessed April 8, 2023, https://ssd.eff.org/.
News article
One author: Mark Sherman, “Court Deals Major Blow to Net Neutrality Rules,” ABC News, January 14, 2014, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/court-deals-major-blow-net-neutrality-rules-21586820.
Two or more authors: Siobhan Hughes and Brent Kendall, “AT&T Wins Approval to Buy Time Warner,” Wall Street Journal, June 12, 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/at-t-wins-approval-to-buy-time-warner-1528847249.
In-Text Citation: (Author’s last name Year of Publication: Page Number)
Example: (Smith 2010: 35)
Reference List Citation: Author’s last name First Initial. Title of Book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.
Example: Smith J. Biology: A Textbook. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press; 2010.
Example: (Johnson 2014: 27)
Reference List Citation: Author’s last name First Initial. Title of Article. Abbreviated Title of Journal. Year of publication;Volume(Issue):Page Numbers.
Example: Johnson S. The role of dopamine in addiction. J Neurosci. 2014;34(8): 2262-2272.
Example: (Brown 2018: 10)
Reference List Citation: Author’s last name First Initial. Title of Paper. Paper presented at: Name of Conference; Date of Conference; Place of Conference.
Example: Brown R. The impact of social media on mental health. Paper presented at: Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Association; August 2018; San Francisco, CA.
Example: (World Health Organization 2020: para. 2)
Reference List Citation: Author’s last name First Initial. Title of Webpage. Name of Website. URL. Published date. Accessed date.
Example: World Health Organization. Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. WHO website. https://www.who.int/emergencies/disease-coronavirus-2019. Updated August 17, 2020. Accessed September 5, 2021.
Example: (Smith 2019: para. 5)
Reference List Citation: Author’s last name First Initial. Title of Article. Title of Newspaper or Magazine. Year of publication; Month Day:Page Numbers.
Example: Smith K. New study finds link between exercise and mental health. The New York Times. 2019;May 20: A6.
The purpose of citing sources in a research paper is to give credit to the original authors and acknowledge their contribution to your work. By citing sources, you are also demonstrating the validity and reliability of your research by showing that you have consulted credible and authoritative sources. Citations help readers to locate the original sources that you have referenced and to verify the accuracy and credibility of your research. Additionally, citing sources is important for avoiding plagiarism, which is the act of presenting someone else’s work as your own. Proper citation also shows that you have conducted a thorough literature review and have used the existing research to inform your own work. Overall, citing sources is an essential aspect of academic writing and is necessary for building credibility, demonstrating research skills, and avoiding plagiarism.
There are several advantages of research paper citation, including:
Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer
How to Use Your Sources’ Interviews or Quoted/Paraphrased Materials
Use an indirect citation when you want to cite material from someone else that is quoted or paraphrased in one of your sources.
For instance, a reporter may interview a communications coach and use direct quotes from the coach in their article. If you want to use a quote from the coach, use an indirect citation. Clearly attribute the quote to the coach (the person who said it), but then credit the author of the text (the reporter, in this example) in which you found the quote in the parenthetical citation and on the references page.
In-text Citation Example
When preparing for a meeting, Barbara Miller, a communications skills coach, recommended “writing down all the thoughts that might distract […] from listening and setting the paper aside until later” (as cited in Shellenbarger, 2014).
References Page Entry
Shellenbarger, S. (2014, July 22).Tuning in: Improving your listening skills. The Wall Street Journal . https://www.wsj.com/articles/tuning-in-how-to-listen-better-1406070727
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Properly formatting a research paper in APA or MLA style is essential for several reasons. First, it ensures that your work adheres to the academic standards required by your institution, making your paper look professional and credible. For instance, an APA style paper outlines essential components and formatting guidelines, such as the title page, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, and references, which are crucial for a professional and academically compliant presentation. Consistency in formatting helps readers easily navigate through your paper, understand the structure, and locate references.
Additionally, proper formatting demonstrates your attention to detail and respect for scholarly practices, which is crucial in academic writing. Whether using APA’s emphasis on author-date citation or MLA’s focus on page numbers for literary analysis, following the correct format enhances the clarity and authority of your research. Finally, it helps avoid plagiarism by ensuring that all sources are correctly cited, giving proper credit to the original authors and contributing to the integrity of your work. Additionally, it is crucial to format references correctly to ensure that all sources are properly cited and easily accessible to readers.
The APA style is a special format used in academic, business, and research writing for documentation of sources and publishing purposes. A research paper in APA format that you create must be presented in the latest 7th edition unless specified otherwise. Created by the American Psychological Association, hence the abbreviation, the latest manual is what we are going to reference in our APA guidelines to avoid confusion. It means that if your college professor asks for APA 7th edition, you are in the right place!
Published in October 2019, the latest edition of the writing style manual follows most rules that have been published before with a focus on simplification and readiness for publishing purposes. Speaking of research paper writing, the majority of students that use APA style format are majoring in subjects like Psychology, Sociology, Journalism, Education, Anthropology, Law, and Healthcare. Since it's relatively simple compared to Chicago, Harvard, or Turabian, it’s not hard to learn the basic rules as long as you remember the following:
There are in-text citations that you must use to provide a reference to a source mentioned in your text. The information that is required includes the author's name and the date of publication. You should also provide the page number or a section in the newspaper if such data is available.
There is a page called " References " that is placed at the end of your paper after your final conclusion part. This is exactly where you provide information (references) that list all of your sources that have been implemented in your research paper.
This question often comes up. The answer is quite simple: when you need to summarize some data, paraphrase information you discover, or quote something from another source. These citations may include it all from books in print, scientific journals, online books, articles in a newspaper, reports, surveys, statistical data, and so on. When you use a reference, the APA 7th style format requires mentioning the name of the author and the year of publication that will look this way for a single author:
(Jones, 2005)
It means that you are dealing with an author with the last name Jones and something that has been published in 2005. Alternatively, your in-text citation can look this way:
Another important notion has been explained by the concept of mutual co-existence. According to Jones (2005), who believed that authoritarian leaders can exist in peace and mutual respect, we can conclude that...
We are certain that you have seen at least one references page before as you were looking through the final part of a research article online. The References page must list all of your sources alphabetically and may include up to 20 entries for a middle-sized research assignment. A typical APA example coming from a research journal looks this way:
Berry, B., Stipe, J. M., Wahlberg, R., and Zeldman, A. S. (2021). Social Interactions in Georgia State: A an overview of American South. Journal of Social Psychology , 34, 123-136.
As you can see, we have listed the authors alphabetically and mentioned the year of publication that is followed by the name of the scientific article. The name of the journal is given in italics to specify the importance of the source. It is followed by the journal’s volume and the number of pages that have been referenced.
Note: Remember that far not all sources and references that you may encounter are suitable for a research paper. EduBirdie experts recommend talking to your course instructor first and checking things twice regarding additional requirements and formatting. Our guide will provide you with the basic instructions on how to set things up to help your research paper meet the formatting standards.
Before you learn how to write a research paper in APA format by turning to various sections of our guide, it must be mentioned that using a Word processor or Google Docs as your writing source, it is essential to create a special page layout and the relevant headers that will be mentioned in our APA guide. While you can find online templates in APA format, these are not always accurate, which is why you must check things twice by focusing on fonts, headers, margins, indents, and other important aspects!
1. Page Layout Rules
We'll start with the page layout that must be there all the time as this part of the APA 7th edition remains the same for all papers that you may encounter as a college student. Here is what you must do as you learn how to format a research paper:
Creating a document in MS Word or any other word processor of your choice, set your page margins to 1 inch on all sides of the page.
Your text must be double-spaced, including APA headings.
The APA 7th edition uses indents of the first line in every paragraph by 0.5 inches. Just press your TAB key once.
The recommended fonts for APA style format include Times New Roman (12 pt.), Arial (11 pt.), or Georgia (11 pt.). In certain cases, other fonts may be used, yet do so only after consulting your academic advisor.
Page numbers are included on every page of your document in the top right corner unless specified otherwise.
2 . Page Headers in APA 7th Edition
According to the manual, you must set your page header correctly. Every APA format research paper must provide headings that are written in upper case. Setting up your header, you must:
Click on the "Insert" tab in the MS Word toolbar.
Choose Header & Footer tab, click on Header and Blank.
The first (title) page of your APA research paper must include the left margin positioning where you type: MY RESEARCH PAPER TITLE. Of course, it's only an example and must be replaced by your actual title.
Tab once or twice to the right margin now.
Close your Header & Footer tab.
3. Page Numbering
Speaking of page numbering, use the default feature in MS Word or any other software to do so automatically. The page numbers must be placed in the top right corner and be present on all pages, including your references page. The title page in APA 7th edition should start from page number 1.
4. APA Title Page
Your title page in APA must start with the title of your paper, the name of the student or authors of the research project, and the institutional affiliation. All the lines must be centered and start in the middle of the title page. In addition to that, you must include your course number, instructor's name, and the due date of your research paper. It will look this way:
The General Electrics Sample Title Page:
Following the Engineering Principles of Electrical Circuit
Department of Engineering, Georgia State University
ENGN 222: Electrical Engineering
Dr. Michael John Stipe
October 11, 2008
5. Table of Contents
A table of contents is only necessary if you are writing a thesis paper or working on a dissertation. This section must be placed between your abstract part and the introduction. Use the same font and size as the rest of your content. The text starts at the top of your page with the word "Contents". Every entry must be centered and in bold font.
The outline in APA format follows the same rules and can be delivered as a separate document in most cases. The page margins remain the same with the page numbering starting from page one. The structure of a page (usually one page only) should include an introduction that mentions the main background points and your thesis, the main body with the elements that support your research thesis statement, and a short conclusion that makes your final take on things or your position clear.
Note : There are no headers or anything specific for an outline. You may copy the main paper's header by adding the word "OUTLINE".
7. Abstract
Your abstract must appear on a separate page after your research paper's title page. It means that it should be numbered as page 2. Write "Abstract" in bold title case and center it at the top of your page. The abstract itself comes as the next paragraph with the 0.5 inches indent. The length of your abstract should be no longer than 250 words. You may write it down in a single paragraph or use a different kind of structure.
As you write, focus on the requirements that you want to achieve scientifically, consider your target audience as you explain your methodology and the problem that you are planning to explore. Describe your results and provide a brief conclusion to your work exactly as it would be done in a book’s review.
8. Body Parts
It does not matter if you are working on an essay or a complex research paper, APA style format does not mention any specific rules that must be used. Therefore, you should refer to your paper type. The majority of research papers should include an introduction with the list of research objectives (see research paper introduction example ), three to five body paragraphs that explain and support your arguments, and the conclusion part where you sum things up.
The body parts should start with the most important argument that speaks of your thesis and provides analytical information.
The second paragraph of the body in the APA research paper should implement statistical data, which is also considered as a reference. This is where you can use citations and refer to certain publications. Such an approach will help you to avoid plagiarism risks.
The last paragraph should provide alternative opinions and provide counter-arguments where additional citations, graphics, and multimedia sources can be added.
9. Conclusion
The APA manual mentions that your conclusion part should not use any citation elements in the final section and avoid introducing any new ideas. Keep this fact in mind and make sure that you leave suggestions and an overall review of your research paper.
Note: If you have any additional information that you refer to in your previous paragraphs, certain recommendations can be added as a research paper appendix section after your references page, yet always ask your academic advisor to ensure that it is applicable.
10. References Page
Start your References page by placing the word "References" at the top of the document’s layout. It must be centered and placed one inch down. Do not use capitalization, bold fonts, or italics.
All of your citations (references) must be double spaced and should have no additional lines in between.
If your reference goes past the first line, create a hanging indent by using tabulation.
Your references in APA 7th edition style are placed in alphabetical order.
If your reference does not start with the author, these are placed at the start of your paper, according to ABC.
Basic citation rules in apa.
Let us imagine a situation when you need to cite a book in print for your research paper in APA style format. It will require the following information:
Author or authors of the book. The surname is always followed by the person’s initials.
The Year of publication of the book comes next in round brackets.
The book title is always placed in italics. Only the first letter of the first word in titles should be capitalized.
Edition (if available) also comes in round brackets. If the book represents the first edition, this part is not necessary.
DOI. It is necessary to include it (if available) for both online and print versions.
The second line of your citation in a References page must be indented per about 5 spaces.
For example:
Fisher, J.V. (2006). Teenage Violence: How do video games affect the modern youth? . Penguin Books.
For a journal article citation, provide the following information:
Author or authors of the article. The surname is always followed by the person’s initials.
The year of publication of the journal comes next in round brackets.
Journal title must be in italics.
Provide volume of journal (in italics).
Add an issue number of a journal in round brackets (no italics are necessary here).
Page range of article (if available).
Provide DOI or URL
Braxton, T. (2005). Asian Cuisine: A study of health benefits. Modern Health Care, 11(4), 34-36. https://doi.org/
The rule of abbreviations in a research paper states that there should be at least three times when a certain abbreviation is used. If your abbreviation is only met once, it’s necessary to provide a complete spelling of your phrase each time you implement it for your assignment. When using APA style for research purposes, the use of abbreviation within headings is not necessary. Remember to provide a full term the first time you use an abbreviation by adding the abbreviated form in parentheses. APA 7th edition manual states that these must be used only when they help to provide a better kind of communication with your target audience.
Turning to the latest APA style format manual, we can learn that one must use numerals to express numbers going from ten and above as numbers (12, 34, 721, and so on). When you have to use numbers up to ten, these are written in words such as "three positions", "two authors", "seven Chinese brothers", etc.
The rules also state that one must use commas between certain groups of three digits as you work with the figures. For example:
As over 2,000 people have participated in a meeting...
Speaking of punctuation rules, the use of commas, periods, question marks, and exclamation cases must be put inside your quote marks. As for the rest of the punctuation marks, they go beyond your quotation.
Note: When you are planning to use a direct quote that is more than forty words, the block quotations are used with the indent.
Looking through the modern research paper APA format example, you will notice that there are frequent multimedia examples with the use of graphics. The use of graphics is permissible. Further research could explore the impact of multimedia on the readability of research papers.
If you are planning to use artwork from a museum in an online form, it looks this way:
Artist Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial. (Year). Title of the artwork [Format]. Location. URL
If there is a stock image:
Author. (Year). Title of image [format]. Website. URL
An image with no author or date would be resolved to this:
[Subject and type of work]. (n.d.). Your image’s URL.
Composing APA style research paper correctly, you must understand that such type of writing is not the same thing as the term paper or a simple essay that you do for college. It's not the same as a reflection paper either. You must provide research findings. It means that you should provide your writer's voice but do so in a limited way by focusing on methodology and an explanation of what you discover. Depending on your requirements and the grading rubric, you may have to provide 2-3 citations per page of your research as a way to support your arguments and reference at least one important publication that is dealing with your subject.
As you compose your research paper in the APA style format, make sure that you follow these simple academic writing tips:
Research tone must be present. It means that your research paper should not use the first person unless asked to. The general APA writing style manual recommends using "This study has been conducted by" phrases instead.
It’s recommended to avoid any personal information where you describe your experience. Don’t make the paper sound like a personal statement piece of writing. Your research assignment must synthesize various publications by comparing, contrasting, and finding similarities as you write.
APA 7th style manual asks to use the past tense, which means that you should say that your research paper has shown instead of using " shows ". There may be certain exceptions if you are turning to a certain timeline.
The use of contractions must be limited. It means that you should say " It does not result in " instead of " it doesn't result in ".
Your writing should stay honest and clear without specific bias. Your purpose is to research things without racial, sexual, religious, or gender discrimination.
The use of sources must be implemented correctly without turning your paper into a collection of sources.
Following these simple rules, you will be able to stay within the basic guidelines and follow the rules of APA-style writing. As always, there may be exceptions to every rule, which is why you must talk to your instructor in case of any doubts. Your college or university will always have a final say.
Writing a paper in APA format, one must remember the rules of bias-free language that are also mentioned in the APA 7th manual for research writing. The purpose is to use gender-neutral pronouns and strive for the avoidance of prejudicial beliefs or specific demeaning aspects that may appear as a negative attitude in your research writing. Therefore, when dealing with a sensitive subject, proofread your text twice and talk to your academic advisor before submitting your work. It will help us all create sincere and bias-free research works that follow the rules of mutual respect, multiculturalism, and democracy.
MLA stands for Modern Language Association and is currently in its 9th edition , which has been published in 2021. In simple terms, MLA style formatting is a special system of referencing and structuring research papers. The main purpose is to cite sources correctly and keep your research writing always accurate. By learning how to write a research paper in MLA format, you will be able to submit your college homework according to specified rules and will avoid confusion. You will also learn how to format and structure the list of bibliography references for a research or essay paper by using the Works Cited page. It is another essential aspect of MLA style format. It is also essential to format references correctly to ensure that all sources are properly cited and easily accessible to readers.
MLA style format aims to help your college professor and the target audience to navigate through your paper by turning to various in-text citations with an opportunity to see where information has been taken. Since MLA has specific standards, your academic advisor will check whether you have followed the rules and used the same format, font sizes, headers, and other aspects that make research writing universal.
What is MLA format then? The MLA style is mostly used by college students majoring in English, Literature, social sciences, arts, and humanities. One can assume that MLA style format is one of the most accessible writing standards, which is why it is often required during an introductory course where students learn how to structure their papers and keep information properly referenced.
When you are looking for reliable sources online, it will be easy to recognize the use of MLA format because of the famous MLA header that is always included on the first page where you must mention your full name, instructor’s name, your course, and the date. It is also necessary to use page formatting with your last name on each page, which also helps to determine that an MLA format has been used. We shall discuss this aspect further on as you proceed with our guide.
If you are already familiar with at least one other academic writing format, you will already know the basics and it will be easier for you to process the information in MLA style. The majority of formats of research paper writing stand for the general rules on how to structure your page layout and a list of rules regarding correct citation. The most important is to start with the MLA header, which will look this way:
Adam Greeley
Professor Smith
Humanities 7311
14 May 2022
This header is always placed at the top left corner of the first page (no title page is required in most cases!) with the page number and your name aligned to the top right of the page. It will look this way:
The other rules on how to write a MLA research paper include:
The recommended fonts include Times New Roman, Arial, or Verdana in 12 pt size.
All the margins of the page in MS Word or a similar processor should be set at 1 inch.
The main content is double-spaced unless specified otherwise.
The MLA header is included only on the first page of your research paper.
The title of your work must be centered.
Every new research paper paragraph should have a hanging indent.
The MLA style uses the author-page citation pattern where you should list the author’s last name with the page number.
The Bibliography page has the “Works Cited” title at the top and center of the first page with your citations.
The sources are listed alphabetically.
Do not place a period after the title or headers.
Do not underline words unless it’s necessary.
Additionally, it is crucial to format references correctly to ensure that all sources are properly cited and easily accessible to readers.
It is recommended to use the rules of inclusive language, according to the latest manual edition of the MLA style. It means that you must avoid certain terms that focus on ethnic peculiarities, religion, gender, disability, age, or social challenges unless it is absolutely necessary. You can also use words like “human-made” to specify gender-neutral aspects.
One of the most important parts of writing a research paper successfully is following the correct structure that is specified by the chosen writing style. Here are the MLA research paper format parts that you should consider:
Furthermore, it is essential to format references correctly to ensure that all sources are properly cited and easily accessible to readers.
It should have your university's name on top of the page, then the title of your research paper at the center of the page, and at the bottom of the page: your name, course name, professor's name, and the paper's due date (all centered).
The main heading should include your name, instructor's name, relevant class information, and the paper's delivery date.
The other MLA page headings:
First Level Heading.
Your text
Second Level Heading.
Third Level Heading
Fourth Level Heading
Fifth Level Heading
Title of the page (centered)
1. Introduction
Talk about the importance of your subject.
An interesting topic sentence.
2. Thesis Statement
3. Body Paragraphs
Methodology.
Research Justification.
Research Findings.
4. Research Discussion
5. Conclusion
Thesis explanation.
Talk about the importance of your research and use a strong thesis statement. Research paper MLA style guidebook recommends allocating about 10% of your final word count to this part.
This is where you must use in-text citations to support your arguments. Always introduce the subject that you want to explore, make a claim, and use citing only then to make it suitable.
The classic in-text citation will look this way:
According to Darren Smith, “certain peculiarities have been noticed in Shakespeare’s perception of time and death” (9).
The majority of references to youth and the fragility help to understand how age has been limited by social circumstances (Smith 11).
Works Cited Page.
If you already know how to format your Bibliography, it is essential to look for complete information and provide as much as you can. If you are citing from a poetry book or an analysis paper that has been published:
Last Name, First Name of the author. “Title of your research paper.” Title of Collection , edited by Editor’s Name(s), Publisher, Year, page range of the data you have used.
Research paper MLA style Works Cited page example:
Stanley, Lace. “Shakespeare’s Psychology.” The Collected Classic English Poems, edited by John Langsley, Penguin Books, 2006, p.26. Only the first letter of the first word of both the chapter title and the book title should be capitalized.
Citing something from Jstor scientific database:
Author’s Last Name, First Name. “Title.” Title of Scientific Journal , vol. Volume, no. Issue, Month Year of publication, pp. Pages, https://doi.org/DOI , or any relevant identifier.
Enciso, Patricia, et al. “Children’s Literature: Standing in the Shadow of Adults.” Reading Research Quarterly , vol. 45, no. 2, 2010, pp. 252–63. JSTOR , http://www.jstor.org/stable/20697185 . Accessed 20 Jun. 2022.
Regardless of whether you are using MLA format or would like to learn how to use different styles, your research paper should have an introduction, a review of the literature that you have used, the methodology that has been chosen, the results of your research, and a discussion of the findings, or you can simply pay someone to write my paper. You may also be limited by an introduction with a thesis statement, body parts with the arguments, and the conclusion part where you talk about the findings. It will always depend on your subject and research paper type.
Contrary to the popular belief, research paper writing in MLA format is not too difficult if you know the basic rules. If you plan to learn how to write a research paper in APA format, you will feel even more confident because you will be able to differentiate the styles. As a way to help you with your research writing, we have collected these simple MLA formatting for research paper tips:
Always start with the sources and check for Bibliography pages that may be included.
Use only verified sources and look for databases like Google Scholar, Jstor, PubMed, etc.
Always introduce your subject and talk about its importance.
Do not overuse citations in your research paper.
Numerous college students often ask about the purpose of correct research formatting, be it MLA, APA, Chicago, or any other format. Formatting a research paper in MLA and APA formats can be time-consuming and intricate, leading many students to seek professionals who write essays for money to ensure their papers meet all formatting guidelines and academic standards. In addition to structuring things according to academic standards, the most important aspect of staying accurate as you research is to provide correct structure and citations if you use any external sources. It will help you to prepare your writing for publishing purposes and let you avoid plagiarism issues. It is the main purpose of correct research paper formatting. Moreover, it is essential to format references correctly to ensure that all sources are properly cited and easily accessible to readers. This guide contains the main rules that provide a checklist that will help you stay safe and follow all the essential rules.
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Steven Robinson is an academic writing expert with a degree in English literature. His expertise, patient approach, and support empower students to express ideas clearly. On EduBirdie's blog, he provides valuable writing guides on essays, research papers, and other intriguing topics. Enjoys chess in free time.
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How do the representatives of small and micro restaurants perceive food waste in their own restaurant empirical evidence from the netherlands.
2. materials and methods, 2.1. food waste at restaurants: literature review, 2.2. bridge from theory to practice, 2.3. fieldwork, 2.4. collected data, 4. discussion, 5. conclusions, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest.
Number of Respondents | % | |
---|---|---|
Gender | ||
Female | 107 | 53.5 |
Male | 93 | 46.5 |
All | 200 | 100 |
Education | ||
Higher education | 107 | 55.7 |
Lower education | 85 | 44.3 |
All | 192 | 100 |
Role within the restaurant | ||
Owner–managers | 97 | 49.5 |
Directors/managers | 65 | 32.5 |
Restaurant chefs | 36 | 18.0 |
All | 198 | 100 |
Number of Respondents | % | |
---|---|---|
Type of restaurant | ||
Casual dining | 112 | 56.0 |
Fine dining | 51 | 25.5 |
Fast food | 37 | 18.5 |
All | 200 | 100 |
Location | ||
Amsterdam | 105 | 52.5 |
Elsewhere in the western Netherlands | 95 | 47.5 |
All | 200 | 100 |
Percentage Food Waste | Number of Respondents | % |
---|---|---|
0–10% | 93 | 49.7 |
10–20% | 40 | 21.4 |
20–30% | 43 | 23.0 |
30–40% | 8 | 4.3 |
40–50% | 2 | 1.1 |
60–70% | 1 | 0.5 |
All | 187 | 100 |
Average Score | Standard Deviation | Minimum Score | Maximum Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
General problem | 3.1 | 1.1 | 1 | 5 |
Financial problem | 2.6 | 1.0 | 1 | 5 |
Social problem | 2.7 | 1.1 | 1 | 5 |
Environmental problem | 3.3 | 1.1 | 1 | 5 |
Variable | Beta | T Value | Significance |
---|---|---|---|
Constant | 2.670 | 13.660 | <0.001 *** |
Respondent | |||
Age (years) | −0.306 | −2.329 | 0.021 ** |
Gender (female = 0; male = 1) | 0.53 | 0.460 | 0.646 |
Education (low = 0; high = 1) | −0.088 | −0.768 | 0.443 |
Function (active owners = 0; others = 1) | 0.327 | 2.768 | 0.006 ** |
Restaurant | |||
Location (Amsterdam = 0; elsewhere = 1) | 0.160 | 1.315 | 0.190 |
Type (casual dining = 0; other = 1) | 0.167 | 1.380 | 0.169 |
Employees (number) | 0.014 | 2.068 | 0.04 ** |
Age (years) | −0.001 | −0.130 | 0.897 |
Actual percentage of food waste | 0.273 | 4.688 | <0.001 *** |
Average Score | Standard Deviation | Minimum Score | Maximum Score | |
---|---|---|---|---|
The respondent does not know how to combat food waste. | 2.30 | 0.97 | 1 | 5 |
The employees do not know how to combat food waste. | 2.41 | 0.90 | 1 | 5 |
The business environment does not know how to combat food waste. | 2.54 | 0.92 | 1 | 5 |
Variable | Beta | T Value | Significance |
---|---|---|---|
Constant | 2.164 | 12.627 | <0.001 |
Respondent | |||
Age (years) | −0.130 | −1.131 | 0.260 |
Gender (female = 0; male = 1) | 0.016 | 0.156 | 0.876 |
Education (low = 0; high = 1) | −0.008 | −0.079 | 0.937 |
Function (active owner = 0; Other = 1) | 0.081 | 0.782 | 0.435 |
Restaurant | |||
Location (Amsterdam = 0; elsewhere = 1) | 0.140 | 1.318 | 0.189 |
Type (casual dining = 0; other = 1) | 0.122 | 1.147 | 0.253 |
Employees (number) | 0.001 | 0.193 | 0.847 |
Age (years) | −0.002 | −0.307 | 0.760 |
Actual percentage of food waste | 0.251 | 4.909 | <0.001 *** |
The statements, opinions and data contained in all publications are solely those of the individual author(s) and contributor(s) and not of MDPI and/or the editor(s). MDPI and/or the editor(s) disclaim responsibility for any injury to people or property resulting from any ideas, methods, instructions or products referred to in the content. |
Masurel, E.; van Montfort, K.; Nederhorst, A. How Do the Representatives of Small and Micro Restaurants Perceive Food Waste in Their Own Restaurant? Empirical Evidence from The Netherlands. Sustainability 2024 , 16 , 7820. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177820
Masurel E, van Montfort K, Nederhorst A. How Do the Representatives of Small and Micro Restaurants Perceive Food Waste in Their Own Restaurant? Empirical Evidence from The Netherlands. Sustainability . 2024; 16(17):7820. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177820
Masurel, Enno, Kees van Montfort, and Anne Nederhorst. 2024. "How Do the Representatives of Small and Micro Restaurants Perceive Food Waste in Their Own Restaurant? Empirical Evidence from The Netherlands" Sustainability 16, no. 17: 7820. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177820
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Objectives This cohort study reported descriptive statistics in athletes engaged in Summer and Winter Olympic sports who sustained a sport-related concussion (SRC) and assessed the impact of access to multidisciplinary care and injury modifiers on recovery.
Methods 133 athletes formed two subgroups treated in a Canadian sport institute medical clinic: earlier (≤7 days) and late (≥8 days) access. Descriptive sample characteristics were reported and unrestricted return to sport (RTS) was evaluated based on access groups as well as injury modifiers. Correlations were assessed between time to RTS, history of concussions, the number of specialist consults and initial symptoms.
Results 160 SRC (median age 19.1 years; female=86 (54%); male=74 (46%)) were observed with a median (IQR) RTS duration of 34.0 (21.0–63.0) days. Median days to care access was different in the early (1; n SRC =77) and late (20; n SRC =83) groups, resulting in median (IQR) RTS duration of 26.0 (17.0–38.5) and 45.0 (27.5–84.5) days, respectively (p<0.001). Initial symptoms displayed a meaningful correlation with prognosis in this study (p<0.05), and female athletes (52 days (95% CI 42 to 101)) had longer recovery trajectories than male athletes (39 days (95% CI 31 to 65)) in the late access group (p<0.05).
Conclusions Olympic athletes in this cohort experienced an RTS time frame of about a month, partly due to limited access to multidisciplinary care and resources. Earlier access to care shortened the RTS delay. Greater initial symptoms and female sex in the late access group were meaningful modifiers of a longer RTS.
Data are available on reasonable request. Due to the confidential nature of the dataset, it will be shared through a controlled access repository and made available on specific and reasonable requests.
https://doi.org/10.1136/bjsports-2024-108211
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Most data regarding the impact of sport-related concussion (SRC) guidelines on return to sport (RTS) are derived from collegiate or recreational athletes. In these groups, time to RTS has steadily increased in the literature since 2005, coinciding with the evolution of RTS guidelines. However, current evidence suggests that earlier access to care may accelerate recovery and RTS time frames.
This study reports epidemiological data on the occurrence of SRC in athletes from several Summer and Winter Olympic sports with either early or late access to multidisciplinary care. We found the median time to RTS for Olympic athletes with an SRC was 34.0 days which is longer than that reported in other athletic groups such as professional or collegiate athletes. Time to RTS was reduced by prompt access to multidisciplinary care following SRC, and sex-influenced recovery in the late access group with female athletes having a longer RTS timeline. Greater initial symptoms, but not prior concussion history, were also associated with a longer time to RTS.
Considerable differences exist in access to care for athletes engaged in Olympic sports, which impact their recovery. In this cohort, several concussions occurred during international competitions where athletes are confronted with poor access to organised healthcare. Pathways for prompt access to multidisciplinary care should be considered by healthcare authorities, especially for athletes who travel internationally and may not have the guidance or financial resources to access recommended care.
After two decades of consensus statements, sport-related concussion (SRC) remains a high focus of research, with incidence ranging from 0.1 to 21.5 SRC per 1000 athlete exposures, varying according to age, sex, sport and level of competition. 1 2 Evidence-based guidelines have been proposed by experts to improve its identification and management, such as those from the Concussion in Sport Group. 3 Notably, they recommend specific strategies to improve SRC detection and monitoring such as immediate removal, 4 prompt access to healthcare providers, 5 evidence-based interventions 6 and multidisciplinary team approaches. 7 It is believed that these guidelines contribute to improving the early identification and management of athletes with an SRC, thereby potentially mitigating its long-term consequences.
Nevertheless, evidence regarding the impact of SRC guidelines implementation remains remarkably limited, especially within high-performance sport domains. In fact, most reported SRC data focus on adolescent student-athletes, collegiate and sometimes professional athletes in the USA but often neglect Olympians. 1 2 8–11 Athletes engaged in Olympic sports, often referred to as elite amateurs, are typically classified among the highest performers in elite sport, alongside professional athletes. 12 13 They train year-round and uniquely compete regularly on the international stage in sports that often lack professional leagues and rely on highly variable resources and facilities, mostly dependent on winning medals. 14 Unlike professional athletes, Olympians do not have access to large financial rewards. Although some Olympians work or study in addition to their intensive sports practice, they can devote more time to full-time sports practice compared with collegiate athletes. Competition calendars in Olympians differ from collegiate athletes, with periodic international competitions (eg, World Cups, World Championships) throughout the whole year rather than regular domestic competitions within a shorter season (eg, semester). Olympians outclass most collegiate athletes, and only the best collegiate athletes will have the chance to become Olympians and/or professionals. 12 13 15 In Canada, a primary reason for limited SRC data in Olympic sports is that the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sports Institute (COPSI) network only adopted official guidelines in 2018 to standardise care for athletes’ SRC nationwide. 16 17 The second reason could be the absence of a centralised medical structure and surveillance systems, identified as key factors contributing to the under-reporting and underdiagnosis of athletes with an SRC. 18
Among the available evidence on the evolution of SRC management, a 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis in athletic populations including children, adolescents and adults indicated that a full return to sport (RTS) could take up to a month but is estimated to require 19.8 days on average (15.4 days in adults), as opposed to the initial expectation of approximately 10.0 days based on studies published prior to 2005. 19 In comparison, studies focusing strictly on American collegiate athletes report median times to RTS of 16 days. 9 20 21 Notably, a recent study of military cadets reported an even longer return to duty times of 29.4 days on average, attributed to poorer access to care and fewer incentives to return to play compared with elite sports. 22 In addition, several modifiers have also been identified as influencing the time to RTS, such as the history of concussions, type of sport, sex, past medical problems (eg, preinjury modifiers), as well as the initial number of symptoms and their severity (eg, postinjury modifiers). 20 22 The evidence regarding the potential influence of sex on the time to RTS has yielded mixed findings in this area. 23–25 In fact, females are typically under-represented in SRC research, highlighting the need for additional studies that incorporate more balanced sample representation across sexes and control for known sources of bias. 26 Interestingly, a recent Concussion Assessment, Research and Education Consortium study, which included a high representation of concussed female athletes (615 out of 1071 patients), revealed no meaningful differences in RTS between females and males (13.5 and 11.8 days, respectively). 27 Importantly, findings in the sporting population suggested that earlier initiation of clinical care is linked to shorter recovery after concussion. 5 28 However, these factors affecting the time to RTS require a more thorough investigation, especially among athletes engaged in Olympic sports who may or may not have equal access to prompt, high-quality care.
Therefore, the primary objective of this study was to provide descriptive statistics among athletes with SRC engaged in both Summer and Winter Olympic sport programmes over a quadrennial, and to assess the influence of recommended guidelines of the COPSI network and the fifth International Consensus Conference on Concussion in Sport on the duration of RTS performance. 16 17 Building on available evidence, the international schedule constraints, variability in resources 14 and high-performance expectation among this elite population, 22 prolonged durations for RTS, compared with what is typically reported (eg, 16.0 or 15.4 days), were hypothesised in Olympians. 3 19 The secondary objective was to more specifically evaluate the impact of access to multidisciplinary care and injury modifiers on the time to RTS. Based on current evidence, 5 7 29 30 the hypothesis was formulated that athletes with earlier multidisciplinary access would experience a faster RTS. Regarding injury modifiers, it was expected that female and male athletes would show similar time to RTS despite presenting sex-specific characteristics of SRC. 31 The history of concussions, the severity of initial symptoms and the number of specialist consults were expected to be positively correlated to the time to RTS. 20 32
A total of 133 athletes (F=72; M=61; mean age±SD: 20.7±4.9 years old) who received medical care at the Institut national du sport du Québec, a COPSI training centre set up with a medical clinic, were included in this cohort study with retrospective analysis. They participated in 23 different Summer and Winter Olympic sports which were classified into six categories: team (soccer, water polo), middle distance/power (rowing, swimming), speed/strength (alpine skiing, para alpine skiing, short and long track speed skating), precision/skill-dependent (artistic swimming, diving, equestrian, figure skating, gymnastics, skateboard, synchronised skating, trampoline) and combat/weight-making (boxing, fencing, judo, para judo, karate, para taekwondo, wrestling) sports. 13 This sample consists of two distinct groups: (1) early access group in which athletes had access to a medical integrated support team of multidisciplinary experts within 7 days following their SRC and (2) late access group composed of athletes who had access to a medical integrated support team of multidisciplinary experts eight or more days following their SRC. 5 30 Inclusion criteria for the study were participation in a national or international-level sports programme 13 and having sustained at least one SRC diagnosed by an authorised healthcare practitioner (eg, physician and/or physiotherapist).
The institute clinic provides multidisciplinary services for care of patients with SRC including a broad range of recommended tests for concussion monitoring ( table 1 ). The typical pathway for the athletes consisted of an initial visit to either a sports medicine physician or their team sports therapist. A clinical diagnosis of SRC was then confirmed by a sports medicine physician, and referral for the required multidisciplinary assessments ensued based on the patient’s signs and symptoms. Rehabilitation progression was based on the evaluation of exercise tolerance, 33 priority to return to cognitive tasks and additional targeted support based on clinical findings of a cervical, visual or vestibular nature. 17 The expert team worked in an integrated manner with the athlete and their coaching staff for the rehabilitation phase, including regular round tables and ongoing communication. 34 For some athletes, access to recommended care was fee based, without a priori agreements with a third party payer (eg, National Sports Federation).
Main evaluations performed to guide the return to sport following sport-related concussion
Data were collected at the medical clinic using a standardised injury surveillance form based on International Olympic Committee guidelines. 35 All injury characteristics were extracted from the central injury database between 1 July 2018 and 31 July 2022. This period corresponds to a Winter Olympic sports quadrennial but also covers 3 years for Summer Olympic sports due to the postponing of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Therefore, the observation period includes a typical volume of competitions across sports and minimises differences in exposure based on major sports competition schedules. The information extracted from the database included: participant ID, sex, date of birth, sport, date of injury, type of injury, date of their visit at the clinic, clearance date of unrestricted RTS (eg, defined as step 6 of the RTS strategy with a return to normal gameplay including competitions), the number and type of specialist consults, mechanism of injury (eg, fall, hit), environment where the injury took place (eg, training, competition), history of concussions, history of modifiers (eg, previous head injury, migraines, learning disability, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, depression, anxiety, psychotic disorder), as well as the number of symptoms and the total severity score from the first Sport Concussion Assessment Tool 5 (SCAT5) assessment following SRC. 17
Following a Shapiro-Wilk test, medians, IQR and non-parametric tests were used for the analyses because of the absence of normal distributions for all the variables in the dataset (all p<0.001). The skewness was introduced by the presence of individuals that required lengthy recovery periods. One participant was removed from the analysis because their time to consult with the multidisciplinary team was extremely delayed (>1 year).
Descriptive statistics were used to describe the participant’s demographics, SRC characteristics and risk factors in the total sample. Estimated incidences of SRC were also reported for seven resident sports at the institute for which it was possible to quantify a detailed estimate of training volume based on the annual number of training and competition hours as well as the number of athletes in each sport.
To assess if access to multidisciplinary care modified the time to RTS, we compared time to RTS between early and late access groups using a method based on median differences described elsewhere. 36 Wilcoxon rank sum tests were also performed to make between-group comparisons on single variables of age, time to first consult, the number of specialists consulted and medical visits. Fisher’s exact tests were used to compare count data between groups on variables of sex, history of concussion, time since the previous concussion, presence of injury modifiers, environment and mechanism of injury. Bonferroni corrections were applied for multiple comparisons in case of meaningful differences.
To assess if injury modifiers modified time to RTS in the total sample, we compared time to RTS between sexes, history of concussions, time since previous concussion or other injury modifiers using a method based on median differences described elsewhere. 36 Kaplan-Meier curves were drawn to illustrate time to RTS differences between sexes (origin and start time: date of injury; end time: clearance date of unrestricted RTS). Trajectories were then assessed for statistical differences using Cox proportional hazards model. Wilcoxon rank sum tests were employed for comparing the total number of symptoms and severity scores on the SCAT5. The association of multilevel variables on return to play duration was evaluated in the total sample with Kruskal-Wallis rank tests for environment, mechanism of injury, history of concussions and time since previous concussion. For all subsequent analyses of correlations between SCAT5 results and secondary variables, only data obtained from SCAT5 assessments within the acute phase of injury (≤72 hours) were considered (n=65 SRC episodes in the early access group). 37 Spearman rank correlations were estimated between RTS duration, history of concussions, number of specialist consults and total number of SCAT5 symptoms or total symptom severity. All statistical tests were performed using RStudio (R V.4.1.0, The R Foundation for Statistical Computing). The significance level was set to p<0.05.
The study population is representative of the Canadian athletic population in terms of age, gender, demographics and includes a balanced representation of female and male athletes. The study team consists of investigators from different disciplines and countries, but with a predominantly white composition and under-representation of other ethnic groups. Our study population encompasses data from the Institut national du sport du Québec, covering individuals of all genders, ethnicities and geographical regions across Canada.
The patients or the public were not involved in the design, conduct, reporting or dissemination plans of our research.
During the 4-year period covered by this retrospective chart review, a total of 160 SRC episodes were recorded in 132 athletes with a median (IQR) age of 19.1 (17.8–22.2) years old ( table 2 ). 13 female and 10 male athletes had multiple SRC episodes during this time. The sample had a relatively balanced number of females (53.8%) and males (46.2%) with SRC included. 60% of the sample reported a history of concussion, with 35.0% reporting having experienced more than two episodes. However, most of these concussions had occurred more than 1 year before the SRC for which they were being treated. Within this sample, 33.1% of participants reported a history of injury modifiers. Importantly, the median (IQR) time to first clinic consult was 10.0 (1.0–20.0) days and the median (IQR) time to RTS was 34.0 (21.0–63.0) days in this sample ( table 3 ). The majority of SRCs occurred during training (56.3%) rather than competition (33.1%) and were mainly due to a fall (63.7%) or a hit (31.3%). The median (IQR) number of follow-up consultations and specialists consulted after the SRC were, respectively, 9 (5.0–14.3) and 3 (2.0–4.0).
Participants demographics
Sport-related concussion characteristics
Among seven sports of the total sample (n=89 SRC), the estimated incidence of athletes with SRC was highest in short-track speed skating (0.47/1000 hours; 95% CI 0.3 to 0.6), and lower in boxing, trampoline, water polo, judo, artistic swimming, and diving (0.24 (95% CI 0.0 to 0.5), 0.16 (95% CI 0.0 to 0.5), 0.13 (95% CI 0.1 to 0.2), 0.11 (95% CI 0.1 to 0.2), 0.09 (95% CI 0.0 to 0.2) and 0.06 (95% CI 0.0 to 0.1)/1000, respectively ( online supplemental material ). Furthermore, most athletes sustained an SRC in training (66.5%; 95% CI 41.0 to 92.0) rather than competition (26.0%; 95% CI 0.0 to 55.0) except for judo athletes (20.0% (95% CI 4.1 to 62.0) and 80.0% (95% CI 38.0 to 96.0), respectively). Falls were the most common injury mechanism in speed skating, trampoline and judo while hits were the most common injury mechanism in boxing, water polo, artistic swimming and diving.
Access to care.
The median difference in time to RTS was 19 days (95% CI 9.3 to 28.7; p<0.001) between the early (26 (IQR 17.0–38.5) days) and late (45 (IQR 27.5–84.5) days) access groups ( table 3 ; figure 1 ). Importantly, the distribution of SRC environments was different between both groups (p=0.008). The post hoc analysis demonstrated a meaningful difference in the distribution of SRC in training and competition environments between groups (p=0.029) but not for the other comparisons. There was a meaningful difference between the groups in time to first consult (p<0.001; 95% CI −23.0 to −15.0), but no meaningful differences between groups in median age (p=0.176; 95% CI −0.3 to 1.6), sex distribution (p=0.341; 95% CI 0.7 to 2.8), concussion history (p=0.210), time since last concussion (p=0.866), mechanisms of SRC (p=0.412), the presence of modifiers (p=0.313; 95% CI 0.3 to 1.4) and the number of consulted specialists (p=0.368; 95% CI −5.4 to 1.0) or medical visits (p=0.162; 95% CI −1.0 to 3.0).
Time to return to sport following sport-related concussion as a function of group’s access to care and sex. Outliers: below=Q1−1.5×IQR; above=Q3+1.5×IQR.
The median difference in time to RTS was 6.5 days (95% CI −19.3 to 5.3; p=0.263; figure 1 ) between female (37.5 (IQR 22.0–65.3) days) and male (31.0 (IQR 20.0–48.0) days) athletes. Survival analyses highlighted an increased hazard of longer recovery trajectory in female compared with male athletes (HR 1.4; 95% CI 1.4 to 0.7; p=0.052; figure 2A ), which was mainly driven by the late (HR 1.8; 95% CI 1.8 to 0.6; p=0.019; figure 2C ) rather than the early (HR 1.1; 95% CI 1.1 to 0.9; p=0.700; figure 2B ) access group. Interestingly, a greater number of female athletes (n=15) required longer than 100 days for RTS as opposed to the male athletes (n=6). There were no meaningful differences between sexes for the total number of symptoms recorded on the SCAT5 (p=0.539; 95% CI −1.0 to 2.0) nor the total symptoms total severity score (p=0.989; 95% CI −5.0 to 5.0).
Time analysis of sex differences in the time to return to sport following sport-related concussion in the (A) total sample, as well as (B) early, and (C) late groups using survival curves with 95% confidence bands and tables of time-specific number of patients at risk (censoring proportion: 0%).
SRC modifiers are presented in table 2 , and their influence on RTP is shown in table 4 . The median difference in time to RTS was 1.5 days (95% CI −10.6 to 13.6; p=0.807) between athletes with none and one episode of previous concussion, was 3.5 days (95% CI −13.9 to 19.9; p=0.728) between athletes with none and two or more episodes of previous concussion, and was 2 days (95% CI −12.4 to 15.4; p=0.832) between athletes with one and two or more episodes of previous concussion. The history of concussions (none, one, two or more) had no meaningful impact on the time to RTS (p=0.471). The median difference in time to RTS was 4.5 days (95% CI −21.0 to 30.0; p=0.729) between athletes with none and one episode of concussion in the previous year, was 2 days (95% CI −10.0 to 14.0; p=0.744) between athletes with none and one episode of concussion more than 1 year ago, and was 2.5 days (95% CI −27.7 to 22.7; p=0.846) between athletes with an episode of concussion in the previous year and more than 1 year ago. Time since the most recent concussion did not change the time to RTS (p=0.740). The longest time to RTS was observed in the late access group in which athletes had a concussion in the previous year, with a very large spread of durations (65.0 (IQR 33.0–116.5) days). The median difference in time to RTS was 3 days (95% CI −13.1 to 7.1; p=0.561) between athletes with and without other injury modifiers. The history of other injury modifiers had no meaningful influence on the time to RTS (95% CI −6.0 to 11.0; p=0.579).
Preinjury modifiers of time to return to sport following SRC
Positive associations were observed between the time to RTS and the number of initial symptoms (r=0.3; p=0.010; 95% CI 0.1 to 0.5) or initial severity score (r=0.3; p=0.008; 95% CI 0.1 to 0.5) from the SCAT5. The associations were not meaningful between the number of specialist consultations and the initial number of symptoms (r=−0.1; p=0.633; 95% CI −0.3 to 0.2) or initial severity score (r=−0.1; p=0.432; 95% CI −0.3 to 0.2). Anecdotally, most reported symptoms following SRC were ‘headache’ (86.2%) and ‘pressure in the head’ (80.0%), followed by ‘fatigue’ (72.3%), ‘neck pain’ (70.8%) and ‘not feeling right’ (67.7%; online supplemental material ).
This study is the first to report descriptive data on athletes with SRC collected across several sports during an Olympic quadrennial, including athletes who received the most recent evidence-based care at the time of data collection. Primarily, results indicate that the time to RTS in athletes engaged in Summer and Winter Olympic sports may require a median (IQR) of 34.0 (21.0–63.0) days. Importantly, findings demonstrated that athletes with earlier (≤7 days) access to multidisciplinary concussion care showed faster RTS compared with those with late access. Time to RTS exhibited large variability where sex had a meaningful influence on the recovery pathway in the late access group. Initial symptoms, but not history of concussion, were correlated with prognosis in this sample. The main reported symptoms were consistent with previous studies. 38 39
This study provides descriptive data on the impact of SRC monitoring programmes on recovery in elite athletes engaged in Olympic sports. As hypothesised, the median time to RTS found in this study (eg, 34.0 days) was about three times longer than those found in reports from before 2005, and 2 weeks longer than the typical median values (eg, 19.8 days) recently reported in athletic levels including youth (high heterogeneity, I 2 =99.3%). 19 These durations were also twice as long as the median unrestricted time to RTS observed among American collegiate athletes, which averages around 16 days. 9 20 21 However, they were more closely aligned with findings from collegiate athletes with slow recovery (eg, 34.7 days) and evidence from military cadets with poor access where return to duty duration was 29.4 days. 8 22 Several reasons could explain such extended time to RTS, but the most likely seems to be related to the diversity in access among these sports to multidisciplinary services (eg, 10.0 median days (1–20)), well beyond the delays experienced by collegiate athletes, for example (eg, 0.0 median days (0–2)). 40 In the total sample, the delays to first consult with the multidisciplinary clinic were notably mediated by the group with late access, whose athletes had more SRC during international competition. One of the issues for athletes engaged in Olympic sports is that they travel abroad year-round for competitions, in contrast with collegiate athletes who compete domestically. These circumstances likely make access to quality care very variable and make the follow-up of care less centralised. Also, access to resources among these sports is highly variable (eg, medal-dependant), 14 and at the discretion of the sport’s leadership (eg, sport federation), who may decide to prioritise more or fewer resources to concussion management considering the relatively low incidence of this injury. Another explanation for the longer recovery times in these athletes could be the lack of financial incentives to return to play faster, which are less prevalent among Olympic sports compared with professionals. However, the stakes of performance and return to play are still very high among these athletes.
Additionally, it is plausible that studies vary their outcome with shifting operational definitions such as resolution of symptoms, return to activities, graduated return to play or unrestricted RTS. 19 40 It is understood that resolution of symptoms may occur much earlier than return to preinjury performance levels. Finally, an aspect that has been little studied to date is the influence of the sport’s demands on the RTS. For example, acrobatic sports requiring precision/technical skills such as figure skating, trampoline and diving, which involve high visuospatial and vestibular demands, 41 might require more time to recover or elicit symptoms for longer times. Anecdotally, athletes who experienced a long time to RTS (>100 days) were mostly from precision/skill-dependent sports in this sample. The sports demand should be further considered as an injury modifier. More epidemiological reports that consider the latest guidelines are therefore necessary to gain a better understanding of the true time to RTS and impact following SRC in Olympians.
In this study, athletes who obtained early access to multidisciplinary care after SRC recovered faster than those with late access to multidisciplinary care. This result aligns with findings showing that delayed access to a healthcare practitioner delays recovery, 19 including previous evidence in a sample of patients from a sports medicine clinic (ages 12–22), indicating that the group with a delayed first clinical visit (eg, 8–20 days) was associated with a 5.8 times increased likelihood of a recovery longer than 30 days. 5 Prompt multidisciplinary approach for patients with SRC is suggested to yield greater effectiveness over usual care, 3 6 17 which is currently evaluated under randomised controlled trial. 42 Notably, early physical exercise and prescribed exercise (eg, 48 hours postinjury) are effective in improving recovery compared with strict rest or stretching. 43 44 In fact, preclinical and clinical studies have shown that exercise has the potential to improve neurotransmission, neuroplasticity and cerebral blood flow which supports that the physically trained brain enhanced recovery. 45 46 Prompt access to specialised healthcare professionals can be challenging in some contexts (eg, during international travel), and the cost of accessing medical care privately may prove further prohibitive. This barrier to recovery should be a priority for stakeholders in Olympic sports and given more consideration by health authorities.
The estimated incidences of SRC were in the lower range compared with what is reported in other elite sport populations. 1 2 However, the burden of injury remained high for these sports, and the financial resources as well as expertise required to facilitate athletes’ rehabilitation was considerable (median number of consultations: 9.0). Notably, the current standard of public healthcare in Canada does not subsidise the level of support recommended following SRC as first-line care, and the financial subsidisation of this recommended care within each federation is highly dependent on the available funding, varying significantly between sports. 14 Therefore, the ongoing efforts to improve education, prevention and early recognition, modification of rules to make the environments safer and multidisciplinary care access for athletes remain crucial. 7
This unique study provides multisport characteristics following the evolution of concussion guidelines in Summer and Winter Olympic sports in North America. Notably, it features a balance between the number of female and male athletes, allowing the analysis of sex differences. 23 26 In a previous review of 171 studies informing consensus statements, samples were mostly composed of more than 80% of male participants, and more than 40% of these studies did not include female participants at all. 26 This study also included multiple non-traditional sports typically not encompassed in SRC research, feature previously identified as a key requirement of future epidemiological research. 47
However, it must be acknowledged that potential confounding factors could influence the results. For example, the number of SRC detected during the study period does not account for potentially unreported concussions. Nevertheless, this figure should be minimal because these athletes are supervised both in training and in competition by medical staff. Next, the sport types were heterogeneous, with inconsistent risk for head impacts or inconsistent sport demand which might have an influence on recovery. Furthermore, the number of participants or sex in each sport was not evenly distributed, with short-track speed skaters representing a large portion of the overall sample (32.5%), for example. Additionally, the number of participants with specific modifiers was too small in the current sample to conclude whether the presence of precise characteristics (eg, history of concussion) impacted the time to RTS. Also, the group with late access was more likely to consist of athletes who sought specialised care for persistent symptoms. These complex cases are often expected to require additional time to recover. 48 Furthermore, athletes in the late group may have sought support outside of the institute medical clinic, without a coordinated multidisciplinary approach. Therefore, the estimation of clinical consultations was tentative for this group and may represent a potential confounding factor in this study.
This is the first study to provide evidence of the prevalence of athletes with SRC and modifiers of recovery in both female and male elite-level athletes across a variety of Summer and Winter Olympic sports. There was a high variability in access to care in this group, and the median (IQR) time to RTS following SRC was 34.0 (21.0–63.0) days. Athletes with earlier access to multidisciplinary care took nearly half the time to RTS compared with those with late access. Sex had a meaningful influence on the recovery pathway in the late access group. Initial symptom number and severity score but not history of concussion were meaningful modifiers of recovery. Injury surveillance programmes targeting national sport organisations should be prioritised to help evaluate the efficacy of recommended injury monitoring programmes and to help athletes engaged in Olympic sports who travel a lot internationally have better access to care. 35 49
Patient consent for publication.
Not applicable.
This study involves human participants and was approved by the ethics board of Université de Montréal (certificate #2023-4052). Participants gave informed consent to participate in the study before taking part.
The authors would like to thank the members of the concussion interdisciplinary clinic of the Institut national du sport du Québec for collecting the data and for their unconditional support to the athletes.
Supplementary data.
This web only file has been produced by the BMJ Publishing Group from an electronic file supplied by the author(s) and has not been edited for content.
X @ThomasRomeas
Correction notice This article has been corrected since it published Online First. The ORCID details have been added for Dr Croteau.
Contributors TR, FC and SL were involved in planning, conducting and reporting the work. François Bieuzen and Magdalena Wojtowicz critically reviewed the manuscript. TR is guarantor.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.
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Published on February 26, 2021 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on January 17, 2024.
To cite a book, you need a brief in-text citation and a corresponding reference listing the author’s name, the title, the year of publication, and the publisher. The order and format of information depends on the citation style you’re using. The most common styles are APA , MLA , and Chicago style .
Use the interactive example generator to explore the format of book citations in MLA and APA.
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Citing a book in mla style, citing a book in apa style, citing a book in chicago style, where to find source information in a book, frequently asked questions about citations.
An MLA book citation includes the author’s name , the book title (in italics, capitalized headline-style), the edition (if specified), the publisher, and the year of publication. If it’s an e-book , write “e-book” (or a more specific description, e.g. “Kindle ed.”) before the publisher name.
The corresponding in-text citation lists the author’s last name and the page number of the passage cited.
MLA format | Author last name, First name. : Subtitle. Edition, Publisher, Year. |
---|---|
Donaldson, Bruce. . 3rd ed., Routledge, 2017. | |
(Donaldson 73) |
You can also use our free MLA Citation Generator to create your book citations.
Citing a book chapter in mla.
To cite a book chapter , first give the author and title (in quotation marks) of the chapter cited, then information about the book as a whole and the page range of the specific chapter.
The in-text citation lists the author of the chapter and the page number of the relevant passage.
MLA format | Author last name, First name. “Chapter Title.” : Subtitle, edited by Editor name, Publisher, Year, pp. Page range. |
---|---|
Nussbaum, Martha C. “Legal Reasoning.” , edited by John Tasioulas, Cambridge University Press, 2020, pp. 59–77. | |
(Nussbaum 65) |
An APA Style book citation lists the author’s last name and initials, the year of publication, the title and any subtitle (in italics, capitalizing only the first word), the edition (if specified), and the publisher. Add a DOI or URL to the end of the entry if available (e.g. for e-books or books accessed online ).
In an in-text citation, state the author’s last name and the publication year, and a page number if you need to show the location of a specific quote or paraphrase .
APA format | Author last name, Initials. (Year). : Subtitle (Edition). Publisher. DOI or URL |
---|---|
Donaldson, B. (2017). (3rd ed.). Routledge. | |
(Donaldson, 2017, p. 73) |
You can also use our free APA Citation Generator to automatically generate your book citations. Search for a title, DOI, or ISBN to retrieve the details.
Citing a book chapter in apa.
To cite a book chapter , list information about the chapter first, followed by information about the book, including the book’s editor(s) and the chapter’s page range within the book.
The author of the chapter, not the editor of the book, is listed in the in-text citation.
APA format | Author last name, Initials. (Year). Title of chapter. In Editor initials. Last name (Ed. or Eds.), : Subtitle (pp. Page range). Publisher. |
---|---|
Nussbaum, M. C. (2020). Legal reasoning. In Tasioulas, J. (Ed.), (pp. 59–77). Cambridge University Press. | |
(Nussbaum, 2020, p. 65) |
Chicago notes and bibliography style uses footnotes to cite sources instead of parenthetical citations. These notes refer to a bibliography at the end giving full source details.
A Chicago bibliography entry for a book includes the author’s name, the book title and subtitle, the edition (if stated), the location and name of the publisher, and the year of publication. For an e-book , add the e-book format (e.g. “Kindle”) at the end.
Chicago format | Author last name, First name. : Subtitle. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher, Year. E-book format. |
---|---|
Donaldson, Bruce. . 3rd ed. Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge, 2017. | |
1. Bruce Donaldson, , 3rd ed. (Abingdon-on-Thames: Routledge, 2017), 35. 2. Donaldson, , 73. |
Chicago also has an alternative style, Chicago author-date . You can see examples of book citations in this style here .
To cite a book chapter , start with the author and the title of the chapter (in quotation marks), then give the title (in italics) and editor of the book, the page range of the chapter, the location and name of the publisher, and the year of publication.
Chicago format | Author last name, First name. “Chapter Title.” In : Subtitle, edited by Editor first name Last name, Page range. Place of publication: Publisher, Year. |
---|---|
Nussbaum, Martha C. “Legal Reasoning.” In , edited by John Tasioulas, 59–77. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. | |
1. Martha C. Nussbaum, “Legal Reasoning,” in , ed. John Tasioulas (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 60. 2. Nussbaum, “Legal Reasoning,” 65. |
All the information you need for a book citation can usually be found on the book’s title page and copyright page. The main things you’re looking for are:
You should also check if the book specifies an edition (e.g. 2nd edition, revised edition) and if any other contributors are named (e.g. editor, translator).
The image below shows where to find the relevant information on the title and copyright pages of a typical book.
The main elements included in all book citations across APA , MLA , and Chicago style are the author, the title, the year of publication, and the name of the publisher. A page number is also included in in-text citations to highlight the specific passage cited.
In Chicago style and in the 6th edition of APA Style , the location of the publisher is also included, e.g. London: Penguin.
When a book’s chapters are written by different authors, you should cite the specific chapter you are referring to.
When all the chapters are written by the same author (or group of authors), you should usually cite the entire book, but some styles include exceptions to this.
Check if your university or course guidelines specify which citation style to use. If the choice is left up to you, consider which style is most commonly used in your field.
Other more specialized styles exist for certain fields, such as Bluebook and OSCOLA for law.
The most important thing is to choose one style and use it consistently throughout your text.
The abbreviation “ et al. ” (Latin for “and others”) is used to shorten citations of sources with multiple authors.
“Et al.” is used in APA in-text citations of sources with 3+ authors, e.g. (Smith et al., 2019). It is not used in APA reference entries .
Use “et al.” for 3+ authors in MLA in-text citations and Works Cited entries.
Use “et al.” for 4+ authors in a Chicago in-text citation , and for 10+ authors in a Chicago bibliography entry.
When you want to cite a specific passage in a source without page numbers (e.g. an e-book or website ), all the main citation styles recommend using an alternate locator in your in-text citation . You might use a heading or chapter number, e.g. (Smith, 2016, ch. 1)
In APA Style , you can count the paragraph numbers in a text to identify a location by paragraph number. MLA and Chicago recommend that you only use paragraph numbers if they’re explicitly marked in the text.
For audiovisual sources (e.g. videos ), all styles recommend using a timestamp to show a specific point in the video when relevant.
If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.
Caulfield, J. (2024, January 17). How to Cite a Book | APA, MLA, & Chicago Examples. Scribbr. Retrieved September 4, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/citing-sources/cite-a-book/
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In an MLA Works Cited entry for a journal article, the article title appears in quotation marks, the name of the journal in italics—both in title case. List up to two authors in both the in-text citation and the Works Cited entry. For three or more, use "et al.". MLA format. Author last name, First name.
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In this sample paper, we've put four blank lines above the title. Commented [AF3]: Authors' names are written below the title, with one double-spaced blank line between them. Names should be written as follows: First name, middle initial(s), last name. Commented [AF4]: Authors' affiliations follow immediately after their names.
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The Chicago/Turabian style of citing sources is generally used when citing sources for humanities papers, and is best known for its requirement that writers place bibliographic citations at the bottom of a page (in Chicago-format footnotes) or at the end of a paper (endnotes). The Turabian and Chicago citation styles are almost identical, but ...
Chicago citation examples: Book. Citing a book in Chicago uses the author's name, book title, place of publication, publisher, and year of publication. You also include the edition, but only if it's relevant. The author's name is inverted, and the title uses title capitalization. Last Name, First Name.
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Research paper: In-text citation: Use superscript numbers to cite sources in the text, e.g., "Previous research has shown that^1,2,3…". Reference list citation: Format: Author (s). Title of paper. In: Editor (s). Title of the conference proceedings. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication. Page range.
Here are the general rules to follow when citing a research paper in an APA style format: Book: Last Name, First Initial. (Year of Publication). Title of the work. Publisher. Example: Thompson, S. (1982). The Year of the Wolf. Preston and Buchanan. Magazine: Last Name, First Initial.
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If you want to use a quote from the coach, use an indirect citation. Clearly attribute the quote to the coach (the person who said it), but then credit the author of the text (the reporter, in this example) in which you found the quote in the parenthetical citation and on the references page. In-text Citation Example
The General Electrics Sample Title Page: ... Let us imagine a situation when you need to cite a book in print for your research paper in APA style format. It will require the following information: Author or authors of the book. The surname is always followed by the person's initials. The Year of publication of the book comes next in round ...
The focus of this paper is on the generation of food waste by small and micro restaurants, specifically on the perceptions of representatives of these restaurants. Do they perceive this generation of food waste as problematic, and do they perceive that they have enough knowledge about how to minimize this generated food waste? With data from a sample of 200 Dutch restaurants, which were ...
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Objectives This cohort study reported descriptive statistics in athletes engaged in Summer and Winter Olympic sports who sustained a sport-related concussion (SRC) and assessed the impact of access to multidisciplinary care and injury modifiers on recovery. Methods 133 athletes formed two subgroups treated in a Canadian sport institute medical clinic: earlier (≤7 days) and late (≥8 days ...
To cite a book chapter, start with the author and the title of the chapter (in quotation marks), then give the title (in italics) and editor of the book, the page range of the chapter, the location and name of the publisher, and the year of publication. Chicago format. Author last name, First name. " Chapter Title.".