Citing Sources using APA

ITT Tech

American Psychological Association (APA) is used at many institutions for essay writing. Although essays are less formal, using APA style to cite research in an essay will not only give your essay credibility, but will allow readers to look up the original sources if they are interested in more information. APA style is not difficult to master, but it takes practice and patience to learn some of the intricacies.
The most important reason for citing sources is to prevent plagiarism. Plagiarism which is the uncredited use (both intentional and unintentional) of somebody else's words or ideas (Purdue, 2014). A charge of plagiarism can have severe consequences, including expulsion from a university or loss of a job, not to mention a writer's loss of credibility and professional standing.
When citing Use the author-date method of citation when referring to research in the text. For a single author of an article or book, cite the year in parentheses if you name the author in the text. For example: According to Grucza (2010), those with a family history of alcoholism are more at risk for obesity(Cort D, 2014). In addition, if you are summarizing research you should cite both the author name and the date in parentheses. For instance, Recent research suggests that those with a family history of alcoholism are more at risk for obesity (Grucza, 2010).
Moreover, everyone must cite both authors' names in your essay every time you refer to their research if the work only has two authors. If a work has three to five authors, cite all the authors the first time you mention their research, but use "et al." after the first author name in subsequent citations (Cort D, 2014). For example, on first reference, you would write, "Kisangau, Lyaruu, Hosea, and Joseph (2007) found...." On second reference, you would write, "Kisangau et al. (2007)