This is the most complete guide on how to cite in APA
How to cite in APA… the single sentence creates a headache because what we know is that it is a laborious, tedious, annoying and seemingly endless activity.
The reality is that APA citation is pretty easy if you pay attention to the little details. Also, when you understand that citing means respecting the intellectual work of others, citing becomes honorable. It is about giving credit where credit is due and also avoiding accusations of plagiarism.
Close-author format
Although citations in APA format usually contain a lot of data, there are two extremely important ones that you should always keep an eye on: the date and the author.
You will not find an APA citation that does not contain these details because, logically, it quickly reveals who said the phrase and when they did it. Later, in the bibliographic references, you will find the rest of the details of where the information you cited came from.
Taking this into account, then you must determine what type of appointment you want to make: textual or paraphrasing. The first could be considered the simplest and most suitable, since the author's words are reproduced without any change.
To cite in-text citations in APA, you must proceed to a word count: how many words are you quoting? This is important because the quotes vary depending on whether they are more or less than 40 words.
undercitation (few citations) and overcitation (excess citations) Paraphrased quotes are those in which you summarize what the author said in your own words.. Of course, you must make these quotes very carefully because you do not want to misrepresent what the author said. Although it is something written by yourself, the original idea is still from a third party, for which it is necessary to make a citation that gives credit to the author.
How to cite in APA in parentheses or with narration
Once you understand the above, then you should know that there is two ways to cite in APA: citations based on the text (narrative) and citations based on the author (in parentheses).
The first ones are called "based on the author" because they start with the name of the person who said the phrase, followed by the year in which it was said (in parentheses). Importance is given to who.
In that case, an author-based citation would look like this:
When talking about music from the eighties, the influence of Michael Jackson who emerged as King of Pop is undeniable. Mars (1999) states that "with the release of Thriller, Jackson reinvented the music industry, since it was a subject that, In addition, it was presented with a music video that was a feature film”. (p.105).
Text-based citations
In this case, the idea predominates and not who said it. The citation is made between quotation marks and ends with a parenthesis that includes the author's last name, the year and the number of the page where said phrase is found.
For example:
“At this point, it is impossible not to know that photosynthesis is a natural process in which plants convert oxygen into carbon dioxide”, (Preston, 2014, p. 34).
Although it is always suggested to follow the previous formats, what is really important is to include the “date and year” data in the text. This might give the author a little more freedom to write as creatively, without meaning the citation is wrong. In fact, it could be preponderant to start the quote talking about the year in which it was said.
When the author is an institution
The phrases will not always have been said by an author itself, but by an institution. Sure, there is a person behind the text, but he speaks on behalf of the organization he represents.
For example, you could cite the results of a UN report, an article in a company brochure, etc.
In that case, you can omit the author's name and write in the name of the institution or company. If it is a well-known organization, you have to write the acronym (UNESCO, for example), but if it is an institution known locally, it is important that you write its full name in the first citation and, later, yes You can write the acronym of his name.
Quotes from multiple authors
not always a book, article or research It is written by one person. Sometimes it is done "by several hands", that is, several people had to do with the writing of the text. If so, dating is a bit different.
If it is a quote attributable to two authors, the surname of both is placed with an "&" or "and" between them:
In this regard, it is explained that the new trends in the confectionery area are ugly cakes, that is, imperfect and funny cakes (Pérez & González, 2021).
Pérez and González (2021) explain that the new trend in the confectionery area is ugly cakes..
If it is a reference to information given by more than two authors, then the words “et al” are used at the end of the first surname.
Making secondary quotes
It is always suggested to appeal to the primary source of information. A book might contain a quote from another source, but it's best to go back to that original source to digest the information yourself. Also, it is much better to quote the original information than some kind of rehash.
However, it is known that we cannot always access the primary source, so a secondary source is used. This is often common in cases where the original work has disappeared or is only available in another language.
It is necessary to identify the primary source and write "as cited in", revealing the secondary source from which, after all, you took the information. It is also necessary to write the year in which both texts were published.
In that case, the quote would look like this:
(De los Santos, 1987, as cited in González, 2010).
In this case, the secondary source is cited in the bibliographic references, since that is where you got the information from. This is also a way to protect your back, since it is a third party who is making the phrase known.