What are APA citation standards and why do you need to know?

The APA citation is very important when carrying out academic work. Learning the APA standards is essential for students or writers to avoid plagiarism in documents. Books, videos, theses, social networks, statements, quotes, etc. Whenever an idea, or explicit words, from other authors are used for a personal academic paper, credit should be given to the person who first exposed the idea or explicit words. Let’s see how to use the APA citation.

How to cite according to APA standards?

It should be borne in mind that the APA Standard is based on quoting the author in question by referring to the date and name of the author. That is, specify who said the idea expressed and in what year he made the publication, the source. This should go to the bottom of the page, perfectly listed throughout the academic work every time an appointment is made. Similarly, at the end of the document, a complete bibliographic list must appear.

• APA QUOTE: (David Jimenez, 2019)
• APA BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCE: (David Jiménez, 2019. The Director. Books of the K.O. S.L.L.)

Types of appointments according to the APA Standard

When quoting the ideas or words of another author, the APA determines rules so that all scientific works are expressed in the same way. On the one hand, the textual quotation is one that copies literally the words that the source has expressed. However, you can also paraphrase the idea or words of another author, but it must still be referenced.

• Quote: Not much more should be expected, then, from these investigations, except “the brief disenchantment of finding the unsuspected truth,” says Evers (2005).
• Paraphrased quote: Original. Primates like bananas, and can eat 55 pounds a day. Paraphrase: A primate can consume up to 55 pounds of bananas daily. (Velásquez, 2010).

Other types of appointments

You can cite corporations, institutions or foundations. It is necessary to reflect the full name of the source, add in parentheses the abbreviation, the year of publication and the page on which the citation is located.

• United Nations (UN), 1998, p. 180.
• UN, 2004, p. 14.

Other recommendations

It is important, for both students and  expert writers, not to abuse the quotes, since the ideal is that the content is as original as possible. Citing excessively can lead to plagiarism, plus it can be a distraction for the person reading it.

Similarly, when making a paraphrased appointment, it must be referenced only once. Take advantage of the summer to do courses that help you improve your narrative and writing. Knowledge does not take place, but you can improve your skills a lot. Don’t forget, if in doubt, to review the exact APA citation guidelines.