Citing Text: APA

Citation Elements

Text citations include all the necessary information to credit the origin and guide the reader back to the information you're citing.  In every format, this includes: Author, Title of Work, Title of Container/Broader Work, Publication Information, Date, Edition/Version, and Page Information.  The order and format of this content varies depending on the citation style you use.

Guidelines: APA 

These links will take you to Purdue University's OWL site, which contains tons of information on citation and formatting.

In-Text Citations: The Basics

• Addresses the basic formatting requirements of using the APA Style for citing secondary sources within the text of your essay
• Provides guidance on how to incorporate different kinds of references to borrowed material, from short quotes to summaries or paraphrases

In-Text Citations: Author/Authors

Focuses on various details about referring to the authors of your sources within your essay, which can be difficult to do efficiently if the source has more than one author or has an unclear author (e.g. an organization) Describes how to cite indirect quotes, electronic sources, and/or sources without page numbers
 

Reference List

• Books

• Articles in Periodicals

• Electronic Sources

Citing Data

Citing data is important in order to:

• Give the data producer appropriate credit
• Allow easier access to the data for re-purposing or re-use
• Enable readers to verify your results

Citation Elements

• Author(s)
• Title
• Year of publication: The date when the dataset was published or released (rather than the collection or coverage date)
• Publisher: the data center/repository
• Any applicable identifier (including edition or version)
• Availability and access: URL or doi/doi link

Example: Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Ed.

Datasets are not discussed in CMOS 17.

According to IASSIST, the essential components of a citation to a dataset are the following:*

• "Author: Name(s) of each individual or organizational entity responsible for the creation of the dataset."*
• "Title: Complete title of the dataset, including the edition or version number, if applicable."*
• "Date of Publication: Year the dataset was published or disseminated."*
• "Publisher and/or Distributor: Organizational entity that makes the dataset available by archiving, producing, publishing, and/or distributing the dataset."*
• "Electronic Location or Identifier: Web address or unique, persistent, global identifier used to locate the dataset (such as a DOI). Append the date retrieved if the title and locator are not specific to the exact instance of the data you used."*

These elements can be combined as in the examples below, Chicago-style.
 

Guidelines on Citing Data

• ICPSR Guidance on Data Citation
• DataCite: Why cite data?
• Digital Curation Centre: How to Cite Datasets and Link to Publications
• OECD Proposed Dataset Citation Standards
• Dryad: Data Citation Guidelines

Connect your caption and citation with the phrase "Reproduced from."

Examples

Figure 1. Marcel Breuer, Hooper House, 1961. Reproduced from "A powerful design in fieldstone." Architectural Record 129, no. 6 (May 1961): 70.

Citing your images protects against plagiarism.

• Plagiarism is using someone else's work without giving them credit. This is a violation of the Honor Code at the University of Virginia.
• Properly citing a work is essential in an academic community but does not protect against copyright infringement.

To avoid copyright infringement, you must have a strong case for "Fair Use," use works in the public domain, OR obtain the permission of the copyright holder.

• Copyright infringement can occur when using someone else's copyrighted work without permission or without a solid fair use case, and is a legal matter handled by the courts.

Make a fair use assessment:

• Review the four factor test

• Watch the Fair Use Overview

• Consult the Codes of Best Practice in Fair Use

Find images in the public domain:
(NOTE: images posted openly on the web or those published in books are not always in the public domain.)

• Use images from a site devoted to public domain works
• Consider images created by the US federal government (.gov), which are generally, though not always, in the public domain

Find images whose creators have pre-approved their work for re-use under certain circumstances:

Find images labeled for scholarly reuse via Google Advanced Image Search or Creative Commons Search

• For Google Advanced Image Search, under "Usage Rights" select a category that allows reuse, e.g. "free to use or share"
• Be sure that you read and adhere to the stated conditions for re-use. A key to the Creative Commons license imagery is available here.

Obtain the permission of the rights-holder:
In general, the permissions process involves a five-step procedure. Image permissions can be time-consuming-- plan ahead!

1. Determine if permission is needed to avoid copyright infringement.
2. Identify the copyright owner. This may be the creator of the work, an institution who has obtained the rights to the work, or a licensing firm.
3. Identify the rights needed.
4. Plan Ahead for Permission.
5. Contact the owner and negotiate whether payment is required.
6. Get your permission agreement in writing.

Q: Why do I need to cite text and images?
A: Citations ensure that you are giving the source/creator of information the appropriate credit, and therefore avoiding plagiarism and Honor Code violations. It also ensures that your audience can easily find the original information you used for the purpose of fact-checking, their own scholarship, etc.