APSA Citation Generator With Complete Guide and Referencing Tips

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Tips to use the citation generator

Choose the citation style

Follow your professor's guidelines or consult your university's website.

Doublecheck the source

Ensure correct rules for different sources like websites, articles, books. Edit or manually create citations if required.

Check the citation fields

Verify the automatically filled fields with your source. Make edits as needed.

Generate your citation

Confirm style, source, and fields, then generate your citation. Don't forget to create and download your paper's reference list.

Convenient APSA Citation Guide for Quick Referencing

If you’re a student who has Political Science classes, you’ll be definitely asked to format your essays in APSA citation style. APSA citation generator is a great option for those who need help with figuring out the formatting basics, but first, you need to learn what APSA style citation even is. Students might already know that academic essays have to follow specific styles.

APSA, denoting American Political Science Association, is used specifically in Political Science discipline. It’s a style offering a convenient way of citing books and relevant documents, which is essential for avoiding plagiarism and letting the audience know where certain information came from. So, what does APSA format entail?

All About APSA in Text Citations

To get the best marks for an essay, it’s crucial to cite your sources properly. Plagiarism is a serious issue that could have drastic consequences, even such as being expelled. APSA citation style strives to eliminate risks like that, so if you need to write a paper in it, you should know how to format in-text citations first.

APSA citations examples by EduBirdie

Let’s check how different kinds of sources should be cited, and if you find something difficult, don’t let it deter you. APSA citation maker will always assist if you’re facing difficulties, though it’s best to have an in-depth understanding of this style so you could always cite everything manually if needed.

One Author

In most in-text citations, the author’s last name and publishing date are used.

If the source has page numbers and you’re quoting something directly, include a relevant number into parenthesis.

To form a clearer understanding, let’s see an example of the American Political Science Association citation. If you introduce an author in a sentence, this is how it should look like.

Graham (2018) claims that insects can “help identify the time of death” (34).

If the author’s name doesn’t feature in the text but the quote is there, form sentence like this, placing all information into parenthesis only.

Such characteristics as femininity do not “indicate any sexual identity” (Taylor 2017, 15).

If no direct quotes are present, follow the same model but remove page numbers unless your professor asked to include them in particular.

Two Authors

Apply a similar system when you need to cite publications with two authors. Last names and dates are used, and page numbers are included in the case of direct quotes. The only difference is, put a conjunction “and” between two names. Here’s an example.

Wilkins and Trevor (2015) think that sacrificing one’s needs for someone else is “a notion not worthy of any consideration” (66).
Pigeons are falsely accused of being able to “infect humans” (Mantserov and Ribskiy 2019, 4).

3-5 Authors

Same rules apply if there are between three to five authors. List all names, either in text or in parenthesis, and add a conjunction before the last name.

Social exclusion is a relevant issue that “affects people’s psychological state severely” (Mikkelson, Wilson, Anderson, and Bloom 2013, 303).

Six and More Authors

For more than 5 authors, put “et al.” after the first name.

As research proves, most students fail to gain appropriate knowledge in this country (Morgan et al. 2010).

Organization as an Author

To avoid mistakes in citing organizations as authors, using the APSA reference generator is the best option, but if you have to format everything manually, just make sure to learn how the organization is called. Then, treat it like you would an author in previous examples.

Unknown Author

In these cases, start citations with the title of your source. For example, if you’re citing an article with no author, entitled “Homophobia Can Go No Further”, use it where last name would be.

Homophobic societies are proven to be less educated (“Homophobia Can Go No Further” 2009).

Authors with the Same Last Name

For authors who share last name, just add their first names’ initials.

For example:

J. Crawford (2010) and B. Crawford (2013).

Several Works by One Author in the Same Year

With such an intricate issue, even the APSA citation machine won’t help because it doesn’t know whether you’ve already mentioned this author’s work, which was published in the same year, or not. So, you have to do it manually, but no worries, everything’s simple! Add lowercase letters to publication dates alphabetically. For the first work, use this model:

(O’Brien 2011a).

For the second one, change letters:

(O’Brien 2011b).

Multiple Sources in One Citation

To indicate several sources at once, which is particularly relevant in literature reviews, list all names like you would normally do with one author and separate sources with semicolon.

A group of studies has shown that traumatic childhood experiences can affect victims’ psyche (Leon 2012; Miranna 2016; Quopa 2017).

Electronic Sources

Regardless of university standards, you’ll have to rely on electronic sources occasionally. In APSA citation style, there is no difference between online and published materials when it comes to in-text citations. Just mention author and date combination like in all examples above.

Unknown Date

When no date is visible, use author’s or organization’s name and put n.d. after them.

While fiction affects reality, “the ratio of influence is not 1:1” (Proshipe n.d., 12).

Accurate APSA Reference List Formatting

Bibliography is an essential part of every essay. This is another work aspect that APSA citation maker can help you with, but it’s still important to know the basics of the APSA manual by heart because it’ll help you format your paper much more quickly. References list should only have those sources you’ve cited in the text of the essay. If there is a source in your list that was never mentioned in the paper, it won’t count as used.

Bibliography must start on a new page after the conclusion, with sources arranged alphabetically. Don’t forget the hanging indent effect. Also, make sure to capitalize on each meaningful word.

Books

Books’ titles must be in italics. You need author’s full first and last name, as well as source’s date, title, and publishing house. Some APSA paper format requires the mention of state where this publishing house is located, so clarify this stuff with university professor beforehand. Look at this example.

Dancy, William. 2017. Being a Murderer. New York: Schocken Books.

For referencing books with more than one author, apply the rules pointed out in the in-text citations section and/or see below.

Articles

Articles can be from scholarly journals and popular magazines and their titles must always be in quotation marks. The name of journals and magazines must be in italics. For journal articles, apart from author’s names, date, and title, add volume, issue, and page range.

Anderson, Dana, and Hank Petrie. 2001. “The Possibility of Alien Invasion in Scientific Terms.” Extra-terrestrial Studies 50 (3): 44-52.

For articles from magazines, the rules are similar, only you have to add a more exact date of when article was published.

Golub, Kira, et al. 2017. “Overcoming Disease Paranoia.” Brighton Times, 21 April.

Electronic Websites

Here, add link to site and date when you accessed it.

Michaelis, Ciel. 2019. “The Forms of Demonology.” Website, May 15. https://www.1412666.html.

YouTube Video

Everything is identical here: simply take name of person who uploaded video, its date and title, and mention date of access.

KillJoy39. 2018. “The Fall of the Kingdom.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?334488.html (March 14, 2019).

Movie

APSA reference machine will need all information about your movie, so mention directors, date of release, movie title (which should be in italics), and studio.

Bergov, Alex. 2019. Day My Life Started. Alexandra Pictures.

Case Citations

Mention plaintiff, appellant, volume number, collection title, page number of court’s decision, as well as date.

Lamphius v. Trighton, 111 U.S. 222 (1979).

Twitter

Point out author’s name, type of message, date, time, and link to the tweet.

Bryan Daisy. Twitter post. October 12, 2012. 9:21 p.m. http://twitter.com/333.

Automatic EduBirdie APSA Citation Generator

Correct citations are very important for academic papers. Professors can even refuse to grade the paper if it is not formatted. The rules of formatting aren’t complex but there are many intricacies that one can miss being in a hurry. That’s why using APSA citation machine is the best decision, and the EduBirdie system, in particular, is among the most accurate and functional ones. It’s completely free, it doesn’t require registration; in addition, it’s updated according to the latest style requirements.

Naturally, each university might have its APSA style peculiarities, so if you have a manual from the professor, great! Rely on EduBirdie APSA citation generator and check results, correcting possible minor differences. If no special manual is provided, you can trust ours to help you achieve perfect formatting.

FAQs About APSA Citation Generator

What kind of sources can you format with EduBirdie APSA Citation Generator?

Books, separate chapters, articles from newspapers, magazines, encyclopaedias, and online websites.

How to use EduBirdie APSA citation machine?

Just visit EduBirdie site, choose formatting style, fill in required info and click “Generate”.

Is this generator reliable?

Yes, it is. Granted, many universities have varying APSA citation rules, but EduBirdie’s generator corresponds to basic APSA guidelines.

Should I memorize all APSA formatting rules?

You shouldn’t force yourself to remember everything because there are many citation styles and numerous kinds of sources. But memorizing the ones you use most is a good idea.

The more references you generate with EduBirdie APSA citation machine, the better you’ll remember such basic rules as titles of sources like books, journals, magazines, and movies being in italics; names of articles and short stories being in quotation marks; placing conjunction between two names; using ‘et al.’ for many authors, etc.

I have completed my paper in MLA. Can anyone fix formatting to APSA?

Have no worries! Edubirdie has a team of professional editors who can change style of your paper. Just contact us to get it done asap!

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