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COMM 2050 - Interpersonal Theory Research

This guide was designed to assist Interpersonal Communications (COMM 2050) students in finding research on interpersonal theories.

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On this page you will find information on how to cite articles and websites in APA format, both in-text and in the reference list:

In-Text

Reference List

In-Text Citations

In-text citations are the references to research that support your point which occur within the text of your paper or assignment. 

In-text citations typically look like this:

TWO POSSIBLE FORMATS:

(author, date)

Author (date) states that.....

EXAMPLES:

Research has suggested that ecological systems are more accurately represented as overlapping networks, rather than nested systems  (Watling, 2013).

Notice the in-text citation is placed INSIDE the final punctuation mark (i.e. period).

According to Watling (2013), Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems (micro, meso, exo, etc.) can be redefined based on the social interactions of the child.

An in-text citation indicates two things:

  1. The information stated here is not my own.  I am summarizing, paraphrasing, or quoting this information. If using a direct quote, make sure to include quotation marks around the exact words pulled from the source.
  2. It points the reader to look at the Reference List at the end of the paper to see the full citation.  From there the reader could track down the original source if they would like more information.

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For more information including how to format in-text citations with various author types, please see the following Purdue OWL sites:

 

Citing Articles in EBSCO databases

To get an automatic citation for an article in any EBSCO database (i.e. EBSCO Megafile, Masterfile Premier, etc.):

1. Click on an article title from your search results page. 

2. Look for a toolbar (or list of icons) that runs down the right side of the article record screen.

3. Click CITE (gold piece of paper) from the toolbar options.

4. A pop-up window with several citation formats will appear.  Find the APA citation style.

APA formatted citation in EBSCO

 

Citing Articles in GALE databases

To get an automatic citation for an article in any GALE database (i.e. Educator's Reference Complete, Expanded Academic ASAP, etc.):Citation Tools option in article Tools menu.

1. Click on an article title from your search results page. 

2. Look for a toolbar (or list of icons) that runs down the right side of the article record screen.

3. Click Citation Tools from the toolbar options.

4. A pop-up window with MLA and APA format options will appear.  Select the APA tab.

PRO TIP:

Gale databases add a "Retrieved from: [URL]" to the end of thier APA-formatted citations.  It is recommended to avoid long links and replace the URL with the name of the database.  (See screenshot below)

Example: If you were searching for articles within Expanded Academic ASAP, change the URL to

Retrieved from: Expanded Academic ASAP

Example: If you were searching for articles within Educator's Reference Complete, change the URL to

Retrieved from: Educator's Reference Complete

APA citation in Gale databases.

 

Citing Websites

The APA style guide does not specify a specific format for websites.  This makes citing websites a little more difficult.

However, the following example listed on the Purdue OWL APA webpage is a good format for citing websites:

Nonperiodical Web Document or Report

List as much of the following information as possible (you sometimes have to hunt around to find the information; don't be lazy. If there is a page like http://www.somesite.com/somepage.htm, and somepage.htm doesn't have the information you're looking for, move up the URL to http://www.somesite.com/):

FORMAT:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of document. Retrieved from http://Web address

EXAMPLE:

Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderland, L., & Brizee, A. (2010, May 5). General format. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

NOTE: When an Internet document is more than one Web page, provide a URL that links to the home page or entry page for the document. Also, if there isn't a date available for the document use (n.d.) for no date.

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To view this information on the Purdue OWL site, use the following link: