Find the Citation Error: A Quick Quiz on APA Style

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Find the Citation ErrorA Quick Quiz on APA Style

• UW School of
• Social Work

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Directions

• All of the following slides marked, Catch the
  Error, break one or more APA citation rule. See
  if you can find the error(s), and then revise the
  citation so that it is in conformity with APA
  style. When you think you have corrected the
  error, move on to the next slide marked,
  Revised, and see if you revised the citation
  correctly.

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Catch the Error 1

• Hollingshead measured aggressiveness in children
  before and after exposure to violent videogames
  (2002, p. 15).

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Revised

• Hollingshead (2000) measured aggressiveness in
  children before and after exposure to violent
  videogames.
• Explanation The year comes after the
  researchers name. No page number is needed if
  there is no direct quote.

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Catch the Error 2

• Neither group showed any significant growth (Wong
  and Tuttle 2005).

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Revised

• Neither group showed any significant growth (Wong
  Tuttle, 2005).
• Explanation Use an ampersand () when citing
  parenthetically and put a comma between author(s)
  and year of publication.

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Catch the Error 3

• Duffy Petronius (2002, p. 23) found that none
  of the subjects showed improvement.

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Revised

• Duffy and Petronius (2002) found that none of the
  subjects showed improvement.
• Explanation Use and -- not ampersand -- when
  citing authors outside of parentheses. No page
  number needed since there was no direct quote.

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Catch the Error 4

• Boyle (1998, 1998, 1998) found in three separate
  studies that the rats had higher stress hormone
  levels after exposure.
• Assume the three studies were done in 1998 and
  each was published separately that year.

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Revised

• Boyle (1998a, 1998b, 1998c) found in three
  separate studies that the rats had higher stress
  hormone levels after exposure.
• Explanation To avoid confusion, each study will
  be designated by a different letter a, b, c,
  etc. Items are listed in the reference section
  alphabetically by title.

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Catch the Error 5

• Parker (2003) found that there was no
  significant difference between the treatment
  group and the control group.

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Revision

• Parker (2003) found that there was no
  significant difference between the treatment
  group and the control group (p. 12).
• Explanation Since a direct quote was used, a
  page number must be provided after the quote.

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Catch the Error 6

• When contacted, Habbib had no useful explanation
  except that mistakes were made (phone call,
  2005).

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Revised

• When contacted, C. S. Habbib had no useful
  explanation except that mistakes were made
  (personal communication, December 1, 2005).
• Explanation Use personal communication and
  exact date when citing telephone calls, letters,
  memos, personal interviews, etc. You do not need
  to put this in the References section since the
  data is non-recoverable.

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Catch the Error 7

• Bretschneider, John Garrett and McCoy, Nancy
  Lewis, 1968. Sexual Interest and Behavior in
  Healthy 80- 102-Year-Olds. Archives of Sexual
  Behavior, Vol. 14, pp. 343-350.

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Revised

• Bretschneider, J. G., McCoy, N. L. (1968).
  Sexual interest and behavior in healthy 80-
  102-year-olds. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 14,
  343-350.
• Explanation 1) only initials for first names 2)
  year in parentheses followed by period 3) lower
  case in article title 4) italicize journal name
  and capitalize first letters 5) no Vol., just
  italicize 6) no pp. 7) hanging indent.

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Catch the Error 8

• Hashimoto, Thomas. (March 13, 2000, p. 23).
  Seeing Red in November. Newsweek, vol. 199.

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Revised

• Hashimoto, T. (2000, March 13). Seeing red in
  November. Newsweek, 199, 23.
• Explanation Only initial for first name. Year
  comes first, then comma, then month and day, all
  in parentheses. Title of magazine is italicized,
  followed by comma, volume number italicized, then
  page number(s). Hanging indent,

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Catch the Error 9

• Pinkerton (originally published in 1844,
  reprinted in 2001) believed that democracy was a
  two-edged sword. Socrates (400 B.C.) felt the
  same way.

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Revised

• Pinkerton (1844/2001) believed that democracy was
  a two-edged sword. Socrates (trans. 1988) felt
  the same way.
• Explanation If original year of publication is
  known, list that first, followed by slash and
  year of publication you used. For classical
  works, cite the translation year.

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Catch the Error 10

• Most experts believed the effects would be
  disastrous (NIMH 2000). For example, 8 of those
  surveyed believed supplies would run out within
  24 hours. Not surprisingly, only 2 out of 15
  thought survival was possible after thirty-six
  hours.
• (Assume NIMH is introduced here for the first
  time.)

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Revised

• Most experts believed the effects will be
  disastrous (National Institutes of Mental Health
  NIMH, 2000). For example, eight of those
  surveyed believed supplies would run out within
  24 hours. Not surprisingly, only 2 out of 15
  thought survival was possible after 36 hours.
• Explanation Number and abbreviation rules.

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The Latest Edition

• American Psychological Association. (2001).
  Publication manual of the American
  Psychological Association (5th ed.).
  Washington, DC Author.

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Reminders

• You dont have to memorize all the rules. There
  are hundreds of APA style rules and lots of
  exceptions to the rules. Use reference sheets.
• If you are planning to write scholarly papers for
  publication, get the book. Take it in slowly, not
  all at once. (Preserve your sanity.)
• Have writing consultant review for conformity to
  APA style.

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Good Luck!

• Kevin Kawamoto
• sswwrite_at_u.washington.edu
• Room 6
• [phone]