FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF GUSAU, ZAMFARA STATE, NIGERIA.

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

CSC 388 RESEARCH METHOD

Part 2
APA 7 in-text citations
There are two types of in-text citations in APA format: parenthetical and narrative.
Parenthetical citations include the author(s) and the date of publication within
parentheses. Narrative citations intertwine the author as part of the sentence with the
date of publication (in parentheses) following.

One work by one author

Narrative citation
 Musa (2016) investigated the risks inherent in drinking tap water.
Parenthetical citation
 There are risks inherent in drinking tap water (Musa, 2016).

One work by two authors

Narrative citation
 Musa and Abubakar (2016) investigated the risks inherent in drinking tap water.
Parenthetical citation
 There are risks inherent in drinking tap water (Musa & Abubakar, 2016).

One work by three or more authors

Narrative citation
 Musa et al. (2016) investigated the risks inherent in drinking tap water.
Parenthetical citations
 There are risks inherent in drinking tap water (Musa et al., 2016).

Groups (with well-known abbreviations) of authors

First narrative citation
 The Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 2002) investigated the risks inherent in
drinking tap water.
Subsequent narrative citations
 The CDC (2002) investigated the risks inherent in drinking tap water.
Parenthetical first citation
 There are risks inherent in drinking tap water (Centers for Disease Control
[CDC], 2002).
Subsequent citations
 There are risks inherent in drinking tap water (CDC, 2002).

Groups (without well-known abbreviations) as authors

First narrative citation
 The Federal University Gusau (2007) investigated the risks inherent in drinking
tap water.
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 Subsequent narrative citations
 The Federal University Gusau (2007) investigated the risks inherent in drinking
tap water.
Parenthetical first citation
 There are risks inherent in drinking tap water (Federal University Gusau, 2007).
Parenthetical subsequent citations
 There are risks inherent in drinking tap water (Federal University Gusau, 2007).

Multiple citations for one sentence*

 There are inherent risks in drinking tap water (Musa & Abubakar, 2016; North et
al., 2017; Jabaka, 1999).
*List the sources in alphabetical order, separating each with a semicolon.

In-text quick guide

One author
 Parenthetical: (Musa, 2020)
 Narrative: Musa (2020)
Two authors
 Parenthetical: (Musa & Abubakar, 2016)
 Narrative: Musa and Abubakar (2016)
Three+ authors
 Parenthetical: (Musa et al., 2016)
 Narrative: Musa et al. (2016)
Group author with abbreviation
 First citation
o (Centers for Disease Control [CDC], 2002)
o The Centers for Disease Control (CDC, 2002)
 Second citation
o (CDC, 2002)
o The CDC (2002)
Group author without abbreviation
 (Federal University Gusau, 2007)
 The Federal University Gusau (2007)

Reference
American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association: The official guide to APA style (Seventh ed.). American
Psychological Association.

Author-Date citation system

In-text citations appear in the body of the work (or table, figure etc.). They enable
readers to locate the corresponding entry in the reference list.
In-text citations are usually presented in the following two ways:

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Parenthetical citation
The author and date appear within parentheses:
The issue was described in more detail (Musa, 2020).
Narrative citation
The author appears in the text with the date in parentheses:
Musa (2020) describes the issue in more detail...

Authors
Who is responsible for the work?
Author type Parenthetical Narrative citation
citation
One author (Musa, 2020) Musa (2020)
examined ...
Two authors (Musa & Musa and Jabaka (2020)
Jabaka, 2020) examined ...
Three or more authors (Musa et al., Musa et al. (2020)
2020) examined ...
Author of a chapter in an (chapter Musa (2020)
edited book author/s, 2020) suggested...
If a chapter is cited, cite the (Musa, 2020)
chapter author/s, not the editor/s
Several works with the exact (Musa, In his papers Musa
same author(s) and same date 2020a, 2020b) (2020a, 2020b) described
Add a, b, etc. to the year in the in- ...
text citation and reference list.
Authors with the same surname (S. Musa, 2020; Samaila Musa (2020)
Include the initials in-text to B. Musa, 2019) and Bashiru Musa (2019)
disambiguate between the provided ...
authors, arrange
names alphabetically if used
together
APA Manual see p. 267, s8.20
Group (Organisation) author First citation - First citation - full name,
with abbreviation full name, introduce abbreviation:
APA Manual see p. 268, s8.21 introduce National Institute of
abbreviation in Water and Atmospheric
Reference list: Use the full name square brackets: Research (NIWA, 2020)
of the group. Do not abbreviate (National reported ...
the group name Institute of Subsequent citations, just
Water and use abbreviation:
Atmospheric NIWA (2020)
Research provided ...
[NIWA], 2020)
Subsequent
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 citations, just
use
abbreviation:
(NIWA, 2020)
Group (Organisation) author (Ports of Ports of Auckland (2020)
without abbreviation Auckland, reported ...
2020)
Citing multiple works (Jabaka, 2020; Musa et al. (2020),
Parenthetical citation: Ports of Jabaka (2020), and
place citations in alphabetical Auckland, Ports of Auckland (2019)
order separated by a semi-colon. 2019; Musa et examined ...
Narrative citation: citations can al., 2020)
be presented in any order.
No author - use the first few A book with no A book with no author:
words of the title, or the complete author: In Oral
title if short, and date. APA (Oral presentations (n.d.) there
Manual p. 264. presentations, is ...
Use italics if the work's title is in n.d.) An article with no
italics in the reference list, e.g a author:
book with no author. An article with In "Understanding the
Journal or magazine article no author: Sensory Memory"
without an author: use the title to ("Understanding (2018) there is a
replace the author's place; use the Sensory description...
double quotation marks around Memory,"
the title; use title case 2018)
capitalisation rules (sentence case
is used in the reference list entry); (Anonymous,
shorten a long title. 2020)

If there is no author but

"Anonymous" is credited for the
work, treat "Anonymous" as the
author for the citation.
Personal communication (E. Chapman, E. Chapman (personal
Not recoverable. Do not include personal communication, January
in the reference list. In-text use communication, 20, 2020) informed me
name with initials, "personal January 20, of ...
communication," and as exact a 2020)
date as possible.
 If multiple initials, include one space between each initial
 Write the name exactly as it appears on the published work
 Retain the author’s preferred capitalisation

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 Dates
When was the work published?
Reference type Explanation Format
Books Use the copyright year (Musa, 2020)
shown on the verso of the According to Musa (2020)...
title page.
Example:

Journal article Use the year of the (Musa & Jabaka, 2020)
volume, even if it is Musa and Jabaka (2020) examined...
different from the
copyright year.
Journal article If the work has been (Jabaka, in press)
in press accepted for publication Jabaka (in press)...
but has not yet been
published, use "in press".
Magazine, Use the year only in the (Abubakar, 2019)
newspaper in-text citation. Abubakar (2019) discusses ...
article,
blogpost
Multiple works Add a lower-case letter (Musa, 2020b)
published in after the year (or "-letter" Samaila (n.d.-a; n.d.-b)
same year with if not a year, eg. "n.d.-a").
identical The Year-letter
author(s) combination is used both
in-text and in the
reference list entry, even
if the reference list entry
has a more specific date.
Letter order is determined
by Reference list order,
not in-text citation order.
Personal Provide as exact a date as Bello (February 12, 2019) replied ...
communicatio possible. No entry in the
n reference list.
Work without If there is no date or the (Musa, n.d.)
a date date cannot be Musa (n.d.) described ...
determined, use "n.d."
Webpages Do not use the copyright (NIWA, n.d.)
date in the website footer NIWA (2019) reports unprecedented carbon
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 as it may not indicate monoxide ...
when the content was
published.
Only use the copyright
date that applies to the
content you are using.
If there is a "last updated"
note, use the date if it
applies to the content you
are citing.
If no separate date of
publication is available
treat the work as having
no date.
If the content is reviewed
or changed regularly, do
not use the date appeared
with the content. Use no
date (n.d.). But include a
retrieval date in the
reference list.

Pages or sections
Citing specific parts of a source
When you are directly quoting a specific part of a source, your in-text citation
should include author, date and information about this specific part.
When paraphrasing an idea from a reading, an author-date citation is usually used.
However, you may also provide an additional information for the specific part in the
citation. This is particularly used for citing a long or complex work, such as a book.
This helps readers locate the relevant passage.
This could be a page number, page range, paragraph number, section number, table
or figure number, or chapter number:
(Musa, 2020, p. 10)
(Musa, 2020, pp. 10–12)
(Musa, 2020, para. 4)
(Musa, 2020, paras. 2–3)
(Musa, 2020, Discussion section, para. 2)
(Musa, 2020, Table 1)
(Musa, 2020, Chapter 3)
(Musa, 2020, Part 2)

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Page range
Use an en dash, not a hyphen, for page ranges, e.g. 21–27. An en dash (–) is wider than
a hyphen (-). There are no gaps between the page numbers and the en dash.
 To add an en dash in Microsoft Word: if you are using a full PC keyboard, hold

the Control key and type the minus sign on the numeric keypad: Ctrl + -

 If your keyboard will not produce an en dash, it is acceptable to use a hyphen

instead.

Quotations and paraphrasing

Direct quotations
When you include a quote in your writing (a sentence or words reproduced from a text,
such as a book or article) your in-text citation should include:
 author
 date
 a page number or other indication of the specific part of the work that the quote is

from
Short quotes, fewer than 40 words, can be included in the paragraph in quotation
marks:
Musa (2020) found that "... ... ..." (p. 10)
Quotes of more than 40 words need to be in a separate indented paragraph or block
quote:
In 2001, Musa found the following:
Many young people can be encouraged to stop smoking by
introducing specific measures including . . . dependence upon
tobacco. (pp. 378–379)
Note that the bracketed element stating the exact section used is after the full
stop, and has no full stop after itself.
Changes
Direct quotations must be accurate, the quotation must match the wording, spelling and
punctuation of the original source, even if incorrect. Note a spelling error in the original
by inserting [sic] after a misspelled word ("sic" is italicised, and within square
brackets).
"Sickness occurred even when reel [sic] drugs were administered" (Miele, 1993, p. 48).
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Some minor changes are allowable without notification:
 the first letter of the first word of a quotation can be changed to uppercase or

lowercase to fit the context of your sentence

 some punctuation marks at the end of a quotation can be changed to fit your

sentence syntax as long as meaning is not changed

 single quotation marks can be changed to double quotation marks and vice-versa
 footnote or endnote callouts can be omitted

All other changes (eg. italicising words for emphasis, or omitting words) must be
explicitly indicated. See sections 8.30 -8.31 (pp. 274-276) in the APA Manual.

Paraphrasing
If you are paraphrasing (restating an idea from a text in your own words) you are not
required to provide a page or paragraph number in the in-text citation, but you may
include one when it would help the readers locate the relevant passage. See APA
Manual p. 269.

Secondary citations
A secondary citation is where you cite information or quotes that the author of your
reference has taken from a source that you have not read.
 It is preferable to locate and use the original source if possible.

In-text citation
Shehu and Sani's study, conducted in 1990 (as cited in Musa et al., 1993), shows that ...

... as some studies show (Shehu & Sani, 1990, as cited in Musa et al., 1993).
 Name the author of the original work in your text, cite the secondary source in
the in-text citation: (as cited in ..., 1993)

Reference list entry

Musa, S., Curtis, B., Atkins, P., & Haller, M. (1993). Models of reading aloud: Dual-
route and parallel-distributed-processing approaches. Psychological Review, 100(4),
589–608. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.100.4.589
 Give the secondary source in the reference list

About reference lists

A reference list lists only the sources you refer to in your writing.
A reference list appears on a new page after the end of a paper. It is arranged
alphabetically, and references use hanging indentation (first line flush left, second and
subsequent lines of a reference are indented in).

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The purpose of the reference list is to allow your sources to be be found by your reader.
It also gives credit to authors you have consulted for their ideas. All references cited in
the text must appear in the reference list, except for personal communications (such as
conversations or emails) which cannot be retrieved.
A bibliography is different from a reference list as it lists all the sources used during
your research and background reading, not just the ones you refer to in your writing.

Elements of a reference
A reference is the bibliographic information of a work cited. In APA, a reference
includes four core elements.
Four elements
Who When What Where
Author/s. (Year/date). Title of a Publisher of this DOI or URL
Editor/s. book. book.
Group author/s. Title of a Title of the edited
chapter of an book.
edited book. Journal Name,
Title of a volume(issue), pp–
journal pp.
article.

Italics, space, en dash

Use of Italics
 Italicise the title of a stand alone work, e.g. books, reports, webpages, websites,

etc.
 Italicise the titles of periodicals, e.g. journals, magazines, newspapers
 When a chapter of an edited book is cited, include the editor and book title in

reference. Italicise the title of the book.

Spacing after punctuation marks
Insert one space after full stops in a reference list.
Use an en dash for page ranges
Use an en dash, not a hyphen, for page ranges, e.g. 21–27. An en dash (–) is wider than
a hyphen (-). Do not insert a space before or after the en dash.
To add an en dash in Microsoft Word if you are using a full PC keyboard, hold
the Control key and type the minus sign on the numeric keypad. Ctrl and -

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  If your keyboard will not produce an en dash, it is acceptable to use a hyphen
instead. See the APA Manual p.157 for more details on the use of hyphens and
dashes in APA style.
Author
In a reference the author refers to the person(s) or group responsible for the work.
Variation Format
One author Author, A. A.
Two authors Author, A. A., & Author, B. B.
3 to 20 authors Include all 20 authors' name, use "&" before the
final author's name.
21 or more authors 21 or more authors: the first 19 authors, ...the
final author's name.
Group author Name of Group.
More than one group author Name of Group & Name of Group.
Editor Editor, E. E. (Ed.).
Editors Editor, E. E., & Editor, F. F. (Eds.).
 Use one space between initials
 If given names are hyphenated, retain the hyphen, with no space between the first

initial and the hyphen. e.g., Su, D.-P. for Dong-Po Su

 See the APA Manual p. 286, s9.8 for more details

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No author

Auckland University of Technology Library. (n.d.). Oral presentations. https://library.aut.ac.nz/doing-assignments/oral-

presentations
 When the author is not clear you can use a group as the author
 If the author and the publisher are the same you can omit the publisher
 If the author cannot be identified, move the title of the work to the author position
 If a work is signed "Anonymous", use "Anonymous" as the author

One author
Jackson, S. L. (2015). Research methods: A modular approach (3rd ed.). Cengage.
Easton, B. (2008). Does poverty affect health? In K. Dew & A. Matheson (Eds.), Understanding health inequalities
in Aotearoa New Zealand (pp. 97–106). Otago University Press.
Works with the same author and same date
Musa, S. (2018a). Beyond essentialism: Contemporary Moana art from Aotearoa New
Zealand. Afterall: A Journal of Art, Context and Enquiry, 46, 106–
115. https://doi.org/10.1086/700252
Musa, S. (2018b). False divides. Bridget Williams Books.
 Use 'a' and 'b' after the year

Two authors
Jabaka, M. L., & Sani, J. M. (Eds.). (2018). Tourism resilience and adaptation to environmental change: Definitions and
frameworks. Routledge
Sani, S., & Salle, C. (2007). Learning to do qualitative data analysis: An observational study of doctoral work. Qualitative Health
Research, 17(10), 1442-1452. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732307306924
 Use "&" before the final author
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Three to twenty authors
Musa, S., Nasiru, A., Garba, P., Paszkuta, M., Tajstra, M., & Wojciechowska, M. (2017). Survey of wearable multi-modal vital
parameters measurement systems. Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing, 526. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-
47154-9_37
 List all author up to and including the 20th author in the order they appear. Use an ampersand ("&") before the final author.

Twenty-one or more authors

Ioannidis, N. M., Rothstein, J.H., Pejaver, V., Middha, S., McDonnell, S.K., Baheti, S., Musolf, A., Li, Q., Holzinger, E., Karyadi, D.,
Cannon-Albright, L.A., Teerlink, C.C., Stanford, J. L., Isaacs, W. B., Xu, J., Cooney, K. A., Lange, E.M., Schleutker, J., Carpten, J. D., ...
Weiva, S. (2016). Revel: An ensemble method for predicting the pathogenicity of rare missense variants. American Journal of
Human Genetics, 99(4), 877–85. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2016.08.016 eunet.2015.09.011
 List the first 19 authors in the order they appear, insert an ellipsis "...", and then the final author

Article with a DOI

Musa, S., Savic, M., Carter, A., Kokanović, R., & Lubman, D. I. (2019). Going online: The affordances of online
counseling for families affected by alcohol and other drug issues. Qualitative Health Research, 29(14),
2010-2022. https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732319838231
Article without a DOI and from an online open access journal
Musa, SJ. (2019). Tangled arms: Modernizing and unifying the arm-oj-the-state doctrine. The University of Chicago Law
Review, 86.6, 1497-1737. https://bit.ly/2SkWwcy
 Include the article URL.
Article without a DOI and retrieved from a Library online journal or a print journal
McCrickard, M., Raymond, A., Raymond, F., & Song, H. (2018). The APLIA math assessment scores and introductory economics
courses: An analysis. Journal of Business and Educational Leadership, 8(1), 4-18.

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  Use this style for articles retrieved through the Library article databases or print journals from libraries. They cannot be
retrieved using a link.
Review articles
Musa, S. (2020). Marilyn Waring: The political years [Review of the book The political years, by M. Waring]. New Zealand Journal
of History, 54(1), 143-144.
 Format of a book review: Reviewer, A. A. (date). Title of review [Review of the book Book title, by A. A. Author]. Journal
title, volume(issue). page-page.
 The above format is also used for citing reviews for films and TV programmes

Article with an article number or eLocator

Musa, D. A., Garba, M. I., & Kabiru, H. M. (2019). Signaling impacts of GMO labeling on fruit and vegetable demand. PLOS
ONE, 14(10), Article e0223910. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0223910
Article in press
Musa, L. A., Samaila, L., Españab, P. P., Martinez-Indartc, L., Gómeza, A., Urangab, A., Castroa, S., Artarazb, A., & Zalacaina, R. (in
press). Factors influencing long-term survival after hospitalization with pneumococcal pneumonia. Journal of Infection.
 If the In Press article has a DOI, include the DOI as normal
Advance online publication
Rugga, M. C., Rashida, C. S., Lyons, J. E., & Rubenstein, M. A. (2023). A simplified method for value of information using
constructed scales. Decision Analysis., Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1287/deca.2023.0474
 Where multiple versions of the same work are available cite the version you used. Ideally you should cite the final published
version.

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