Learning the APA Method of Citation and Documentation

One of the most important parts of writing any paper is learning the proper methods of citation and documentation. Although one could write an excellent paper, without the knowledge of how to cite sources and tie that information to where it originally came from, all the work put into writing the paper will be lost. With that in mind, there are various different methods that are available when writing a research or other related paper that allow one to properly cite a source. Among them are the MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association) and the Chicago method. While each of these methods has its own strengths and weaknesses, certain times in one's writing career tend to revolve around certain methods. For example, anyone writing a college level paper is most likely going to be required to use the APA method of citation, as discussed in this article.

Many college students do not like APA citation and references, and while it can indeed seem like a difficult method to learn at fist, there is really nothing to fear. With a little practice and some examples, APA style can become incredibly easy to learn and also be an effective tool in your writing career. With that in mind, two of the most difficult aspects of learning APA style is knowing how to properly cite sources and also how to insert them into a paragraph or piece of writing.
In this article, we will use an example of a paragraph long movie review to examine how to gracefully insert quotations and the like into writing. For this example, different sources were found from the website, www.rottentomatoes.com. After each source was located and read, and the information gathered appropriately, the necessary information in order to cite the source was written down and then put into APA style references.

Learning to insert quotes into a paragraph is hardly something that can be taught. As with most aspects of writing, only practice can make perfect. However, in this example, note the use of transitions to bring the quotes together. The objective when writing something of this nature is not to surprise or startle the reader with the quote. When writing, you want to make sure that everything flows into everything else. Learning effective use of transitions can greatly help this process along. However, this is also something that you want to consider when actually selected your quote material, as different aspects of different articles may make easier transitions than other aspects.

After you have located your sources and pulled the appropriate information, the next step is creating proper references for those sources. For those used to MLA references, learning to cite in the APA style may come as somewhat of a shock, but, it is really not that difficult of a transition. The first thing to do is to locate the name of the author, you then want to use the last name and the first initial, separated by a comma. After that, find the date that the article was published and enclose it in quotation marks, using first the year, then the month and then the day. After that, place the name of the article. Remember that you only capitalize the first word of the title, or the first word which comes after a colon. Even if the actual title of the article capitalizes every word, the proper method of citation involves only capitalizing the first word. After the title, place the organization where the quote came from. Unlike the title of the article, every word should be capitalized and set in italics. After placing a period you want to write, "Retrieved From" and then copy and paste the URL. Remember that you want a hanging indent after the first line.

This may indeed sound confusing. However, for clarification, look to the movie review below which features the recent film Beowulf, and the sources that come after it.

Sample Movie Review:

While modern movies adapted from classical literature are often lessons in failure, occasionally one can break the mold. While the recently released Beowulf may not redefine cinema, it is nonetheless an impressive remake of a classic. Mark Dujsik, of the Online Film Critics Society writes that Beowulf is, "...a visually rousing epic and a surprisingly effective reworking of a classic". Not all feel the film is a masterpiece though, and Nigel Andrews, of Financial Times, feels that, "the process is still not confident enough to bring all its goods to the sales areas". Still others feel that it may pail in comparison to recent epics such as 300 and Lord of the Rings; Beth Accomando calls Beowulf "an intriguing novelty act with a few stirring scenes". One common sentiment is voiced by Erik Childress of EFilmCritic.com, "The visual advancements of Beowulf is guaranteed to overshadow the ingrained themes". However, the famed Roger Ebert thinks that perhaps praise for the film has been a bit bloated when we writes that, "this movie needs is an audience that knows how to laugh." Beowulf may not be an epic work of cinema, but is definitely worth the price of admission.

Sample Sources:

Dujsik, M. (2007). Beowulf. Online Film Critics Society. Retrieved November 16, 2007, from http://mark-reviews-movies.tripod.com/reviews/B/beowulf-2007.htm

Andrews, N. (2007, November 15). Big and dazzling and barely there. Financial Times. Retrieved November 15, 2007, from: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/635811f2-92d9-11dc-ad39-0000779fd2ac.html

Accomando, B. (2007, November 15). Beowulf. KPBS. Retrieved November 16, 2007, from http://www.kpbs.org/blogs/movies/2007/11/15/beowulf/

Childress, E. (2007, November 16). Beowulf. EFilmCritic.com. Retrieved November 16, 2007 from http://www.efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=15578&reviewer=198

Ebert, R. (2007, November 14). Beowulf. Roger Ebert.com. Retrieved November 16, 2007 from http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071114/REVIEWS/71115001