See the different citations below (in APA format) and the clues that follow to help you understand how to read a citation properly.
Clues that the citation above is from a book:
- Italics are used to set off the title. Sometimes the title is underlined instead.
- There is a place of publication and a publisher.
- There is no volume or issue number.
- There are no page numbers.
Clues that the citation above is from a book chapter:
- Italics are used to set off the title (like a citation for a book).
- The word "In" followed by editors (authors), title, and page numbers.
- There are two titles.
- There is a place of publication and a publisher (like for a book).
- There is no volume or issue number.
Clues that the citation above is from a journal article:
- There are two titles.
- The second title is the journal title. It is in italics. Sometimes this title will be underlined instead.
- There is a voume number. In this case there is also an issue number (which may or may not be given).
- There are page numbers.
- There is a DOI (Digital Object Identifier). This piece of information was introduced relatively recently, so it may not always be given.
Clues that the above citation is from a newspaper article:
- In addition to the year, the date includes the month and day.
- There are two titles, and the title of the newspaper is in italics. Sometimes it may be underlined.
- A newspaper title often includes terms like "Times," "Post," "Tribune," or "Observer."
Clues that the citation above is from a webpage:
- There are no volume, issue, or page numbers.
- There is the phrase "Retrieved from" followed by a URL.
