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CRJ 115 - Criminal Law Case Research Activity

Cite Your Sources in APA Format

Here are a few examples to help you cite your sources in APA format:

Journal Article

Format: Author(s). (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal in Italics, Volume number in italics(issue number), page numbers of article. DOI/URL

Note:  If using a print article or database article use the DOI (if no DOI, skip). If using a non-database article (from a website) with no DOI, use the URL instead.

Print or Electronic Article with a DOI given

Example: Bassett, S. D. (2007). Exploring the issue of confidentiality. Nurse Educator, 32(4), 147-153. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126 

Print Article or Article from a Database with no DOI given

Example: Bozkurt, O. (2007). Wired for work. Society, 44(2), 33-40. 

Electronic Article from the Internet (Not from a Database) with no DOI given

Example: Bass, J. D. (2020). Exploring mental health. American Nursing, 3(8), 47-56. https://www.americannursing.com/issue58649/exploring-mental-health

More Information on Citing Journal Articles in APA


Website Article

Format:  Author(s). (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Website Name. URL

Example: Harrar, S. (2007, July 5). Better heart health. CNN, http://cnn.com/better-heart-201562 

Example: The secret to a long life. (2020, August 10). American Cancer Society, http://americancancersociety.com/secret-long-life-356892

Group Author: Mayo Clinic. (2011, June 23). Absence seizure. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/201569 

Access Date: Smith, J. D. (n.d.). Considerations for new nurses. Career Spot. Retrieved July 3, 2019, from https://www.careerspot.org/nursing213659/

Government: National Cancer Institute. (2020). Lung cancer update (NIH Publication No. 20-6548). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.cancer.gov/lungcancer206528/

More Information on Citing Website Articles in APA


Entire Book or Ebook

Format: Author(s). (Year). Title of book in italics (Edition ed., Vol. volume number). Publisher. DOI/URL.

*Note: If no DOI, skip. If using a non-database (online) E-Book include the URL.

Print Book or Ebook with a DOI given

Example: Duclos-Miller, P. A. (2006). How to cope with stress (2nd ed., Vol. 2). Greenwood. https://doi.org/10.1002/97804560

Ebook from a Database with no DOI given

Example: Sallan, B. A. (2020). The psychology of a child (3rd ed.). Greenwood.

Ebook from the Internet (Not from a Database) with no DOI given

Example: Brown, L. S. (2018). Feminist therapy (Vol. 2). American Psychological Association. https://www.feminist-therapy.com/book245345

More Information on Citing Books in APA


Part of a Book (chapter, essay, entry, etc.)

Format: Author(s) of Part. (Year). Title of part. In Editor's Name (Ed.), Title of book in italics (Edition ed., Vol. volume number, pp. page numbers of part). Publisher. DOI/URL

Print Book or Ebook with a DOI given

Example: Turner, J. B. (2006). Diaper rash. In J. L. Longe (Ed.), The Gale encyclopedia of medicine (3rd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 1169-1171). Thomson Gale. https://doi.org/10.1002/97804560 

Ebook from a Database with no DOI given

Example: Weinstock, R., Leong, G. B., & Silva, J. A. (2003). Defining forensic psychiatry. In R. B. Rosner & J. R. Gilbert (Eds.), Forensic psychiatry (2nd ed., pp. 7-13). Mosby.  

Ebook from the Internet (Not from a Database) with no DOI given

Example: Stockton, L., Smith, F. B., & Fields, J. A. (2020). Dementia. In Aging conditions (p. 13). Parsons. http://www.dementiabook.com

More Information on Citing a Part of a Book in APA


Additional APA Information and Examples

Cite Your Court Cases in Bluebook Format

When you have a case, you must cite using Bluebook format, all other types of sources will use APA. 

Format: Case Name, Volume No. Source/Reporter Abbreviation 1st page number (Court Year).

 

*Note: In court documents and legal memos, a full case name is usually in italics or underlined, but in academic legal writing it is generally not. 

*Note: A Source\Reporter is a publication that contains a specific court's decisions. There can be more than one that publishes for a court. For example, the opinions of the U.S Supreme Court are published in 3 different sources. 

*Note: Names of the source and the court are always generally abbreviated.

*Note: Since there is only one U.S. Supreme Court, you do not need to include the court in the parenthesis. 

US Supreme Court Example: Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)

Federal Courts of Appeals Example:  United States v. Cutter, 313 F.3d 1 (1st Cir. 2002)

State Court Example:  Decker v. Smith, 471 S.E.2d 462 (S.C. 1995)

 

Citing a Specific Page

If you use information from a specific page, you may need to include that information in your citation. It is called the pinpoint or page cited. 

Format: Case Name, Volume No. Source/Report Abbreviation 1st page number, Pinpoint page (Court Year).

US Supreme Court Example: Katz v. United States, 389 U.S. 347, 355 (1967)

Federal Courts of Appeals Example:  United States v. Gray, 491 F.3d 138, 140 (4th Cir. 2007)

State Court Example:  State v. Gregory, 333 A.2d 257, 259 (N.J. 1975)

 

Short Form of Case Names

After you have listed your case in long form as described above the first time in your document, you can then shorten it when you reference it again. These are Bluebook style acceptable shorten citation examples:

For this case example reference text on page 142:  United States v. Gray, 491 F.3d 138 (4th Cir. 2007)

  • United States v. Gray, 491 F.3d at 142
  • Gray, 491 F.3d 138 at 142
  • 491 F.3d 138 at 142

 

Helpful Links for More Information

Penn State Law A Guide to the Bluebook PowerPoint- This PowerPoint created by Penn State Law is a wonderful, quick, and comprehensive guide for the rules of Bluebook citation. 

University of Notre Dames Law School Citing Law Cases -This is a 5-page handout that covers all the basic rules to citing any type of case. 

Georgetown Law Library Bluebook Guide -This has basic Bluebook citation information as well as breaks down how to cite Federal and State Courts, Unpublished Opinions, and Shorten Forms of Cases.

Purdue University Owl Bluebook Citation for Legal Materials- This Purdue University guide to citing information using Bluebook style. 

 

What are In-text Citations? (APA)

You use in-text citations throughout the text of your paper to tell your reader where specific information came from. Anytime you pull information from an outside sources, whether it's ideas, a direct quote, a paraphrase or summary, you need to provide an in-text citation to tell your reader where that information came from. If parts of your paper don't have an in-text citation, then the reader assumes that either 1.) those are your thoughts and ideas or 2.) the information is "common knowledge" (something that everyone knows). 

An in-text citation does not contain all the information needed for your reader to find the source. Instead, it only contains just enough information to help the reader find the source in your references list (the list of sources you should include at the end of your paper). The references list (similar to a Works Cited list) provides the reader with all the information they need about the source to find it..

In APA format, a typical in-text citation will include last name of the author(s) and the year the source was published. You should also include page numbers if citing a specific part of the source - in particular when using a direct quotation or specific paraphrase. Place the citation as close as possible to the information you are citing.

If any information is included in the sentence, you leave it out of the parenthesis. For instance, if you use the author(s) name in the sentence then only include the year in parenthesis. You'll see examples both ways below. Review the following information, but you can also refer to our APA In-text Handout or our sample paper.

Typical In-text Citation with One Author

Place the author’s last name and the year in parenthesis. If the in-text citation is at the end of a sentence, place the period outside the parenthesis.

Example 1: Chickens have been known to cross roads (Jordon, 2017).
or
Example 2: 
Jordon (2017) discussed how chickens like to cross roads.

**Note: Some sources may have a full date listed instead of just a year. In that case, for your in-text citation, only include the year. You may include the full date for the source on your references page.

Two Authors

If a source has two authors, use an ampersand (&) between the names in the parenthesis.  Use "and" when referring to the authors in the text of your paper.  Include both names every time you cite the source.

Example 1: "The chicken crossed the road" (Smith & Jones, 2013, p. 199).
or
Example 2: Smith and Jones (2013) also discovered that "the chicken crossed the road" (p. 199).

Three or More Authors

When a source has three or more authors list the first author followed by et al. (Latin for “and others”). 

Example 1: The chicken was forced to cross the road (Adams et al., 2009). 

Or 

Example 2: Adams et al. (2009) discovered who forced the chicken to cross the road.  

Group Author (Organization or Company) 

When a source’s author is a company, organization or other group, the name of that group goes in the author position. If the group name can be or is commonly abbreviated, there is a different way to cite it than if it cannot be abbreviated. With abbreviated groups, the first citation is different than all the following citations. 

Example: Group author that cannot be abbreviated 

The chicken was forced to cross the road (Stanford University, 2020).  

Or 

Stanford University (2020) discovered who forced the chicken to cross the road.  

Example: Group author that can be abbreviated 

First citation - The chicken was forced to cross the road (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2020).  

All following citations – The chicken was not harmed while it was crossing the road (NIMH, 2020). 

Or 

First Citation - National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2020) discovered who forced the chicken to cross the road.  

Second citation – NIMH (2020) later revealed that the chicken was not harmed while crossing the road. 

No Author (Unknown Author)

If a source has no author and is listed on the reference page by its title, use the first few words of the title and the year.  Put double quotation marks (") around article or chapter titles and italicize periodical and book titles.  Unlike the reference page, the main words of the title should be capitalized.

Example of a book with no author given: The chicken made a conscious decision to cross the road (The Big Book of Chickens, 2015).

Example of a journal article with no author given: The chicken did not want to cross the road ("The Case of the Chicken and the Road," 2016).

No Date

When a source does not have a date listed, use n.d. in the in-text citation in place of the date.

Example of an article with no date given: Chickens often cross roads when they are hungry (Johnson et al., n.d.).

Example of an article with no author and no date given: Chickens first began their passage across the road in the late 11th century ("History of the Chicken," n.d.).

When and How to Use Page Numbers, etc.

When citing a specific part of a source

If you quote directly from the source, include page number(s). When paraphrasing information or referring to an idea from your source, APA encourages you to give page or paragraph numbers. Abbreviate the word “page” – p if one page number and pp. if a page range (more than one page).

Direct Quotations

Direct quotations work the same way as shown above, unless you’re including the author’s name in the sentence.

Example: Davis (2020) reported that “crossing the road was easy for the chicken” (p. 30).

Or

Example: Davis (2020) reported that “crossing the road was easy for the chicken” (para. 5).

No page numbers?

Use paragraph numbers and/or headings (abbreviate paragraph as para.) instead if given (pages 171-172). If source does not provide paragraph numbers, you can “count paragraphs down from the beginning of the document.”*

Example: Source with page numbers

Experts believe that the chicken crossed the road (Daniels, 2009, pp. 3-4).

Example: Online source, no page numbers but with paragraphs

Experts believe that the chicken wanted to cross the road (Douglas, 2007, para. 4).

No page or paragraph numbers?

Use the section heading and paragraph number (counted down from the beginning of that section heading). If you cannot use a heading, use a shortened form of the section title in double quotation marks (“). Count paragraphs down from the beginning of that section.

Example: Online source with section (no page numbers given) with section labels

One source gives a different theory about the chicken (Davis, 2009, Conclusion section, para. 3).

Example: Online source, (no page numbers given), with section titles

One source gives a different theory about the chicken (Davis, 2009, “Overview of Chickens,” para. 5). Note: The Original section title in this example was: “Overview of Chickens and the Roads They Cross.”

Citing a Recording (Video, Film, Audio, etc.)

When citing a direct quotation or paraphrasing specific section or idea in a recording (video, film, audio, etc.), put the author’s last name or user name, the year, a time stamp for the relevant section in parenthesis. Each number section (hours:minutes:seconds) in time stamp should separated by a colon, without space on either side. If not citing a direct quote or paraphrasing specific section or idea in a recording, you do not include the timestamp.

Example: One Author  "That yearning for justice that I feel" (Ferriss, 2018, 18:23).

Example: Group or Organization or User Name  Not knowing how to cook means, "you are hostage to the food industry" (Stanford Health Library, 2015, 1:01:29).

Example: User Name and not using a direct quote or paraphrasing  This source gives a real life example of some of the pit falls to dumpster diving when the the police show up to stop the person in the video from recovering the trash (Freakin Frugal, 2021).


More In-text Examples

Sample Paper