Dentistry & Dental Hygiene

How Do I Cite?

As dental hygiene students, you will use the APA citation format. It is easy to use and the library has several resources to help you out. Take a look at this page to find out the basics. 

This page is a general overview of how to cite common types of sources using APA style. For more complex APA style questions, please consult the official APA formatting rules found in The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7^th ed.  

General Rule: 

Last-name, First-initial. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume(Issue), Pages. DOI link

Example:

Madigan, R., Johnson, S., & Linton, P. (1995). The language of psychology: APA style as

epistemology. American Psychologist, 50(6), 428-436. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.50.6.428

What is a DOI, and where do I find it?

DOI stands for digital object identifier. It is a unique ID number ideally given to all digitized journal articles and ebooks. The DOI is listed along with the article citation in many databases. DOI numbers are also sometimes found on the first page of an article PDF. Alternately, DOI numbers can be found by searching the Crossref website http://www.crossref.org/guestquery/     

What if I can’t find a DOI?

If no DOI is available for an article that is widely available, such as an article found in a academic research database or in a print journal, end the citation with the page numbers. If the article does not have a DOI but is freely available on a website, include the URL for the work.    

Example of an article citation without a DOI from a database or in print:

Cuddy, C. (2002). Demystifying APA style. Orthopedic Nursing, 21(5), 35-42. 

Example of an article without a DOI from a website:

Akin, E. (2014). In Defense of "Mindless Rote." Nonpartisan Education Review, 10(2), 1-13.

https://nonpartisaneducation.org/Review/Resources/MindlessRote.pdf 

General Rule:

Last-name, First-initial. (Year). Title of book. Publisher Name. DOI Link or URL

• No need to include the DOI if referring to a print copy of a book, or an ebook from a database that does not include a DOI.
• If the author and publisher are the same leave off the publisher name. 

Examples:

Gelfand, H., Walker, C. J., & American Psychological Association. (2002). Mastering APA style: Student's

workbook and training guide.​

Moed, H. (2005) Citation analysis in research evaluation. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3714-7

Reagan, R. (2005). Citing unpublished opinions in federal appeals. Federal Judicial Center. 

https://books.google.com/books?id=D1AX4jtrv10C&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&dq=citations&source=gbs_navlinks_s

General Rule:

Last-name, First-initial. (Year). Title of chapter. In First-initial. Last-name-of-editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. pages of chapter). Publisher Name. DOI or URL link

• For a chapter in an authored book, create a reference for the whole book and provide the chapter number in the text.

Example:

Folman, S. & Connor, U. (2005) Writing from sources in two cultural contexts. In T. Kostouli (Ed.), Writing in context(s): Textual practices and learning processes in sociocultural settings. (pp. 165-184) Springer.

Use the web source category when no other source category (eg. blog post, journal article, newspaper article, book) fits a work. Wikipedia and other online encyclopedias and dictionaries should be cited as reference works.   

Create a reference for each page or article you use from a website. If you mention an entire website in general, no reference is needed, only include the URL in-text parentheses. 

General Rule:

Author. (Last updated date, if no date use n.d.). Title of page. Name of Website. http://www.xxxxx

Examples:

Group Author: 

 American Psychological Association. (2012). Ethics. http://www.apa.org/topics/ethics/index.aspx

Note: When the group author name is the same as the website, you do not need to include the name of the website. 

Individual Author: 

Rowan, L (2019, December 17) Our most popular money advice for 2019. Lifehacker. 

https://twocents.lifehacker.com/our-most-popular-money-advice-of-2019-1840397874

Every time you use an idea that is not your own or information that is not common knowledge in your writing you have to site the source directly in your text.

General Rules:

There are two types of in text citations: narrative and parenthetical, both are acceptable. 

• Narrative: Use the author(s) last name(s) followed by the publication date in parentheses in your text. 
• Parenthetical: list the author(s) name(s) and publication date in parentheses at the end of your sentence.
• If you use a direct quote from the source include a page number in the parentheses at the end of your sentence. 

Examples:

Ross and Myers (2009) argue that traffic stops deserve more critical attention because of the wide range of privacy rights issues and officer safety issues they can pose. 

Issues surrounding traffic stops require careful Fourth Amendment analysis (Ross & Myers, 2009).

Ross and Myers posit that “the touchstone of the Fourth Amendment is reasonableness” and that it has been considered reasonable for police to remove any or all occupants from a vehicle during a traffic stop at their discretion (2009, p. 470).