Free APA Citation Generator
Whether you are drafting a term paper or writing a research project, it is likely that you will use someone else’s material in order to enhance your own paper. A knowledgeable student understands the importance of responsibility whenever it comes to using work that is not their own. This means clearly indicating that any kind of other author’s writing has been included in the paper. A student’s failure to do so ultimately is plagiarism. There exist some possible methods available for indicating whenever you’ve made use of someone else’s material in your work, which includes the use of in-text citations, footnotes, reference pages and also works cited lists.
There are a number of available resources and tools that can help organize source material, and ensure that appropriate citation methods are followed, such as APA citation generator free online.
One such resource is: kingcitation.
Additionally, many of the leading word processing applications, like Microsoft Word, include add-ons that help to automate the citation process, and will even create a corresponding bibliography or reference page to ensure that proper formatting guidelines have been adhered to.
APA Format Citation Generator
Before using an available free APA citation machine, it is first worthwhile to develop a stronger understanding of plagiarism and what it means.
What is plagiarism? Derived from the Latin word, plagiare, or ‘to kidnap’, the term plagiarism is used to reference the act of stealing the work created by someone else and passing it off as your own. Plagiarism may not result in jail time, however, there are costly punishments for anyone being guilty of plagiarism.
For example, for any student caught attempting to pass the work of someone else as their own, whether knowingly or not, the list of possible punishments includes:
- A fine
- Academic probation
- A failing grade
- Expulsion
Luckily, plagiarism can easily be mitigated simply with the use of citations. Anyone wanting to quickly and properly cite their work can use an APA citation maker, similar to the one found in Microsoft Word.
What are citations and why are they important?
It is necessary to include citations each and every time a work from a secondary source is referenced. This includes:
- Quotes
- Paraphrased information
- Images and graphics
- …anything else that was created by someone else.
There are two different versions of APA citations; In-Text (or parenthetical citations) and reference citations. APA in-text citations, like on websites are utilized whenever information from an outside source is used in a paper or project, even if the work was not used verbatim. These types of citations are shorter in length and are added directly to the body of the paper.
Reference citations, on the other hand, are placed at the conclusion of a paper, typically on the final page. They hold all of the relevant information for any of the in-text citations and are listed alphabetically.
These citations look very different from each other but require the same basic information: the surname of the author, the year of publication, and the page where the reference was found. APA citation builders make it easy to organize this information.
The process of including citations in your research is crucial. In including citations, you are doing your due diligence and also verifying to your readers that you have utilized credible sources in your research.
APA In-Text Citation Generator
The best APA style was the brainchild of the American Psychological Association. They originally created the citation method for students of psychology and those practicing in the field. Since its inception, the citation style has evolved to be used by those outside of the psychology sector and is now widely used in education, business, economics and various social science fields.
The APA method has evolved and changed and now includes specific guidelines for citing electronic documents.
Citation machines for APA help researchers to organize their sources and make sure that the appropriate information is disclosed. In-text citations, for example, must be included in three types of situations:
- When directly quoting someone else
- When paraphrasing information
- When referencing something that came from another source
More often than not, those researching various topics will borrow a small amount of text from another source and use this in their own research. There are several reasons why this might be done. Occasionally, this is because the information found is needed to enhance an argument or support a fact, and other times it is simply because the first person said it better. Whenever you must use the words of someone else in your work, you must use in-text citations to ensure that the originating source receives the most appropriate credit, free APA citation generator can automate this.
Asides from when using someone else’s words verbatim in your project, in-text citations are also used in cases, when words taken from some other source are paraphrased. The term “paraphrasing” refers to the act of taking information from another source and rewording it.
In-text citations are included at the end of a direct quote, after paraphrased information and every time a work that is not your own is referenced. These types of citations look like this:
This is an example sentence, or reference, or it may be paraphrased information. (You must include the Surname of the Author, the Year of Publication, the Page Number or alternatively the number of the paragraph the information was found on)
Note: You should only include the number of page or number of paragraph when you specify a direct quote or are paraphrasing something. This information is included because it makes it easier for anyone reading your paper to locate the original material should they wish to explore further.
APA Citation Examples
Role play can help children learn techniques for coping with bullying (Smith, 2013)
The phrase “Right Meow” was made popular by the cult classic, Super Troopers. (Rolling Stone, 2012)
Establishing regular routines, such as exercise, can help survivors of disaster to recover from trauma (American Psychological Association [APA], n.d.)
Typically, the citation will appear on the same line as the text, however, in the event that you are quoting a direct quote of more than forty words, the method used is a little bit different. You will show the quote as an indented text block, void of quotation marks and also include the surname of the author, the year of publication and also the page numbers. Here is an example:
Children spend far too much time inside, staring into screens and playing video games. This has screen dependency has resulted in an increase in childhood obesity, increased mood and behavioural issues, challenges with learning, increased mental illness and a number of other ailments that were not seen thirty years ago. (Smit, 2017, pp.77)
APA Style Citation Generator
The type of APA citation used will depend on the source material referenced. For example, the following all require a different method to be followed:
- Citations for print books
- Citations for E-books
- Citations for E-books from online databases
- Citations for edited books
- Citations for websites
- Citations for journals
- Citations for new articles
- Citations for magazines
- Citations for movies
Information is ever changing, and in order to keep up, it has become necessary for the citation structure used to evolve based on where the source material came from; even Youtube videos have their own citation structure.
Sites like Easy Bib aim to take the guess work out of APA citation and have created citation machines for APA that not only clearly dictate which structure is best used, and when, but also give students that ability to quickly scan their completed documents to ensure that everything is properly cited and referenced. Many of these sites also screen for things like grammar and spelling and other writing mistakes.
If you happen to be using Microsoft Word, it comes with a built in citation and reference page maker that allows you to do things like:
- Cite sources
- Add footnotes and endnotes
- Create bibliography
- Create reference pages
- Create tables of contents
- …and more
Remember, plagiarism is illegal. And, while it may not land you in prison, it could result in the end of your academic career. Even if you didn’t intentionally attempt to pass someone else’s work off as your own, mistakes happen. Luckily, thanks to advances in technology, you have the ability to quickly screen your work to make sure that you are following every guideline possible.
