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APA 7th Edition

Learn why citations are crucial in your written work and how to cite sources correctly using a variety of different style guides.

Reference Components

In APA Style, a citation consists of four main components: author, date, title, and source. These components are organized as follows:

  1. Author: The author element refers to the person(s) or group responsible for creating the work being cited. It is typically listed first in the citation.

  2. Date: The date element indicates the year of publication for the work being cited. It is usually placed after the author element.

  3. Title: The title element provides the name of the work being cited. It is typically italicized and comes after the date element.

  4. Source: The source element provides the bibliographic information necessary to locate and retrieve the original source. It typically includes details such as the publisher, place of publication, and URL (for online sources).

  5. Reference: A reference refers to a complete bibliographic entry that appears in the reference list at the end of a paper or document.

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