APA Citation Tutorial

Part I: Research Resources

By the end of Part I, you will be able to

• List the most frequently used types of research resources

• Describe unique characteristics of each type of research resource

• Classify research resources when you see them

Take a moment to think: where do you find information?

When you’re doing any type of research, you likely find information in a number of different places.

While there are many different types of research resources available, you will most likely be using research found in the following formats:

• Journal articles• Books• Book chapters• Websites• Government documents• Reference works

Each of these different types of research resources will be cited in slightly different ways.

In order to cite your resources appropriately and accurately, you first need to be able to identify what type of resource you are trying to cite.

Let’s look at each of these frequently used research resources in depth…

Journal ArticlesDescription:A journal is a collection of articles usually written by scholars in an academic or professional field. Articles in journals can cover very specific topics or narrow fields of research.

Characteristics:Appropriate for scholarly research, contain few advertisements, contain technical language or jargon, geared toward specialists, individual articles are usually 7-10 pages long

Examples: Nature, Computers and Education, Journal of Computer Assisted Learning

Books

Description:Books cover virtually any topic, and in a more comprehensive way than journal articles are able to. Books provide background information and context.

Characteristics:Longer than journal articles (usually several hundred pages), written or edited by individuals or a group of individuals, can be geared toward a general population or specialists,

Examples: Drupal for education and e-learning, What the best college teachers do, Psychology of learning for instruction

Book ChaptersDescription:Scholarly books are often edited by an individual, but include chapters authored by different individuals. In this case, the chapter can be treated as its own research resource.

Characteristics:Author will be listed at the beginning of the chapter, table of contents will list authors next to chapter titles, chapters will be on very specific topics, geared toward specialists

Examples: Men's and women's gender role journeys: A metaphor for healing, transition (a chapter in the book Gender issues across the life cycle)

WebsitesDescription:The Web allows you to access most types of information on the Internet through a browser. One of the main features of the Web is the ability to quickly link to other related information. The Web contains information beyond plain text, including sounds, images, and video.

Characteristics:Found on the web, may be geared toward a general audience, may not have gone through a rigorous review process, may not list an author

Examples: WebMD, Wikipedia, www.vt.edu, lcweb.loc.gov (Library of Congress website)

Government DocumentsDescription:An item published under the authority of a governmental agency.

Characteristics:Can be produced at local, state, and federal government levels (municipal (city), county, state legislature, or federal agencies such as the U.S. Congress or Department of Education), can be geared toward specialists, will be freely available (usually via the web), will often list an agency or organization as the author

Examples: US Census, Congressional reports, Encouraging girls in math and science (a US DOE report)

Reference WorksDescription:Reference works, like encyclopedias, are collections of short, factual entries often written by different contributors who are knowledgeable about the topic.

Characteristics:Will include background information, can be general or specialized, entries are often short, offer key ideas and concepts in different research areas, often organized in an alphabetical order

Examples: World Book, Encyclopedia Britannica, GaleEncyclopedia of Genetic Disorders, DSM-5

Now that we’ve discussed the unique characteristics of each type of research resource that you are likely to use, it is time to test your understanding.

Click on the link above in order to complete the activity (Activity 1) for this section, and to get a sense of how well you understand and are able to identify the different types of research resources.

When you are finished, continue on to Part II: Creating Citations