APA 6th Edition Style Guide

1. One Work by One Author 

• Author's name as part of narrative:

Lim (2014) reported that...

• Author's name and year of publication as part of narrative:

In 2014, Lim reported that... 

• Author's name and year of publication in parentheses (parenthetical citation):

A social constructivist approach is more effective than traditional pedagogy (Tan, 2013).

2. One Work by Multiple Authors

• Authors' names as part of narrative:

For work with 2 to 5 authors:

First citation:  Chandran, Loh, Atkinson, Chou and Tan (2013) reported that...

Subsequent citations:  Chandran et al. (2013) reported that...

For work with 6 or more authors:

First and subsequent citations:  Wong et al. (2012) found that...

• Authors' names and year of publication as part of narrative:

In 2013, Chandran, Loh, Atkinson, Chou and Tan reported that...

• Authors' names and year of publication in parentheses (parenthetical citation):

For work with 2 to 5 authors:

First citation: Beginning teachers will benefit from professional development courses on improving classroom management skills (Low, Lim, Ch'ng, & Goh, 2011).

Subsequent citations: Teacher recruitment campaigns should appeal to altruistic motives instead of the desire for monetary gain (Low et al., 2011).

For work with 6 or more authors:

First and subsequent citations:  Malnutrition hampers concentration in the classroom (Wong et al., 2012).

For more examples of basic citation styles, please refer to page 177 of the publication manual.

1. Two or More Works by the Same Author 

• From different years - Arrange by year of publication:

Research from that era (Ng, 1990, 1992)

• From same year - Arrange as per order in reference list (alphabetical order by title):

Several studies (Kim, 2013a, 2013b)

2. Two or More Works by Multiple Authors

• Arrange  in alphabetical order by first author's surname. Separate citations with semicolons.

Some studies (Jones, 2014; Kim & James, 2012; Lum, 2010)

• However, a major citation may be separated from the others which remain in alphabetical order:

(Lum, 2010; see also Jones, 2014; Kim & James, 2012)

Quotation of Less than 40 Words

• Incorporate quotation into text.
• Enclose with double quotation marks.

Quotation in mid-sentence:

Referring to the online questionnaires on how senior citizens were adapting to the Internet, Goh et al. (1999) observed that the “investigators assumed the respondents to be in possession of the very same skill sets that their studies were supposed to measure” (p.268), pointing out that the surveys produced biased results in favour of a high level of digital skills.

Quotation at end of sentence:

Far from curtailing patrons’ freedom of choice, readers’ advisory services are set up with the intent “to suggest, rather than dictate, a range of possibilities; to support, rather than reform, reading interests” (Teo & Capaldi, 2014, p.14).

Quotation of 40 Words or More

• Set quotation in a block without quotation marks. 
• Indent block half inch from left margin. 
• Indent first line of second and subsequent paragraphs an additional half inch.
• Place the period for the block quote before the author/date citation.

In the example that we would like to highlight, Seah deliberated on how cognitive load is effected by the choice of using either an open or a fixed search.  

It has been suggested that the use of Ingwersen’s results to illustrate Bruner’s model is justified: In effect, the different search modes are different selection strategies. More precisely, the open search employs simultaneous scanning whereas the fixed search uses conservative focusing.

            Because the main difference between these two strategies is their cognitive load, it is reasonable to assume that the determinant of a librarian’s choice between open and fixed searches is the amount of cognitive load he is willing to bear. (Seah, 2014, pp. 72-73)