The APA Referencing Generator is a software used to create citation and references in the style recommended by the American Psychological Association. Given the popularity of the APA style, it is easy to find a free APA citation Generator & format on the internet. An APA referencing Generator is also known as an APA7 citation generator.
Ask any dissertation expert and he will tell you that correct referencing is essential to avoid any plagiarism claim against your work. It clearly demarcates your ideas from those of another author or authority. The APA style is a citation or referencing style that is recommended by the American Psychological Association; hence the name APA.
This style of referencing is popularly used in behavioural and social sciences. Any agency that provides online assignment help would be familiar with the APA style of referencing. They use it frequently in assignments and dissertations in the fields of psychology, economics, social studies, anthropology, education, human and animal behaviour.
The APA Publication Manual, that provides all the guidance with respect to this referencing style was first published as a guide in 1952 and has undergone several modifications. The Seventh and most recent edition was published as a manual in 2019. This indicates the extent of thought that goes into providing guidance with respect to different kinds of written work. In view of the most recent guidance being provided in the seventh edition of the Manual, the APA style is also referred to as APA 7th, or just APA 7.
Harvard Referencing | Oxford Referencing |
MLA Referencing | Deakin Referencing |
Chicago Referencing | Oscola Referencing |
APA Referencing | Vancouver Referencing |
Swinburne Referencing | UTS Referencing |
The APA style uses an author - date format in the body of the text as a citation. The accompanying reference list is then set out at the end of the chapter or at the end of the written work as a bibliography. The reference list is ordered alphabetically according to the names of the authors referred to. As a consequence, the names of authors referred would not be in the same order in which it appears in the body of the text.
The writer must therefore accurately list the authors and the date of their work referred to. The APA reference format varies according to the type of document referred to. All formats generally follow the name-date-title- source format. The APA style does not permit authors to be included in the reference list unless they are quoted by the writer. This often results in a lengthy paper written by an author if he wishes to list all authors with similar quotations or conclusions. The readability to the document is therefore affected too.
Where a document is undated or it is not available, for consistency, the APA Style Manual requires that the date be stated as n.a. instead of being left blank or not being mentioned at all.
The APA citation is very popular among writers in the social and behavioural sciences. There are a large number of resources available online and it is easy to find a suitable citation generator. Just search for online APA Referencing generator and you are sure to find something that is useful and easy to use.
Once you have selected the APA referencing generator of choice, you need to enter the details of your reference work into the reference generator. These details are the name of the author, the date of the work referred to, the title of the work referred to, and the source information. The citation generator then uses the information to generate the details of the reference in the format recommended by the APA. This output can then be used by the writer by simply copying and pasting the information and format into his work.
All APA referencing generators use the recommended format for the reference list. This means the reference list contains the list of authors who have been referred to or cited in the work. The list is alphabetically arranged with the name and year of publication stated first. The names are listed on the basis of the family name. First names are capitalized and only the initials are used. This is followed by the year mentioned in the round brackets. Thereafter the name of the publication is stated, often in italics. It is usual that the details are too long to fit on a single line. The APA style recommends that the details carry over to the next line. The next line and subsequent lines use a hanging indent. As a result of this formatting requirement, the name of the author stands out and it is easy to find the authors name and reference.
The APA style also requires double spacing be used between entries included in the reference list. This provides clarity in finding the start and end of an entry and naturally separates two entries in the reference list. The down side of this formatting style is that the reference list or bibliography increases in length. Readers often are apprehensive of a lengthy document.
The Harvard style of referencing also uses the Author-date format for citing and referencing works of another authority on the subject. This method is similar to that used in the APA style of referencing. The main difference between the two styles is in their usage. The APA style is commonly used in Social and Behavioural sciences while the Harvard style of referencing is primary used in works that relate to academics in the physical sciences. The two styles would be similar other than some semantic differences in format for presentation.
Disclaimer: The reference papers offered by The Student Helpline act as sample papers for students & are not to be presented as it is. These papers are only meant to be utilized for study & reference purposes.