It is a citation style used in psychology, nursing, business, communications, engineerings and social sciences.
It requires four elements for every citation which includes:
- author of the content
- publish date
- title
- publication data
The general guidelines for using this format in citing your sources includes:
Author Names
- Start with name of the author and invent the names such that the last name comes first, then comma and then the initials and leave a space between the initials.
publish Date
- place the year between the parenthesis and end it with a period.
Title
- Capitalize only the first letter of the first word. For a two part title, capitalize the first word of the second part of the title.
- Capitalize the proper nouns and do not italicize but end with a period
Specifications for a Journal Article
The general format for a journal is:
Author last name, FirstName initial. middleName initial., & Author Name, initial. initial. (Year). Title of the article.Name of the periodical, volume(issue), page. url-link.
Periodical name
- Capitalize all major words in the periodical names.
- follow with a comma
- italicize the periodical name but not the comma after it.
Volume number
- Italicize the volume number
- Do not put a space between the volume number and the issue number
issue number
- Do not italicize the issue number or parenthesis
- Follow the parenthesis with a comma
- if there is no issue number, follow the volume number with a comma
page range
- use an en dash to include page range
- do not put spaces around the en dash
- end with a period
Date of issue
- Include a date of issue for all articles that have one
- Do not put a period after the date of issue
Specifications for a book
The general format is :
Author, FirstName initial. middleName Initials., & Author, B. B. (Copyright Year). Title of the book (7th ed.).Publisher. DOI or URL
Author Names
- Invert names so that the last name comes first,followed by a comma and the initials.
- Leave a space between initials.
- Retain the order of authors’ names.
Copyright year
- Place the copyright year in parentheses.
- End with a period.
Title
- Capitalize only the first letter of the first word.
- For a two-part title, capitalize the first word of the second part of the title.
- Also capitalize proper nouns.
- Italicize the title.
- End with a period.
Edition
- if book has edition or volume include the number in parentheses after the title but before the period.
- If both, show edition first and volume second, separated by a comma.
- Do not put a period between the title and the parenthetical information
publisher
- Include the name of the publisher, followed by a period.
- Do not include the publisher location.
- If there multiple publishers , separate them with a semicolon.
Date of Issue
- Include a DOI if available.
- Do not include a URL or database information for works from academic research databases.
- Include a URL for ebooks from other websites.
- Do not put a period after the DOI or URL.
Citing a chapter in an edited Book
The general format is :
Author, FirstName initial. middleName Initials., & Author, B. B. (Copyright Year). Title of the book chapter. In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of the book (2nd ed., pp. #–#). Publisher. DOI or URL
specific formatting should be:
- Place the copyright year in parentheses and end with a period.
Title of the book chapter
- In the title, Capitalize only the first letter of the first word.
- For a two-part title, capitalize the first word of the second part of the title.
- Also capitalize proper nouns but do not italicize.
- End title with a period
Book editors
- Write the word “In” and the initials and last name of
each editor. - Use “(Ed.)” for one editor or “(Eds.)” for multiple
editors. - End with a comma.
Book Title
- Provide the title of the book in which the chapter appears.
- Capitalize only the first letter of the first word.
- For a two-part title, capitalize the first word of the second part of the title.
- capitalize proper nouns.
- Italicize the book title.
Edition and page number
- Include the chapter page range and with a period.
- if book book has an edition or volume number, include the number in parentheses before the page range.
- If both, show edition first and volume second, separated by a comma,
before the page range. - Do not put a period between the title and the parenthetical information.
publisher
- Include the name of the publisher followed by a period.
- Do not include the publisher location.
- If there are multiple publishers, separate them with a semicolon.
DOI and URL
- Include a DOI if available.
- Do not include a URL or database information for works from
academic research databases. - Include a URL for ebooks from other websites.
- Do not put a period after the DOI or URL.
Citing a website
Contributor last name First Name initial, last Name initial, suffix,(publish Date).Title.website name.Date accessed from url
Example:
Njuguna, C. W., Dr. (2024, April 5). Preparing a speech. Easy Simple Learning. Retrieved April 20, 2024, from https://precisestudy.online
Related Topics
- The AMA citation style
- Speech making process
- Listening Skills
- levels of listening
- The art of listening
- Non-verbal communication
- persuasive communication
- What is communication
- Communication Theory
