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ENVS/HIST 115: Introduction to Archaeology

APA Style for Citations

Below are the most commonly cited types of sources in APA style. Use these as examples for how to cite your own sources. Refer to the APA Style site or to the print APA Manual in Seymour Library for more examples and further information about using APA style.

Article in an Electronic Journal

Latchford, C. (1986). Dickson Mounds. Central States Archaeological Journal, 33(4), 279–284. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43139663

Note: Include either the DOI or a stable URL.

Article in a Magazine

Weiss, D. (2022, November/December). Magical mystery door. Archaeology. https://www.archaeology.org/issues/488-2211/features/10882-egypt-stela-false-door 

Notes: 1) When viewing magazines online, you may not be able to find a volume and/or issue number, but make sure you include the issue date. 2) Include a DOI or URL for the article.

Book

Pauketat, T. R., Bernard, N. S. (2004) Cahokia mounds. Oxford University Press.

Note: There are other required elements if the source has an editor(s) or a translator. Refer to the Purdue Owl site.

Website

Science Daily. (2020, September 21). Archaeology uncovers infectious disease spread 4000 years agohttps://www.sciencedaily.com/
releases/2020/09/200921091535.htm

Note: These can be tricky depending on what information is presented on the website. Always refer to the APA guidelines in the APA manual or the APA Style site.

Avoiding Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the act of using someone else’s ideas, concepts, words, images, music, etc. as if they were your own, without giving proper credit; it is intellectual theft. When you approach writing your paper with the notion that you want to avoid plagiarism, you are not only doing the right thing, but you are also engaged in the intellectual work that is required when you describe, analyze, synthesize, and draw new conclusions about your topic. When you work to avoid plagiarism you work to set your own ideas upon, next to, or in opposition to, those scholars whose work came before yours.

Avoid plagiarism by citing:

  • direct quotations
  • ideas from texts that you have paraphrased
  • images you acquired from someone else, downloaded from the Internet, or otherwise are not your own
  • conversations, personal correspondence, interviews
  • anything else that is not your own

You do not have to cite commonly accepted facts. One rule of thumb for commonly accepted facts are those that can be found in five reference sources. It is often difficult to know what commonly accepted facts are, so when in doubt, it is best to provide a citation for them.

View a handout (pdf) with more information on avoiding plagiarism.