Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Learners Resources

Introduction

Any time you use or refer to a work created by someone else, you should always provide a citation to the original work, even if you rephrased the source in your own words. If you are using a direct quote, be sure to put it in quotation marks or use a block quote. Citation is particularly important when you are turning in assignments for Relay or are publishing something for the public.

To go directly to examples of APA citations, use the links on the left of this page.

Why Cite?

Citations are important for the following reasons:

• Academic/Intellectual Honesty: Citations give credit to authors whose works have provided you with the information, idea, or resource that you have used, and allow you to distinguish your own work from that of your sources.  In your work at Relay, you are being graded on your own work, so it is important that you indicate when the work is your own and when you used the ideas of someone else. 
• Copyright: The United States has laws about how you can legally use the work of others. While citations aren't enough to guarantee that you are legally allowed to use the work of others in the way that you plan to use it, your use is more likely to be legal if you provide a citation to the original work. 
• Credibility: Citations provide support for your arguments and demonstrate the depth and breadth of your research. If you back up your claims with citations of authoritative sources, others are more likely to trust that you have done careful and thorough research into the subject. 
• Allowing Others to Find Your Sources: Sometimes, your audience may want to learn more about a subject you have written about.  If you provide citations to your sources, they can track down your original sources and read them for themselves. This is why you should always be sure to include enough information in your citation to allow others to find your original sources. 

How to Cite

There is no single correct way to provide a citation, although several conventions exist such as the MLA, APA, and Chicago citation styles. The most important thing is that you are consistent, that you are clear to your audience about which parts of your work were originated from someone else, and that you provide enough information so that other people can find the work in question.  At minimum, your reference should include as much of the following information as possible:

• The title of the resource
• The author of the resource (this may be an organization rather than an individual)
• The date the resource was created
• The URL where the resource can be found

Relay uses the American Psychological Association (APA) citation style, and in your work for Relay, citations should follow this style whenever possible. The guide below gives examples for how you can cite your sources. If what you are trying to cite does not match exactly with any of the examples on the APA guide, don't be afraid to use what one APA blogger calls a "Frankenreference" (McAdoo, 2010). In other words, mix and match examples as needed. It is more important that you include enough information to find the original resource than that you follow APA format exactly. 

You should be sure to collect all the information you need for a citation when you first find a resource you may want to use in an assessment, so that you don't need to hunt down resources again.  For articles, books, and websites, citations managers like Zotero can be useful tools.

If you are referring to the work of someone else, you should always be sure to cite your work. Relay uses APA-style citations.  APA-citations use both an in-text citation and an end-of-text citation:

• An in-text citation is a brief citation placed immediately next to the quote or reference. This provides attribution for a specific quote or reference. 
• An end-of-text citation is a full citation placed in the reference list at the end of the document. This provides complete information for the original source so that others can find it.

APA style is intended to be used for research papers citing scholarly sources, but at Relay, your assignments will rarely – if ever – be in the form of a research paper.  Therefore, you may have to modify what information gets put in the citation or where the citation should go. For example, you may decide to forgo an in-text citation and just place an end-of-text citation under an image that you found online. Whether or not you follow APA citation style exactly, there are two things you must keep in mind.

1. Make it clear which words/ideas are yours and which originated from someone else.

2. Include enough information for others to find the original resource.

In-text citations are placed immediately next to the quote or reference. All sources cited in the text must also appear in the reference list at the end of the document.

In-text citations include the author(s) and the publication date:

• Single author:
  • (Robelen, 2009)
• Two authors:
  • (Reichert & Hawley, 2010)
• Three or more:
  • (Anderson et al., 2010)
• Unknown author:
  • Always use the title of the book in italics (Interpersonal Skills, 2019) or the title of the article in quotation marks (“Understanding Sensory Memory,” 2018). If the title is very long, shorten it for the in-text citation.
• Organization:
  • The first time the work is cited: (Teach for America [TFA], 2011)
  • If the work is cited again: (TFA, 2011)

If author names are mentioned in the text outside of parentheses, only the year must be placed in parentheses. Note that for multiple authors, “&” is used inside parentheses while “and” is used within the text, outside of the parentheses:

Examples:

• Research by Robelen (2009) showed that… 
• Research by Reichert and Hawley (2010) indicated that… 
• Research by Anderson et al. (2010) demonstrated that… 

If an idea from the work is being referenced but the material is not directly quoted, only the author and year of publication need to be included in the in-text reference. Page numbers are only necessary for direct quotes. 

For direct quotations of more than 40 words, display the quote as an indented block of text without quotation marks and include the authors’ names, date, and page number in parentheses at the end of the quote, after the last punctuation mark.

Berzonsky and Adams (2008) sum up adolescent friendship as follows: 

A succession of studies over a period of 30 years has confirmed several general truths about adolescent friendship. First, equality and reciprocity are considered normative mandates in friendship. Second, the individuals most likely to be selected as friends are peers who are similar to the self. Third, adolescents are especially likely to select same-gender peers as close friends; in multiethnic environments there is also a strong preference for same-race peers. Fourth, girls display more intimacy in their friendship than boys (at least in the frequency, if not the depth of intimate exchanges). (p. 334)

End-of-text citations are found in a reference list at the end of the document. They are placed in alphabetic order, using hanging indentations. Note this guide is unable to correctly display hanging indents.

General notes

For authors, list last names and initials. Commas separate author names, with the last author name preceded by “&” rather than “and.”
Use sentence case for titles. Capitalize the first word and any proper nouns, and leave any other word in lower case.

Book with one author 

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher. 

Lemov, D. (2010). Teach like a champion: 49 techniques that put students on the path to college. Jossey-Bass. 

Book with multiple authors 

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., Author, C. C., & Author, D. D. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher. 

Boreen, J., Johnson, M.K., Niday, D., & Potts, J. (2009). Mentoring beginning teachers: Guiding, reflecting, coaching. Stenhouse Publishers. 

Edited book 

Editor, A. A., & Editor, B. B. (Eds.). (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher. 

Anderson, L.W., & Krathwohl, D.R. (Eds.). (2001). A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A revision of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. 

Book chapter 

Author of chapter, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of chapter: Capital letter also for subtitle of chapter. In A. A. Editor (Eds.), Title of book: Capital letter also for subtitle. (pp.xxx-xxx). Publisher. 

Valenzuela, A. (2008). Uncovering internalized oppression. In Pollock, M. (Ed.), Everyday anti racism: Getting real about race in school. (pp.50-55). The New Press. 

General notes

• All authors should be listed, unless the article has more than 21 authors, in which case list the first 19 authors, followed by an ellipses (…) and list the final author. 
• Include the full name of the journal (no abbreviations). 
• If no DOI is provided, you can use the URL. If you have a long URL that spans over a line, you can break it right after a slash or before a period. If the resource was not found online, no URL or DOI is needed.
• Article titles are listed in sentence case (only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized); journal titles are listed in title case (every word is capitalized).

Journals

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, Volume Number(issue number), pages of article. doi.org URL or other URL

Roberto, C.A., Agnew, H., & Brownell, K.D. (2009). An observational study of consumers’ accessing of nutrition information in chain restaurants. American Journal of Public Health, 99(5), 820-821. http://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2008.136457 

Magazine article 
 

Author, A. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Magazine name, Volume Number, xx-xx. 

Gibbs, N. (2011, March 28). The day the earth moved. Time, 177(12), 8-9. 

Newspaper article

Unlike other periodicals, p. or pp. precedes page numbers for a newspaper reference in APA style. Single pages are noted by p. (for example p.B2); and multiple pages are noted by pp., (for example pp.B2, B4 or pp. C1, C3-C4).

Author, A. (Year, Month Day). Article title. Newspaper Name, p.1A. 

Lewin, T. (2010, April 22). Backwards field trip. New York Times, p.13. 

General notes

• At a minimum, provide a document title or description, a date (either date of publication or update), and a URL. Whenever possible, identify the authors as well. 

Websites with a listed author 

Author, A. (Year, Date). Title of article. Site name. URL

Elias, D. (2019, September 14). APA style 7th edition: What’s changed? MyBib. https://www.mybib.com/blog/apa-style-7th-edition-changes

Corporate author or government report

If the website is a governmental or organizational website, treat the organization as the author: 

National Assessment of Educational Progress. (2010). National Indian education study – part I: Performance of American Indian and Alaska Native students at grades 4 and 8 on NAEP 2009 reading and mathematics assessments.  http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard/pubs/studies/2010462.asp. 

No author

If the website you are using is not from a verified source (such as a governmental website) and does not list an author, proceed with caution. If you have determined the site is a necessary resource, use the site title or organization as the author: 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019, December 2). Key facts about seasonal flu vaccine. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/prevent/keyfacts.htm

Blog post

If possible, you should always use the legal name of the author.  This might be found in the “About” or “Biography” section of the blog or in a copyright notice. If you can’t find the author’s legal name, use their pseudonym or screen name as it appears on the blog.

Author, A. A. OR Author screen name {as it appears on the blog}. (Year, Month Day {of post}). Title of specific post. Blog Title. URL of specific post 

Bernstein, K. (2011, March 20). What’s worth teaching. Education Policy Blog. http://educationpolicyblog.blogspot.com/2011/03/whats-worth-teaching.html. 

Relay courses

Relay courses can be cited as any other website. Use “Relay Graduate School of Education” as the author. If no date is provided, use “n.d.” (for “no date”).

Relay Graduate School of Education. (n.d.). LIB-101: Introduction to the Relay library. https://canvas.relay.edu/courses/5039

General notes

• In general, you should follow the same format as for a book or a chapter in a book.  
• List the primary contributors in the author position. If the contributor’s role is not obvious, use parentheses to identify their contribution. For an episode in a television or radio series, you should use the same format as for a chapter in a book, but list the producer in the editor position and the script writer and director in the author position.
• After the title, you should include the form of the source (e.g., Motion Picture, Photograph, Map) in brackets.

Motion picture

Producer, A. A. (Producer), & Director, B. B. (Director). (Year). Title of motion picture [Motion picture]. Country of origin: Studio.

Louis, R. J. (Producer), & Avildsen, J.G. (Director). (1984). The karate kid [Motion Picture].  United States: Columbia Pictures.

Single episode from a television series

Writer, A. A. (Writer), & Director, B. B. (Director). (Year). Title of episode [Television series episode]. In C. Producer (Executive producer), Title of series. Network.

Egan, D. (Writer), & Alexander, J. (Director). (2005). Failure to communicate [Television series episode]. In D. Shore (Executive producer), House. Fox Broadcasting.

Online video (e.g., from the OVL or YouTube)

The person who posted the video is put in the author position, and you should include both the screen name and the author’s real name (if available). This allows others to find the video on the website and to find more information about the author. The brackets can be omitted if the author’s real name is not provided. For Kaltura videos, “Relay Graduate School of Education” can be used as the author and “n.d.” can be used as the date if none is provided.

Author, A. A. [Screen name]. (year, month day uploaded). Title of video [Video file]. URL 

Oliver, J. [LastWeekTonight]. (2016, May 8). Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Scientific studies. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rnq1NpHdmw

Relay Graduate School of Education. (2011, February 28). 1827 - “How-to” helpers. [Video file]. https://kaltura.relay.edu/media/1827%20-%20%22How-To%22%20Helpers/1_54nuicya

Music recording

Writer, A. (Copyright year). Title of song [Recorded by B. B. Artist if different from writer]. On Title of Album [Medium of recording: CD, record, cassette, etc.]. Label. (Date of recording if different from song copyright date)

lang, k.d. (2008). Shadow and the frame. On Watershed [CD]. Nonesuch Records.

Image

If possible, you should always use the legal name of the creator.  This might be found in the copyright notice or on a profile or “About” page. If you can’t find the author’s legal name, use their pseudonym or screen name.

For Creative Commons images, you should include a note indicating the license under which the image is available.

Creator, A. A. OR Creator screen name {as it is given}. (Year). Title of image [Description of form (Photograph, Image, Map, etc.)]. URL where you found image.

chandramowli, d. (2009). Classroom [Photograph]. http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhillan/3848315549/ Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike2.0 Generic license.

Personal communication does not need to have an end-of-text citation included in your reference list. Instead, use an in-text citation only that includes the phrase "personal communication" and the date of the communication in your main text only.

Without author listed in main text: Many students at Hogwarts love playing Quidditch (A. Dumbledore, personal communication, January 4, 1990).
 

With author listed in main text: Albus Dumbledore stated that many students at Hogwarts love playing Quidditch (personal communication, November 3, 2002).

General notes

You do not need to cite standard office software (e.g. Word, Excel), social media apps, or other common software if you simply mention the software but do not quote or paraphrase them.  However, you do need to provide reference list entries and in-text citations if you include quotes, paraphrases, or screenshots/generated images from the software. 

Creator, A. A. or Name of Group. (Year of the version used). Title of software (Version No.) [Type of Software]. Publisher. URL

Malley, C (Developer) & Rouinfar, A. (Lead Designer). (n.d.). Magnet and compass (Version 1.0.0). PhET. https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulations/magnet-and-compass/ 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools

The APA gives the following guidance for citing AI tools: “Unfortunately, the results of a ChatGPT “chat” are not retrievable by other readers... Quoting ChatGPT’s text from a chat session is therefore more like sharing an algorithm’s output; thus, credit the author of the algorithm with a reference list entry and the corresponding in-text citation. You may also put the full text of long responses from ChatGPT in an appendix of your paper or in online supplemental materials, so readers have access to the exact text that was generated.” You may also want to include the prompts you used to generate the responses in your appendix.

Author of the AI tool. (Year of the version used). Title of AI tool (Version of AI tool) [Type of AI tool]. URL of AI tool. 

OpenAI. (2023). ChatGPT (Mar 14 version) [Large language model]. https://chat.openai.com/chat 

Google Translate

When using Google Translate, you may want to include the text in the original language in an appendix. If you translate work created by another author, be sure to cite the original author in addition to Google Translate. 

Google. (Year you used Google Translate). Google translate [Machine translation service]. https://translate.google.com/

Google. (2024). Google translate [Machine translation service]. https://translate.google.com/ 

This guide – and even the full APA Publication Manual – cannot cover every type of source that you may want to cite.  If what you are trying to cite does not match exactly with any APA example that you can find, don’t be afraid to mix-and-match. It is more important that you include enough information to find the original resource than that you follow APA format exactly. 

Your reference should include as much of the following information as possible:

• The title of the resource (if there is no title, describe the resource in brackets)
• What type of resource it is
• The author of the resource (this may be an organization rather than an individual)
• The date the resource was created
• The URL where the resource can be found, if the resource is available online. If it is not available online, describe where the resource can be found

Generally, it is best to use the “Website” format as a base, and then include information about the type of resource in brackets:  

Author, A. (Year). Title [Resource type]. Source/URL

New Visions for Public Schools. (n.d.). Contemplate then Calculate - Staircase [Instructional activity].  https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_2PqGyUkGOj5ZqB-JAJTY-MsrZj9A_Qhdak7834_DWg/edit

Smith, J. (2016). [Lesson plan on factoring polynomials]. Copy in possession of the author. 

Nilsson, C. & Buerkle B. (2015). Module reader for SOP-100: Teacher mindsets. Relay GSE. https://cp.relay.edu/resource/read/22788