*Education Subject Guide: Write & Cite

APA stands for the American Psychological Association, and it provides rules for how to format your paper, cite sources in text, and cite sources in your references list. This guide will introduce you to the most basic rules  that you will need to know. For a full list of the rules, consult the Publication Manual of the APA (6th ed.).  Copies are available at Smith Library, the Wanek Center Learning Commons, and the School of Education Resource Center.

Librarians are always happy to answer your APA citation questions! 

Click here to view our full APA citation guide, or use the quick guides below.

Citation managers can help you keep track of the articles, books, and other resources that you find, as well as help you cite them in the appropriate style in the text of your paper and in your references or works cited list. For more help with citation managers, ask a librarian! 

Citation may seem like a bunch of rules designed to make writing your paper even more difficult. However, the purpose of citation is primarily to show how your work fits into the larger conversation taking place on your particular topic and to help facilitate the exchange of ideas between scholars (that means you, too!). Citation also ensures that the original authors or originators of an idea receive proper credit for their work.

What does this mean for you? 

According to the High Point University Honor Code: "Every student is honor-bound to refrain from plagiarism."

But what does it mean to plagiarize something? 

Plagiarism involves quoting or paraphrasing without proper acknowledgment. You plagiarize if you submit, without appropriate documentation or quotation marks:

• part or all of written or spoken statements derived from sources, such as books, the Internet, magazines, pamphlets, speeches, or oral statements;
• part or all of written or spoken statements derived from files maintained by individuals, groups or campus organizations;
• the sequence of ideas, arrangement of material, or pattern of thought of someone else, even though you express such processes in your own words.

(High Point University Student Government Association, The University Honor)

Summary: You plagiarize when you take credit for someone else's work, either on purpose or by accident. 

You can also plagiarize yourself. Called "self-plagiarism," this occurs if you reuse work from one course in another course without your instructors' permission. This is considered academic dishonesty. 

HPU Librarians are always happy to help you with your citation questions! If you have questions that are related to general writing style or to writing in a particular discipline, we recommend that you utilize the resources below.