Top Best Ways to Cite a Dissertation in APA Style

Citing a dissertation in APA style becomes very important for students if the teachers have specified it in their set of instructions and asked them to work on their papers in this manner. Abbreviation for American Psychological Association, this style is most frequently used within the social sciences, in order to cite resources. The most important thing for students to remember when citing a dissertation in APA style is to capitalize the first letter of the first word of the title and any subtitles, as well as the first letter of any proper nouns as well as the full title of the book, including any subtitles, should be stated and italicized.

As the APA style of citation is mostly used in relation to the field of science, the belief is “less is more” stands true for it. It is recommended that students are able to put forward their points in the most clear and brief way without creating any confusions. They need to be clear, direct and professional when writing their paper so that there are no unnecessary details in their paper that add fluff to it and take the readers’ attention off from the subject.

Basics of an APA Citation
Generally, APA citations follow the following format:
Contributors.(Date). Title.Publication Information. (full stop is a must)

Contributor Information and Titles:
The main contributor(s) of the source (mostly it is the name of the author) is placed before the date and title. If there is more than one author, it is necessary to arrange the authors in the same order found on the source. The first and the middle must be used the first and middle name initials in the entire last name. It is also essential to inverse all names before the title.

e.g. One author:
Smith, J. K. (Date). Title.

Two authors:
Smith, J. K., & Sampson, T. (Date). Title.

Three authors:
Smith, J. K., Sampson, T., & Hubbard, A. J. (Date). Title.

Eight or more:
Smith, J. K., Sampson, T., Hubbard, A. J., Anderson, J., Thompson, T., Silva, P.,…Bhatia, N. (Date). Title.

Other contributor types
In many cases, the main contributor is not an author, but another contributor type, such as an editor for a book, a conductor for a musical piece, or a producer for a film. In this situation, the students must follow the contributor with the contributor type (abbreviate Editor(s) as Ed. or Eds. and most other roles can be spelled out in their entirety).

Example for one contributor:
·         Smith, J. K. (Ed.). (Year published). Title.
·         Lu, P. (Producer). (Year published). Title.

Two contributors examples:
·         Smith, J. K., & Sampson, T. (Eds.). (Year published). Title.
·         Lu, P., &Winters, U. (Producers). (Year published). Title.

Corporate or group authors

There can be many sources that have corporate or group authors. When citing, it is important to use these organizations in their entirety, and place them where the authors’ information would be placed. If the organization is also the publisher of the source, it is recommended to write “Author” instead of repeating the publisher name.

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