LA 2036 - Introduction to Psychology (Letourneau)

Welcome to the library's Research Guide for Letourneau's Intro to Psychology and Intro to Sociology classes. Click on a tab to view the catalog, investigate databases, locate e-books, or view APA citation examples. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

Research Assistance

Library staff members are always willing and eager to help you with your assignments.  Please contact us by email, phone, or text message, and we will respond to your questions as soon as possible.

General Email: library@delval.edu
Call or Text: 215-948-4171.

Develop good search terms and select the right databases for your topic

These criteria for evaluating websites also apply to evaluating books, journal articles, and more...

Authority

Who wrote the pages?
Is this person or organization qualified to share information about this topic?
What is the real purpose of the website?
What is the website domain?

Objectivity

Are all sides of the issue represented?
Does the website have a hidden agenda or one-sided message to convey?
Is the website really an advertisement in disguise?

Currency

When was the website produced?
Was the website updated recently?
Are there lots of dead links on the pages?

Coverage

Is the information cited correctly?
Do the links to other pages complement the topic or theme?

RefWorks is a new way to collect, manage, and organize research.  You can read, annotate, organize, and cite your research as well as collaborate by sharing collections.

From simple bibliographies to papers formatted with in-text citations or footnotes, RefWorks handles it all. ​To learn more about RefWorks, use our RefWorks research guide.

A title page is required for all APA Style papers, unless noted otherwise by your professor. Students should follow the guidelines fo their instructor when determining which title page format is mst appropriate to use. If not instructed otherwise, students should include the following elements on the title page. 

NOTE: Student title pages do not require a running head, unlike a professional title page. 

Title
Name 
University attended, including department or division
Course number and name
Instructor name
Assignment due date

Paraphrasing

When the author's name appears in the sentence, it does not need to be repeated in the citation.

Example: 
Recent literature has examined long-run price drifts following initial public offerings and other factors (Luna, 2020).
Luna (2020) reaches more or less the same conclusion.

Two or more sources within same parentheses

Order the citations of two or more works by different authors within the same parentheses alphabetically in the same order in which they appear in the reference list (including citations that would otherwise shorten to et al.). Separate the citations with semicolons. 

Example: 
Several studies (Adams et al., 2019; Shumway & Shulman, 2015; Westinghouse, 2017))...

Quotations

Example:

For people with osteoarthritis, "painful joints should be moved through a full range of motion every day to maintain flexibility and to slow deterioration of cartilage" (Flores, 2019, p. 20). 
(Gecht-Silver & Duncombe, 2015, p. 210) 

More than three authors

Example:
(Smith et al., 2014, p. 203)

No author
(Title Page #)

Example: 
(Plagiarism and You 1942) 
("Five Ways to Protect Yourself" 1993)

No page number

Because the material does not include page numbers, you can include any of the following in the text to cite the quotation:

Start the reference list on a new page after the txt and before any tables, figures, and/or appendices. Label the reference list "References," capitalized, in bold, and centered.

Double-space all reference list entries (including between and within references). 

Use a hanging indent for all references, meaning that the first line of each reference is flush left and subsequent lines are indented by 0.5 in. 

Works are listed in alphabetical order by the last name of the first listed author. 

 Last name, Initials. (Year). Article title, sentence style capitalization. Journal title, volume(issue, if available), pages. URL, if no DOI available

Example:

 Ahmann, E. (2018). A descriptive review of ADHD coaching research: Implications for college students. Journal of Postsecondary Education and Disability, 31(1), 17-39. https://www.ahead.org/professional-resources/publications/jped/archived-jped/jped-volume-31

Journal article with multiple authors

 Last name, Initials., & Last name, Initials. (Year). Article title, sentence style capitalization. Journal title, volume(issue, if available), pages. URL, if no DOI available

Example: 

 McCauley, S. M., & Christiansen, M. H. (2019). Language learning as language use: A cross-linguistic model of child language development. Psychological Review, 126(1), 1-51. https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126

When a source has twenty-two or more authors, include first twenty-one … last listed author.

Example: 

Kalnay, E., Kanamitsu, M., Kitler, R., Collins, W., Deaven, D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, S., White, G., Woolen, J., Zhu, Y., Chelliah, M., Ebisuzaki, W., Higgins, W., Janowiak, J., Mo, K. C., Ropelewski, C., Wang, J., Leetman, A., . . . Joseph, D. (1996). The NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, 77(3), 437-471. http://doi.org/fg6rf9

 Last name, Intials. (Year). Title, sentence style capitalization. Publisher's name. 

Example:

 Burgess, R. (2019). Rethinking global health: frameworks of power. Routledge. 

Books with multiple authors

 Last name, Initials, & Last name, Initials. (Year). Title, sentence style capitalization (edition, if available). Publisher's name. 

Example:

 Christian, B., & Griffiths, T. (2016). Algorithms to live by: the computer science of human decisions. Henry Holt and Co.

Chapter in edited book

 Last name, Initials. (Year). Chapter title, sentence style capitalization. In Editor (eds.), Title, sentence style capitalization (pages). Publisher's name. 

Example:

 Weinstock, R., Leong, G., & Silva, J. A. (2003). Defining forensic psychiatry: roles and responsibilities. In R. Rosner (Ed.), Principles and practice of forensic psychiatry (2nd ed., pp. 7-13). CRC Press. 

If a conference paper has been published (for example, in a proceedings), the published form is usually either a chapter of an edited book or an article in a journal.

Papers published in conference proceedings, book

Last name, Initials. (Year). Title. In Editor (eds.), Title of proceedings (pages). Publisher's name. 

Example:

Cismas, S. C. (2010). Educating academic writing skills in engineering. In P. Dondon & O. Martin (Eds.), Latest trends on engineering education (pp. 225-247). WSEAS Press.

Papers published in conference proceedings, journal

Last name, Initials., & Last name, Initials. (Year). Article title, sentence style capitalization. Journal title, volume(issue, if available), pages. URL, if no DOI available

Example: 

Chaudhuri, S., & Biswas, A. (2017). External terms-of-trade and labor market imperfections in developing countries: Theory and evidence. Proceedings of the Academy of Economics and Economic Education, 20

The presentation delivered at a conference may only be available as an informally published work online, or may only have been delivered live and is not available in full. 

Paper or session presented at conference, not formally published

Last name, Initials, & Last name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title [Paper or poster presentation], sentence style capitalization. Conference name, Location.

Example:

McDonald, E., Manessis, R., & Blanksby, T. (2019, July 7-10). Peer mentoring in nursing - improving retention, enhancing education [Poster presentation]. STARS 2019 Conference, Melbourne, Australia. https://unistars.org/papers/STARS2019/P30-POSTER.pdf

Name v. Name, Volume Source Page (Court Date)

Example:

Lessard v. Schmidt, 349 F. Supp. 1078 (E.D. Wis. 1972)

In-Text Citation 

To cite the reference in text, give the case name, in italics, and the year.

Name v. Name (Year)
(Name v. Name, Year)

Example:

Lessard v. Schmidt (1972)
(Lessard v. Schmidt, 1972)

​In APA Style, most legal materials are cited in the standard legal citation style used for legal references across all disciplines.

A statute is a law or act passed by a legislative body. As with court decisions, statutes exist on both the federal and state levels, such as an act by Congress or by a state government. 

Name of Act, Title Source § Section Number (Year). URL

Example:

Every Student Succeeds Act, 20 U.S.C. § 6301 (2015). https://www.congress.gov/114/plaws/publ95/PLAW-114publ95.pdf

In-Text Citation 
The in-text citation format for a federal statute is similar to that for other APA Style references. Cite the name of the statute and the year.

Example:

Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (2006)
(Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993, 2006)

 Last name, Initials, & Last name, Initials. (Year). Title, sentence style capitalization (Report number, if available). Publisher's name.URL. 

Example:

 National Cancer Institute. (2018). Facing forward: life after cancer treatment (NIH Publication No. 18-2424). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/life-after-treatment.pdf

 Last name, Initials. (Year). Title, sentence style capitalization. Journal name, volume, starting page. 

Example:

 Martin, L. H. (1991). Case worker liability for the negligent handling of child abuse reports. University of Cincinnati Law Review, 60, 191.

 Last name, Initials, & Last name, Initials. (Year, month day). Title, sentence style capitalization. Newspaper name. URL

Example:

 Guariano, B. (2017), December 4). How will humanity react to alien life? Psychologists have some predictions. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/12/04/how-will-humanity-react-to-alien-life-psychologists-have-some-predictions

Last name, Initials. (Year, Month Day). Title, sentence style capitalization [Webinar]. Organization name. URL

Example:

Anderson, K. (2018, January 23). Disease prevention basics [Webinar]. Montana State University. https://www.montana.edu/webinar/disease-prevention-basics-anderson

 Author or organization name. (Date of publication, if available). Webpage title. URL

Example:

 Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, January 23). People at high risk of developing flu-related complications. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/disease/high_risk.htm

When no date is listed

 Author or organization name. (n.d.). Webpage title. URL

Example:

 National Nurses United. (n.d.). What employers should do to protect nurses from Zika. https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/pages/what-employers-should-do-to-protect-rns-from-zika

Account name. (Date of publication). Video name [Video]. Webpage title. URL

Example:

Asian Boss. (2020, June 5). World’s leading vaccine expert fact-checks COVID-19 vaccine conspiracy: stay curious #22 [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQdLDMLrYIA

 (Asian Boss, 2020; Harvard University, 2019)

Contact the Library at library@delval.edu to request a new example and citation help!