DOI : 10.17577/Have you spent hours writing your political science paper? You have presented strong arguments, conducted thorough research, and used outstanding language. Everything is going smoothly until the time comes to add APSA citations to your paper. You don’t know whether you have to write the author’s name first or the publication year.
If you are mixing all things, then don’t worry; you are not the only one. According to a study by Taylor & Francis Online, 63.1% of students face difficulties in adding citations and references to their academic papers. However, the citation is not as complicated as it may seem. You just have to avoid some common mistakes to add APSA citations in your political science paper.
Are you wondering what these citation mistakes are? We’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll share some common mistakes when you are adding citations according to the APSA citation guide.
Before hopping on these mistakes, let’s get to know what the APSA citation is.
What is APSA Citation?
APSA is an acronym for the American Political Science Association, This is the common citation style that is usually used by political science students. It is mainly based on the seventh edition of the Chicago Style. To cite the references in this style is based on the following two parts:
In-text Citation
In the APSA in-text citation, you have to use a parenthetical citation format. This parenthetical data appears right after the text and provides enough details to the readers to successfully locate the source in the reference list.
Below are the general formatting guidelines for in-text citations in APSA style.
- If there is one author of your source, add the in-text citation as
- (Last name of the author and publication year) e.g. (John 2023)
- If there is no publication date, write this citation as (John n.d.)
- In case you are quoting the information directly, add the page name after the publication year, such as (John 2023, 41).
- If no author’s name is given, use the title in the italicised title in the case of the book, and for the article, write it in quotation marks.
- If there are multiple authors, just mention the name of the first author and for the rest use et al. For instance ( John et al. 2023, 41)
Reference List
The reference list in the APSA style comprises details about all the sources that you have cited in your paper. The general APSA citation format is given below:
Author’s last name, first name of the author. publication year. title of the source. publisher/ journal’s name. Issue/ volume number. Page number
Additionally, follow the below tips when adding references to the work cited page.
- Capitalise the author’s first and last name.
- Ensure that you use a hanging indent.
- Stay consistent in your formatting.
7 APSA Citation Mistakes that You Must Avoid to Secure Higher Grades
Citations are the most important part of academic writing as they back the arguments that you add to your paper. However, adding citations is often confusing, even for brilliant students. Due to this confusion, they make APSA citation mistakes that eventually cause them to get bad academic grades. As per the report by Cornerstone University, 84% of papers have problems with their in-text citation and references.
To avoid mistakes, students can acquire a dissertation writing service which helps them to add accurate citations in their thesis. Additionally, they can avoid some common APSA citation mistakes and ensure that their hard work won’t be wasted due to these mistakes.
Keep reading to explore these inaccuracies.
1. Forget to Cite a Source
Yes, you read it right. Many students forget to cite a source from where they have collected the information. Unfortunately, it is the most common mistake that political science students make while writing their research documents. The main reason behind this common mistake is that while writing, students only focus on the flow of writing, and they don’t bother to check the sources from where they have gathered data.
To avoid this mistake, follow the tips below:
- Track all the sources that you explored during your research.
- Make sure that you have cited each idea that is proposed by someone else.
- Don’t leave the citation for the end; start citing your sources from the start.
2. Mix Citation and Reference
Many students fail to differentiate citations and reference lists, which eventually leads them to add inaccurate APSA citations. Therefore, it is important to understand the contrast between these two terms. In-text citations are used in the entire body of the document, comprising the direct quote of the author’s name and publication year.
Whereas, the reference list is added at the end of the document which contains all the information about the sources that you have used within the body of your research body. You just have to make sure that every citation and reference complement each other, which means that for every citation, there should be a reference entry in the reference list.
3. Use Inaccurate and Outdated Information
Adding incorrect or outdated information is another common mistake that students make while adding citations in APSA style. Generally, they add incorrect information when they gather information from various sources and get confused about which data is collected from which source.
Likewise, the research world is transforming day by day; therefore, it becomes essential to add up-to-date information to your academic document. But sometimes, students are too involved in their writing, so don’t check the source from where you have collected information. To avoid this mistake, students must cross-check each citation to avoid incorrect or outdated information.
4. Lack of Organisation
Most students suffer when adding citations in their research documents just because they have poor organisation skills. Yes, you got it right. Conducting effective research is not enough to cite the sources successfully. You must have strong organisation skills that empower you to store and organise all the sources that you have explored during your research.
Take into account the following tips for organising all the sources.
- Create a folder and place all the important sources in it.
- You can use advanced APSA citation machines that can make this organisation a piece of cake.
- Add the citations and references during the writing process so you will not be confused at the end of the document.
- For additional support, you can hire London-based dissertation writers who know how to write dissertations and organise data during the writing process.
5. Poor Formatting
When you add the citation for the first time in your academic paper, it becomes a mystery for you to find out why you place a comma or full stop at a certain place. It is obvious if you can’t understand the reason behind it. But that’s not the case, whether you get the sense or not, you have to follow the guidelines for the APSA citation style.
Any flaws in the punctuation might be considered a violation of these guidelines. Therefore, you must take into account the correct use of all these punctuation marks. To ensure the correct use, you may use cutting-edge APSA citation generators that can automatically create accurate citations in just a few clicks.
6. Not Follow Alphabetic Order
One of the biggest APSA citation mistakes that most students make is not following the alphabetic order. This small negligence can lead them to bad academic grades. Therefore, they should place citations in alphabetical order in their research document. Are you wondering what is the meaning of adding these citations alphabetically? This means that if you have multiple authors for a specific source, then it is essential to place them in alphabetical order.
It is like lining up the students by the alphabet of their names in the classroom in the high school. Additionally, it is also necessary to place the references in the reference list alphabetically, like the in-text citation, so that you can locate them easily. Thus, this alphabetical placement makes it easy for your readers to locate their desired information. You can seek assistance in dissertation writing from a professional if you find it hard to place the citations alphabetically in your thesis.
7. Not Cite the Paraphrased Words
No matter whether you are quoting someone else’s words or paraphrasing them, you always have to cite them. It is essential because you are using other’s ideas, information, or work, so this information must be referenced by their names. Nonetheless, most of the students are unaware of this fact, and they usually don’t cite the paraphrased words that they have written after exploring someone else’s idea.
Citing paraphrased words is important for the following reasons:
- It saves you from the accusation of plagiarism.
- This citation will improve your credibility and tell the reader that you value your fellow’s work.
- Demonstrate how important academic integrity is for you.
What are the Most Important Elements of the Citation?
Each citation style has its required citation elements that students must add during referencing. However, the three most important elements are part of almost every citation style. These include:
- Author’s name: The name of the person who created the information.
- Title of the source: Comprises the key arguments of your source.
- Publication date: The date on which the source is being published.
If you are facing using these elements for your dissertation citation, then you can contact the first-class dissertation writing firms who know how to write an exceptional dissertation with actuated citations.
What is the Golden Rule of the Citation?
Citation is the cornerstone of the landscape of academic writing. Therefore, it is essential to add the proper citation in your paper. However, to add them successfully, you must keep in mind the golden rule of the citation, which says that you should add the citation in such a way that your readers would able to locate the sources in the optimal time. By following this rule, you can add citations effectively in your paper.
Conclusion
An APSA citation contains information about the source that is being used for the academic papers. Adding these citations is important to earn higher grades in your academic career. However, many students find it hard to add them correctly, and as a consequence, they make mistakes which could even cost them their grades.
To help them out, we have shared some common mistakes with the solutions to overcome them. These mistakes include forgetting to cite a source, mixing citations and references, using inaccurate information, lacking organisation, poor formatting, not following alphabetical order, and avoiding citing paraphrased words. We hope that our guide will help you avoid these common mistakes effectively.