Library Home: SCP 600: Family counseling, collaboration, & engagement: APA Citation Help

Organizing Your Research

Effectively organizing your research facilitates clearer thinking and writing. A citation manager is an essential research tool because is software that enables you to collect, arrange, and cite your sources. Zotero is a free, open source citation manager that you can download directly to your computer, work on mulitple research projects simultaneously, and upload PDFs or images into your library. It's easy to use and you can export your citations to Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

Download Zotero
Use this link to download Zotero to you computer (please note that the free version of Zotero holds 300 MB of data). Don't forget to also install the browser connector! This connector or plug-in allows you to add websites into your Zotero library.
Documentation for Zotero
Here is documentation for setting up and troubleshooting Zotero. The Forums tab also has additional workflows and help from other Zotero users.

ZoteroBib
Use the web-based ZoteroBib to get automatically generated citations in any style by entering a URL, DOI, PMID, Title, or ISBN.

APA Quick Guide

Six Steps to Proper APA Citation

Student Paper Setup Guide
This guide will help you set up an APA Style student paper. The basic setup directions apply to the entire paper. Annotated diagrams illustrate how to set up the major sections of a student paper: the title page or cover page, the text, tables and figures, and the reference list.
Student Paper Checklist
Use this checklist while writing your paper to make sure it is consistent with seventh edition APA Style.

APA provides detailed guidance on each aspect of APA Style and Grammar at the following links:

Paper Format
Grammar
Bias-Free Language
Tables and Figures
In-Text Citations
Learn proper formatting as well as how to avoid both overcitation and undercitation.
References
Proper formatting enables your reader to track down each of the works you've cited.