Citing Human Resource Development Sources Using APA

Getting Citations Using Library Databases

Most library article databases have tools that automatically generate APA citations.  When viewing an article abstract click on the cite icon and cut and paste the citation into the references cited list in your document. 

One caveat is in order, sometime there are mistakes (usually involving capitilization) in the citations generated.  If the citation generated is inaccurate, you can still save time by cutting and pasting the citation and editing it.

 In ABI/Inform a Proquest Database

And This Pop-Up Displays the APA Citation

In Business Source Premier an EBSCOhost Database

Making Citations for Other Resources

Creating citations for resources not included in typical article databases can be tackled in a number of ways.  You can draft the citation from scratch by consulting the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association  (online access coming soon, Fall 2012) or rely on authoritative citation guides such as those listed in the sidebar.

Free Citation Generators

You can use free simple citation generators such as easybib or citationmachine or bibme.  The upside to this technique is that it is fast and easy, but the downside is that these free tools are only designed to create citations for simple articles, books and web pages, not reports and data typically used by HRD students.  

Refworks or Endnote

You can use library subscription citation generator tools such as Refworks or Endnote also listed in the sidebar.  The upsided to these tools is that they have the complexity necessary to create citations for the full range of resources you need, the downside is that they demand varying degrees of investment in to learn.

Whatever method you prefer, the first step in creating a citation for a works cited list is to know what type of document or artifact you are citing.  Ask youself if you are viewing a simple page on a web site, a article in a digital newsletter, an association report, an e-book or dataset (just to name a few).  In the following section, you will find examples of typical sources cited by HRD students using APA.

Examples

Article on a Web Page (Not Part of Journal or Newspaper)

Smith, A. (2012, June 18). U.S. Supreme Court rejects overtime claims in FLSA ruling.Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/LegalIssues/FederalResources/Pages/OvertimeClaimsRejected.aspx

Article from a digital newsletter or journal

Fox, A. (2012, June 1). Reach New Heights. [Editorial]. HR Magazine, 57(6). Retrieved from http://www.shrm.org/Publications/hrmagazine/EditorialContent/2012/0612/Pages/0612fox.aspx

For the same article retrieved from a library subscription database

Fox, A. (2012). Reach new heights. [Editorial],  HRMagazine, 57(6), 34-39. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.villanova.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1018548280?accountid=14853

Research Report

Hay Group. (2011, May) The Wall Street Journal/Hay Group 2010 CEO Compensation Study. Retrieved from http://www.haygroup.com/downloads/ww/misc/wsj_2010_ceo_compensation_study_5-17-11_web.pdf

Presentation Slides for Same

Hay Group. (2011, May) The Wall Street Journal/Hay Group 2010 CEO Compensation Study. [Presentation Slides].Retrieved from http://www.haygroup.com/downloads/ww/misc/wsj-hay_group_ceo_pay_2010_presentation_-_long_version_-_05-25-11.pdf

Summary or Press Release (Remember never cite a summary as if you had used the full document!)

The Wall Street Journal/Hay Group Compensation Study 2010. (n.d.) Retrived from http://www.haygroup.com/ww/services/index.aspx?ID=2589

Data Sets or Statistics

Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2012) Employment cost index: Private industry wages and salaries 2002-2012. [data file]. Retrieved from http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/surveymost?bls

U.S. Office of Personnel Management. (2010). 2008 federal human capital survey. [data set and codebook]. Retrieved from http://main.opm.gov/data/