How to Cite References Using the
American Sociological Association's Style

 

	· The first line of each citation begins flush left, and the second and subsequent lines are indented three spaces. (This is called a "hanging indent.")
	· The list should be arranged alphabetically by author's last name. Include the first name and surnames for all authors. Only use initials if the author used initials in the original publication. Add a space between the initials, such as M. K. F. Fisher. If the source does not have an author, alphabetization is by the first word in the title.
	· Invert the author's name. If there are two or more authors invert only the first author's name.
	· Use six hyphens and a period (------.) instead of repeating an author's name.
	· Arrange multiple items by the same author in order by year of publication, oldest date first.

BOOKS

	· Book titles are italicized.
	· Include both the city and state for the place of publication, excepting New York City. Use the U. S. Postal Code abbreviation for states (e.g., WI; IL; Washington, DC)

One author

Henslin, James M. 2002. Essentials of sociology: a down-to-earth approach.

Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon.

Two or more authors

Nelson, Margaret K. and Joan Smith. 1999. Working hard and making do: surviving in

small town America. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

No authors
Change: readings in society & human behavior. 1972. Del Mar, CA: CRM Books.
Edited book, other than first edition
Vander Zanden, James W. 1996. Sociology: the core. 4th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill.

· Other accepted abbreviations for editions: Rev. ed., 2d Ed., 3d ed.

Edited books

Finsterbusch, Kurt, ed. 1999. Sources: notable selections in sociology. Guilford, CT:

Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc.

Articles from collected works

Brewer, John D. 1998. "Sensitivity in Field Research: A Study of Policing in Northern Ireland." Pp. 29-37 in

Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, edited by John J.

Macionis and Nijole V. Benokraitis. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

PERIODICAL ARTICLES

	· Titles of periodicals are italicized. Titles of articles are in quotation marks.
	· All important words in article title are capitalized.
	· Use the issue number or exact date for journals that do not number pages consecutively within a volume.

One or more authors

Villani, Susan. 2001. "Impact of Media on Children and Adolescents: A 10-Year Review of the

Research." Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry. 40:392-402.

Dwivedi, Kedar and Arun Gupta. 2000. "`Keeping Cool': Anger Management through Group

Work." Support for Learning. 15:76-82.

Articles from journals that paginate each issue separately

Bullock, Barbara E. and Denis M. Provencher. 2001. "The Linguistic Representation of

Femininity and Masculinity in Jean Genet's Notre-Dame des Fleurs." French Cultural Studies. 12 (34): 43-59.

Articles from Magazines and Newspapers

Lemonick, Michael D., Dan Cray, Deborah Fowler, Julie Grace, Alison Jones, Durham

Thompson, and Dick Thompson. 2000. "Teens Before Their Time." Time. October 30, 156:66-73.

Breen, Michael. 1999. "Parents, Peers Big Reasons for Image Obsession." Chicago Sun-

Times. December 19, p. L1 46.

WEB SITES AND E-JOURNALS

	· Date of retrieval is included.
	· Internet address is enclosed in parentheses. Periods are put outside of the parentheses.
	· Follow the format and include the same information for books and articles.

· ASA does not provide an example for articles from commercial databases. These examples are adapted from the American Psychological Association Publication Manual.

Articles from Commercial Electronic Periodical and Newspaper Databases

Gray, David. 2001. "Accommodation, Resistance and Transcendence: Three Narratives of

Autism." Social Science and Medicine. 53:1247 (11 pages). Retrieved October 19, 2001.

Available: Ebsco Academic Search Elite.

Mincer, Jilian. "Role Model Rose From Mix of Work, Family." Kansas City Star. October 9,

D22 (404 words). Retrieved on October 19, 2001. Available: LEXIS-NEXIS Academic
Universe, U.S. News.

Articles from Electronic Journals

Rashotte, Lisa Slattery. "Some Effects of Demeanor on the Meaning of Behaviors in

Context." 2001. Current Research in Social Psychology. 6:251-277. Retrieved

October 19, 2001 (http://www.uiowa.edu/~grpproc/crisp/crisp.html)

Jabbour, Nicholas. 2000. "Syphilis from 1880 to 1920: A Public Health Nightmare and the

First Challenge to Medical Ethics." Essays in History 42 (24 pages).

Retrieved October 19, 2001 (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/journal/EH/J).

Information Posted on Web Pages, etc.

Markowitz, Robin. 1991. "Canonizing the Popular." Cultural Studies Central. Retrieved

October 31, 2001 (http://culturalstudies.net/canon.htm).

PARENTHETICAL CITATION STYLE
ASA style requires the use of citations in text. Citations in the text include the author's last name and year
of publication. Page numbers are included when quotes are taken directly from a work or refer to specific
pages. Endnotes and footnotes are to be used only if necessary. These citations refer within the text to
sources listed on the References Cited page at the end of the paper. Format guidelines are found in American
Sociological Association Style Guide (Reference Desk HM73.A54 1996), from which the examples listed
here were taken.Author's name in text
…as Jackson stated (1992).Author's name in a reference
... rather than serving the main purpose (Simpson 1995).Joint authors
… (Hurt and Wallace 1997).Multiple authors

· If there are three authors, cite all three last names in the first citation. Afterwards, use "et al." If a work has more than three authors, use "et al." in all citations.

First citation: …within an organization (Brown, White, and Green 1982).
Later: …(Brown et al. 1982)Quotations in the text

· Quotations taken directly from text must begin and end with quotation marks. The author, date and / or page numbers follow the end quote and precede the period. ...The debate included "questions relating to the unemployment of ethnic minorities to be asked of contractors but only a small number of local authorities are using this limited provision" (Commission for Racial Equality, 1992: 30). ...Thrasher (1999) referred to the "spontaneous effort of boys to create a society for themselves" (p.147).

Block quotations

· The author, date, and/or page number follow the period in a block quote. In a block quote, the "P" for "age is capitalized when the page number is cited alone without author and date information, as in the above example.

· Lengthy quotations are in smaller type and set off in a separate indented paragraph. Block quotations should not be enclosed in quotation marks.

As stated by Thrasher (1999):

Gangs represent the spontaneous effort of boys to create a society for themselves where none adequate to their needs exists. What boys get out of such association that they do not get otherwise under the conditions that adult society imposes is the thrill and zest of participation in common interests, more especially in corporate action, in hunting, capture, conflict, flight and escape. (P. 147)

Corporate author

· Use the minimum identification from the beginning of the complete citation.

... (National Research Council 1998:22). Multiple reference

· Authors may be listed alphabetically or by year.