GSA Style Guide

If you're quoting the exact words of someone else, introduce the quote with an in-text citation in parentheses. Any sentence punctuation goes after the closing parenthesis.

• According to Brown (2019), "Direct quote" (p. 1021).
• Brown (2019) found that "Direct quote" (p. 1021).
• [Some other introduction] "Direct quote" (Brown, 2019, p. 1021).

If you're directly quoting more than 40 words, use a blockquote. Block quotes don't need quotation marks. Instead, indent the text 1/2" as a visual cue that you are citing. The in-text citation in parentheses goes after the punctuation of the quote.

Shavers (2007) study found the following:

While research studies have established that socioeconomic status influences disease incidence, severity and access to healthcare, there has been relatively less study of the specific manner in which low SES influences receipt of quality care and consequent morbidity and mortality among patients with similar disease characteristics, particularly among those who have gained access to the healthcare system. (p. 1021)

Tip: Use direct quotes sparingly! Focus on summarizing the findings from multiple research studies. In the sciences and social sciences, only use the exact phrasing or argument of an individual when necessary.

Paraphrasing or summarizing the main findings or takeaways from a research article is the preferred method of citing sources in an APA paper. Always include the last name of the author(s) and the year of the article, so your reader can find the full citation in the reference list.

According to Shavers (2007), limitations of studying socioeconomic status in research on health disparities include difficulties in collecting data on socioeconomic status and the complications of classifying women, children, and employment status.

You only need the author's last name and the year.

(Abrams, 2018)

Connect both authors' last names with & (ampersand) and include the year.

(Wegener & Petty, 1994)

If there are 3 or more authors use et al., which means "and others."

(Harris et al., 2018)

First time with an abbreviation:

(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2019)

Then all subsequent citations: (CDC, 2019)

1. Author(s), Note: List each author's last name and initial as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., and Author, C. C. - alphabetically by last name. For references with two authors, list alphabetically by first author and then alphabetically by second author. For references with more than two authors, list alphabetically by first author and then chronologically, earliest year first. For references with more than 10 authors, shorten the author list to the first author’s name plus “et al.” If author list includes co-chief scientists, please include all of their names, with the rest of the author names shortened to “et al.” See example in the “Book” section below.
2. Year,
3. Title of the article: Note: For works that are part of a greater whole (e.g. articles, chapter), use sentence case. Only the first word of the title and subtitle and proper nouns are capitalized.
4. Title of the Journal, Spell out journal titles. Note: Capitalize each word in the journal.
5. Volume, Use "v. #" See example above. If there is no issue, include a comma before the page range.
6. Issue, Note: If there is an issue number in addition to a volume number, use a comma and "no. #" - see example above.
7. Page range. ,p. #-##.
8. DOI (Digital Object Identifier). Read more about DOIs from the APA Style wesbite.

Elburg, M.A., Smet, I., and De Pelsmaeker, E., 2014, Influence of source materials and fractionating assemblage on magmatism along the Aegean Arc, and implications for crustal growth, in Gómez-Tuena, A., Straub, S.M., and Zellmer, G.F., eds., Orogenic Andesites and Crustal Growth: Geological Society, London, Special Publication 385, p. 137–160, doi:10.1144/SP385.1.

1. Author(s), Note: List each author's last name and initial as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., and Author, C. C. - alphabetically by last name. For references with two authors, list alphabetically by first author and then alphabetically by second author. For references with more than two authors, list alphabetically by first author and then chronologically, earliest year first. For references with more than 10 authors, shorten the author list to the first author’s name plus “et al.” If author list includes co-chief scientists, please include all of their names, with the rest of the author names shortened to “et al.”.
2. Year,
3. Title of the book: Capitalize each word of the title and subtitle and any proper nouns, but do not capitalize articles (the, an), prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word.
4. Volume: If a volume number is present, spell out Volume followed by the ### and then a colon ':'.
5. (edition). Note: If there is an edition, include it in parentheses and spell out the number, e.g. (third edition) before the colon ':'
6. Publisher, Spell out book publishers and include the city of publication.

Coffin, M.F., Frey, F.A., Wallace, P.J., et al., 2000, Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program, Initial reports, Volume 183: College Station, Texas, Ocean Drilling Program, CD-ROM.

[Instance above is an exception to GSA style. Include names of co-chief scientists; additional names may be substituted with “et al.”]

1. Author(s), Note: List each author's last name and initial as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., and Author, C. C. - alphabetically by last name. For references with two authors, list alphabetically by first author and then alphabetically by second author. For references with more than two authors, list alphabetically by first author and then chronologically, earliest year first. For references with more than 10 authors, shorten the author list to the first author’s name plus “et al.” If author list includes co-chief scientists, please include all of their names, with the rest of the author names shortened to “et al.” See example in the “Book” section below.
2. Year,
3. Title of the article, in Note: For works that are part of a greater whole (e.g. articles, chapter), use sentence case. Only the first word of the title and subtitle and proper nouns are capitalized.
4. Editor(s), After the article title, use 'in' and list the editors by each editor's last name first and then initials as Editorlastname, A. A., Editorlastname, B. B., and Editorlastname, C. C., and include ed. or eds., and end with a comma before the book title.
5. Title of the book: Capitalize each word of the title and subtitle and any proper nouns, but do not capitalize articles (the, an), prepositions, or conjunctions unless one is the first word.
6. Volume: If a volume number is present, spell out Volume followed by the ### and then a colon ':'.
7. (edition). Note: If there is an edition, include it in parentheses and spell out the number, e.g. (third edition) before the colon ':'
8. Publisher, Spell out book publishers and include the city of publication.
9. (p.xx-xx).

Taylor, J.C.M., 1990, Upper Permian—Zechstein, in Glennie, K.W., ed., Introduction to the Petroleum Geology of the North Sea (third edition): Oxford, UK, Blackwell, p. 153–190.

1. <
2. Author(s), Note: List each author's last name and initial as Author, A. A., Author, B. B., and Author, C. C. - alphabetically by last name. For references with two authors, list alphabetically by first author and then alphabetically by second author. For references with more than two authors, list alphabetically by first author and then chronologically, earliest year first. For references with more than 10 authors, shorten the author list to the first author’s name plus “et al.” If author list includes co-chief scientists, please include all of their names, with the rest of the author names shortened to “et al.” See example in the “Book” section below.
3. Year,
4. Title of page or section:
5. Source. Note: Usually the official name of the website. If the source would be the same as the author, you can omit the source to avoid repetition.
6. URL
7. (accessed Month Year).
8. For website citations, include the month and year the site was accessed in parentheses at the end of the reference.

Johnson, A.B., 2001, Raw data for relay stations AB1–AB15 in the Mojave Desert: http://www.seismo.berkeley.edu/mojave (accessed December 2001).

[Websites should only appear in References Cited section when referring to published entities offered on a website, including articles, books, blogs, etc. When citing an entire website or referring to general content on the site, mention the title of the site in the main text of the paper with the web address appearing in parentheses beside the title. It would not need to appear in the References Cited section.]