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PSY 210 -- Health Psychology (Fall 2023): Citing in APA

DOI (Digital Object Identifier)

What is the DOI?

A DOI is a unique string of letters and numbers assigned by a publisher to an article. It provides a persisent or stable link to the item on the internet. The American Psychological Association recommends using the DOI when citing documents in APA style.

Where can I find it?

The DOI is typically located on the first page of the electronic journal article, near the copyright notice. In databases such as PsycINFO or PubMed, you can find the DOI on the article's detail page.

 

A Cautionary Tale

A word of caution! Online tools are excellent but they are not necessarily correct. They read data as it is passed to them, so if the data is incorrect, the citation will be too. For example, in all citation styles, there are certain capitalization rules that machines cannot handle. In addition, most tools will not have the proper line spacing. You need to understand APA format so you can edit and proof the results of the online products.

PsycINFO APA Style

The Cite tool makes it easy to retrieve citations that you can copy and paste into a Word document.

Conduct a search and click on a relevant title.

On the right hand side of the screen under Tools. click the cite link. 

Using the Cite tool for an item will open a window where you can select the desired format and copy the formatted citation into your document. 

PubMed APA Style

The Cite button makes it easy to retrieve citations that you can copy and paste into a Word document.

Conduct a search and click on the title of a relevant article.  

Click the Cite Button 

Using the Cite button for an item will open a pop-up window where you can select the desired style and copy the formatted citation into your document. PubMed provides four popular styles: AMA (American Medical Association), MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association), or NLM (National Library of Medicine). 

Tips to Remember

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  • Do not spell out author's first or middle names. Use first and middle initials only.
  • Double space all references.
  • Use a hanging indent for the first line of each reference.
  • Capitalize the first word of the title, the first word of the subtitle and proper nouns.
  • Alphabetize the reference list by the last name of the author.