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OTA Resources at LLCC

Guidance, links, suggestions and instructions for using and accessing OTA resources at LLCC Library.

APA Citations Checklist & OWL

HANGING INDENT : highlight the whole citation; right click on highlighted citation; select Paragraph; look for Indentation section; Special drag down menu; choose Hanging; click okay to move margins. 

Reference list / Sample Paper: 

  • center title: References
  • APA citation for each source
  • ABC order by first letter of citation (usually author/title)
  • Hanging indent
    (highlight, right click, paragraph, indentation, special menu, hanging)

In-Text Citations:

Use Reference List Electronic Sources (for articles from LLCC Databases) (see screenshots below)

Step-by-step: 

  1. SELECT APA FORMAT and email the article from the database
  2. copy Database Provided Citation (see screenshots for EbscoHost below)
    from database and/or email 
  3. paste into word with middle paste option
  4. check the citation against the requirements in OWL
  5. Use OWL to create in-text citations corresponding to each source on the Reference List

APA Reference List Citations for Electronic (Database) Sources

Most LLCC subscription databases will provide assistance creating the citation for articles in a variety of formats - including APA. Screenshots below provide details for obtaining APA 7th Edition Citations from the EbscoHost databases recommended for many Nursing assignments. 

 

 

NOTE: Database-generated citations often (but inconsistently) include errors. It is still good practice to begin by finding, copying and pasting the citation from the database. You can use this as a starting point and refer to the guides provided (above) to make any necessary corrections. 

COMMON MISTAKES made by EbscoHost when creating APA 7th Edition citations: 

  • Author's first name typed out (Initials are standard formatting)
  • Title of Article is CAPITALIZED INCORRECTLY; often Article Titles are given a capital for every important word. See guide above. Article titles are capitalized like sentences in APA 7. 
  • Title of Journal not in Italics (be sure to double check)

Other databases that are not included in the EbscoHost group of databases (for example Ovid or Gale databases) also provide citations. Look for the icon or a note for the citation. NOTE: some databases may not be updated to APA 7 and are still using the 6th edition. Watch carefully..

BREAKDOWN: Electronic Sources APA 7th

  • AUTHOR Last Name, First & Middle Initials.
  • DATE (YEAR of publication in parens).
  • Title of article.
    • (note: CAPITALIZATION for article titles is like a SENTENCE. Capitalize the first word, proper nouns, and the first letter after a colon: ONLY.)
  • Title of Periodical or Journal,
    • (note: All Important Words in the Journal Title are Captilized; the whole title in Italics). 
  • Volume number 
    • (note: the volume number of the journal is in Italics)
  • (issue number),
    • (note: the issue number of the journal is in parentheses right next to the Volume number - no space or comma - and NOT in italics). 
  • page numbers of article.
  • DOI
    • if NO DOI 
      • FOR LLCC DATABASES -- leave blank (no URL is required for Database articles with mostly stable urls)
      • FOR ONLINE ARTICLES NOT FROM SUBSCRIPTION DATABASES -- include Retrieved from date and URL