Part 1: In-Text Citation
Guidelines Examples
If the author’s last name/surname is
part of an essay sentence, include only
the publication year of the source.
According to Saw (2005), suicide is linked
to social isolation…
If the author’s name is not in the essay
sentence, include the last
name/surname and the year of
publication.
Suicide has been linked to social isolation
(Saw 2005).
Saw is the surname, and 2005 the
publication year.
For sources with two authors, list all of
their names.
(Saw and Wang 2005)
Include both author surnames.
For sources with exactly three authors,
list all the names for the first reference.
Subsequently include the name of the
first author and use et al. for the rest.
First reference (Saw, Wang and Lee 2001)
Second reference (Saw et al. 2001)
Et al. means “and others”.
For sources with more than three
authors, always include the name of
the first author and use “et al.” for the
rest.
(Saw et al. 1995)
If you use material from more than 1
source in a sentence, cite both sources
and separate them with a semicolon.
(Saw 2005 ; Wang 2000)
For institutional authorship (like
ministry publications), provide
minimum identification.
(Singapore Ministry of Defence 2000)
Provide references to a chapter/table if
you refer to it specifically.
(Smith 2000, chap. 3)
(Dawson 2002, table 4.1)
More Tips
Acronyms
First usage (must be in full form):
American Sociological Association (ASA)…
Second usage: According to the ASA…
Abbreviations
Do not use abbreviations such as e.g. etc.
in your main text. They can be used in
parentheses if needed.
Non-English words
Should be italicized (except foreign words
in common usage):
the Japanese policy of Fukoku Kyohei had
consequences…
If you quoted text from your source
but incorporated the text into your
own sentence, just include the page
number where the quotation is taken
from.
The phenomenon of suicide has “been
positively shown to be linked to isolation”
according to Saw (2005: 104).
In the above example, 104 refers to the
page number.
If the author and year does not
accompany the page number of
citation, use the format (p. )
Wheeler (1995) stated that “school survey
data must be interpreted carefully” (p.
58).
Note the p. in this case is in lower case.
If you quoted whole sentences from a
source (block quotations), you need to
present them in a smaller font, in a
separate indented paragraph.
Do not use inverted commas.
As written by Smith (1990):
The reasons or suicide are complex and
varied. (P. 143)
The P. in this case is in upper case.
OR
The reasons for suicide are complex and
varied. (Smith 1990: 143)
QQuuiicckk SSttyyllee GGuuiiddee
American Sociological Association (ASA)
This guide serves as a quick reference for students writing Sociology papers.
It comprises of two components, namely (1) in-text citation and (2) reference list.
Part 2: Reference List / Bibliography
Guidelines Examples
For books with one author Macionis, John J. 2005. Sociology: a global
introduction. Harlow, England: Pearson Prentice
Hall.
For books with two or more
authors
Macionis, John J. and Vincent N. Parrillo. 2007. Cities
and urban life. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson
Prentice Hall.
For books with an editor
instead of a main author
Reid, Anthony., ed. 2001. Sojourners and settlers:
histories of Southeast Asia and the Chinese.
Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press.
For book chapters Wang, Gungwu. 2005. “Sojourning: the Chinese
experience in Southeast Asia.” Pp. 1-20 in
Sojourners and settlers: histories of Southeast Asia
and the Chinese, edited by Anthony Reid. Honolulu,
HI: University of Hawaii Press.
For journal articles with one
author
Pekerti, Andre A. 2008. “The interdependent FamilyCentric
Career: Career Perspective of the Overseas
Chinese in Indonesia.” Career development
quarterly 56(4): 362-377.
For journal articles with two
or more authors
Voss, Barbara L. and Rebecca Allen. 2008. “Overseas
Chinese Archaeology: Historical Foundations,
Current Reflections, and New Directions.”
Historical Archaeology 42(3): 5-28.
For articles from
newspapers or magazines
Salzman, Marian. 2008. “From the sub-prime crisis to
the ridiculous.” Marketing Week, May 22, 21:18.
21 is the issue number and 18 is the page number.
For information from
webpages
“Ministry of Manpower: Home.” 2008. Ministry of
Manpower. Retrieved September 05, 2008.
(http://www.mom.gov.sg/publish/momportal/en/
home.html).
The reference list includes all sources which you have read/ scanned/ referenced/
quoted for writing your essay. All in-text citations must have a corresponding entry
in the list.
More Tips
1.
List the sources in alphabetical order, according to the last name/surname of
the first author of the source.
2. Enter the author’s name in reverse order, with the last name/surname first
3.
If there are two or more authors that contributed to a source, only list the first
author’s name in reverse order. List the second author’s name in direct order.
4.
If there is no author for a source, arrange that source according to the first
significant word in the title.
5.
If you cite more than 1 source from the same author, arrange these sources
from the same author chronologically according to their publication year.
6.
Use 6 hyphens and a full stop (------.) to replace the author name of the
subsequent entries.
7.
If the same author wrote 2 or more books in one year, differentiate them by
adding letters to the publication year (2000a) (2000b).
8. Use hanging indentation for the reference list. (indent 3 spaces)
9. Use italics to enter book/journal titles.
1.
ASA style guide - American Sociological Association.
Call No.: HM586.A512 @HSSLibrary
2.
American Sociological Association: Quick Style Guide
http://www.asanet.org/page.ww?name=Quick+Style+Guide&section=Sociology+Depts
Need Research Assistance? Contact Your Subject Librarian.
Mr. Tan Han Yong :: hytan@ntu.edu.sg :: http://www.ntu.edu.sg/library/about/staffdirectory/Pages/TanHanYong.aspx :: Humanities & Social Sciences Library
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