APA Style Today: The Principles and Myths of Referencing

Sponsored by APA Style

Recorded on 08/14/2023
Posted in The Authority File

Episode 341

In the second episode of this four-part series, Chelsea Lee, instructional lead, and Timothy McAdoo, manager, both of APA Style, talk references. They provide an overview of the principles of references, underlining the key goal to identify your source and show others where to find it. They also dispel some popular myths of referencing, such as avoiding sources older than five years old or encyclopedic references like Wikipedia. Our guests also chat about standard specifications for unique sources and the process of creating a citation for ChatGPT. Last, Chelsea and Tim explain the role of APA Style’s advisory task forces, and how the groups of journal editors, professors, students, and librarians offer consulting and feedback on updated citation guidelines.

About the guests:

Chelsea Lee
Instructional Lead
APA Style

Chelsea Lee is the instructional lead, APA Style. She has worked at APA since 2007, beginning as a manuscript editor for APA Journals before moving to the then newly formed style team in 2015. She has a bachelor’s degree in psychology from The College of William & Mary and a master’s degree in education and human development from The George Washington University. She has written for the APA Style blog since it began in 2009 and is occasionally recognized for her contributions by strangers in elevators. She helped shape the seventh edition of the Publication Manual, in particular, the new referencing system and bias-free language guidelines. She also works on all style-related content, including the learning materials for Academic Writer. She loves promoting a kind and conscientious approach to writing. She believes that people become better writers by becoming better thinkers, and that by becoming better thinkers, people become better people.

She has two young sons who bring both joy and perspective to life. She is also an avid swing dancer and swing dance teacher in a style called Balboa, a classical pianist, and a crossword puzzle enthusiast.

Timothy McAdoo
Manager
APA Style

Timothy McAdoo is a manager on the APA Style team. He has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in writing. Timothy started his career at APA as a copyeditor in APA Journals, later becoming an APA Style training supervisor. More recently, in APA Books, Timothy worked with the Product Management team to create reference management tools in APA’s Academic Writer platform, and he helped shape the seventh editions of the Publication Manual, Concise Guide to APA Style, and the Mastering APA Style Student Workbook. He also writes for and manages the APA Style blog and social media.

Enjoy the conversation? Listen to the rest of the series:

• Introductions, Origins, and FAQs
• More Than Just References
• Current Topics and Community Feedback

APA Style Resources:

• What’s New in the Seventh Edition – handout  
• The “Outdated Sources” Myth – blog post  
• How to Cite ChatGPT in APA Style – blog post  
• First-Person Pronouns  – guidelines page
• Accessible typography – guidelines page  
• Accessible use of color in figures – guidelines page  
• Bias-free language guidelines – guidelines page  
• Inclusive language guidelines – PDF report  
• Instructional aids – free tutorials, webinars, handouts, samples, and more 
• APA Style JARS – full text of JARS articles, explanatory infographic and video  
• APA Style JARS working group – webpage about the working group 
• APA Style Open Science page – webpage with information about transparency  
• APA Journals Open Science page – webpage with information about TOPS guidelines, CRediT, replication studies, and much more 
• Mastering APA Style Student Workbook – webpage about the workbook that includes a free sample 

Watch APA Style’s latest Choice-ACRL webinar, “What’s the Point of APA Style? Relevance of a Writing Style to Life After Graduation.”

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