Citing Sources: ASA

When writing a citation in the ASA style, pay particular attention to italics, punctuation, indentation, and capitalization. With the ASA Style, quotations and borrowed phrases are indicated as such within the text, and citations include the last name of the author(s) and year of publication. With quotes or references to specific pages, page numbers are also included.

Many more samples of citations presented in the ASA style can be found in the American Sociological Association Style Guide. Please consult this book or a librarian for help.

All of the following samples are adapted from:

American Sociological Association. 2019. American Sociological Association Style Guide. 6th ed. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association.

In-Text Citation Examples:

• Within the Text: ...Giddens (2017) argues that...
• In Parentheses: ...for validity and authenticity (Davis 2005).
• With a Page Number: ...Orol (2010:1).
• Two Authors: ...(Danziger and Lee 2010).
• For three authors, cite all three last names in the first citation, and et al. afterward: ...(Shanahan, Porfeli, and Mortimer 2005)...(Shanahan et al. 2005).
• For more than three authors, use et al. in all citations: ...(Shanahan et al. 2005).
• For institutional authors, an abbreviation is permitted for in-text citations: ...(ASA 2018).

  • However, the abbreviation must be defined in the reference list:

    ASA (American Sociological Association). 2018....

References Page:

• Like all other parts of the document, the references should be double-spaced.
• Hanging/reverse indents should be used. (This is where all lines after the first have an indent.)
• List all authors up to 10. For more than 10 authors, list the first seven, followed by et al.

NOTE: For electronic books and articles obtained from databases and websites:

• Do not include page numbers.
• For articles with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), do include page numbers, and do not include the URL.
• If no date is available, use n.d. in place of the date.
  • In this case, an access date should also be included immediately before the URL, in the format "Accessed Month Day, Year."

Book with Multiple Authors:

Edin, Kathryn, and Maria Kefalas. 2005. Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood Before Marriage. Berkeley: University of California Press.

 

Book with an Editor:

Waters, Mary, Patrick J. Carr, Maria J. Kefalas, and Jennifer Holdaway, eds. 2011. The Transition to Adulthood in the Twenty-First Century. Berkeley: University of California Press.

 

Electronic Book:

Dietz, Bernadette E., and Lynn Harper, eds. 2008. Scaffolding for Student Success in Learning. Washington, DC: American Sociological Association. http://www.e-noah.net/asa/asashoponlineservice/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=ASAOE155S08E.

 

Book Chapter:

Montez, Jennifer K., and Mark D. Hayward. 2011. "Early Life Conditions and Later Life Mortality." Pp. 187-206 in International Handbook of Adult Mortality, edited by R. G. Rogers and E. Crimmins. New York: Springer Publishers.

 

Journal Article:

Chang, Virginia W., and Diane S. Lauderdale. 2009. "Fundamental Cause Theory, Technological Innovation, and Health Disparities: The Case of Cholesterol in the Era of Statins." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 50(3):245-60.

 

Electronic Journal Article:

Schafer, Daniel W., and Fred L. Ramsey. 2003. "Teaching the Craft of Data Analysis." Journal of Statistics Education 11(1). http://www.amstat.org/publications/jse/v11n1/schafer.html.

 

Newspaper Article:

Guiles, Melinda, and Krystal Miller. 1990. "Mazda and Mitsubishi-Chrysler Venture Cut Output, Following Big Three's Lead." Wall Street Journal, January 12, A2, A12.

 

Magazine Article:

Anderson, Elijah. 1994. "The Code of the Streets." Atlantic Monthly, May 1994, 81-94.

 

Website (with a known location):

ASA (American Sociological Association). 2006. "Status Committees." Washington, D.C.: American Sociological Association, Retrieved July 11, 2010. (http://www.asanet.org/about/committees.cfm).

 

Website (without a known location):

IBM (International Business Machines). 2009. "2009 Annual Report." http://www.ibm.com/annualreport/2009/2009_ibm_annual.pdf.

 

Social Media Posts:

If a social media post is cited only once in the text, use a footnote.

Text: The American Sociological Association mentioned the meeting directly on its Facebook page.¹

Footnote: 1. American Sociological Association's Facebook page, accessed June 6, 2014, https://www.facebook.com/AmericanSociologicalAssociation/posts/10154176262000165.

However, if an account is frequently cited, it may be included in the reference list. Include both the real and screen name, if possible. In the text, cite the name under which the entry is listed in the reference list (usually the real name).

American Sociological Association (@ASAnews). 2018. "Historic increases in income inequality have coincided with widening class divides in parental investments of money and time in children. See http://www.asanet.org/press-center/press-release/income-inequality-changing-how-parents-invest-their-kids-widening-class-divide-us." Twitter, July 9, 12:50 p.m. https://twitter.com/ASAnews/status/1016409400259563521.

 

Movies:

Judge, Mike. 1999. Office Space. DVD. Beverly Hills, CA: Twentieth Century Fox. 

Note: Mike Judge is the director. The director's name goes before the date and title, with last name first.

General Information:

• The ASA citation style is typically used by Sociology.
• The American Sociological Association Style Guide is available only in print.  If you do not have access to a copy, use the sample citations throughout this page for examples or contact your librarian for help.
• Remember that your list of resources should be presented in alphabetical order by author's last name.

Zotero is a free, open source Bibliographic Management Tool recommended by Dickinson librarians. Please visit the Zotero Guide for more information about what Zotero is and how to use it.