ASA Citation Guide: Useful Tips & Tricks

Essay writing is a pretty complex task by itself, but it’s the formatting that usually makes students panic most.

ASA citation style, which stands for American Sociological Association, is one of the most commonly applied academic formats, and while using ASA citation machine is a great option, you won’t know whether it’s effective unless you understand the style basics. ASA is used in the field of sociology mostly but many other scholars enjoy its simplicity.

Citing sources is essential to avoid plagiarism, and if you don’t know ASA style, you can make mistakes that might ruin your academic record. So, how to cite in ASA correctly?

Fast ASA In text Citation Help

Writing a sociology research paper in ASA format demands a structured approach to citations and sociological analysis. If you’re unsure about how to apply ASA formatting rules or organize your research findings, Edubirdie can guide you through the process. Their writers specialize in sociology and will ensure that your paper meets the highest academic standards. The strength of an essay depends on how convincing its author’s point of view is. To be convincing, though, it’s important to back all words up with relevant sources. It can only be done with in-text citations. Properly formatted ASA (American Sociological Association) in-text citations have some general rules — for example, students have to put works like books, collections of stories, movies, as well as titles of journals and magazines into italics. Shorter stories and articles’ titles must be in quotation marks, and for every phrase that is not common knowledge, you must provide an in-text reference.

ASA Citation Format examples

Other general rule concerns page numbers. If a source has pages, add them only when citing something very specific, like a particular idea from a certain passage or when providing direct quote. Otherwise, page numbers aren’t needed. Considering how many types of sources exist, it might be tough to figure out when to cite what, so let’s look at how ASA citation format works for each of these categories.

One Author

ASA citation machine is great for showing how authors should be placed in text, but with most common sources’ types, it’s best to memorize the formatting rules to facilitate essay-writing process. If work has one author, all you need is his/her last name and date. Put last name in the text itself to introduce the author and add the date of source’s publication in parenthesis right after that. If you need to mention page numbers, put them after date, separating them with a colon. Check this example:

Cathers (2018:21) believes that this field can be “highly advantageous for people interested in psychological peculiarities”.

Another option involves putting both name and date, as well as page number if there is any, into parenthesis.

Such characteristics as femininity do not “indicate any sexual identity” (Wiliams 2017:17).

Two Authors

According to ASA style guide, same system should be applied when there are two authors. All you need is unite them with “and”.

The idea that writing is a natural skill that cannot be acquired otherwise is accepted by some researchers (Lobens and Dansion 2019).

Three Authors

When you mention three authors for the first time, name them all and unite them with “and”.

Many men have a tendency to “avoid visits to hospitals unless their condition is aggravated further” (Lords, Wilson, and Tomson 2013:303).

When citing these authors again, mention only the first one and add ‘et al.’ afterward.

Such behavior is extremely harmful for all family members (Lords et al. 2013).

Four and More Authors

When there are more than three authors, name the first one only. Refer to others through “et al.” from the beginning like in ASA citation format example above.

Organization as an Author

As per ASA style guide, treat organizations’ names like those of usual authors. Just use the full name with no abbreviations.

These numbers suggest that data are compromised (Lucas Motors Corporation 2019).

Unknown Author

When no author’s name is available, ASA format requires mentioning the first words of the entry, which is usually the title. Look at rules above for proper titles’ formatting.

Women tolerate aggression because of inherently misogynistic society (“I Will Not Be Silenced” 2007).

Authors with the Same Last Name

ASA citation machine won’t help in case you’re citing two or more different works created by authors sharing one last name. It just won’t know whether this name was already used in text. So, if you have Lynda White and John White as two different writers, make sure to mention their initials like this: L. White (2012) and J. White (2013).

Several Works by One Author Published in the Same Year

This is another example where ASA citation machine won’t help. It can’t know how many works of one author you’re mentioning in text. This is why knowing basic rules of ASA manual is important. It’s simple: assign a letter to each source so you and everyone else could easily differentiate them. It should look like this: (Carter 2015a); then (Carter 2015b).

Multiple Sources in One Citation

To create ASA citations for several works that are mentioned in the course of one sentence, use semicolons.

Several groups of scientists confirmed this finding (Joffers 2015; Torrents et al. 2014; Loffat 2018).

Electronic Sources Citation

ASA in-text citation is identical for electronic kinds of sources. Mention author and date like in previous examples.

Unknown Date

There will be sources with no date that might seem confusing at first. Considering how popular electronic works are, it’s not surprising, so don’t let it bother you. Simply put “N.d.” instead of proper date.

Predicting subjects’ reaction might be difficult (Collins N.d.).

Story/Article From Anthology

If you need to cite only one story or article from a big collection, mention the name of that one author whose work you’re regarding. Follow examples above for rules about dates and page numbers.