The American Psychological Association (APA) citation style is a very popular guide, especially in the social sciences. If you need to write articles or research in APA citation style, there are a variety of formatting rules to consider. Citation of sources such as poetry may be one of the most confusing obstacles, but if you follow a few simple rules, you can cite properly formatted citations.
Step
Part 1 of 3: Quoting Poetry in Essays
Step 1. Use quotes with short quotes
If you want to quote a section of poetry that has less than 40 words in your essay, the poem must be enclosed in quotation marks. You don't need to create a new line to include quotes.
- For example, you could start a short quote like this: Frost writes, "Some say the world will end in fire."
- For Indonesian: In his poem, Frost wrote, "Some say the world will end in fire."
Step 2. Define line breaks
If you quote more than one line of poetry in the main body of the essay, you should indicate the break between each line. To show it, put a slash between each line.
For example, to quote a two-line poem, you might write it like this: "Some say the world will end end fire, / Some say in ice."
Step 3. Use block quotes for longer quotes
If you want to quote a section of the poem that has more than 40 words, use a block citation format that begins on a new line and indents 1.3 centimeters from the left margin.
- You don't need to use quotes in block quotes. Quotation marks are not needed because the indentation itself already indicates that the indented text is a quote.
- Make sure you apply the same double spacing as elsewhere in the essay.
Part 2 of 3: Using Appropriate In-Text Quotations
Step 1. Include the author's name, year, and page number
Whenever you include a quote from a poem, you should supplement it with an in-text citation that directs readers to the appropriate entry in the list of references. In-text citations must include the author's last name, year of publication, and the page number of the poem (start with the phrase "p." or "hal." [for Indonesian]).
- If you mention the author's name in a sentence containing a citation, simply include the year of publication (in parentheses) after the author's name, and the page number (also in parentheses) at the end of the citation. For example: In his poem "Fire and Ice," Robert Frost (1923) says, "Some say the world will end in fire." (p. 1)
- For Indonesian: In his poem, "Fire and Ice", Robert Forst (1923) mentions, "Some say the world will end in fire." (p. 1).
- If you don't include the author's name in the sentence that includes the citation, list the three pieces of information in parentheses at the end of the quote, and separate each piece of information with a comma. For example: "Some say the world will end in fire." (Frost, 1923, p. 1)
- For Indonesian: "Some say the world will end in fire." (Frost, 1923, p. 1)
- In-text quotations should always be added after the punctuation mark in the previous sentence.
Step 2. Don't forget to cite indirect sources
You need to cite the poem (or other source) every time you make a reference to that source, even if you don't include a citation. Follow the same guidelines for in-text citations (bracketed citations) whenever you refer to a source.
If you are not referring to a specific page in the poem, you can omit the page number information from the in-text citation, although it is recommended that you include page numbers if possible
Step 3. Format the title of the poem properly
Make sure you use proper capitalization and typeface when mentioning the title of a poem or other source. Keep in mind that the formatting rules are different for the main body of the essay and the reference list segment. For the main body of the essay, follow these rules:
- Use capital letters as the first letters of all important words in the title of the work.
- Enclose short work titles in quotation marks (e.g. most poems).
- Italicize or underline the title of a longer work (eg anthology).
Part 3 of 3: Quoting Poetry in Bibliography/Reference
Step 1. Cite the entire book containing the poem
If you are citing poetry that is as long as book content, use the citation guide for printed books. Make sure punctuation and capitalization match the sample format:
Author's last name, Author's first name (Year of publication). Title of work: Subtitle. Location: Publisher
Step 2. Cite the poetry in the anthology
Often, short poems are found in larger collections or anthologies. If you are using poetry in an anthology as a source, use the APA style citation guide for articles and chapters in the edited book. Follow the example below and make sure you include the word " In " or "In" before the editor's name, as well as the abbreviation " pp. " or "p." before page number:
- Author's last name, Author's first name (Year of publication). Poetry title. In Editor's first and last name (Eds.), Title of book (pp. page). Location: Publisher.
- For Indonesian: Author's last name, Author's first name (Year of publication). Poetry title. In Editor's first and last name (Ed.), Book title (p. page). Location: Publisher.
Step 3. Customize the guide based on your book
All sources have at least slight differences so you may need to make slight variations to each citation to accommodate those differences. If you don't know how to quote or package certain information, ask your teacher or professor for advice.
- In general, if the source used does not display or contain specific information, you are allowed to remove that element or information from the citation.
- Keep in mind that in English, if you are citing multiple pages, use the abbreviation “pp.”, not “p.”.
Step 4. Include additional information for electronic sources
If you need to cite a poem found from the internet, cite the poem as a print source and include any information provided by the website publisher. Additionally, add information that helps readers find the digital resources you are using.
- For websites, include the phrase " Retrieved from ", followed by the full web address of the poem at the end of the quote.
- For e-books, specify the format of the book in square brackets, immediately after the title of the book (eg [Kindle DX version] or [Kindle DX version]). After that, add the phrase "Available from " or "Available at", followed by the address of the website you access to get the e-book at the end of the citation.
Step 5. Format the bibliography entry
After gathering all the information needed for a citation, you need to make sure the page or segment of the bibliography/reference is properly formatted and managed. Keep in mind that the rules for capitalizing bibliography segments may differ from the capitalization rules you need to follow when writing the main body of an essay.
- Use only capital letters as the first letter of the first word in the book title, not every word.
- Do not enclose the title of the poem in quotation marks.
- Use the title/word “References” (“References”) at the top of the page.
- Sort each entry alphabetically by author's last name. If you have more than one source from the same author, use the date of publication to sort the entries in chronological order.
- The first line of each quote must not be indented, but subsequent lines must be indented 1.3 centimeters (two spaces) from the left margin.
- Apply the same double spacing as you would the rest of the text.
- If you include an annotation (source description), add the annotation just below the citation, and format the annotation so that it is indented two spaces deeper than the second line of the quote.
Tips
- If you're going to be writing a lot of essays or research using the APA citation format, it's a good idea to purchase a printed copy of the APA citation style manual (or pay the online access fee).
- APA is not the only citation style available. Therefore, make sure that the teacher or lecturer does instruct you to use the APA style of citation.
Warning
- Make sure you cite all sources that are cited, paraphrased, or even referenced when writing your essay to avoid all forms of plagiarism.
- Don't forget that you also need to write an entire essay or article in the APA style of citation. This includes using APA rules regarding line and paragraph spacing, font type, margins, and so on.
