Research Methods for Social Sciences

ASA Style has specific guidelines for how to set up your paper, number your pages, and cite your sources. Be sure to read through these guidelines before you begin - following the formatting guidelines as you go will be much easier than trying to apply them at the end! 

Manuscript Formatting —Title page, page numbering, font size and style, etc.

In-text Citation —The basic ASA format is (Last name Year;page) - there is no punctuation between the author's last name and the year, and there are no spaces before or after the colon that separates the year and page number.  Example: (Smith 2018:152)

Reference Page—The basic ASA format for a book and a journal article is shown below. For other sources or more examples, visit the Purdue OWL link provided.

ASA Book Citation: Last, First Middle. Year. Book Title in Title Caps and Italicized. Publishing City: Publisher.

• Gurr, Ted Robert, ed. 1989. Violence in America. Vol. 1, The History of Crime. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
• Mason, Karen. 1974. Women's Labor Force Participation. Research Triangle Park, NC: National Institutes of Health

ASA Journal Article Citation: Last, First Middle. Year. “Article Title in Title Caps and in Quotes.” Journal Title in Title Caps and Italicized Volume Number(Issue Number):page numbers of article.

• Conger, Rand. 1997. "The Effects of Positive Feedback on Direction and Amount of Verbalization in a Social Setting." American Journal of Sociology 79:1179-259.
• Coe, Deborah L., and James D. Davidson. 2011. “The Origins of Legacy Admissions: A Sociological Explanation.” Review of Religious Research 52(3):233-47.

Examples provided by Purdue OWL, ASA 5th ed.

 

ASA Style Guide "Quick Tips"—A downloadable "cheat sheet" provided by the ASA (4th ed.)

The APSA Style has specific guidelines for how to set up your paper, number your pages, and cite your sources. Be sure to read through these guidelines before you begin - following the formatting guidelines as you go will be much easier than trying to apply them at the end! 

Follow these steps to get started with Mendeley citation management:

1. Go to Mendeley.com and Create a Free Account. (please make sure to use your @westminster.edu email address for your account)

2. When you log in with your new account, you will be able to view and edit your Library of citations from this page or download an app to your computer called Reference Manager to use your Library. 

** Please note: As long as you have an internet connection, changes made to your Library will sync between the Library in your browser and the Library in Reference Manager.

Add citations to your Mendeley Library in any of the following ways:

1. Drag-and-drop article PDF into Library. (Mendeley.com or Reference Manager)
2. Download the Mendeley Web Importer browser extension.
3. Use direct database citation export tools (available in ScienceDirect and Scopus).
4. Download individual citations in .ris format and upload to your Library (use this in WISE, EBSCOhost, and other databases).

Option 1: Drag-and-drop article PDF into Library. (Mendeley.com or Reference Manager)

 

Option 2: Download the Mendeley Web Importer browser extension (using the Reference Manager app).

 

Option 3: Use direct database citation export tools (available in ScienceDirect and Scopus).

NOTE: If you are not signed in to Mendeley on your browser, Scopus will allow you to do so after selecting Export -> Mendeley

 

Option 4: Download individual citations in .ris format and upload to your Library (use this in WISE, EBSCOhost, and other databases).

Add citations from your Mendeley Library into your Word document, choose the citation style, and insert a bibliography.

Add citations to your Word document

1. Select the Mendeley Cite add-in on the References tab.
2. Search for the citation you want, or browse through a list of citations in your Library.
3. Check the box next to the citation(s) you want to add and click Insert __ Citation(s)

Choose the citation style

1. Click on Citation Style in the Mendeley Cite add-in top menu.
2. Browse through a list of citation styles OR click "Select another style..." to search for a different style.
3. Click Update Citation Style.

Insert a bibliography

1. Place your cursor where you would like to place the bibliography (for example: start a new page at the end of the document).
2. Click on More -> Insert Bibliography on the Mendeley Cite add-in top menu.