AHE2251 Sport Coaching Environment, Planning, & Delivery: APA Referencing

Why reference?

Writing at university may involve researching the ideas of other people, which you can combine with your own ideas and conclusions. Learning to acknowledge other people through in-text citing or footnotes in addition to providing a reference list will help differentiate between their ideas and your own.

This is central to the idea of academic honesty in Western academic institutions.

So why reference?

  • To show respect for the original source. Using someone else's work as your own without properly acknowledging it is considered intellectual theft.
  • To demonstrate that you have done the research. Your teachers want to see that you have considered the experts when forming the basis of your arguments.
  • To show what research you've done. Your teacher must assess the quality of your research. Accurate referencing following a specific style will enable the reader to easily locate and verify your research.
  • To avoid plagiarism. Failure to properly acknowledge when you have used the work of others means you are implying that the idea or words are yours. This is plagiarism and the consequences may affect your academic progress at university.

Read the VU Academic Integrity and Preventing Plagiarism Policy for more details.

Components of a reference

Whichever referencing style is used, there is information which needs to be relayed to the reader of your work such as:

  • who wrote/created it
  • when was it written/created
  • what is it
  • where can it be found

In other words the information required is:

  • Author
  • Date of publication
  • Title of publication 
  • Article or chapter title (depending on the source)
  • Publisher details
  • Source location, eg URL if relevant

In this unt you are to use the APA style of referencing. Refer to the online guide for a detailed explanation of APA referencing. This page contains a summary to get you started.

APA referencing: The basics [video]

Basic format to reference a book

Example: Hasler, E. (2018). The built environment. Liverpool University Press.

An example of a book reference in APA with key components labelled

For books with multiple authors, edited books, E-books and chapters in books refer to the APA Referencing guide.

Basic format to reference a journal article

Example: Ruxton, C. (2016). Tea: Hydration and other health benefits. Primary Health Care, 26(8), 34-42. https://doi.org/10.7748/phc.2016.e1162

An example of an APA reference for a journal article with components labelled

Refer to the APA Referencing guide for examples of how to cite multiple authors and online journal articles.