ASA Referencing Guide

ASA (American Sociological Association) referencing is predominantly used, as the name implies, in sociological disciplines. This guide covers in-text citations and reference lists.

ASA Overview

ASA Referencing Overview

ASA uses author-date citations in your text and an alphabetical reference list. The examples below follow the ASA Style Guide, seventh edition.

There are two types of citation in ASA referencing: in-text citations, which are found in the main body of the work and contain a fraction of the full bibliographical information, and reference lists, which are located at the end of the main work and list full information for all sources mentioned within the work.

Key things to remember

In a reference list, sources are listed alphabetically by author's surname. Where there are multiple citations by the same author, these would be listed chronologically by year of publication. Reference lists are double spaced and formatted with a hanging indent from the second line onwards.

You can cite a source directly (e.g. quoting verbatim from it) or indirectly (citing a source to show that you have used an author's ideas, but not quoted them). Examples of both are provided here:

Direct: '"Chocolate has an infinite variety of uses" (Davis 2013:28).'

Indirect: 'As Davis (2013) notes, chocolate can be used in many different ways.'

Give a page number after a colon when quoting, with no space after the colon: (Davis 2013:28). For a source without page numbers, use the author and year. A paraphrase normally needs the author and year; a page number can help readers find a particular passage.

ASA Reference Templates and Examples Index

Books
Articles
Online sources
Images/visual mediums
Other source types

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1. Books

ASA Citations for books with one or two authors:

When citing a book with more than one author, only the first author's name is inverted in the reference list.

Structure:

Last name, first name. Year. Title. Edition (if not the first edition of the book). City of publication: Publisher.

Surname, Firstname, and Firstname Surname. Year. Title. Edition (if not the first edition of the book). City of publication: Publisher.

Examples:

Davis, Bryan. 2013. A History of Chocolate. Nottingham: Delectable Publications.

Davis, Bryan. 2013. A History of Chocolate. 3rd ed. Nottingham: Delectable Publications.

Jones, Frank, and Sally Hughes. 2006. Eating Out: A Definitive Restaurant Handbook. Nottingham: Delectable Publications.

ASA Citations for books with three or more authors:

For three authors, give all surnames in the first in-text citation, then use the first surname and et al. For four or more authors, use the first surname and et al. from the first citation. List the authors in their published order in the reference list, inverting only the first author's name.

Structure:

Surname, Firstname, Firstname Surname, and Firstname Surname. Year. Title. City of publication: Publisher.

Example:

James, Peter, Daniel Croft, Sarah Levin, and Andrew Doe. 1998. How to Succeed in the Restaurant Industry. Nottingham: Delectable Publications.

ASA Citations for a chapter in an edited book:

Start with the chapter author. Put the chapter title in quotation marks and the book title in italics. Introduce the chapter’s page range with Pp., then give the book, editor and publication details. Include an edition number when it is later than the first.

Structure:

Surname, Firstname. Year. “Chapter Title.” Pp. first-last in Book Title, edited by A. Surname. City: Publisher.

Example:

King, Sandra. 2010. “The Best Wines and Where to Find Them.” Pp. 28-46 in Fine Wine: A Guide, edited by E. Loftus. Nottingham: Delectable Publications.

ASA Citations for multiple books by the same author:

In text, the author's texts can usually be differentiated by year. They should be listed in chronological order of publication. Where you are citing two works by the same author which were published in the same year, these should be labelled with 'a', 'b', 'c' and so on directly after the year.

Structure:

Last name, first name. Year. Title. Edition (if not the first edition of the book). City of publication: Publisher.

Example:

Brown, Graham. 2011. Mexican Food. Nottingham: Delectable Publications.

Brown, Graham. 2014. Japanese Food. Nottingham: Delectable Publications.

Brown, Graham. 2015a. Chinese Food. Nottingham: Delectable Publications.

Brown, Graham. 2015b. Italian Food. Nottingham: Delectable Publications.

2. Articles

ASA Citations for Print Journals

Structure:

Last name, First name. Year. “Article Title.” Journal name Volume(Issue):Page/s.

Example:

Jenkins, Oliver. 1996. “Unusual Recipes and Cantonese Cuisine.” Culinary Research 5(8):47-59.

ASA Citations for Journal Articles accessed on a website or database

In-text citations for an online journal article remain unchanged from the way you would cite a print article. Add the DOI when one is available. An article read through a library database without a DOI uses its ordinary journal details; a public online article can include its URL.

Structure:

Last name, First name. Year. “Article Title.” Journal name Volume(Issue):Page/s. DOI or URL.

Example:

Jenkins, Oliver. 1996. “Unusual Recipes and Cantonese Cuisine.” Culinary Research 5(8):47-59. https://example.org/journal/cuisine.

ASA Citations for Newspaper or Magazine Articles – Print or Online:

Give the article’s author, year, title, newspaper or magazine, month and day, and page number for a print copy. For an online copy, add the direct URL.

Structure:

Surname, Firstname. Year. “Article Title.” Newspaper Name, Month day, page.

Surname, Firstname. Year. “Article Title.” Newspaper Name, Month day. URL.

Examples:

Bell, Yvonne. 2016. “Man with Unusual Tastes Eats Chalk for Breakfast.” The Weekly Herald, June 4, 4.

Lees, Peter. 2015. “Freaky Eaters.” The Weekly Herald, May 11. https://example.org/freaky-eaters.

3. Online sources

ASA Citations for websites:

A dated webpage normally needs no access date. Record an access date for material that changes frequently, such as a live wiki page.

When citing a website, it is important to ascertain authorship of the website – if it's an article on website which is not a newspaper/magazine site or online journal, there may be an individual author; if not, the organisation or website name would be credited with authorship.

Structure:

Author. Year. “Title of Web Page.” URL.

Example:

HealthTips. 2015. “Superfoods and Where to Find Them.” https://example.org/superfoods.

4. Images/visual mediums

ASA Citations for films/videos/DVDs:

Structure:

Director Surname, Firstname. Year. Film Title. City: Production Company.

Example:

Hertz, Jack. 2011. The World's Best Curries. London: Foodie Studios.

ASA Citations for YouTube videos:

Structure:

Creator or Uploader. Year. “Video Title.” Month day. YouTube video. URL.

Example:

Yummydishes. 2012. “Egg Custard: A Simple Recipe.” June 21. YouTube video. https://example.org/egg-custard.

ASA Citations for images/photographs – Print or Online:

Structure:

Creator Surname, Firstname. Year. “Image Title.” Medium. Collection, Location. URL for an online copy.

Example:

Hewer, Drew. 1995. “Women Enjoying a Cup of Tea.” Photograph. Food Photography Library, London, item 345.

ASA Citations for podcasts:

Structure:

Creator Surname, Firstname. Year. “Episode Title.” Month day in Podcast Series, produced by Firstname Surname, podcast, running time. URL.

Example:

Yummydishes. 2015. “Innovative Baking.” April 17 in Innovative Food, podcast, 30:00. https://example.org/innovative-baking.

5. Other source types

ASA Citations for reports:

Structure:

Organisation/author. Year. Full title of report. Place of publication: Publisher.

Example:

Marks and Spencers. 2014. A report on the sales of '2 Dine for £10'. London: M&S Publications.

ASA Citations for dissertations:

Structure:

Surname, Firstname. Year. “Dissertation Title.” Degree dissertation, Department, University, City.

Example:

Neath, Gareth. 1998. “An Examination of Mexican Food in Popular Culture.” Master’s dissertation, Culinary Department, Example University, Oxford.

ASA Citations for government/official publications:

Structure:

Government agency or author’s surname, first name. Year. Title of document. City of publication: publisher, Page(s) if relevant.

Example:

UK Government. 2013. Nutrition and Young People. London: Government Publications.

ASA Citations for presentations/lectures:

Structure:

Surname, Firstname. Year. “Lecture Title.” Course code and title, Institution. Month day.

Example:

Yates, Richard. 2008. “The Benefits of Herbs.” FOOD101: Introduction to Food Studies, Example University. October 7.

ASA Citations for music:

Structure:

Performer’s surname, first name, or group name. Year. Album Title. Record label.

Example:

Luce, Frances. 1996. Delicious. Delectable Music.