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

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 single 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.'

When quoting directly from a source, page numbers should be used. If you are quoting indirectly as outlined above, page numbers do not need to be used. Where a page number is not available, paragraph number can be used. If this is not an option, the abbreviations 'n.p' or 'n. pag.' can be used to show that no page number is available.

ASA Reference Templates and Examples Index

  1. Books
  2. Articles
  3. Online sources
  4. Images/visual mediums
  5. Other source types

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.

Last name, first name, first name, last name and first name, last name. 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:

If a book has three or more authors, there are slightly different rules. On the first in-text citation, all authors' names should be stated; subsequently, only the first author's name should be listed in-text followed by 'et al.', meaning 'and others'. However, all authors should be listed in the reference list in the order they are credited in the original work.

Structure:

Last name, first name, first name, last name and first name, last name. 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:

When citing a single chapter in a larger book, it is important to ensure that you add the page range (pp.) that the chapter spans. When citing an individual chapter, you should also always include the edition of the book in the citation (you do not have to do this for other books unless it is not the first edition).

Structure:

Last name, first name. Year. Chapter title. In: Editor's name/s, ed/s. Book Title. Edition. City of publication: Publisher. Page/s.

Example:

King, Sandra. 2010. The best wines and where to find them. In: Loftus, Edward, ed., Fine Wine: A Guide, 1st ed. Nottingham: Delectable Publications, pp. 28-46.

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, Volume 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. The citation in the reference list does have a few differences, however.

Structure:

Last name, First name. Year. Article Title. Journal name, Volume(Issue):Page/s. Retrieved date. URL.

Example:

Jenkins, Oliver. 1996. 'Unusual Recipes and Cantonese Cuisine.' Culinary Research, Volume 5(8):47-59. Retrieved 5 June 2016. www.culinaryresearchjournal.com/jenkinsocanteonese.

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

Newspaper/magazine citations are rendered similarly to journal articles when they are found online; the same differences in formatting occur, as the example below illustrates.

Structure:

Last name, First name. Year. Article title. Newspaper name, Day Month, Page/s.

Last name, First name. Year. Article Title. Newspaper name, Day Month, Page/s. Retrieved date. URL.

Examples:

Bell, Yvonne. 2016. Man with unusual tastes eats chalk for breakfast. The Weekly Herald, 4 June. p. 4.

Lees, Peter. 2015. Freaky eaters. The Weekly Herald, 11 May. p.21. Retrieved 12 June 2016. www.theweeklyheraldonline.com/freakyeaters2015


3. Online sources

ASA Citations for websites:

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/Source if no specific author Year. "Title of web document/page." Retrieved Day Month Year. URL

Example:

HealthTips (2015). "Superfoods and where to find them." Retrieved 20 May 2016. www.healthtipsarticles.com/superfoodsandwheretofindthem


4. Images/visual mediums

ASA Citations for films/videos/DVDs:

Structure:

Last name of director, first name. Year. Full Title of Film/Video/DVD. Type of medium. Country/city of Origin: Film studio or maker.

Example:

Hertz, Jack. 2011. The World's Best Curries. Film. U.K: Foodie Studios.

ASA Citations for YouTube videos:

Structure:

Author's name/s. Year. "Video Title". Type of medium. Retrieved Day Month Year. URL.

Example:

Yummydishes. (2012). "Egg custard – simple recipe!". YouTube video. Retrieved 21 June 2014. www.youtube.com/yummydisheseggcustard

ASA Citations for images/photographs – Print or Online:

Structure:

Last name, first name. Year of production. Title of image [type of medium] (Collection Details if available – Document number, Geographical place: Name of library/archive/repository).

Example:

Hewer, Drew. 1995. Women enjoying a cup of tea [Photograph]. (Document number 345, London: Food Photography Library).

ASA Citations for podcasts:

Structure:

Broadcaster/author's name. Year. 'Programme title,' series title. Retrieved Day Month Year. URL.

Example:

Yummydishes. 2015. 'Innovative Baking,' Innovative Food. Retrieved 17 April 2016. www.foodiepodcasts.com/yummydishesinnovativebaking


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:

Last name of author, first name. (Year). Title of dissertation. Level and type of document. Department, Official name of university.

Example:

Neath, Gareth. 1998. An examination of Mexican food in popular culture. Masters level dissertation. Culinary Department, Oxford Brookes University.

ASA Citations for government/official publications:

Structure:

Government agency/Last name of author, first initial. 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:

Last name of author, first name. Year. Presentation/lecture title.

Example:

Yates, Richard. 2008. The benefits of herbs.

ASA Citations for music:

Structure:

Performer/writer's last name, first initial. Year. Recording title. Music label.

Example:

Luce, F. 1996. Delicious. Delectable Music.

Back to Top ^