You know the old saying, “Happy professor, happy student.” There are many ways to make your professors happy. One way is to master the citation style in your discipline. For most of you that will be APA style.
The more time your professors have to spend on correcting your citations and references, the less time they have to (a) prepare informative and engaging lessons for you, (b) comment on your actual ideas and thoughts, and (c) save the world with their all important research. Generally, it just makes them really grumpy.
So… before the semster starts, brush up on your citation style in three easy steps:
First, buy and read the current version of the style guide (e.g., the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association).
Second, use online sources like the APA’s own APA Style Blog and Quick Answers on http://www.apastyle.org/. For quick help, also consider the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL).
Third, learn and use a blibliography management tool like Endnote, which is free for UT students. For download instructions and links to online video tutorials, see: http://libguides.utk.edu/endnote