Citation Styles: ASA

The ASA citation style is primarily used in the field of sociology. The latest edition of the style guide was published in 2022 and included clarifications on citing digital works, social media, and the use of more inclusive language. This page provides a short video introducing researchers to ASA, a review of in-text and bibliographic citations, and several examples of each. If you need assistance using the ASA citation style, please consult our Ask A Librarian services. 

ASA in-text citations are placed within parentheses and differ depending on the number of authors listed for a work and whether the author(s) are included in the sentence text. Here is the basic format for a work by one author when the author's name is not included in the sentence.
 

No Author(s) in Text:

Two Authors:  Transnational mobility in the context of skilled migration is  "no longer a phenomenon exclusive to the economic elite, but to the middle classes in general" (Barwick and Le Galès 2021:4024).

Three Authors: Research posters are not only "the most common way" of presenting research but also one of the more accessible ways new researchers can learn to present their work (Sylvia, Delaney, and Marcovitch 2017:91). [Note: use Sylvia et al. for subsequent in-text citations after the first one for a text with three authors]

More Authors: Although some researchers believe that "changing the object of analysis can open up different ways of knowing and understanding," it can also lead to a lack of clarity in academic scholarship (Van Veelen et al. 2019:2).

When one or more authors are mentioned in the text, use the same name conventions as shown above. The date and page number are placed in different locations depending on whether the sentence includes a direct quote or a paraphrase/summary of an author's ideas.

Author(s) in Text, Direct Quote:

While it may lead to a lack of clarity in academic scholarship, Van Veelen et al. believed that "changing the object of analysis can open up different ways of knowing and understanding" (2019:2). 

Author(s) in text, Paraphrase or Summary:

Although it has become a controversial form of research methodology, Van Veelen et al. (2019) believed that changing the analytical focus in a research study could lead to new insights (2).

Please check the ASA Style Guide or quick links for special cases and for page number formatting guidelines when quoting or paraphrasing across more than one page.

All in-text citations should be cross-matched with a bibliographic reference. The bibliographic reference list should be labeled REFERENCES in all caps, the citations should be listed alphabetically by the primary author's last name, and each citation should be double-spaced with a hanging indent. The two most common formats are:

Book: Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. Book Title in Italics. Location: Publisher.

Online Journal: Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. "Article Title in Quotes." Journal Title in Italics volume number (issue number): page or pages. DOI or (stable URL in parentheses). [Note: not all faculty require the DOI or URL for online journals, so please ask your professor]

Please see below for a sample reference page, and refer to the Style Guide or quick links for further examples.