APA 7th formatting, citation integration, reference validation, and bibliography generation
APA 7th formatting, citation integration, reference validation, and bibliography generation.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Skill ID | citation-management |
| Version | 1.0.0 |
| Category | Research |
| Difficulty | Intermediate |
| Prerequisites | None |
| Related Skills | literature-review, academic-paper-drafting |
Proper citation is the invisible infrastructure of scholarly work. This skill ensures accurate attribution, consistent formatting, and valid references across academic writing.
| Style | Primary Use | Key Resource |
|---|---|---|
| APA 7th | Psychology, social sciences, business | Publication Manual (2019) |
| Chicago | History, humanities | Chicago Manual of Style |
| IEEE | Engineering, CS | IEEE Reference Guide |
| Harvard | UK/Australia academia | Varies by institution |
Default: APA 7th (DBA dissertation standard)
| Situation | Format | Example |
|---|---|---|
| One author | (Author, Year) | (Newport, 2016) |
| Two authors | (Author & Author, Year) | (Lee & See, 2004) |
| Three+ authors | (First Author et al., Year) | (Venkatesh et al., 2012) |
| Direct quote | (Author, Year, p. X) | (Newport, 2016, p. 42) |
| Multiple sources | (Author, Year; Author, Year) | (Lee, 2020; Smith, 2021) |
| Same author, same year | (Author, Year-a, Year-b) | (Brown, 2023a, 2023b) |
Parenthetical (author in parentheses):
Trust calibration is essential for human-automation interaction (Lee & See, 2004).
Narrative (author in sentence):
Lee and See (2004) demonstrated that trust calibration is essential for human-automation interaction.
Required for:
Not required for:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Page–Page. https://doi.org/xxxxx
Venkatesh, V., Thong, J. Y., & Xu, X. (2012). Consumer acceptance and use of information technology: Extending the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology. MIS Quarterly, 36(1), 157-178. https://doi.org/10.2307/41410412
Key rules:
Newport, C. (2016). Deep work: Rules for focused success in a distracted world. Grand Central Publishing.
Key rules:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xx–xx). Publisher.
Schemmer, M., Kuehl, N., Benz, C., Bartos, A., Satzger, G., & Fromm, J. (2023). Appropriate reliance on AI advice: Conceptualization and the effect of explanations. Proceedings of the 28th International Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces, 410-422. https://doi.org/10.1145/3581641.3584066
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. https://www.url.com
Correa, F. (2025). AI readiness scale: Extending UTAUT2 to predict enterprise AI adoption [Doctoral dissertation, University Name]. ProQuest Dissertations.
| Error | Incorrect | Correct |
|---|---|---|
| Ampersand in narrative | Smith & Jones (2020) found... | Smith and Jones (2020) found... |
| Missing comma | (Smith 2020) | (Smith, 2020) |
| Et al. too early | (Smith et al., 2020) for 2 authors | (Smith & Jones, 2020) |
| Italics wrong | Article Title | Article title (not italicized) |
| DOI format | doi: 10.xxx | https://doi.org/10.xxx |
| Error | Fix |
|---|---|
| Missing DOI | Add if available; most recent articles have DOIs |
| URL instead of DOI | Prefer DOI over URL when both exist |
| Retrieval date included | Only for content that may change (e.g., wiki) |
| Publisher location | Omit in APA 7th (changed from 6th) |
| "Retrieved from" | Omit unless content changes (use DOI directly) |
| Error | Fix |
|---|---|
| Inconsistent author names | Use same format throughout |
| Mixed capitalization | Sentence case for titles, title case for journals |
| Orphaned citations | Every in-text citation needs reference list entry |
| Orphaned references | Remove unused references |
For each in-text citation:
For each reference: