Page numbers are a small but important element of APA citations. Fortunately, it should only be placed at the end of a sentence when a specific source is cited. In the case of the list of bibliographic references, you only need the page when the source is a chapter of a book or an article. If you are not sure if you need to post this information, there are some guidelines you can follow. If it is still not clear to you, it is better to add the page number if you know what it is.
Steps
Method 1 of 3: Use in-text citations
Step 1. Find the page number of your source
Use the exact page number where the quote or information used appears. If it spans more than one page, enter the entire range. Typically documents are numbered in a top or bottom corner.
- For example, if you found a quote on page 10 of a book, you would have to cite page 10.
- If the information is spread over multiple pages, write the range with a hyphen. For example, you can cite pages 10-16 as follows: 10-16.
- Sometimes the numbering includes letters, such as "B1," or uses Roman numerals, such as "iv" or "xi." In these cases, you will have to use the same type of numbering as the font.
Step 2. Write the sentence that includes or introduces the quote or information
It is not necessary to put the page number inside the sentence, but the information you want to use.
If you mention the author in the sentence, write the source's publication year in parentheses right after the name. For example, the sentence might look like this: "Smith (2010) showed that there is a correlation between poor hygiene and low self-esteem."
Step 3. Write the page number in parentheses at the end of the sentence
Remember that the parentheses must come before the period. The format of the citation will depend on whether you mention the author within the sentence or not.
- If you name the author in the sentence, you just have to put the page number at the end of the sentence. For example: "Smith (2010) showed that there is a correlation between poor hygiene and low self-esteem (p. 40)."
- If you don't put the author's name in the sentence, be sure to include it in the parenthesis at the end along with the year of publication and page number. For example: "A study showed that there is a correlation between poor hygiene and low self-esteem (Smith, 2010, p. 40)."
Step 4. Write “p
"Or" pp. " before the page number. If you are only going to cite the information on one page, put a single "p." before the number. On the other hand, if you are going to include a group of consecutive pages, write down "pp." In this case, you will have to separate the numbers with a hyphen.
- Single page data might look like this: (Smith, 2010, p. 40) or (p. 40).
- The information data for several consecutive pages could look like this: (Smith, 2010, pp. 40-45) or (pp. 40-45).
Step 5. Use commas to separate non-sequential page numbers
If the information you are going to cite is on more than two pages that are not consecutive, you must also place the data on the source. Remember to put "pp." before the numbers. For example, if you are going to use information from page 40 and also from page 45, you will have to write something like this: (Smith, 2010, pp. 40, 45).
Method 2 of 3: Write a list of bibliographic references
Step 1. Find the full range of pages in a chapter or article
In this case, you should not limit yourself to placing only the pages that you used. Find the first and last page of the article. This is the range you should place. Therefore, if the chapter where the information is located begins on page 27 and ends on page 45, the range will be 27-45.
- Newspaper articles can be numbered that include letters (such as 1A or B3), while prefaces often use Roman numerals (such as i, ii, iii, etc.). Remember that you should always keep the numbering system of the font.
- If the article skips a few pages, write down the beginning and end page of each section. Then use a comma to separate the ranges. For example, it might look like this: 15-20, 25-30.
- Be sure to include reference lists, appendices, and other supplemental materials in the page range. That is, if the text of the article ends on page 173, but the appendix begins on page 180, the range to be considered will also end on page 180.
Step 2. Write all the reference data
The format depends on the type of font you use. Since page numbering is generally used for book chapters and articles only, you can use the guidelines below as a guide.
- Chapter of a book: Author, A., and Author, B. (year of publication). Chapter title. In A. Editor and B. Editor. (Eds.), Book Title (chapter pages). Place: Editorial.
- Article: Author, A. and Author, B. (year). Article title. Name of the magazine. Volume, (number), pages of the article.
- Always put the author's full last name first and then his initials.
Step 3. To cite a book chapter, place the page range between the book title and the place of printing (city, country)
Put the page numbers in parentheses and separate them with a hyphen. Remember to write "pp." before the numbers. For example, if you are going to cite the chapter found on pages 41 to 63, the reference will look like this:
Williams, B. and Johnson, A. (1990). Traffic patterns and urban growth. In C. Carr (Ed.), Trends in traffic engineering (pp. 41-63). New York: Editorial ZMN
Step 4. To cite a magazine article, put the page range at the end
In this case, you should not write "p." or "pp." before the numbers. Just separate them with a hyphen. So, if you're citing a magazine article that appeared on pages 5 through 23, the reference might look like this:
Roberts, R. (2013). Traffic management in the Southwest. Traffic engineering, 23 (2), 5-23
Step 5. To cite a newspaper article, write down each page
The numbering of a newspaper article is cited slightly differently than other articles, such as those in magazines. Before the page numbers, write "p." for a single page and "pp." for multiple pages. Then write each page individually. For example, the reference might look like this:
Diaz, C. (June 26, 2016). "Traffic in the City", Morning Gazette of The Times, pp. B1, B2, B3
Method 3 of 3: Understand when to place page numbers
Step 1. Cite the page number when using statistical data from a source
If you are going to put statistics or other figures from a scientific study, you will have to indicate on which page of the publication that information appeared.
For example, you could write the following sentence: "According to Jones (2006), 5% of users spent 5 or more hours a day on social networks (p. 207)."
Step 2. Put the page number after each quote
Write the number after the quotation marks, but before the period. This category includes book citations, articles, and book chapters. For example, the sentence might look like this:
Jones (2006) noted that “5% of users spent 5 or more hours a day on social networks” (p. 207)
Step 3. Consider adding the page number when paraphrasing a quote
Paraphrasing is repeating what the author pointed out, his general ideas, arguments or results, but with your own words. In this case, it is not necessary to write down the page number, but it may be useful for the reader to do so if you are paraphrasing a specific section of a fairly long or complex publication. For example, a paraphrase might look like this:
Jones (2006) indicated that addictive behaviors could be seen in a small part of the population of users with exaggerated practices (p. 207)
Step 4. Make a note of the paragraph number if you can't find a page number
If you are going to use a quote or information from an Internet page or other source that is not numbered, you will have to use the paragraph number. Generally, this is only necessary when you use specific data or quotes. It is not necessary to write the paragraph number in the reference list.
- The paragraph number is placed the same as the page number, except instead of writing "p." before the number, place "parr." Therefore, if you are going to use the information in paragraph 3, the reference can look something like this: (par. 3) or even (James, 2007, par. 3).
- To find the correct paragraph number, count from the first paragraph from the top to the paragraph where the given information is located. Therefore, if the citation is in the third paragraph, the reference will say paragraph 3.