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Citation Styles: ASA

This guide contains information & resources on the commonly used citation styles in NUS such as ACS, AMA, APA, ASA, Chicago/Turabian, Harvard, IEEE, Legal style and MLA.

Resources on ASA

American Sociological Association style guide (2019)

Print: NUS Libraries catalogue (LINC)

Authoritative reference for writing, submitting, editing, and copy editing manuscripts for ASA journals and other publications following ASA's unique format. This revised, updated edition features guidelines for the most common situations encountered by authors and editors. New features include revisions to reference formatting and additional information on grammar, as well as expanded information on the use of electronic, digital, and social media sources. The sixth edition also includes guidance for online manuscript submissions, preprints, and updated reference examples.

In-Text and References - Purdue Online Writing Lab, Purdue University

Link to Purdue Online Writing Lab (In-Text Citation)

Link to Purdue Online Writing Lab (References Page Formatting)

ASA Style Guide

  • The ASA (American Sociological Association) Style is closely related in appearance and function to the APA (American Psychological Association) style.
  • As with APA style, ASA style requires that sources receive attribution in the text by the use of parenthetical in-text references. 
  • The "author-date" in-text citation system is a readily recognizable feature of ASA style.

Authors

Generally, in-text citations include the last name of the author(s) and year of publication. Also, note that unlike the APA style, there are no commas between the last name and the year of publication.

Single author

If author's name is in the text, add publication year in parentheses:

  • Duncan (1959) studied...

If the name is not in the text, put the last name and publication year in parentheses:

  • The results of the study (Gouldner 1963)... 

 

Joint authors

  • ...(Martin and Bailey 1988)
  • Martin and Bailey (1988) wrote...

 

Three authors

First citation for a work with three authors:

  • ...results (Carr, Smith, and Jones 1962)

Subsequent citations:

  • ...(Carr et al. 1962)

 

Four or more authors

For first and subsequent citations:

  • Carr et al. (1962)...
  • ...(Carr et al. 1962)

Institutional or government authorship

Minimum identification:

  • There is currently no minimum reserve rent requirement for tender of vacant stalls in hawker centres (Singapore National Environment Agency 2012)

If the name is long and if the abbreviation is readily understandable, you may abbreviate the name in the second and subsequent citations.

  • ...(NEA 2012)

Multiple consecutive citations

List in either alphabetical or date order consistently throughout the manuscript. Separate with semicolons.

  • ...(Green 1995; Mundi 1987; Smith and Wallop 1989).

Direct quote

If a direct quote or specific passage is used, add the page number after the year of publication:

  • ...Kuhn (1970:71)

Unpublished materials

Indicate forthcoming for materials scheduled for publication. Cite date for dissertations and unpublished/working papers. If no date is available, use N.d.(no date) in place of the date.

  • In previous studies, Smith (forthcoming) examined...
  • Jones (n.d.) experimented...

Books and Book Chapters

Books

  • Grenfell, Michael and David James. 1998. Bourdieu And Education. London : Falmer Press.
  • Martinelli, Alberto and Neil J Smelser, eds. 1990. Economy And Society. London: Sage Publications.

Book chapters

  • Grenfell, Michael and David James. 1998. "Practical Applications." Pp. 53-71 in Bourdieu And Education . London : Falmer Press.
  • Young, Iris Marion. 1997. “Deferring Group Representation.” Pp. 349–76 in Ethnicity and group rights, edited by I. Shapiro and W. Kymlicka. New York: New York University Press.

Journal Articles

The fourth edition of the ASA style guide recommends that the issue number be included after the volume number of the journal. If they are included, they should be used throughout the reference list.

  • Baker, Paul and Amanda Potts. 2013. “‘Why Do White People Have Thin Lips?’ Google and the Perpetuation of Stereotypes via Auto-Complete Search Forms.” Critical Discourse Studies 10(2):187–204. 

Other Reference Materials

Dissertation or Thesis in print or microfilm form:

  • Guillory, Ann Verrett. 1983. “The relationship of contact with grandparents and ethnic background to adolescents' attitudes towards older persons." PhD dissertation, Teachers College, University of Columbia.

Dissertation or Thesis retrieved from database:

  • Guillory, Ann Verrett. 1983. “The relationship of contact with grandparents and ethnic background to adolescents' attitudes towards older persons." PhD dissertation, Teachers College, University of Columbia. Retrieved from ProQuest dissertations & theses global, 8322207. 

Working papers, unpublished papers, discussion papers, presentations:

  • Name of author. Year. Presentation Title. Location where the article was presented or is available.

The general rules for print materials apply to e-resources as well, with some additional items such as the URL and date of access, to add in the citation.

E-Books

  • Grenfell, Michael and David James. 1998. Bourdieu and Education. Taylor and Francis eBooks. Retrieved August 10,2016 (http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9780203209455)

Journal articles (e-journals) with URL:

  • Baker, Paul and Amanda Potts. 2013. “‘Why Do White People Have Thin Lips?’ Google and the Perpetuation of Stereotypes via Auto-Complete Search Forms.” Critical Discourse Studies 10(2):187–204. Retrieved August 10,2016 (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17405904.2012.744320)

Journal articles (e-journals) with DOI:

  • Baker, Paul and Amanda Potts. 2013. “‘Why Do White People Have Thin Lips?’ Google and the Perpetuation of Stereotypes via Auto-Complete Search Forms.” Critical Discourse Studies 10(2):187–204. doi:10.1080/17405904.2012.744320.
  • DOI should be copied and pasted from the article.

Websites

  •  "Managing Hawker Centres And Markets In Singapore". National Environment Agency. Singapore: National Environment Agency. Retrieved August 10, 2016 (http://www.nea.gov.sg/public-health/hawker-centres/managing-hawker-centres-and-markets-in-singapore).

Blog post

  • Kaufman, Peter. 2016. "Us vs. Them: The dangerous discourse of difference." Everyday Sociology Blog. Retrieved August 10, 2016 (http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2016/08/us-vs-them-the-dangerous-discourse-of-difference.html).

Online video

  • TED. 2016. "How computers are learning to be creative | Blaise Agüera y Arcas." You-Tube Web site. Retrieved August 10, 2016 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSUOdu_5MPc)