When you want to cite master thesis or dissertation, you may wonder how to cite a masters thesis in the American Psychological Association (APA) style. To cite master thesis or dissertation in APA style does not have to be a hassle for you. This article will be showing you step-by-step methods on how to cite and reference in APA style. So, keep reading.
How to Cite a Master’s Thesis: In-text Citation
When citing a master’s thesis, there are three ways to write this. Here they are:
- Write Out the Year of Submission or Publication After the Author’s Name
When paraphrasing a piece of information or quoting the information directly from the thesis, make sure you write out the author’s surname and the year they submitted or published the thesis. For example, “According to John (2021), the media provides the best source of information.” or you could write, “According to John (2021), ‘The media is the best source of information.'”
- Write out the Name and Year of the Author in Parentheses
Secondly, write out both the surname of the author and the year of submission in parentheses. Of course, before you do this, you must be using information from the thesis. First of all, write out your sentence and then end it with the author’s surname and the year they published their thesis. For example, “The media is the best source of information (John, 2021).”
- Do Not Use Parenthesis
Sometimes, you may need to emphasize the year of publication or submission as this is necessary for what you are writing about. In such a case, there is no need for you to use parenthesis. For example, “In 2019, Bracknell stated that the media was corrupt and no longer trustworthy to be an accurate source of information. However, in 2021, John stated that the media and not social media was the best source of information.”
- Write out the Page Number
When citing a master’s thesis, dissertation, or any other such academic writing, it is advisable that you put the page number if there is a direct quote. Sometimes, you may be summarizing the whole thesis and so, may not need a page number. However, to show that you read the thesis, it is important that you add a page number where you got your quote. To do this, put a comma after the submission or publication year and write “p.”. Make sure you write only “p.” if it is for one page but write “pp.” for two pages and more. Then follow this up with the number or numbers of the page or pages. For example, John (2021) p. 13, “Media is the best source of information.”
After you have completed your in-text citation, the next thing to do is write out your reference list in APA style.
Here is how:
- Write out the Name of the Author
Always start with the surname of the author, then follow this with a comma and write out the initials of the author’s other names, putting a period after each initial. For example, John, O. T.
- Put the Year in Parentheses
Next, write out the year of submission or publication in parentheses after writing out the author’s surname and initials. For example, John O. T. (2021).
- Write out the Thesis Title
The next thing to do is to write out the title of the thesis. When writing this, make sure you do so in Italics. Also, make sure you write the first letter of the title and any other noun in capital letters. Furthermore, make sure to indicate that the thesis is unpublished by writing “unpublished” after the title. However, if it is not, then do not write anything. For example, John O. T. (2021) The benefit of the media to today’s world (Unpublished thesis).
- Write out the Name and Place of the University
After the title, write out the name and place of the university. If it is an American university in the US, write out the city, separate with a comma, and write out the state. If the university is situated outside the US, write out the city, separate with a comma, and write out the name of the country.
For example, John O. T. (2021) The benefit of the media to today’s world (Unpublished thesis). San Francisco, California.
John O. T. (2021) The benefit of the media to today’s world (Unpublished thesis). London, United Kingdom.
- Double-Check to Make Sure
After citing and referencing, double-check to make sure you did it the right way. No one is above making mistakes and that includes you. When you are sure that everything is fine, then you can turn in your work.
Conclusion
Now, you know how to cite a master’s thesis or dissertation using APA style. By simply following the guidelines in this article, you should arrive at your APA citation or referencing in no time.