ASA Style Guide – Seventh Edition (2022)

for UTM Sociology and Criminology, Law & Society students

This document is extensive but not exhaustive. The complete seventh edition style guide can be found at the library: READYREF
HM569.A54 2022

Each source requires two things: a parenthetical citation in the text you write, and a
corresponding reference entry in a bibliography that appears at the end of your paper.

1) Citations: when you summarize, paraphrase, or quote a source.

• The format of your citation is the author(s) last name(s) and the year of publication, without any comma
separating the two: (Lastname Year).
• When quoting a source, include the relevant page number(s): (Lastname Year:Page). Note there is no
space after the colon. You may also include the page number when you wish to direct the reader to a
particular page for an important passage.
§ When page numbers are not available, as is the case with some electronic resources, you revert to
(Lastname Year).
• The citation should immediately follow the summary, paraphrase, or quote of the source. Alternatively,
you may refer to the source elsewhere in the sentence. (See “Examples of citations and quotations.”)
• What to do when:
§ You need to cite more than one source in your parenthesis: organize the sources alphabetically.
o Same author(s), different years? List chronologically.
o Same author(s), same year? List alphabetically according to the title of the source. For
example: Maroto and Pettinicchio (2014a, 2014b). The title of the 2014a source is earlier in the
alphabet than the 2014b source.
§ The publication date is unknown: the format is (Lastname, n.d.). Note the comma. Not knowing a
publication date is an exceedingly rare occurrence, as publication dates are usually readily available.
If it’s a webpage, check the bottom of the page for a “last edited” date.
§ There are multiple authors:
o two authors, list all last names and the year.
o three authors, list all last names and the year in the first in-text citation in which they appear;
all subsequent citations for that source should list the last name of the first author followed by
“et al.” and the year.
o four or more authors, always list the last name of only the first author followed by “et al.” and
the year.
• See “Examples of citations and quotations” and the quick reference table for examples.

Formatting quotations:
Quotations of less than 50 words are incorporated into the body of your paragraph, whereas quotes of 50
or more words are indented on the right and left margins by 1/2" and are not enclosed in quotation marks.

Examples of citations and quotations

Johnston and Baumann (2015) argue that the study of food culture can bring insight to a complex part of our
social world: how group boundaries become visible and part of the reproduction of social inequality.

Prepared by Jayne Baker, based on the ASA style guide, 7th edition, © 2022 by the American Sociological Association.
Students continue to think it is more likely that their friends—not themselves—will be denied entry to elite
law schools, shaping their decision to apply to these competitive law schools (Dinovitzer, Garth, and Sterling
2013).

Moving beyond the between institutional comparisons to within institutional comparisons reveals that field of
study choices vary substantially according to social class, gender, and race in the United States (Mullen and
Baker 2008; Mullen and Baker 2015).

For understanding the complexity of an issue like genocide, “the “cash value” of pragmatist theory used
alongside other theories is the potential for increased analytical traction in making sense of how and why
genocide occurs” (Schneiderhan 2013:295).

Dinovitzer et al. (2013) argue “the main reason that students continued to apply to non-elite law schools—at
least until the recent major drop-off in applications—was, according to the orthodox negative argument,
“optimism bias”” (p. 212).
Note: Because this article was previously listed and has three authors, the citation here includes “et
al.”

Many scholars examining the issue of recidivism and community-based, preventative solutions often focus
some attention on neighbourhoods, community, and housing. Inadequate housing can be a significant
problem for re-integration.
Upon release from prison, many women are unable to secure housing and live in environments
that are conducive to reoffending, while being subjected to increased police surveillance.
Precarious housing is clearly not conducive to post-release success. Gaining access to
ongoing, affordable housing is a significant priority for paroled women, especially those with
parental responsibilities. Paroled women need considerable housing support and few received
adequate financial subsidies. (Hannah-Moffat and Innocente 2013:91)
Thus, it is in the best interests of communities and governments to think carefully about the links between
housing and the likelihood of re-offense.

2) References Page: where the reader finds more information about your
sources.
The References page follows the conclusion of the paper on a new page and comes before an Appendix (if
you have one). Use the heading References in the centre of the page, in italics. The References page
(including the references themselves) are double-spaced. Format with hanging indents of ½ inch; your
word-processor can be set up to do this for you automatically.
• Items are listed alphabetically by last name. Both the first and last name of all authors are used. If a
full first name is unavailable, use an initial. Your author is typically a person but may be an
organization, such as if your source is an organization.
• Titles of publications (such as books, magazines, movies, newspapers, and journal titles) are put in
italics. Article and chapter titles are put in “quotation marks”.
• If you have two or more sources by the same author, list them by date (earliest to latest). Single-
author reference entries precede references with multiple authors, regardless of date. For example,
the entry for Smith, Chris M. 2019. would come before the entry for Smith, Chris M. and Andrew V.
Papachristos. 2016.
• Do not use “&” unless it is in the article or source title. Do not use “ibid” for repeated sources.

Prepared by Jayne Baker, based on the ASA style guide, 7th edition, © 2022 by the American Sociological Association.
What about online sources?
• Even though we access them through our online library database, most journals are print journals.
As a result, you do not include access dates or weblinks for these sources unless you've been asked
by your professor to do so.
• If a DOI (a type of stable link) is available, it should be included in the reference entry. A
guiding principle with other types of online sources is to include as much information as possible for
your reader to locate your source. This includes the URL. Be sure to copy the link from the source
rather than your web browser, and be sure that your link does not include our library path’s
information (i.e. anyone off campus should be able to access the resource).
• Access dates for sources like webpages, e-journals, blog posts, and newspaper or magazine articles
accessed online are not required in ASA style. The exception is if the item is frequently updated, such
as a Wikipedia page.

What about lectures?

Check your assignment guidelines or ask your professor if they’d like for you to cite lectures or follow a
particular format. For an example, see the quick reference table below.

Has your instructor asked you to use ASA style for headings and subheadings?
Note the variation in capitalization, sentence case, use of italics, and punctuation.
THIS IS A FIRST-LEVEL HEAD
This is a Second-Level Head
This is a third-level head.
NB: Do not begin with the heading INTRODUCTION.

Quick reference table

Source Type Citation Reference entry
Blog post (Richer 2017) Richer, Zach. 2017. “Amazon puts itself on the market, but we’re the
ones for sale.” Contexts (blog), Contexts.org. October 16, 2017.
https://contexts.org/blog/amazon-puts-itself-on-the-market-but-
were-the-ones-for-sale/
Book (Cranford 2020) Cranford, Cynthia J. 2017. Home Care Fault Lines: Understanding
Tensions and Creating Alliances. Ithica, NY: Cornell University
Press.
(If the publisher location is New York City, write only “New York”.)
Chapter in (Gray 2019) Gray, Robin R. R. 2019. “Repatriation and Decolonization: Thoughts
edited book on Ownership, Access and Control.” Pp. 723-738 in Oxford
Handbook of Musical Repatriation, edited by F. Gunderson, R.
Lancefield, and B. Woods. Oxford Academic.
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190659806.013.39
(DOI is provided by the publisher and is therefore included)
Chapter in (Welsh and Baker Welsh, Sandy, and Jayne Baker. 2011. “Sexual Harassment in the
edited book, 2011) Canadian Workplace.” Pp. 55-64 in Society in Question, edited
subsequent by R. J. Brym. 6th ed. Toronto, ON: Nelson Education Ltd.
edition
Conference (Richter and Richter, Lauren, and Grace Poudrier. 2021. “The Trouble with
presentation Poudrier 2021) “Emerging Contaminants”: PFAS Ubiquity as Corporate
Accomplishment.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the
American Sociological Association, virtual, August 9.

Prepared by Jayne Baker, based on the ASA style guide, 7th edition, © 2022 by the American Sociological Association.
Court For court Catholic Children’s Aid Society of Toronto v. K.S., ONCJ 316 (2020).
decisions decisions and https://www.canlii.org/en/on/oncj/doc/2020/2020oncj316/
laws, reference 2020oncj316.html
the case or law in
the body of your (When court decisions are retrieved online, as is the case here, include the
paper. E.g.: “The access information.)
Firearms Act is a
federal law
controlling the
licensing,
possession,
manufacturing,
and importation
and exportation of
firearm in
Canada.”
Dissertation (Baumann 2001) Baumann, Shyon. 2001. “From Entertainment to Art: The Social
History of Film in the United States.” Ph.D. dissertation,
Department of Sociology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Film (Peele 2019) Peele, Jordan. 2019. Us. Los Angeles, CA: Monkeypaw
Productions.
Forthcoming (Sherwood and Sherwood, Yvonne P., and Michelle Jacob. Forthcoming. “Native
(“Forthcoming” Jacob American Feminist Theory and Praxis.” In Oxford Handbook of
refers to a forthcoming) Indigenous Sociology. New York: Oxford University Press.
source that has
not yet been
published.)
Government (Greenlee and Greenlee, Edith, and Alana Reid. 2020. “Parents Supporting
publication Reid 2020) Learning at Home During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” StatCan
COVID-19: Data to Insights for a Better Canada. Statistics
Canada. https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/45-28-
0001/2020001/article/00040-eng.htm
Government (Statistics Canada Statistics Canada. 2020. “Canadians’ Perceptions of Personal
publication – 2020) Safety Since COVID-19.” The Daily, June 9. Statistics Canada.
no author https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/dailyquotidien/200609/
dq200609a-eng.htm
Interview None, because Owusu-Bempah, Akwasi. 2020. Interview by Steve Paiken. The
the paper should Agenda with Steve Paiken. TVO, June 17.
already reference
the particulars of
the interview. E.g.:
“In his interview
with Steve Paiken
in 2020, Akwasi
Owusu-Bempah
discussed
defunding the
police.”
Journal (Hoffman 2015) Hoffman, Steve G. 2015. “Thinking Science with Thinking Machines:
article The Multiple Realities of Basic and Applied Knowledge in a

Prepared by Jayne Baker, based on the ASA style guide, 7th edition, © 2022 by the American Sociological Association.
 Research Border Zone.” Social Studies of Science 45(2):242-
269.
Journal (Innocente and Innocente, Nathan, and Jayne Baker. 2018. “The Sociology
article – two Baker 2018) Teaching Fellowship: A Mentorship Model for Graduate Student
authors Teacher Training.” Teaching Sociology 46(4):335-345.
https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0092055X18791686
Journal (Bateman, Bateman, Tyler, Shyon Baumann, and Josée Johnston. 2019. “Meat
article – Baumann, and as Benign, Meat as Risk: Mapping News Discourse of an
three authors Johnston 2019) Ambiguous Issue.” Poetics 76:101356.
(then: Bateman et https://doi.org/10.1016/j.poetic. 2019.03.001
al. 2019) (This is an online journal article, which is why page numbers are absent.)
Journal (Bianchi et al. Bianchi, Suzanne M., Liana C. Sayer, Melissa A. Milkie, and John P.
article – four 2012) Robinson. 2012. “Housework: Who Did, Does, or Will Do It and
or more How Much Does It Matter?” Social Forces 91:55-63.
authors
Law See above, under Firearms Act, S.C. 1995, c. 39 (1995).
“Court case.”
Lecture (Miles 2019) Miles, Andrew. 2019. “Regression models for categorical data.”
SOC222 Measuring the Social World. October 7.
Newspaper (Pettinicchio 2018) Pettinicchio, David. 2018. “Why Disabled Americans Remain
or magazine Second-Class Citizens.” Washington Post.com, August 28.
article – https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2019/07/23/why-
accessed disabled-americans-remain-second-class-
online citizens/?utm_term=.4d99254de495
Newspaper (Maher 2020) Maher, Stephen. 2020. “The End of the RCMP?” Maclean’s, August,
or magazine 24-31.
article – print
Podcast (Weinberg 2017) Weinberg, Jill. 2017. “Jill Weinberg on Post-It Notes as a Visual
Method.” March 18 in Give Methods a Chance, produced by
Kyle Green and Sarah Lageson, podcast, 30:39.
https://thesocietypages.org/methods/2017/03/18/jill-weinberg-on-
post-it-notes-as-a-visual-method/
Source (McMillan Cottom In this example, the source you have read, kehal et al 2018, refers to work
described in as cited in kehal, that you have not read, McMillan Cottom, but is important for you to
a secondary Hirschman, and refer to. You might format it according to this example: “McMillan
source Berrey 2018) Cottom (as cited in kehal, Hirschman, and Berrey 2018) and others
note that open enrolment higher education institutions tend to be lower
status.”
Your reference entry would be for only the kehal et al. source.
Source (United Nations, United Nations. n.d. “What is Climate Change?”
without a n.d.) https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/fastfacts-what-is-
date climate-change.pdf
Tweet (Haag 2020) Haag, Julius (@HaagJulius). 2020. “Consultation, consultation,
consultation…there comes a point where this becomes an empty
gesture.” Twitter, June 29, 2:47 p.m.
https://twitter.com/HaagJulius/status/1277675055611330566
Website (JHSO 2023) JHSO (John Howard Society of Ontario). 2023. “Our Mission &
History.” https://johnhoward.on.ca/jhs-ontario/about-jhs-ontario-
mission-history/

Prepared by Jayne Baker, based on the ASA style guide, 7th edition, © 2022 by the American Sociological Association.