Citation Styles and Tools: American Sociological Association (ASA)

Here are some basic guidelines for ASA style citations. For more technical or specific questions, the ASA Guide has a solution for practically any situation you might encounter.

For in-text citations, ASA uses parenthetical citations in the form of (LastName Year:PageNumber)

Example: By 1911, according to one expert, an Amazon was "any woman rebel-which, to a lot of people, meant any girl who left home and went to college" (Lepore 2015:17).

For the Reference list it will be in alphabetical order based on author name.

Specific resource types and examples:

• Journal article note: many professors don't want the URL at the end even if you found it online, defer to their syllabus/assignment instructions or ask if you are unsure.
• Format: Lastname, Firstname and Firstname Lastname. Year of publication. "Title of Article." Name of Publication Volume Number(Issue Number): page numbers of article. Retrieval date (URL/DOI if found online).
• Example: Aseltine, Robert H., Jr. and Ronald C. Kessler. 1993. "Marital Disruption and Depression in a Community Sample." Journal of Health and Social Behavior 34(3):237-51.
• Books
• Format: Lastname, Firstname and Firstname Lastname. Year of publication. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher's Name.
• Example: Bursik, Robert J., Jr. and Harold G. Grasmick. 1993. Neighborhoods and Crime: The Dimensions of Effective Community Control. New York: Lexington Books.