Sociology

Please refer to your course syllabus or assignment instructions to identify the referencing style your course instructor requires. In Sociology, the most common referencing styles

• American Sociological Association (ASA), 6th edition
• Chicago Author- Date format
  • You will find more information on general paper formatting and bibliographic entry by source type on our Chicago Style Footnoting page. For further information, visit the Chicago Manual of Style website.
• American Psychological Association (APA), 7th edition 

---

American Sociological Association (ASA) 6th edition

The ASA Style Guide follows the author-date system of the Chicago Manual of Style, which includes an in-text citation in parentheses and a complete list of references cited (included at the end).

• In-Text Citation
• References List
• Formatting

In-Text Citations

Include the last name of the author(s) and year of publication. Include page numbers for direct quotations. Page numbers follow the year of publication after a colon, with no space between the colon and the page number. Note that there is no comma between the name of the author(s) and the year of publication.

Source with One Author

Insert the last name of the author and the year of publication for a paraphrase. For a quotation, insert the last name of the author, the year of publication and page number.

Examples:

Buccieri (2019) conducted open-ended interviews.

The author suggests that “siblings play an important role in a young person’s development” (Buccieri 2019:1431).

Source with Two Authors

Cite both names for each reference. Use the word "and" when referring to the authors in your sentence, not the ampersand "&".

Examples:

White and McMillan (2020) examined text-based samples found online.

The authors suggest that “profound collective social and cultural change” is necessary (White and McMillan 2020:1136).

Source with Three or More Authors

If a work has three authors, cite all three last names in first citation. In subsequent citations, cite only the first author’s last name followed by et al. and the year. If a work has more than three authors, use et al. in the first and in all subsequent citations.

First citation:

The authors explored the role of language interpretation in health care conversations (Ballantyne, Yang and Boon 2013).

Subsequent citations:

The authors identified experiences of “interpretation conflict” (Ballantyne et al. 2013:403).

Agency Author

It may appear that a source does not have an author if no individual is listed; however, agencies can also be authors of a source and they should be identified as the author. If the agency is best known as an acronym, you must first record the full name of the agency and indicate the acronym in parentheses; all subsequent references may use the acronym in this case.

First citation:

The American Sociological Association (ASA 2019) recommends . . .

Subsequent citations:

ASA (2019) recommends…

In-text citations are required (ASA 2019).

Author with Multiple Publications in Same Year

To differentiate between two sources published in the same year by the same author(s), add a suffix to the date. Include these suffixes in your reference list for easy cross referencing.

Example:

In two studies by Rahman (2011a; 2011b)…

Two or More Sources in one Parenthetical Citation

Sometimes you need to cite more than one source for an idea you present in your work. List sources alphabetically or by date, but be consistent throughout the manuscript. Separate the series of sources with semicolons.  

Example:

Several empirical studies examine the consequences of anti-aging culture (Ellison 2013; Huggins 2018; Katz 2001; Marshall 2009).

Block Quotations

For quotations of more than 50 words, use a block quotation format. Block quotations are separated from the main body of text, single-spaced, indented, and should not be enclosed in quotation marks.

Example:

By examining the narrative approach to exploring the Parkway controversy in Peterborough, Ontario, the author notes:

The culture stories approach led us to examine how proponents and opponents told stories that varied on the narrative dimension of informational formats, temporal structures, causal mechanisms, plot, and institutionalization, and on the place dimension of representations of the relational geography and physical attributes of sites at different scales. (Conley 2016:417)

Lectures and Presentations

Insert the last name of the author(s) and the year the lecture/presentation was given.

Example:

(Torrens 2021)

References

Reference List

1. Title the page “REFERENCES” (capitalized, as per first-level heading formatting).
2. References should be double-spaced with a hanging indent.
3. List all entries alphabetically by first author's last name, maintaining the original order of the authors of multi-authored sources (i.e., do not change "Lee, Brown, and Green" to "Brown, Green, and Lee").
4. Include first names and last names for all authors. Use first-name initials only if an author used initials in the original publication.
5. Do not use an ampersand (&) in place of “and” in joining names.

Book with Single Author

Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. Title of Book. Location of Publisher: Publisher’s Name.

Example:

Rahman, Momin. 2014. Homosexualities, Muslim Cultures and Modernity. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK.

Book with Two Authors

For a work with multiple authors, invert only the first author’s name.

Author’s Last Name, First Name, and Author’s First Name and Last Name. Year of Publication. Title of Book. Location of Publisher: Publisher’s Name.

Example:

Katz, Stephen, and Debbie Laliberte-Rudman. 2005. Cultural Aging: Life Course, Lifestyle and Senior Worlds. Peterborough, Ontario: Broadview Press.

Book with More Than 10 Authors

For more than 10 authors, list the first seven, followed by et al. Invert only the first author’s name.

Balthazar, Louis, John F. Conway, Leen d’Haenens, James S. Frideres, Herman Ganzevoort, Michael Hart, Raymond M. Hébert et al. 2017. Images of Canadianness. Ottawa, Ontario: University of Ottawa Press.

Chapter in a Book

Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. “Title of Chapter.” Page range in Title of Book, edited by Editor1 and Editor2 (editor’s initials only for first/middle names). Location of publisher: Publisher.

Example:

Rahman, Momin, and Jackson Stevi. 2010. “The Trouble with ‘Nature’.” Pp. 15-26 in Gender and Sexuality: Sociological Approaches, edited by M. Rahman and J. Stevi. Cambridge, UK: Polity.

Journal Article

Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. “Article Title.” Journal Title Volume #(Issue #): Page Range. doi#

Example:

Buccieri, Kristy, and Gina Molleson. 2015. “Empowering Homeless Youth: Building Capacity through the Development of Mobile Technology.” Journal of Community Practice 23(2):238-54. doi: 10. 1080/10705422.2015.1027802.

Electronic Source

Agency Author or Author’s Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. “Title of Page.” Retrieved (Date you accessed the source) (URL).

Example:

Trent University. 2021. “Sociology.” Retrieved June 16, 2021 (https://www.trentu.ca/sociology/).

News Article

Author Last Name, First Name. Year of Publication. “Title of Article.” Organization Name, Month and Day of Publication. Retrieved (Date you accessed the source) (URL).

Example

Chivers, Sally. 2020. “How We Rely on Older Adults Especially During the Coronavirus Pandemic.” The Conversation, July 30. Retrieved June 16, 2021 (https://theconversation.com/how-we-rely-on-older-adults-especially-durin...).

Lectures and Presentations

Author Last Name, First Name. Year. “Title of Lecture/Presentation.” Type of presentation and location, Date Accessed.

Example:

Torrens, Elizabeth. 2021. “Thinking Sociologically.” Lecture at Trent University, Peterborough, ON, June 16.

Torrens, Elizabeth. 2021. “Thinking Sociologically.” Lecture at Trent University, Peterborough, ON, June 16. Trent University. 2021. “Sociology.” Retrieved June 16, 2021 (https://www.trentu.ca/sociology/).

Formatting

Example of ASA Formatting, Title Page, and References List

1. Text should be double-spaced in 12pt. Times New Roman font
2. Number all pages
3. If writing the title of an article or book chapter within your draft, use quotation marks.
4. For titles of books, periodicals, films, television show names, and other formally published material, use italics.

Title Page

The title page should include:

1. The title of your work bolded
2. The name of the author(s) and institutions (listed vertically if more than one)
3. The word count
4. A running head with a shortened version of your title
5. Some instructors may ask you to include a title footnote at the bottom of the page. If so, include an asterisk (*) following your title to refer your reader to the footnote at the bottom of the page. This footnote can include the name and email of the author; acknowledgements; credits; and keywords.
6. The body of the paper should begin on a separate page that follows the title page. On the first line of the first page of the text of the paper, write the title of the paper as a heading.

Headings

ASA (2019) recommends the use of headings in order to clarify the organization of papers. Note that a heading for the introduction is not needed or recommended. The number and level of headings required depend on the length and complexity of the paper.

1. Level one headings are in all caps, left-justified.
2. Level two headings are italicized and left-justified. Use title case capitalization (all key words capitalized).
3. Level three headings are italicized, indented, and followed by a period. The paragraph continues immediately after the period. Capitalize only the first letter and proper nouns.

Numbers

1. Spell out numbers one through nine, and use numerals for numbers 10 or greater.
2. Always spell out numbers at the beginning of a sentence, however, it is best to avoid beginning a sentence with a number.

---

Updated July 2021

Back to Find Style by Discipline