You decide to take an introductory anthropology class. You are instructed to write a short essay on a traditional English pastime (such as cricket, polo, or fox hunting). You have never done direct quotations using the APA style before, so you ask a classmate for help. She says that you must have the author, date, and page number together in parentheses directly after the quotation, and gives you an example from her own paper:

Wheeler stated that "polo was considered important to army tradition and recreation," (Wheeler, 1998, p 57), but he did not clarify exactly how polo became a part of army life.

Just to make sure this is right, you call your brother who is a junior in college and see what he has to say. Interestingly, his advice is different. Your brother suggests rephrasing your classmate's example like so:

Wheeler (1998) said that "polo was considered important to army tradition and recreation," (p 57) without explaining exactly how polo became a part of army life.

You are now thoroughly confused, and stressed out because your paper is due soon and you have lots of other work to do as well.

Where do you go for help?

1. Go to the Style Guides section of this website.
2. Go to the website of the American Psychological Association: (http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html)
3. Make an appointment with your professor.
4. Any of the above.

(Excerpt is from: Wheeler, Joseph C. "The Planetary Sustainability Conundrum: Science and Sentiment." The Bowdoin Forum II (Fall 1998): 57.)