ASA Format Guide: Mastering Academic Citation with Precision

For your convenience, this article refers to the general requirements of the ASA format, so it will be useful to read if you want to master the format once and forever. However, the ASA itself highly encourages sociology students to buy its full version of the Style Guide. Additionally, to all demands mentioned in this paper, such a guide also refers to the style requirements, tips for organizing and introducing your content, and also contains more details about referencing, etc.

The format of the American Sociological Association (ASA) is one of the main standards, along with the MLA and APA styles. As its title suggests, this style is used by the students of sociology faculties. 

This ASA style refers to formatting headers, the main body of a text, in-text citations, and references. College students should use this reference style to write their articles, and manuscripts if they want to submit such to various journals in the field of sociology.

Essential Elements to Consider

Any ASA format paper model has the following compulsory elements:

1. Title page with the full title of a paper in bold, the name of its author and the name of an institution, its running head, a word count, and its title footnote with the author’s name and address, credits, acknowledgments, and grant information (if applicable). 
2. The abstract is a supplementary element of fewer than 200 words that are placed on a separate page following the title page. This part overviews all information indicated in a paper along with the keywords.
3. Body – the main part of a paper placed after the abstract. 
4. The reference page contains all the sources mentioned in this paper. Here you should specify the title of the used source, the author’s name, the year of publication, and the publisher’s title. 

Additionally, you may include ASA reference appendices to your paper. 

How to Write a Paper in the ASA Format?

For your convenience, here are some general requirements of the ASA reference:

• Use Microsoft Word to format your paper;
• Times New Roman font, 12 font size;
• Your paper should be double-spaced;
• At least one-inch margins (the best option is one ¼);
• There should be a separate title page;
• Your text itself should start from a separate page;
• Page numbers are included in the header starting from the first paper and located on the left side; use Arabic numbers for numbering all pages.

You may also indicate ASA reference endnotes or footnotes in your text using the superscripted numbers. Such notes can be placed at the bottom of every page. Alternatively, you may devote to them a separate part called “Notes” (“Endnotes”). 

In your text, use mostly the active voice. Write it as simply as possible, avoiding any slang, general terms, and jargon for this format. Also, use full words instead of their abbreviations. For instance, use “versus” instead of “vs.” If you need to use abbreviations according to the ASA citation format, indicate such in graphs or tables.

Be careful about any kind of stereotypes when making a reference: gender, racial, ethnic, etc. When you speak about ethnicity or race, describe such precisely (e.g., Brazilian instead of Latin American). If somebody uses any abbreviation in his/her text, indicate in brackets its full title.

Headings

There are several types of ASA headings according to their levels:

1. The first-level heading – indicated in caps on the left side of a page. You may start using these headings after the introduction. 
2. The second-level heading – placed on the left side and italicized; all words are capitalized, apart from conjunctions and prepositions. 
3. The third-level heading – indicted on the left side; you should capitalize only the first word and all proper nouns. Place it on the left side of the paper. Avoid using bold for all types of headings.

How to Cite in the ASA format?

The ASA citation requires following a number of requirements depending on the type of reference or citation format you use.

In-text Citations

For ASA in-text citations, use the author-year of publication format. The same information should be specified in the ASA reference list. Generally, all in-text citations are indicated after the paraphrased idea. Here are certain citation rules you should follow:

The author’s last name appears in your text – place after it the year of publication in parentheses:

Citation Example:

According to Jones (2019)…

• If you don`t mention the author’s name in your text, you should indicate it in parentheses along with the year of publication.

Citation Example:

In America, there are many opportunities for making investments easily (Jones 2019)…

• Pagination is the preferred ASA style. Indicate the year of publication and a page number after a colon without any space between the page number and the colon:

Citation Example:

… as Jones said (2019:17)…

Note: You should avoid using the old forms of citation: (Jones 2019, p.17).

• For joint authors, indicate all last names:

Citation Example:

… (Jones and Smith, 2012).

• For the works that have three authors, indicate all of them:

Citation Example:

…was known (Jones, James, and Smith, 2019).

• If any work has more than four authors, indicate only the first one and use et al.

Citation Example:

…was known (Jones et al., 2019).

• If such work was reprinted from the previously published version, use the following format:

Citation Example:

…was Jones ([1897] 2019).

• For the series of references, indicate such in alphabetical order and use semicolons:

Citation Example:

… (Jones, 1968; Richardson, 1995; Smith, 2012).

Direct Quotations

If you need to add to your ASA text the exact phrases from other sources, then you may simply use a direct quotation. For this purpose, use quotation marks. Afterward, write in parenthesis the citation itself where you indicate the author’s name, the year of publication, and a page number. For instance:

“After reading the latest reviews, I see that prices for oil products will be increased dramatically.” (James 2020:12).

Other Important Things to Consider About Making ASA References

When writing your work, consider the following important tips for your ASA reference points:

• You should make references to all cited sources;
• Place your list of references at the end of your work;
• Indicate a title for all references in the center and at the top of your page;
• Your margin should be a one-half inch from the left side;
• Use double spaces;
• Indicate the name (initials) of authors and their last names (inverted) in alphabetical order (Example: J.K. Jones); 
• Use italics for the titles of periodicals and books; if italics are not allowed – underline such titles instead;
• In case of using a couple of works prepared by the same author, indicate them according to the dates of publication starting from the oldest ones;
• For repeated materials, you may use six hyphens and a period instead of the author’s name;
• In case of the absence of the publishing date, use “N.d.” instead;
• Specify the place of publication instead of the city.

For your convenience, here are some examples to illustrate the manner of making references according to the ASA format:

1. For books, indicate the following information:
2. the author’s name (inverted);
3. the year of publication;
4. the italicized title of the publication;
5. the publisher’s city and state or its postal code (for a foreign publisher indicate only the name of a country);
6. the publisher’s title.

Example:

James N. Smith. 2020. Considerations and suggestions for crime prevention. San Francisco: Publishing House.

For journal articles, specify the following information:

• the author’s name (inverted);
• the year of publication;
• the italicized title of the publication;
• a volume number;
• page numbers of this article.

Example:

Jessica M. Robinson. 2020. “Sociological aspects of crimes”. Sociological Journal. 12 (5): 132-45.

• For e-resources from the Internet, follow the same approach as indicated above with the following peculiarities:
• omit page numbers;
• include the URL and the date of access.

Example:

Jessica M. Robinson. 2020. “The future of sociology.” Sociological Journal. 11 (5). Retrieved May 3, 2019 (http://www.theutureofsociology/publications/sj/v11n5/robinson.html).

• For websites use the following formats:

In the text: (ISA 2020)

In the reference list:

Independent Sociology Association, 2020. “The Latest Updates”. New York: Independent Sociology Association. Retrieved January 11, 2006 (http://www.asanet.org/cs/rootrightnav/updates).

Summary

When writing your paper according to the ASA, you should strictly follow all the reference requirements for formatting, and structuring, and apply the citation format correctly. Emphasize, especially the proper citation of all works you mention in your paper. If you have any doubts, feel free to refer to this article.