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Citation Guide: Author/Editor ASA Format

A guide for navigating various citation styles in order to create citations for resources cited in research papers.

Author Formats

Authors are formatted the same in all material formats.

  • List first author with the last name first
    • Examples: Smith, John D.
    • Smith, John David.
  • Two authors are separated by a comma after the first author and the word and
    • Example: Smith, John D., and Rosemary L. Jones.
  • Only the first author's name is inverted.
  • List all the authors.

Authors that are organizations, corporations, government entities, etc.

Do not invert or use abbreviations. Examples:

  • United States Department of Commerce.
  • General Motors Corporation.
  • American Civil Liberties Union

Editor Formats

Editors

If an entire edited book, the editor is listed as the author with the abbreviation "ed." after his name, or "eds." if there are more than one editor. Multiple editors are formatted the same way as authors.

  • List first editor with the last name first, followed by a comma and "ed."
    • Example: Smith, John D., ed.
  • Two editors are separated by a comma after the first author and the word and and are followed with a comma and "eds."
    • Example: Smith, John D., and Rosemary L. Jones, eds.
  • Only the first editor's name is inverted.
  • List all editors.