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Teaching students to reference correctly is a vital part of IB Psychology. 

It fosters academic honesty, helps students avoid plagiarism, and prepares them for the rigours of university study. 

Despite its importance, many teachers shy away from teaching referencing due to its complexity. 

However, referencing is a core requirement for both the Extended Essay (EE) and the Internal Assessment (IA), making it a skill that students must develop.

Choosing a Referencing Style

To keep things consistent, Psychology teachers should adopt the referencing system used by the rest of their school. 

The two most popular options are:

APA (American Psychological Association): Designed for Psychology and other sciences, APA is ideal for students considering Psychology at university.

MLA (Modern Language Association): Slightly simpler, MLA is often preferred for its accessibility.

Whichever style you choose, ensure you're using the most up-to-date version—currently APA 7th Edition and MLA 9th Edition.

A Guide to APA and MLA Referencing

In-Text Citations

APA: Include the author’s surname, publication year, and page number if quoting directly, e.g., (Smith, 2020, p. 45). For paraphrasing, the page number is optional.

MLA: Use the author’s surname and page number for direct quotes or paraphrasing, e.g., (Smith 45).

Creating a Bibliography

Journal Articles

APA: Author(s). (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Page Range. DOI.

Example: Smith, J. (2020). Exploring cognitive biases. Journal of Psychology, 15(3), 45-67. https://doi.org/10.1234/jop.2020.5678

MLA: Author(s). “Title of Article.” Journal Name, vol. Volume, no. Issue, Year, pp. Page Range. DOI.

Example: Smith, John. “Exploring Cognitive Biases.” Journal of Psychology, vol. 15, no. 3, 2020, pp. 45-67. https://doi.org/10.1234/jop.2020.5678

Books

APA: Author(s). (Year). Title of Book. Publisher.

Example: Jones, A. (2018). Understanding Psychology. Academic Press.

MLA: Author(s). Title of Book. Publisher, Year.

Example: Jones, Alice. Understanding Psychology. Academic Press, 2018.

Websites

APA: Author(s). (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL.

Example: Brown, T. (2021, July 10). Psychology and culture. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/

MLA: Author(s). “Title of Page.” Site Name, Day Month Year, URL.

Example: Brown, Tom. “Psychology and Culture.” Psychology Today, 10 July 2021, https://www.psychologytoday.com/

Videos

APA: Author(s). (Year, Month Day). Title of video. [Video]. Platform. URL.

MLA: Author(s). “Title of Video.” Platform, uploaded by Uploader Name, Day Month Year, URL.

For less common sources or situations like missing authors, online tools such as Purdue OWL provide easy-to-follow instructions.

Make Referencing Fun 

Turn referencing into a regular class activity to help students learn by doing. 

For example:

• Create a guide to referencing, maybe using this article as a starting point.
• Provide a model list of different sources—articles, books, websites, and videos.
• Ask students to practise creating both in-text citations and bibliography entries for these sources in either APA or MLA format.
• Review their work together, correcting and explaining any errors.

By integrating these activities into your teaching, you’ll demystify referencing and equip your students with an invaluable academic skill.

Encourage them to embrace referencing as a key step towards becoming ethical and independent thinkers.

I hope this has helped you to feel confident that you have conquered citation and referencing.

Get in touch if you have any questions.

Until next week,

Thes

Future articles in this series:

• EE Research Questions: the good and the bad.
• How to ensure students are displaying academic honesty.
• Encouraging students to practise primary and secondary research skills.