How to Cite the Associated Press in a Research Paper

The Associated Press was founded in 1846 and serves thousands of newspapers, magazines, television news stations and online sources with news of the day. According to the AP Web site, "on any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from the AP." Not only do people get their news from the Associated Press, but students have been using the AP as a source for research papers for years. With news delivered around the clock, as well as an online archive of news articles, the AP is a great resource for students to use when writing papers about world events.

Citing the AP in Your Article

Step 1

Cite the article in your paper by quoting the article, being sure to put the text in quotation marks if citing the exact words from the article. If paraphrasing, quotation marks are not required, but citing the source is.

Step 2

Prior to the close of the quotation, in parenthesis, insert the last name of the author and the date of publication. Close parenthesis and close the quotation with another quotation mark. If paraphrasing, simply put the last name of the author and the date of publication in parenthesis and end the sentence with a period. If you do not have an author cited, then simply type "Associated Press," followed by the date of publication.

Step 3

On your Works Cited page, starting with the last name of the author, type the last name of the author, or simply type Associate Press if no author is given. After the author's last name add a comma, then the first name and a period.

Step 4

In quotation marks, cite the title of the article and a period. Close the quotation.

Step 5

Type the date of publication and end with a period.

Step 6

Cite the type of article you have. If you use a newspaper printout, write printout; if it is a Web address, type Web. If you found the article in a newspaper, cite the name of the newspaper in quotation marks. Close with a period.

Step 7

If you found the article on the Internet and are using the term Web, be sure to include the exact Web address of where the article can be found. In addition, you also should include the date you accessed the Web address.