An American Sociological Association Style (ASA)

Overview:

The American Sociological Association (ASA) Style establishes writing rules for the presentation of publications in American sociology.  This page gives the beginning sociology student a general overview of the style requirements for a sociology paper based upon the ASA Style Manual (1997) for this class. For a complete guide refer to the ASA Style Manual.

References
In this course, your paper references should be placed in the main text.  There are different forms of referencing in text using ASA style, the most simple is placing the reference directly behind the information. These references are usually contained within parenthesis and consists of the last name of the author and publication year such as: (Smith 1989).  This tells me you got the information from Smith's book, which you have recorded in a reference list at the end of of your paper.  If you are using a quote, which should rarely be done in a your paper, you must use quotation marks at the start and end of the quotation.  You must also reference the source of the quote by giving the last name of the author, the year it was published, and the page from the source it was taken from: (Smith 1989:342).  Make sure you italicize any foreign words you use in your text.  Below are examples of single author, multiple authors and institutional authorship in-text references placed in the context of a fictitious paper:

Some sociologists believed that chicken thievery could be traced back to 5321 BC to a small Hyborian village called Thukiran-Chuk based upon the translation of the village name (Dove 2005).  But there seemed to be some dispute over the translation. According to Trotter (2007) the name Thukiran-Chuk is popularly believed to be a Cimmerian phrase meaning "short legged chicken thieves" (P. 34) . However other sociologists insisted that the name actually meant "feathered goat stealer" or "tastes like dead toad" (Brooken and Foot 1999: 212; Mudflap 1967: 3).  A Brythunian research project concluded that Cimmerian language structure seemed to allow multiple meanings for village names to confuse invading armies (Brythunia Language Institute and Taxidermy Service 1993).  Some sociologists concluded the original meaning of the village's name has been lost (Applegate, Plumdoor, and Grapeflooring 2000).   

In some cases the date of a publication isn't given; this is not usual in historical sources. In such a case you need to use "n.d." in place of the year in the reference.  The initials mean "not given". Some sources such as papers and reports are scheduled to be published but you might not know whether they will be printed this year or nor next. In that case use the term "forthcoming" in place of the year. You should also remember to distinguish different sources with the same name for authors and publication dates by using letters behind the dates in your reference. Also, if you use an acronym spell the term or title out first then follow it immediately by the abbreviation in parentheses:

Many methods in modern criminal endeavors have been traced back to the tactics of ancient chicken thieves (Smithy 1999a). For example, cattle rustlers during the late 1800s in the American West would hijack entire herds of cattle by waving large sheets of fabric to frighten the animals into moving in a desired direction. This approach reduced the number of rustlers needed to control the herd and increased the profit share for the involved cattle thieves (Tonifidello, forthcoming). Flag waving can be traced back to camel-mounted Aquilonians who started chicken stampedes by waving their kilts as they quickly rode by the open grazing fowl (Togurk n.d.).  The use of masks during thievery was first recorded among chicken thieves from the Argolisian plains during the last half of the Hyborian Age (Smithy 1999b). According to a study authored by the Program for Otus Owls Protection (POOP) the Argolisian chicken thieves were called "fowlers" and wore masks not to conceal their identities but frighten away the chicken guards (2007: 45) . Smithy's (1999b)  findings would support this conclusion. He noted the masks were fearsome creations, painted in such a way as to resemble the faces of a now extinct species of huge anthropoid lizards. Tonifidello (forthcoming) wrote these looters would smear rutting lizard musk on themselves before chicken raids.

Reference List or Bibliography

This section is a list of sources you have used to write your paper. The list should be complete and in alphabetical order based upon the authors' last names, regardless of the type of source. If you used a reference that did not have an author, place it at the front of the list and in alphabetical order by title if you have used more than one. If you have authors with the same names or used the same author for different sources, order the sources using the year of publication. Use six dashes and a period (------.) instead of a name if you are using the author again.  Distinguish sources with the same author published in the same year by adding letters on the end of the date of publication (1999a, 1999b, 1999c ...) then list the sources in alphabetical order by title.

Books:

Gunderic Behavioral Science Institute and Microbrewery. 2003. Social Characteristics of Rural Chicken Thief Populations. Artingforu: Republic of Gunderic Printing Office.

Adams, Dwight.  2000. Explaining Crime Through Sociology. Myrtle Beach, SC: Sand Flea Publications.

Doggerty, Puninski. 1997. "Chicken Thief: A Social Profile.” Pp. 99-183 in Real Crimes of Society, edited by A. Swan, and R. Duck. CA: McNughton Publishers Limited.

Ernesto, María and Jonathon Norton. 2005. Stealing Chickens: An American Curse. Atlanta, GA: For The Truth Press.

Fructose, Tonya. 1999. A Social History of Chicken Thievery. Crooked Creek, AR: William Institute.

Smith, Alfred. 1974. Public Crimes in Private Places. Charlotte, NC: Balmy Press.

Electronic Books:

Brumbel, Able and Terry Lawson, eds. 2003. Sociology of Farm Animal Theft. Mudruck, NY: State Community College Press. Retrieved April 9, 2008. (http://farmingbooks.edu/).

Journal Articles:

Abernathu, Thomas, Walter Worth, and Inga Brut. 1978. "Chicken Theft Rings: The New Assault Against Our Youth." Urban Social Science. 23:1-31.

Chapman, Albert, Lora Sims, Fredrick Austin, and Linda Gleson. 1994. "Anomie and the Chicken Thief: A Study in Structural Strain Theory."  Sociologies of Crime. 13:134-178.

Tweakendack, Cecil. 1999a. “Gang Involvement in Chicken Thievery." Sociological Perspectives on Crime. 22:15-86.

Tweakendack, Cecil. 1999b. "Patriarchal Culture and the Chicken Yard." Radical Sociology. 33:23-209.

Snide, Bubba. Forthcoming. “The Resurgence of Chicken Theft In Virginia Urban Areas."  Sociological Perspectives on Crime.

------. 2001. “The New Nugget Market: Marijuana Abuse and Chicken Consumption.” Western Journal of Social Crimes. 13:288-296.

Zigfield, Herbert.  2006. "The Real Poultry Mafia." Culture and Crime. 44:123-209.

Government Documents:

United States. Dept. of Justice and Social Control. 2003. Chicken Theft as Gang Initiations: Deviant Ritual Among Delinquents. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of Justice and Social Control.

Internet Sources:

"You Say Poultry Brigand, I Say Chicken Thief!" 2008. Rural Criminology Confederation. Retrieved April 19, 2008 (http://www.rcc.org/public/chstealstop.html).

Snogthian, Herman and Mucusmon Brown. 2008. "Methamphetamine Addiction and Chicken Theft Culture: An Application of Matrices Correlation Analysis." Electronic Periodical of Scholarly Social Sciences. 8:3. Retrieved April 19, 2008 (http://www.socialscienceonthenet.org/v8/chicken.html).

Magazines:

Tomifordany, Tina. 2008. "Protecting the Flock: Juvenile Delinquency and Chicken Theft." The Rural Chicken Farmer, March 19, pp. 12.

Uniford, Amanda. 2007. "The Terror of Chicken Larceny: Funding Al-Qaeda Through the Black Market." Crime News Across the Globe, January 3, pp.32.

Newspapers:

Abernathy, John. 2008. "Do You Know Where Your Nuggets Are From?." New England Trumpet, September 1, A2.

Angleton, Margaret  2008. "Dyeing Chickens: The Growing Black Market."   Washington Voice, November 19, B2.

Heffernan, Thomas. 2008. "Accused Chicken Thief Sentenced to Community Service: Losing Our Brightest." San Francisco Monitor, August 31, A1.

Thomas, Art. 2008. "Talking About Real Hot Wings: The Sub Rosa Poultry Market." New York Record, August 31, B1.