Many researchers and students find AAA citations, also known as the American Anthropological Association citations, to be really confusing.
Figuring out how to do AAA citation out of other citation styles properly can be super frustrating, especially if you're working on anthropological research.
It often leaves folks feeling uncertain and stressed about citing their sources.
In this blog, we're going to make AAA citation way simpler.
We'll give you a clear and easy guide to help you understand it better. By the end of it, you'll find AAA citations a lot less scary and a lot more manageable in your academic work.
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The AAA style is the abbreviated form of the American Anthropological Association. It is similar to the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS) and is also a variation of the Chicago style referencing sometimes known as Chicago AAA citation. The AAA style is usually used in anthropology as it provides guidance to the writers, researchers, and scholars of anthropology.
The format structure includes separate referencing guidelines for books, journals, articles, and other sources.
Here are some of the key AAA citation guidelines:
Some of the elements are similar to other referencing styles while some are quite different and distinct.
In-text citations are different from the references and the reference list that are added at the end of the paper. They are added within the paper content. It will make it easier for the readers to know about the primary source of the direct and paraphrased content.
Different citation formats use different in-text citation style formats. In the case of AAA format in text citation, the last name of the author is followed by the year of publication.
To put the AAA citation in-text, add the last name and the year of publication in the parenthesis after mentioning the source. If not adding details (like the author’s name and publication date), include them in parentheses.
For Single Author: If you're citing a source written by a single author, you would include the author's last name and the publication year in parentheses.
For example: (Smith 2010).
For Two Authors: If the source has two authors, cite both of their last names and the publication year.
For instance: (Smith and Johnson 2015).
For Three or More Authors: For sources with three or more authors, you only list the first author's last name followed by "et al." and the publication year.
For example: (Brown et al. 2018).
For Multiple Sources: If you're citing multiple sources in the same sentence, list them in alphabetical order by the first author's last name and separate them with semicolons.
For instance: (Smith 2010; Johnson 2012; Brown et al. 2018).
For Multiple Works by the Same Author: If you're citing more than one work by the same author, distinguish them by adding a lowercase letter (a, b, c, and so on) after the publication year.
For example: (Smith 2010a) and (Smith 2010b).
AAA Citation - No Author: If a source doesn't have a specific author, use the title of the work or the first few words of the title in quotation marks.
For instance: ("Anthropology Today" 2016).
For Direct Quotation: When quoting directly from a source, include the author's last name, publication year, and the page number of the quote.
For example: (Smith 2010, 45).
For Corporate Author: If the source is published by an organization or corporation, use their name as the author.
For example: (World Health Organization 2017).
Some other things to consider when making the in-text citation are as follows:
The list of references is added at the end of the paper. The list is titled the ‘References Cited’ and contains all the works that have been added to the AAA style paper. The title is different from what we add in the APA and MLA references. This format of the references is also different from them.
The AAA Style Title Page:
The title page is the very first section of the paper. It contains information like the student’s name, the instructor’s name, the paper’s title, course number, and the deadline. When making the title page for your AAA paper, add all of these details to the cover page.
[Your University's Name]
[Course Name and Number]
[Assignment Due Date]
[Title of Your Paper]
[Subheading - if applicable]
For the references for different sources, we have added some examples to help you understand how to make the references.
For Books with Single Author:
2011 The Metamorphoses of Kinship. London: Verso.
For Books with Two Authors:
Barnard, Alan, and Anthony Good
1984 Research Practices in the Study of Kinship. London: Academic Press.
For Books with Multiple Authors:
Bonacich, Edna, with Mark Smith and Kathy Hunt
1999 The Economic Basis of Ethnic Solidarity: Small Business in the Japanese American Community.
Berkeley: University of California Press.
For Books with Editors as Authors:
2006 Feminist Anthropology: A Reader. Malden: Blackwell.
For the Chapters of the Books:
Rohlen, Thomas P.
1993 “Education: Policies and Prospects.” In Koreans in Japan: Ethnic Conflicts and
Cameron Lee and George De Vos, eds. Pp. 182–222. Berkeley: University of
For the Revised Editions:
Bernard, H. Russell
2011 Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Approaches. 5th
For Electronic Books from the Library Database:
2013 Anthropology in The Public Arena: Historical and Contemporary Contexts. Hoboken:
John Wiley and Sons. Ebrary ebook collection.
October 11, 2013.
For Web Electronic Books:
1920 Man: Past and Present. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Project Gutenberg.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35685 accessed October 11, 2013.
For the Journal Articles:
1988 “Toward a Complex Model of Parenthood: Two African Tales.” American Ethnologist
For the Journal Articles available on an Electronic Database:
O’Neill, Kevin Lewis
2013 “Left Behind: Security, Salvation, and the Subject of Prevention.” Cultural
DOI: 10.1111/cuan.12001 accessed October 11, 2013
When no DOI is present:
Hakansson, N. Thomas
1994 “The Detachability of Women: Gender and Kinship in Processes of Socioeconomic
Change among the Gussii of Kenya.” American Ethnologist 21(3):516-38.
http://www.jstor.org/stable/645919 accessed October 11, 2013
For Print Magazines and Newspaper Articles:
2012 Secrets of the White Shaman. Discover May:50-56.
For Online Magazines or Newspaper Articles:
2012 Using Modern Tools to Reconstruct Ancient Life. New York Times. January 10:D2L http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA276685697&v=2.1&u=mora54187&it=r&p=AONE&s w=w accessed August 2, 2013.
In Case of No Author:
2011 Japan: Dig Begins at Wartime Army Site Suspected in Prisoner Experiments.
22:A6.http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA249650007&v=2.1&u=mora54187&it=r&p=A ONE&sw=w accessed August 2, 2013.
For Online Masters Thesis and Ph.D. Dissertation:
Couture, Nicole Claire
2002 The Construction of Power: Monumental Space and Elite Residence at Tiwanaku.
Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago. accessed August
2, 2013. http://search.proquest.com/pqdtft/docview/305518242/fulltextPDF/13FA6873D2C6533157E/4?accounti d=25334. accessed October 11, 2013.
For Conference Papers:
Shimahara, Nobuo K.
1998 “Mobility and Education of Buraku: The Case of a Japanese Minority.”
Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association, Chicago, November 18.
For Films and Documentaries:
2005 After the immigrant: A Documentary Series about Ethnicity and its Many Meanings.
Bandana Productions. DVD.
For Websites and Web Documents:
Society for Historical Archaeology
2011 “What is Historical Archaeology?” http://www.sha.org/ accessed October 11, 2013.
To know more about how to cite and make references to other sections, check the AAA citation example given below.
AAA Style Guide
In AAA style, the "References Cited" page follows an alphabetical arrangement and encompasses all cited works.
This systematic approach ensures a clear and organized presentation of your cited sources.
In short, this blog has explained AAA citations in a way that's easy for students to understand. By using what you've learned here, you can feel more sure about citing your sources accurately.
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If you are new to AAA style citation and want to learn about it then yes you can use it. However, using it only will not be a good idea. Instead, ask your professor to help you with it or consult a professional essay writing service.
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