When you must follow a certain referencing style, such as APA or Chicago, you’ll come across a tricky citation every now and then. Take, for instance, a paper whose authors have the same last name.
In this example three of the authors have the same surname:
The publisher suggests citing this paper as
Saeidi, Sayedeh Parastoo & Sofian, Saudah & Saeidi, Parvaneh & Saeidi, Sayyedeh Parisa & Saaeidi, Seyyed Alireza, 2015. “How does corporate social responsibility contribute to firm financial performance? The mediating role of competitive advantage, reputation, and customer satisfaction,” Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 341-350.
But how do you cite this work in APA or Chicago?
APA: How to cite a paper whose authors have the same last name
List the surnames of the authors followed by their first name initials.
Note that in the example above, three of the authors share the same family name and at least one initial. In this case, give the first names of these authors in brackets. This helps the reader identify each author.
APA reference list:
Saeidi, S. P. [Sayedeh Parastoo], Sofian, S., Saeidi, P. [Parvaneh], Saeidi, S. P. [Sayyedeh Parisa] & Saaeidi, S. A. (2015). How does corporate social responsibility contribute to firm financial performance? The mediating role of competitive advantage, reputation, and customer satisfaction. Journal of Business Research, 68(2), 341–350.
APA in-text citation:
The first in-text citation of this work should be Saeidi, S. P. [Sayedeh Parastoo], Sofian, S., Saeidi, P. [Parvaneh], Saeidi, S. P. [Sayyedeh Parisa] & Saaeidi, S. A. (2015). The subsequent in-text citations are shortened to Saeidi et al., 2015.
Chicago Style citations
In Chicago, citing the paper in this example is much easier than in APA.
Reference list or bibliography:
Saeidi, Sayedeh Parastoo, Saudah Sofian, Parvaneh Saeidi, Sayyedeh Parisa Saeidi, and Seyyed Alireza Saaeidi. 2015. “How does corporate social responsibility contribute to firm financial performance? The mediating role of competitive advantage, reputation, and customer satisfaction.” Journal of Business Research 68, no. 2: 341–350.
In-text citation:
Saeidi et al. 2015
It helps to use a reference management tool if you have many citations in your paper. Also, double-check the tricky ones, such as the works whose authors have the same surname and initials.
Do you need a freelance editor or proofreader to help you format your references? Send me a message at editor@languageediting.com.
Related post:
In APA Style, do all entries in my reference list have to be cited in text?
Last revised on 29 August 2022
