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OASIS

Introduction

When you're looking for current information or information about a specific place, newspapers can be a great source. They're often printed daily and contain a lot of information about the city or town where they are published. They can also provide timely information about an event or issue. Searching through past holdings can help to pin down a date when something happened or show how a situation evolved.

Note: Newspapers are never considered a peer-reviewed source. It's always smart to consider the reputation and ideology of the editorial staff and publisher; some newspapers (like other media sources) have liberal or conservative leanings that influence their reporting.

Identify newspapers

While there are several databases in the Walden Library where you can find newspaper articles, one common characteristic is that only the HTML full text is available. This means that the full text of the newspaper article will appear on your screen as text; there won't be a PDF that looks like the newspaper article did when it was published in print. Here is an example of what a newspaper article may look like:

In a fight for land, a women's movement shakes Morocco: New York Times, Late Edition; 08 May 2017

 

Here are a few clues that will help you identify newspaper article reference citations:

  • Specific date: The day, month, and year on which the article was published is included.
  • No volume or issue number: There are no volume or issue numbers after the title of the newspaper.
  • Newspaper title: The title for the newspaper is included in the citation.

 

In APA 7th, a reference citation for a newspaper found in the Library databases generally follows this format:

Author. (Year, Month Day). Newspaper article title. Newspaper Title. 

 

Here is an example:

Alami, A. (2017, May 8). In a fight for land, a women's movement shakes Morocco. New York Times. 

 

Note: Not all newspaper article reference citations will follow this format exactly. If you are citing from a newspaper found on the internet, the format includes a URL for the article. If you have questions about citing a newspaper article using APA style, please contact the Writing Center.