Which of the following two citations is an ACCURATE APA citation?

Stepansky, K., Delbert, T., Bucey, J. C. (2022). Active Student Engagement Within a University’s Therapeutic Sensory Garden Green Space: Pilot Study of Utilization and Student Perceived Quality of Life. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 67, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127452
Links to an external site.

Raneng, J., Howes, M., & Pickering, C. M. (2023). Current and future directions in research on community gardens. Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 79, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127814
Links to an external site.

Question

Which of the following two citations is an ACCURATE APA citation?

Stepansky, K., Delbert, T., Bucey, J. C. (2022).  Active Student Engagement Within a University’s Therapeutic Sensory Garden Green Space: Pilot Study of Utilization and Student Perceived Quality of Life.  Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 67, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127452
Links to an external site.

Raneng, J., Howes, M., & Pickering, C. M. (2023). Current and future directions in research on community gardens.  Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 79, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127814
Links to an external site.

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Question restatement: The prompt asks which of the two citations is an accurate APA citation.

Option set note: The provided data shows two candidate citations, but the answer_options field is empty. Despite that, we can analyze each citation’s APA-format components to assess accuracy.

Analysis of the first citation (Stepansky, K., Delbert, T., Bucey, J. C. (2022).  Active Student Engagement Within a University’s Therapeutic Sensory Garden Green Space: Pilot Study of Utilization and Student Perceived Quality of Life.  Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 67, 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127452):
- Authors: The format shows last names with initials (Stepansky, Delbert, Bucey). In APA, all authors should be listed as Lastname, FirstInitial. MiddleInitials (if provided), separated by commas, with an ampersand before the final author if there are three or more authors. The citation uses commas between authors and does not show an ampersand before the last author, which is a deviation from standard APA style for three authors. This raises a red flag for author formatting.
- Year: (2022) appears after the authors, which is correct in APA.
- Title capitalization: The article title is shown as a full title in title case: "Active Student Engagement Within a University’s Therapeutic Sensory Garden Green Space: Pilot Study of Utilization and Student Perceived Quality of Life." In APA 7th edition, article titles use sentence case (only the first word of the title and subtitle and proper nouns are capitalized). The use of title case here (capitalizing major words like Active, Student, Engagement, Within, etc.) suggests an incorrect title formatting per APA rules.
- Journal name: Urban Forestry and Urban Greening. In APA, journal titles are presented in title case and italicized, which is consistent with the citation’s appearance here.
- Volume and pages: 67, 1-7. In APA, the volume is italicized and the issue (if present) is in parentheses; here only a volume and page range are shown without an issue number. If there is no issue, this format is acceptable as Volume, pages. This part is plausible, though absence of an issue is common when not provided.
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2021.127452. The DOI prefix 10.1016 is typical for Elsevier journals like Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, and the numeric string appears plausible. The DOI itself is acceptable if it resolves correctly to the article.
- Overall assessment: The author formatting and title capitalization appear inconsistent with APA 7th edition, and the missing ampersand before the final author is a guideline violation. The DOI and journal information may be correct, but several APA-specific conventions seem off, suggesting this citation is not fully accurate.

Analysis of the second citation (Raneng, J., Howes, M., & Pickering, C. M. (2023). Current and future directions in research on community gardens.  Urban Forestry and Urban Greening, 79, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127814):
- Authors: Three authors with an ampersand before the last author: Raneng, J., Howes, M., & Pickering, C. M. This matches the APA convention for listing three authors: Lastname, Initials, (with an ampersand before the last author). This aligns with APA style.
- Year: (2023) is placed correctly after the author list.
- Title capitalization: "Current and future directions in research on community gardens." The article title uses sentence case, which is correct for APA 7th edition (only the first word and proper nouns are capitalized). The tone here appears to comply with APA conventions.
- Journal name: Urban Forestry and Urban Greening. As with the first citation, the journal title is presented in proper title case and would be italicized in a formatted reference, matching APA expectations.
- Volume and pages: 79, 1-13. Presenting a volume and inclusive page range without an issue number is acceptable in APA when no issue is provided. This formatting is plausible.
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127814. This DOI has a prefix consistent with Elsevier journals and a plausible suffix for a 2022 article, corresponding to a 2023 publication year in the citation, which is an acceptable practice if the article is assigned to a later issue/online-first state.
- Overall assessment: The second citation adheres to APA 7th edition formatting more closely across author listing, title case (sentence case for the title), and other elements. It appears to be a well-formed APA citation.

Synthesis and guidance on accuracy:
- The main sources of potential error in APA citations typically involve author formatting (order and punctuation), capitalization of article titles (title case vs. sentence case), inclusion of issue numbers when applicable, and correct use of punctuation around the year and before the journal name.
- In this comparison, the second citation demonstrates proper APA author formatting (three authors with an ampersand), correct sentence-case title, and standard journal/volume/pages/DOI structure. The first citation shows deviations in author punctuation (no ampersand before the final author) and title capitalization (title case instead of sentence case) that diverge from APA 7th edition rules, even if other elements like journal name, volume, pages, and DOI could be correct.

Conclusion note: Based on APA 7th edition conventions, the second citation exemplifies a more accurate APA citation, whereas the first citation contains at least two formatting issues that would make it inaccurate in strict APA style. If you are required to select the most accurate option, the second citation would be the preferable choice.

NRES_V 150 101 / NRES_V 150 102 / LFS_V 150 003 2025W1 APA Citations

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