Import Bibliography in APA Format

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Import Bibliography in APA Format - August 16, 1999

One of the problems new users face is how to import existing bibliography data. The following example shows you how to import bibliographic records in APA format. Here are a few sample records:

Roche, A. F. (1987). Some aspects of the criterion methods for the measurement of body composition. Human Biology, 59(2), 209-220.

Lukaski, H. C., Bolonchuk, W. W., Johnson, P. E., Luykken, G. I., & Sandstead, H. H., (1984). Assesment of fat-free mass using bioelectrical impedance measurements of the human body (Abstract). American Society for Clinical Nutrition, 657-658.

Kowal, D. (1980). Nature and causes of injuries on women resulting from an endurance training program. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 8(4), 265-269.

1. The first step is to add a handle for each record. Open the sample file in your word processor, e.g. MS Word. In MS Word, go to menu item "Edit | Replace". Put "^p^p" in box "Find what", and "^p^pRecord---^p" in box "Replace with". After the replacement operation the original file will be converted into the following text with "Record---" added at the beginning of each record as a handle for Biblioscape to use. Other word processors will have their own way of making this change.

Record--- Roche, A. F. (1987). Some aspects of the criterion methods for the measurement of body composition. Human Biology, 59(2), 209-220.

Record--- Lukaski, H. C., Bolonchuk, W. W., Johnson, P. E., Luykken, G. I., & Sandstead, H. H., (1984). Assesment of fat-free mass using bioelectrical impedance measurements of the human body (Abstract). American Society for Clinical Nutrition, 657-658.

Record--- Kowal, D. (1980). Nature and causes of injuries on women resulting from an endurance training program. American Journal of Sports Medicine, 8(4), 265-269.

2. Click here to download an import filter for the file. This particular import filter only works for reference type "Journal Article" in APA format.

3. Start Biblioscape, go to menu item "File | Import Filter Definition". Click the "Import" button to import the APA import filter you just downloaded.

4. In Biblioscape, go to menu item "File | Import". Select the file you generated in step 1 with "Record---" handles as the import file, and use "APA (for Journal Article only)" as the import filter. Click on the "Start" button to import.

Note: The limitation of the import filter "APA (for Journal Article only)" is that it can only import records as reference type "Journal Article". Provided that the references are in a regular format (i.e. each reference is formatted in the same way), it's possible to design a custom filter that can import references in other journal formats. The import filter editor (File | Import Filters) is very powerful and allows for a high degree of customization.