APA Style, Research, and You

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RESEARCH, APA STYLE,

AND YOU

ELA INE M. PAT TON, MLSDigital Resource Professional aka Librarian

LSC-University Park Library

TODA

Y • FINDING SOURCES• FORMATTING YOUR

PAPER• CITATIONS

• References• In-text

SOURCESW H AT D E T E R M I N E S T H E P R E V I O U S C I TAT I O N S T U F F

FINDING YOUR SOURCE LoneStar.edu/library/article-databases

Social Sciences Recommended database: Psychology &

Behavioral Science Collection

You’ll want papers which are:

Peer-reviewed Full-text

EVALUATING SOURCESCheck for…

• Evidence• Does the information appear well-

researched?• Credibility

• Is the author reliable?• Expertise

• Does the author have a valid background in the subject?

• Relevance• Is the information about your topic? Is it

timely?• Bias

• Is the information opinionated? If so, acknowledge in your own paper.

KEY PARTS OF RESEARCH-BASED PAPERS

Article will have sections discussing the •methodology, •results, •discussion, and •conclusion

in addition to the abstract, author information, and references.

FORMATTING: PAGE LAYOUT• 12 point font

• 1” margins on all sides

• Times New Roman or other serifed font like

CourierSans-serifSerif

• Double-spaced

THE MAJOR PAPER COMPONENTS

1. Title page2. Abstract3. The paper itself4. References list

1 APA assignmen

t

4 pages

THE TITLE (COVER) PAGE

Image from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Page number:

Title page is page 1

Running head

(title of paper)

Paper title &Your information

TITLE PAGE ELEMENTS

RUNNING HEAD page #

Title of Paper

Your M. Name

Institution Name

RUNNING HEAD

• On every other page:

TITLE TITLE TITLE #

• On the TITLE page:

Running head: TITLE TITLE TITLE 1

ABSTRACT• After the title page, before your paper• Titled Abstract, centered on page• Concise 150-250 word summary of

your paper

LANGUAGE• Be concise and clear: don’t fluff your writing with unnecessary description or information nor complex language

• Use the active voice whenever possible

–Passive: Participants were asked…–Active: We asked participants…

LANGUAGE• To have Word check for passive voice:

• File–Options

• Proofing– Settings

Only valid in pre-Office 2016

versions of Word

CITATIONST H E R E F E R E N C E L I S T

CITATIONS…give the exact location of an information

sourcegive credit to this source for the ideas or

information within your work (and this lends authority to your work)

are placed on the References page of your paper as well as throughout the body

EXAMPLE CITATIONS FOR…

• Journal (online database)• Online magazine or newspaper article• Movie

IDENTIFY 4 BASIC ELEMENTS:

WHO wrote it WHAT did they call it

WHEN was it published

WHERE did it appear

ELEMENTS OF A CITATION FOR A JOURNAL ARTICLE FOUND IN AN ONLINE DATABASE

• Author(s)• Publication date• Title of article• Title of journal• Volume• Issue• Page numbers• Site retrieved from or

DOI DOI = Digital Object IdentifierLike an ISBN.

Semiz, U. B., Basoglu, C., Ebrinc, S., & Cetin, M. (2008, February). Nightmare

disorder, dream anxiety, and subjective sleep quality in patients with

borderline personality disorder. Psychiatry & Clinical Neuroscience,

62(1), 48-55. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-1819.2007.01789.x

Database journal article

ELEMENTS OF A CITATION FOR AN ONLINE ARTICLE

• Author(s)• Publication date• Article title• Magazine title• URL retrieved from

Pincott, J. (2012, November 5). What’s in a face? Psychology

Today. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com

Online article

ELEMENTS OF A CITATION FOR A MOVIE

• Producer(s)• Director• Publication year• Title• Format• Country of origin• Studio or distributor

Variable!

Golin, S., Bregman, A. (Producers), & Gondry, M. (Director). (2004).

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind [DVD]. United States:

Universal Studios.

Movie: DVD

Movie: Streaming

Golin, S., Bregman, A. (Producers), & Gondry, M. (Director). (2004).

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind [Streaming video].

Retrieved from http://www.Netflix.com

WHICH CITATION IS CORRECT?

A.) O’Neil, J. (2013, January 14). Equation of time solves mystery of gray mornings. New York

Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com

B.) O’Neil, John. (2013 Jan 14). “Equation of time solves mystery of gray mornings”. New York

Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com.

IN-TEXT CITATIONST H E O T H E R H A L F

IN-TEXT CITATIONS

When do you use in-text citations?

If you didn’t originally think it or say it, attribute it!

Exception: commonly-known facts don’t need citations.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS• Include author(s), year, and page

number(s)• E.g.

(Author, 2012, p. 12)(Author, Author, & Author, 2012)(Author & Author, 2012, p. 12-13)

IN-TEXT CITATIONS• If you don’t have a piece of info, skip

it!• Your in-text citation will be whatever

the start of the citation on your References page is.

IN-TEXT CITATIONSSo long as you have all 3 elements, you can mix up how your in-text citations are introduced:

– According to X (2004), … (p. 19-20).– This is a statement (X, 2004, p. 50).– This has been accepted by X (2004), Y & Z

(2009), and A (2008).

IN-TEXT CITATIONS• Paraphrase

–Do not just swap out a few words with synonyms!

• Direct quote–Uses “quotation marks” around the

source content– If it’s longer than 40 words, no quotes:

make it a block quote with ½” margins

OTHER RESOURCES• UPresearch.LoneStar.edu/APA• APAstyle.org• OWL.english.purdue.edu

Each database will have a citation help tool, but these aren’t guaranteed to be accurate!

CONTACT THE LIBRARIANS•UPLibrary-ref@LoneStar.edu

•Elaine.M.Patton@LoneStar.edu •In-person during normal library hours•Call: 281-401-5390•Text: 281-946-9879•Look for the Chat With A Librarian button on the website:

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