APA STYLE AND FORMAT

A How-To Guide

General Format

be typed, double-spaced, with two spaces after

punctuation between sentences

on standard-sized paper (8.5”x11”)

with 1” margins on all sides

in 10-12 pt. Times New Roman or a similar font

include a page header (title) in the upper left-

hand of every page and a page number in the

upper right-hand side of every page

Your essay should:

References

Main Body

Abstract

General Format (cont’d)

Title page

Your essay should include four major sections:

Note: Some Professors don’t

require the abstract.

Title Page

Page header:(use Insert Page Header)

title flush left + page number flush right.

Title:(in the upper half of the page, centered)name (no title or degree) + affiliation (university, etc.)

What should my title look like?APA style titles State the main idea concisely Identify essential variables or theoretical

issues of import School Counselors’ Role in Dating Violence

Intervention Evidence-based Counseling Interventions

with Children of Divorce: Implications for Elementary School CounselorsBottom line: Be accurate; Be concise(and you can shorten it for the “running

head”)

Abstract Page

Page header: do NOT include “Running head:”

Abstract (centered, at the top of the page)

Write a brief (between 150 and 250 words) summary of your paper in an accurate, concise, and specific manner. Should contain: at research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis, and conclusions. May also include possible implications of your research and future work you see connected with your findings. May also include keywords.

Main Body (Text)

Be sure the first text page is page # 3 (or 2, if no abstract)

Type the title of the paper centered, at the top of the page

Type the text double-spaced with all sections following each other without a break

Identify the sources you use in the paper in parenthetical in-text citations

Format tables and figures

What goes in the main body? Introduction

Topic and purpose

Review of the Literature Analytical compilation of relevant research

Implications Answer “Who cares?” and “So what?”

Conclusion The big “take-away” for the reader

References Page

Center the title– References—at the top of the page

Double-space reference entries

Flush left the first line of the entry and indent subsequent lines (“hanging indent”)

Order entries alphabetically by the author’s surnames

Do NOT include “Running head:” in the header after the title page!

References: Basics

Invert authors’ names (last name first followed by initials).

Alphabetize reference list entries by the last name of the first author of each work.

Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of an article title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns. Do not capitalize the first letter of the second word in a hyphenated compound word.

References: Basics (cont’d)

Capitalize all major words in journal titles.

Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals.

Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays in edited collections.

List of References

Check and follow all rules regarding multiple authors

Check and follow rules of capitalization and notation of titles

Check and follow rules in general!

References Basics: Books and Book Chapters

Helfer, M. E., Kempe, R. S., & Krugman, R.

D. (1997). The battered child (5th ed.).

Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

O'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and

women's gender role journeys: A

metaphor for healing, transition, and

transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.),

Gender issues across the life cycle (pp.

107-123). New York, NY: Springer.

References: Periodicals (print & “e”)

Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New Criterion, 15(30), 5-13.

Bower, H. (2001). The gender identity disorder in the DSM-IV classification: A critical evaluation. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 35, 1-8. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1614 .2001.00859.x

What is a DOI???

Digital Object Identifier: Provides universal identifying information

for a piece of writing

Must be included in every article referenceBower, H. (2001). The gender identity disorder in the DSM-IV classification: A critical evaluation. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, 35, 1-8. doi:10.1046/j.1440-1614 .2001.00859.x

Digital Object Identifier: Location

Digital Object Identifier: Location

What if I don’t have a DOI?

Use the homepage web link

Meyer, W., III, Bockting, W. O., Cohen-Kettenis, P., Coleman, E., DiCeglie, D., Devor, H.,..Wheeler, C. C. (2001). The Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association's standards of care for gender identity disorders. International Journal of Transgenderism, 5(1). Retrieved from

http://wwwsymposium.com/ijt/soc_01/index.htm

Integrating Sources: Paraphrasing v. Quoting

Quoting=precise wording

Paraphrasing=restating: intentionally NOT precise wording OR sentence structure

APA suggests more paraphrasing than quoting

Integrating Sources: Logic

Using Signal Phrases Marks boundaries Maintains fluency and authority

Most teachers gain experience on the job and develop rigid habits and theories after as few as four years. “Many teachers don’t last that long” (Kidder, 1989, p. 51).

Kidder (1989) asserted that most teachers gain experience on the job and develop rigid habits and theories after as few as four years, but he cautions that “many teachers don’t last that long” (p. 51).

Integrating Sources: Logic Contextualizing

Introduces material smoothly Provides opportunities to analyzeThe solutions proposed by a number of advocacy groups

underscore this interest in political and cultural change. A report by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2004) outlined trends that may have contributed to the childhood obesity crisis, including food advertising for children as well as “a reduction in physical education classes…, an increase in the availability of sodas and snacks in public schools…, and the increasing number of highly processed high-calorie and high-fat grocery products” (p. 1). Addressing each of these areas requires more than a doctor armed with a prescription pad; it requires a broad mobilization not just of doctors and concerned parents but of educators, food industry executives, advertisers, and media representatives.

Integrating Sources: Fluency

…Ellipses…

[Brackets]

P,u.n:c;t,u.a:t;i.o,n!

Ellipses

Take the place of omitted words What remains MUST be grammatically

complete!

Roman (2003) reported that “social factors are nearly as significant as individual metabolism in the formation of…dietary habits of adolescents” (p. 345).

Brackets

Help explain confusing references Help create proper grammar in context Jan Harold Brunvand (2009), in an

essay on urban legends, states: "some individuals [who retell urban legends] make a point of learning every rumor or tale" (p. 78).

Jan Harold Brunvand claims some re-tellers become obsessed, “mak[ing] a point of learning every rumor or tale” (p. 78).

Punctuation Maintain it within the quotation, OR use brackets or

ellipses to modify Drop it at the end of the quoted portion, and

continue punctuating YOUR sentence after the parenthetical citation.

Exceptions: ? and ! Ex: “…contributing factors?” (p.9), a valid question in light of…

Robbins et al. (2003) suggested that the “therapists in dropout cases may have inadvertently validated parental negativity about the adolescent without adequately responding to the adolescent’s needs or concerns” (p.541), contributing to an overall climate of negativity.

In-Text Citations

Whether you paraphrase or quote, you MUST cite!

Citations are uniform in either case (paraphrasing or quoting), but differ by context

Two types of citations Contextual – generally, author’s surname and

year within the body of the sentence

Parenthetical – author’s surname and year appear in parentheses, usually at end of sentence

…negative effects of bullying” (Mitchell & Jansen, 2004, p. 34).

…bullying leads to detrimental attitudes and experiences (Mitchell & Janson, 2004, p. 34).

According to Mitchell and Jansen (2004), bullying leads to detrimental attitudes and experiences (p. 34).

Exception: Long quotations

More than 40 words

Indented five spaces on the left throughout

NO quotation marks!

Citation as follows…

Sample Long Quotation

The solutions proposed by a number of advocacy groupsunderscore this interest in political and cultural change. Areport by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation (2004) outlinedtrends that may have contributed to the childhood obesity crisis,including food advertising for children as well as

a reduction in physical education classes and after-schoolathletic programs, an increase in the availability of sodasand snacks in public schools, the growth in the numberof fast-food outlets . . . , and the increasing numberof highly processed high-calorie and high-fat groceryproducts. (p. 1)

Addressing each of these areas requires more than a doctor armedwith a prescription pad; it requires a broad mobilization not justof doctors and concerned parents but of educators, food industryexecutives, advertisers, and media representatives.

Notice the difference in parenthetical placement!

APA Writing Style

Present your ideas in an orderly fashion.

Use transitions (then, next, while, since)

Addition links (in addition, moreover, furthermore, similarly)

Contrast links (but, conversely, however, although)

Cause-effect links (therefore, consequently, as a result)

APA Writing Style

Use consistent verb tenses Use the past tense to describe results Use the present tense to discuss results and

present conclusions

Say only what needs to be said Eliminate redundancy, wordiness, jargon,

overuse of the passive voice, clumsy prose

APA Writing Style

Aim for precision and clarityChoose your words carefully. Make certain

each word choice means exactly what you intend it to mean.

Eliminate colloquial expressions such as “quite a large part,” “practically all,” and “very few.”

Clarify pronouns or avoid using them if possible.

Avoid the first person, including the ambiguous “we.”

APA Writing Style

Word Choice Avoid labels when possible (not “the

mentally ill,” but “people with mental illnesses”)

Be wary of the verb “prove”—instead, “studies indicate” or “evidence suggests”

More on Writing Style

Chapter 3 in the APA Manual(6th ed.):“Writing Clearly and Concisely”

Well worth the read!

The Little Things…

In your own text, use “and” when there are two or more authors. Within citations, use “&.”

Sartes and Neinstein (2002) note that adolescent girls are more likely to experience symptoms of depression that adolescent boys.

Adolescent girls are more likely to experience symptoms of depression than adolescent boys (Sartes & Neinstein, 2002).

The Little Things…

When citing information from multiple sources, list the sources in alphabetical order and separate with semi-colons.

Recent studies (Howard, Stein & Frazer, 2004; Lance & Armstrong, 2004; Shine, 2003) indicate that at least one tenth of working women have been harassed within the past year.

The Little Things…

When citing a secondary source, use the following format:

Note: Only the “Jones” citation will appear on the references page.

Note: It is considered much stronger in terms of research technique to find and use the original source!

Women are reluctant to report harassment out of fear of retaliation (Howard & Glasser as cited in Jones, 2003).

The Little Things…

Sources without datesUse the abbreviation “n.d.” for no

date.

Only one study suggests that students are motivated solely by internal values (Smith, n.d.).

Helpful Links!

www.apastyle.org (check out the FAQs)

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ (sometimes quicker than using the manual—also, great writing resources in general)

http://ww2.sjc.edu/pdf/cae/signalphrases.pdf

http://ww2.sjc.edu/pdf/cae/transitionaldevices.pdf