APA Style Essentials

NCAT Graduate School Thesis/Dissertation ManualThe Graduate School mandates specific formatting guidelines that override standard APA style practices withregard to margins, text spacing, font, page numbers, paper quality. Additional requirements includeformatting guidelines for the title page, signature page, copyright page, dedication, biographical sketch, andacknowledgments. Print a copy of the current guide from this address:

http://www. nca t. edu/ rvgradsch/Thesis%20Manuals/thesis_ disserta tion%20maunual%20200B. pdf

TABLE OF CONTENTSKey your headings EXACTLYas they appear within the body of the manuscript. Use right-aligned dot leadersrather than spaces to align your page numbers. Generating an automatic table of contents enable automaticupdates when editing changes modify heading placements.

LIST OF FIGURES / LIST OF TABLESSee NCAT Graduate School Thesis/Dissertation Manual page 8 for specific guidelines.

HEADINGSSee NCAT Graduate School Thesis/Dissertation Manual page 10 for specific guidelines.

TEXT CITATIONSSource material must be documented in the body of the paper by citing the author(s) and date(s) of thesources. For subsequent citations of the same reference within a paragraph, do not include the year. Theunderlying principle is that ideas and words of others must be formally acknowledged. The reader can obtainthe full source citation from the list of references that follows the body of the paper.

Cite within Sentence - When the names of the authors of a source are part of the formal structureof the sentence, the year of publication appears in parentheses following the identification of theauthors. Consider the following example:

Wirth and Mitchell (1994) found that although there was a reduction in insulin dosage over aperiod of two weeks in the treatment condition compared to the control condition, thedifference was not statistically significant [Note: and is used when multiple authors areidentified as part of the formal structure of the sentence. Compare this to the example in thefollowing section.]

Cite in Parentheses - When the authors of a source are not part of the formal structure of thesentence, both the authors and years of publication appear in parentheses, separated by semicolons.Consider the following example:

Reviews of research on religion and health have concluded that at least some types ofreligious behaviors are related to higher levels of physical and mental health (Gartner,Larson, & Allen, 1991; Koenig, 1990; Levin & Vanderpool, 1991; Maton & Pargament, 1987;Paloma & Pendleton, 1991; Payne, Bergin, Bielema, & Jenkins, 1991 [Note: & is used whenmultiple authors are identified in parenthetical material. Note also that when several sourcesare cited parenthetically, they are ordered alphabetically by first authors' surnames.]

Two Authors - When a source that has two authors is cited, both authors are included every timethe source is cited.

More Than Two Authors - When a source that has three, four, or five authors is cited, all authorsare included the first time the source is cited. When that source is cited again, the first author'ssurname and "et al." are used. Consider the following example:

Reviews of research on religion and health have concluded that at least some types ofreligious behaviors are related to higher levels of physical and mental health (Payne, Bergin,Bielema, & Jenkins, 1991).

Payne et aI. (1991) showed that...

Six or More Authors - When a source that has six or more authors is cited, the first author'ssurname and "et al." are used every time the source is cited (including the first time).

External Sources - Every effort should be made to site only sources that you have actually read.When it is necessary to cite a source that you have not read ("Grayson" in the following example)

that is cited in a source that you have read ("Murzynski & Degelman" in the following example), u.sethe following format for the text citation and list only the source you have read in the Referenceslist:

Grayson (as cited in Murzynski & Degelman, 1996) identified four components of bodylanguage that were related to judgments of vulnerability.

Personal Communication - To cite a personal communication (including letters, emails, andtelephone interviews), include initials, surname, and as exact a date as possible. Because a personalcommunication is not "recoverable" information, it is not included in the References section. For thetext citation, use the following format:

B. F. Skinner (personal communication, February 12, 1978) claimed ...

Web Document - To cite a Web document, use the author-date format. If no author is identified,use the first few words of the title in place of the author. If no date is provided, use "n.d." in place ofthe date. Consider the following examples:

Degelman and Harris (2000) provide guidelines for the use of APA writing style.

Changes in Americans' views of gender status differences have been documented (Genderand Society, n.d.).

QUOTATIONSWhen a direct quotation is used, always include the author, year, and page number.

Fewer Than 40 Words - A quotation of fewer than 40 words should be enclosed in doublequotation marks and should be incorporated into the formal structure of the sentence. Example:

Patients receiving prayer had "less congestive heart failure, required less diuretic andantibiotic therapy, had fewer episodes of pneumonia, had fewer cardiac arrests, and wereless frequently intubated and ventilated" (Byrd, 1988, p. 829).

More Than 40 Words - A lengthier quotation of 40 or more words should appear (without quotationmarks) apart from the surrounding text, in block format, with each line indented five spaces fromthe left margin.

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REFERENCESAll sources included in the References section must be cited in the body of the paper (and all sources cited inthe paper must be included in the References section).

Format - References begin on a new page as a regular chapter heading. The references use ahanging indent. Do NOT press the enter key at the end of the first line and tab or space to indentsubsequent lines. Use the Format / Paragraph / Indention: Special/Hanging feature to correctlyalign reference text. Entries are organized alphabetically by surnames of first authors. Mostreference entries have three components:

Authors - Authors are listed in the same order as specified in the source, using surnames andinitials (use a space between first and middle initials). Commas separate all authors (including usebefore the ampersand). When there are seven or more authors, list the first six and then use "et al."for remaining authors. If no author is identified, the title of the document begins the reference.

Year of Publication - In parentheses following authors, with a period following the closingparenthesis. If no publication date is identified, use "n.d." in parentheses following the authors.

Source Reference - Includes title, journal, volume, pages (for journal article) or title, city ofpublication, publisher (for book). Italicize titles of books, titles of periodicals, and periodical volumenumbers.

EXAMPLES OF SOURCES

1. Journal article

Murzynski, J., & Degelman, D. (1996). Body language of women and judgments ofvulnerability to sexual assault. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 26, 1617­1626.

2. Book

Paloutzian, R. F. (1996). Invitation to the psychology of religion (2nd ed.). Boston:Allyn and Bacon.

3. Web document on university program or department Web site

Degelman, D., & Harris, M. L. (2000). APA style essentials. Retrieved May 18, 2000,from Vanguard University, Department of Psychology Website: http://www .vanguard .edu/faculty/ddegelman/index.cfm?doc_id =:796

4. Stand-alone Web document (no date)

Nielsen, M. E. (n.d.). Notable people in psychology of religion. Retrieved August 3,2001, from http://www.psywww.com/psyrelig/psyrelpr.htm

5. Stand-alone Web document (no author, no date)

Gender and society. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2001, fromhttp://www.trinity.edu/Nmkearljgender.html

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6. Journal article from database

Hien, D., & Honeyman, T. (2000). A closer look at the drug abuse-maternalaggression link. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 15, 503-522. Retrieved May20, 2000, from ProQuest database.

7. Abstract from secondary database

Garrity, K., & Degelman, D. (1990). Effect of server introduction on restauranttipping. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 20, 168-172. Abstract retrieved July23, 2001, from PsycINFO database.

8. Journal article, Internet-only journal

Bergen, D. (2002, Spring). The role of pretend play in children's cognitivedevelopment. Early Childhood Research & Practice, 4(1). Retrieved February 1,2004, from http://ecrp.uiuc.edu/v4n1/bergen.html

9. Article or chapter in an edited book

Shea, J. D. (1992). Religion and sexual adjustment. In J. F. Schumaker(Ed.), Religion and mental health (pp. 70-84). New York: Oxford UniversityPress.

10. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mentaldisorders (4th ed., text revision). Washington, DC: Author.

APPENDIXESA common use of appendixes is to present unpublished tests or to describe complex equipment or stimulusmaterials.

Pagination - Each Appendix begins on a separate page.

Heading - If there is only one appendix, Appendix is centered on the first line below the manuscriptpage header. If there is more than one appendix, use Appendix A (or B or C, etc.). Double-space andtype the appendix title (centered in uppercase and lowercase letters).

Format - Indent the first line 5-7 spaces.

Example of APA-formatted Appendix - http://www.vanguard.edu/psychology/appendix.pdf

Modified with permission from Douglas Degelman, Vanguard University of Southern California © 1994-2008Available online at http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/index.aspx?doc_id=796

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Reference Examples for Electronic Source MaterialsNote: This material is extracted from the 5th edition of APA's Publication Manual (© 2001).

Internet Articles Based on a Print Source

At present, the majority of the articles retrieved from online publications in psychology and the behavioralsciences are exact duplicates of those in their print versions and are unlikely to have additional analyses anddata attached. This. is likely to change in the future. In the meantime, the same basic primary journalreference can be used,

VandenBos, G., Knapp,S., & Doe, J. (2001). Role of reference elements in the selection of resources bypsychology undergraduates. Journal of Bibliographic Research,S, 117-123. Retrieved October 13,2001, from http://jbr.org/articles.html

Article in an Internet-Only Journal

Fredrickson, B. L. (2000, March 7). Cultivating positive emotions to optimize health and well-being.Prevention & Treatment, 3, Article 0001a. Retrieved November 20, 2000, fromhttp://journals.apa.org/prevention/volume3/pre003000 la. html

Article in an Internet-Only Newsletter

Glueckauf, R. L., Whitton, J., Baxter, J., Kain, J., Vogelgesang,S., Hudson, M., et al. (1998, July). Video­counseling for families of rural teens with epilepsy n Project update. Telehealth News,2(2).Retrieved from http://www.telehealth.net/subscribe/newslettr4a.htmll

• Use the complete publication date given on the article.• Note that there are no page numbers.• In an Internet periodical, volume and issue numbers often are not relevant. If they are not used, the

name of the periodical is all that can be provided in the reference.• Whenever possible, the URL should link directly to the article.• Break a URL that goes to another line after a slash or before a period. Do not insert (or allow your

word-processing program to insert) a hyphen at the break.

Stand-Alone Document, No Author Identified, No Date

GVU's 8th WWW user survey. (n.d.). Retrieved August 8, 2000, fromhttp://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/usersurveys/survey1997-10/

• If the author of a document is not identified, begin the reference with the title of the document.

• If a document is contained within a large and complex Web site (such as that for a university or agovernment agency), identify the host organization and the relevant program or department beforegiving the URL for the document itself. Precede the URL with a colon.

Electronic Copy of a Journal Article, Three to Five Authors, Retrieved from Database

Borman, W. c., Hanson, M. A., Oppler, 5. H., Pulakos, E. D., & White, L. A. (1993). Role of earlysupervisory experience in supervisor performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 443-449.Retrieved October 23, 2000, from PsycARTICLE5 database.

• When referencing material obtained by searching an aggregated database, follow the formatappropriate to the work retrieved and add a retrieval statement that gives the date of retrieval andthe proper name of the database.

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