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The Challenge is to know what the style covers. Then it is a simple matter to look up a rule or practice in the APA Manual (or a crib sheet) and apply it.
For example, when writing numbers in the text do you spell them out or use numerals? Do you write "8" or "eight?" Unfortunately, the APA Manual has hundreds
of pages of instructions, and to know when these may apply requires an intimate knowledge of the style.
The Solution is to focus on the deep features of the style, its central paradigms. These fall within three groups: (a) documentation, (b) page formatting, and
(c) text rules. By understanding these basic rules, the style is simplified. You need not memorize these rules, only be aware that they exist. Then you can look up
the details.
1. Documentation, using references to cite material used in your work, is an essential part of research paper. All other oversights can be forgiven, but not
sloppy documentation. You must get this right!
2. Page formatting, how text appears on the page, follows specific rules. However, the APA Manual is dedicated to preparing manuscripts for publication,
for copy editors and typesetters. Papers for class use follow different instructions. Tables and figures have their own special requirements.
3. Text rules, editorial style, govern how you present your text. There are rules for acronyms, adding emphasis, and formatting quotes. The presentation
of numbers and statistics can be confusing, like walking in on the middle of a lecture. These merit special attention.
Lesson 1: Introduction to Final Manuscripts. Journal editors (or instructors) may reject papers that do not follow APA style. The most
1 common mistakes are discussed. The APA Manual draws a distinction between final manuscripts and copy manuscripts. Explore the
differences and why they matter to you.
Lesson 2: Documentation A - Reference Elements & Citations. The parts of a reference are its elements. These are not arbitrary,
2 they have a reasoned structure that flows through all APA references. Text citations to references also follow a common form. Exposed! APA style
has a passion for parentheses!
Lesson 3: Documentation B - Reference Sources. The APA Manual recognizes 95 different reference sources, providing examples
3 of each. However, these are all built around basic references to periodicals, books, edited volumes, and documents. The APA passion for
parentheses is further revealed.
Lesson 4: Manuscript Format A - Pages & Headings. The differences between copy manuscripts and final
4 manuscripts are most apparent in formatting pages. Chapter 6 of the APA Manual was discussed in Lesson 1.
Here it is applied. Headings follow a complex set of rules in APA style. These can be simplified.
Lesson 5: Manuscript Format B - Tables & Figures. The presentation of tables and figures is one of the most common problems in
5 using APA style. Yet, these offer few difficulties if you understand the basic rules. It is always prudent to check the APA Manual when formatting
complex tables.
Lesson 6: Text Rules A - General Rules. There are specific rules when using acronyms, formatting quotations,
6 and adding emphasis to words. The boundaries between conventional usage and APA style blur as the manual
refreshes the rules on punctuation, capitalization, and spelling.
Lesson 7: Text Rules B - Numbers and Statistics. When to write numbers as words, when to use numerals? APA style uses the metric
7
system. Some common statistics are represented by uncommon APA symbols, and subject to unique rules for their presentation. This can trip you up!
Review: Identify APA Style Features. Now that you have grasped the essence of APA style, and mastered many of its details, it is time to
8 test your knowledge. The challenge is to identify all the unique style elements in an article published in an APA journal. Can you find the scare
quotes? How often is the under 10 rule applied?
Required Texts
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.).
Washington, DC: Author.
There are two sections in the APA Manual that are required reading. These are chapter 6, "Material Other Than Journal Articles," and a section in chapter
2, "Guidelines to Reduce Bias in Language." These total just 18 pages, so you need not purchase the APA Manual as long as a library copy is available for
reference.
Brewer, B. W., Scherzer, C. B., Van Raalte, J. L., Petitpas, A. J., & Andersen, M. B. (2001). The elements of (APA) style:
A survey of psychology journal editors. American Psychologist, 56, 266-267.
The survey reports that about 40% of editors have rejected papers solely because they do not conform to APA style. This paper is impeccably formatted, as
might be expected given its subject. It helps why APA style must be mastered if you expect to write professionally. APA101 makes repeated reference to the
paper; it should be available online. You will need a copy for the final lesson.
Taylor, B. N. (1995). Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI) (NIST Special Publication 811,
1995 Edition). Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology. Available from the NIST Web site, http://physics.nist.gov
The NIST Guide by Barry Taylor is the standard reference for using the International System of Units by the government of the United States.
Optional Reading
Gopen, G. D., & Swan, J. A. (1990, November-December). The science of scientific writing [Electronic version].
American Scientist. Available from the American Scientist Online Web site, http://www.americanscientist.org
"If the reader is to grasp what the writer means, the writer must understand what the reader needs." Read how to compose clear scientific English. About 10
pages. APA 101 is about style as presentation (see lesson 1). This paper is about style as expression.
Fifth Edition! The APA Publication Manual is the commanding guide in psychology, and found in other fields ranging from
education to literature. The new edition shows how to format papers (40 pp., 15 with diagrams), expands coverage of tables and figures
(50 pp.), adds Web sources to the 95 references sources covered (75 pp.), and refines the best section on avoiding bias found
anywhere (15 pp.). The spiral bound edition lies open to the page you select, not a trivial convenience!
Amazon.com
Taylor, Barry N. 1995. Guide for the Use of the International System of Units (SI).
Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Special Publication
811. 80 pp. http://physics.nist.gov/Document/sp811.pdf
Free Style Guide for Numbers. The NIST is the official representative of the United States before the Convention du Metre
which in turn is the body that defines the International System of Units (SI) for the world scientific community. A free 80 page style guide
is available from their website. This link (click on the title above) is directly to the document which is in Adobe PDF format. To download
rather than display the document click the right mouse button on the link and select "Save Target As."
Houghton, P. M., Houghton, T. J., & Peters, M. F. (2005). APA: The Easy Way!. Port Huron, MI:
Baker College. Link to Amazon.com: (Paperback $10.95).
APA Easy? This handbook is a quick and simplified guide to the APA writing style. It was developed as a condensed version of the
official APA Publication Manual and designed to be utilized as a supplement to the actual guide. One reviewer at Amazon.com
writes: "APA The Easy Way is a godsend. It takes the pain of dealing with the APA Manual, cuts through the BS and tells you
the 'meat' of what you really need to know to conform to this style of writing. All-in-all a very simple and easy-to-use guide that helps
take the sting out of writing APA style" (Fronckowiak, 2005).
Amazon.com
APA101 Fall 2007. APA101 is an introductory course to using the style of the American Psychological Association for research papers. It is a serious
course requiring study and application. It may serve as a lesson plan to introduce the style to college students, or as a guide to self-study. The course
is provided free without entanglements, and may be used without express permission. Figures, tables, lessons, and parts of lessons
may be used for instructional purposes without express permission provided the source is cited. The copyright to all materials presented on the website is held
by Doc Scribe.
The course is subject to change and further development. Therefore, it is recommended that you link directly to this page rather than mirror the course on you
own server. Updates occur as time allows, typically in the late summer with the start of the school year, and after the Christmas break. This is the first edition
of APA101 and revisions can be expected.
The APA Publication Manual (2001) provides a chapter on preparing papers for other than publication, what it terms final manuscripts (chap.
6). APA101 follows the instructions in this chapter and interprets the intent of the chapter as it affects page formatting. This differs slightly from the
copy manuscripts that are the wider subject of the Publication Manual. Instructors wishing to use APA101 in their course should alert other faculty of
the changes to avoid unfairly penalizing students who apply them. A document has been prepared to help communicate these changes.
Download: APA Style Final Manuscripts (PDF 75 kb).
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Note: Begin a sentence with an abbreviation rarely, and only to avoid clumsy writing (APA, 2001, sec. 3.29). When possible, use a circumlocution. For
example, write "The style of the APA is quite conventional," not "APA style is quite conventional." This rule is largely ignored on these webpages, but do not
follow this terrible example in your own writing!
What's in the APA Manual? At first glance, the APA Publication Manual appears a rather formidable tome, packed with 467 pages of rules
and instructions. This is a lot to learn and study. But on closer examination we find that the APA Manual is something of a lightweight when compared with
other major style guides. There are several reasons for this:
1. There is a lot of white space on each page.
2. The APA Manual is focused entirely on preparing research papers (not books) for publication.
3. Only about half the Manual is devoted to style as a mode of presentation as distinct from style as a mode of expression.
4. Many of the rules are conventions in the language, simply repeated in the Manual, for example, how to use commas.
Each of these issues will be addressed in turn. Then APA101 will examine the topics that journal editors find give writers problems.
Table 1
Research Style Guide Page-Line Content Analysis
Style Guide Pages Lines/Page Adjusted
AMA (American Medical Association Manual of Style, 1997) 670 52 (100%) 670
Our thesis is confirmed. The APA Manual has fewer lines per page than any of these other major style guides. Adjusting the page count for content by
this technique, the APA Manual has less than half the content of the American Medical Association Manual of Style (1997), and just slightly more than a third
of the content of the venerable Chicago Manual of Style (2003). It has about the same content as the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research
Papers (2003).
One explanation for this shortfall is that both the APA Manual and the MLA Handbook are focused on research papers, the AMA and Chicago manuals are
both focused on the publication of books. There are other content issues that also help explain the differences, for example, the AMA Manual has a vast section
on medical terminology and the Chicago Manual is a reference to both American English usage as well as to Chicago style. The key point is that APA style is
fairly compact and concise. It is not that difficult to learn.
If the APA Manual put as much content on a page as the MLA Handbook it would have the same number of pages. The paperback MLA Handbook sells
for $18, the paperback version of the APA Manual for $27. Is the white space a marketing gimmick to add pages--but not content--to squeeze an extra $9 out
of you? Perhaps. Perhaps too, they simply want to make it easier to read.
Style: Presentation or Expression?
Style has two meanings. Style as it is understood in APA101 is about presenting the content of a research paper in the style of the American
Psychological Association. The course does not address the style of expression: the grammar, sentence structure, paragraph composition, and the like.
The distinction is helpful, since only about half the APA Manual addresses style as presentation. This is revealed by examining the table of contents of the
APA Manual, 5th ed. (2001).
Table 2
Contents: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fifth Edition
Chapter 1: Content and Organization of a Manuscript (pp. 3-30).
This is a chapter about the content of a research paper as distinct from its presentation.
Chapter 2: Expressing Ideas and Reducing Bias in Language (pp. 31-76).
The section on Guidelines to Reduce Bias in Language is excellent, but again deals with content, not presentation.
Chapter 3: APA Editorial Style [Text Rules] (pp. 77-214).
Text rules govern how you present text on the page, word-by-word and line-by-line. Chapter subheadings include: Punctuation,
Capitalization, Abbreviations; Headings and Series, Quotations, Numbers, and Statistical and Mathematical
Copy. The sections on Tables and Figures are covered under page formatting in APA101; the section on Reference Citations in
Text is covered under documentation.
Chapter 4: Reference List [Documentation] (pp. 215-282).
This is always the most heavily thumbed chapter in any used copy of the APA Manual. The chapter presents sample references, 95 in
all, for documenting almost any source. This is the heart of APA style, and the manner of presenting references is unique to the style.
Chapter 5: Manuscript Preparation [Page Formatting] and Sample Papers ... for Publication (pp. 283-320).
This chapter explains how to format a page of text for publication--what margins to set, how to number pages, what typeface (font) to
use, how to format headings and subheadings, and so on. If you are drafting a paper for class use or a thesis, these instructions must be
revised. The revisions are (mostly) covered in the next chapter. Page formatting is an essential part of presenting a paper in APA style.
Chapter 6: Material Other Than Journal Articles (pp. 321-330).
This is a very important chapter for students preparing papers for classes or seminars, or writing a thesis or dissertation. The APA
Publication Manual is focused on that, that is, publication. If you are not writing for publication then a number of things change.
This course, APA101, is focused on class papers as instructed in this chapter.
Chapter 7: Manuscript Acceptance and Production (pp. 331-344).
Your paper has been accepted for publication. This chapter outlines the bureaucratic gauntlet you must run to get in print. This chapter
has nothing to do with APA style.
Chapter 8: Journals Program of the American Psychological Association (pp. 345-362).
This is another chapter on procedural issues in the publication of APA journals. This chapter has nothing to do with APA style.
Chapter 9: Bibliography (pp. 363-377).
If you peruse this brief chapter the most notable thing is how old many of the references are, often dating to the 1970s and 1980s.
Appendixes A-E: Instructions/Checklists-Ethical Standards-Legal Citations (pp. 379-412). The checklists may be
of some interest when a paper is finally ready for submission. The References to Legal Materials appendix belongs with chapter
four.
The first two chapters focus on the content and organization of a paper, on the expression of ideas. There is nothing in these chapters that is unique to
APA psychology as distinct from research in education or sociology. Chapters 7 and 8 are unique to APA psychology, but have nothing to do with APA style
since they are focused on the administrative process of publication. The bibliography and appendixes (Note: APA writes appendixes not appendices) also
are not central to APA style, although Appendix D: References to Legal Material really belongs with chapter 4, since offers instructions of
formatting references to legal materials.
Presentation chapters. Most of the material concerning the APA style of presentation is found in chapters 3 (text rules), 4 (references), and 5
(page formatting). These chapters amount to a little more than half the content of the APA Manual. However, chapter 4 often restates rules that are part of
the English language, for example, how to use commas. APA style complements the language, it does not generally contradict it.
The Boundaries of Style: Language Rules vs. APA Rules
Conventional? APA style is quite conventional. That is, APA style has rules for the same issues as other styles. For example, in APA style you are instructed
to write out numbers below 10 as words unless they are precise measurements (APA, 2001, sec. 3.43). In contrast, the MLA (Modern Language
Association) Handbook for Writers of Research Papers instructs authors to write out numbers when they can be expressed in one or two words
(Gibaldi, 2003, sec. 3.5.2). These are different rules for the same question, when do you use numerals for numbers, and when do you use words? It is possible
to pose the same question for other styles and get different rules. The English language presents no decisive rule for using numerals versus words. Therefore,
style guides make their own. But when the language does offer definite rules, style guides often repeat them, and this can cause problems.
APA Style or English Language? An example of a rule that belongs to the language, as distinct from a particular style, is the requirement to
capitalize proper nouns--words that name specific places, persons, or events. European languages other than English often leave these words lowercased.
The APA Manual restates the common rules followed in English (APA, 2001, sec. 3.14).
While this is simply an aid to the reader, many of these rules have become second nature and may not be readily articulated. For example, all style guides
caution against beginning a sentence with numerals, for example, "439 numbered pages comprise the APA Manual." We have all been taught to write
this sentence: "The APA Manual is comprised of 439 pages." When was the last time you saw a complete sentence begin with a numeral? Have you ever seen
a sentence that began with a numeral? (Advertising copy and newspaper headlines might begin with numerals, but examples in print are so uncommon I could
not find one for this lesson.)
Much of our understanding of the language is known intuitively. When conventions are violated the usage feels awkward, although we may not be able to
explain exactly what's wrong. For example, "Laughing, John at Betty's joke is." What's wrong with this? How do you know? How would you rewrite it? Can
you articulate the grammatical rules it offends? Some things you just know. This sounds like something Yoda in Star Wars might say. (Some languages put
the verb at the end of a sentence.)
There is no point to studying what you already know. APA101 will not ask you to do so.
Table 3
Problems in Using APA Style: A Survey of Journal Editors
Note. Values are the mean of reported scores on a 5-point scale (1 = none, 5 = a lot). A
frequency score of 3 indicates a fairly common occurrence; an influence score of 2 indicates
some influence on the decision to accept or reject a paper. Adapted from "The Elements of
(APA) Style: A Survey of Psychology Journal Editors," by B. W. Brewer, C. B. Scherzer, J. L.
Van Raalte, A. J. Petitpas, and M. B. Andersen, 2001, American Psychologist, 56, p.
266.
The results indicate notable problems with references, tables and figures, and the use of mathematics and statistics. There is no mention of problems
with capitalization, spelling, or the use of abbreviations, all suborned under the heading Text Rules in APA101. In contrast, the problem areas are all with
the presentation of the more complex elements of APA style. The APA Manual is very specific about the format of references to 95 different sources, to
the presentation of tables and figures, and to the presentation of numbers, statistics, and mathematical formulas. Two lessons in APA101 are devoted to
references, and one each to tables and figures, and numbers and statistics.
Comments by the editors' also revealed problems with page formatting. The study reported "that deviations in . . . title page and abstract and (document
format were . . . observed most frequently and that deviations from APA style in (document) format were among those noted as having the strongest adverse
impact on editorial decisions" (Brewer et al., 2001, p. 266).
The review questions ask you to restate the basic ideas presented in the lesson. The intent of this lesson is to place APA style in perspective and
context, introduce the APA Manual, and identify those parts of the Manual and style that are the focus of the course and explain why they merit that attention.
Q1. How does the APA Manual compare with other style manuals in the amount of content?
Q2. Style can refer to a mode of expression, or a mode of presentation. What is the difference and why is it relevant?
Q3. A style (as a mode of presentation) can be organized around three topics. What are these topics and what sort of things do they cover?
Q4. APA style complements, but does not replace, the rules of usage in the English language. What does this mean and why is it relevant?
Q5. Journal editors have identified three areas of difficulty in using APA style. What are they?
Q6. The APA Manual draws a distinction between copy manuscripts and final manuscripts. What is this distinction and why is it relevant?
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.).
Washington, DC: Author.
Required: Chapter 6, "Material Other Than Journal Articles" (9 pp.). This chapter is new in the fifth edition. It explains how to go about formatting a paper
for other than publication. While all these instructions are part of APA101 and the various guides on this website, it is helpful if you read this chapter for
yourself. The APA Manual presents a sample paper (Chapter 5), but it is formatted for publication. There is nothing in the Manual other than chapter 6
(and this website) to guide you through a class paper. Browse the rest of the Manual while you are at it. The IMRAD structure (Introduction, Method,
Results, Analysis, Discussion) is basic to research papers (IMRD in APA style), see chapter 1.
Required: Chapter 2, "Guidelines to Reduce Bias in Language" (9 pp.). Prejudice is embedded in everyday language. For example, "We studied 50
disabled American Indians." The APA would have you write this: "we studied 50 American Indians (12 Jicarilla Apache, 32 Navajo, and 6 Zuni) with
disabilities." Persons are not diseased or disabled, they are people afflicted by disease or disability. American Indians comprise over 500 ethnic communities;
the term alone is not specific enough to be meaningful. If you are writing in APA style these are mistakes that reveal your ignorance.
Brewer, B. W., Scherzer, C. B., Van Raalte, J. L., Petitpas, A. J., & Andersen, M. B. (2001). The elements of (APA) style:
A survey of psychology journal editors. American Psychologist, 56, 266-267.
Required. This is the paper cited in the section on "Problem Areas in Using APA Style." It is well written, in IMRD format (but without the headings), and
illustrates a variety of style features, most of which will be covered in this course. It is the focus of the exercise in lesson 4, and central to the review in lesson
8.
Gopen, G. D., & Swan, J. A. (1990, November-December). The science of scientific writing [Electronic version].
American Scientist. Available from the American Scientist Online Web site, http://www.americanscientist.org
Recommended. This article is about style as expression. The catch phrase: "If the reader is to grasp what the writer means, the writer must understand
what the reader needs." Read how to compose clear scientific English. There is nothing better. It is also available in PDF format from Doc Scribe: The
Science of Scientific Writing (90 KB).
References
American Psychological Association. (1994). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (4th ed.).
Washington, DC: Author.
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.).
Washington, DC: Author.
Brewer, B. W., Scherzer, C. B., Van Raalte, J. L., Petitpas, A. J., & Andersen, M. B. (2001). The elements of (APA) style:
A survey of psychology journal editors. American Psychologist, 56, 266-267.
Gibaldi, J. (2003). MLA handbook for writers of research papers (6th ed.). New York: MLA.
Iverson, C. Flanagin, A. Fontanarosa, P. B., Glass, R. M., Glitman, P., Lantz, J. C., et al. (1997). American Medical
Association manual of style (9th ed.). Baltimore, MD: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
University of Chicago Press. (2003). The Chicago manual of style (15th ed.). Chicago: Author.
Fifth Edition. The APA Publication Manual is the commanding guide in psychology, and found in other fields ranging from
education to literature. The new edition shows how to format papers (40 pp., 15 with diagrams), expands coverage of tables and figures
(50 pp.), adds Web sources to the 95 references sources covered (75 pp.), and refines the best section on avoiding bias found
anywhere (15 pp.). The spiral bound edition lies open to the page you select, not a trivial convenience!
Amazon.com
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AMA Guide | APA Guide | ASA Guide | CBE Biostyle Guide | Chicago Guide | MLA Guide
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● Amazon. ● APA101● 1. Intro● 2. Refs● 3. Sources● 4. Pages● 5. Tables● 6. Text● 7. Stats● 8. Review● APA Home
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Author-date style. APA references follow the author-date style or system, the name derived from the text citation in the form: (Author, Date). Other styles
also uses this system including the Chicago Manual of Style where it is called the reference list (RL) system, and the Council of Science Editors style,
where it is called the name-year system.
Citation. The term is used for the notation in the text that refers the reader to a reference in the reference list at the end of the paper. The APA Manual refers
to these as reference citations in text. APA101 generally uses the term text citation.
Element. These are the parts of a reference: the author(s), date of publication, title, publisher and page numbers, and availability information. These parts of
a reference remain largely consistent in APA style, whatever the source being referenced.
Reference. A reference provides sufficient information to allow any source to be accessed by a reader. A source that cannot be found, such as a lost Web
page, cannot be referenced.
Source. This is the actual document--a journal article, book, report, Web page, or whatever--being cited and referenced.
The author-date style is so named because references begin by listing the authors of a source followed by the date of publication. The text citations, too,
gives the author and date of the source, and just the author and date (unless a page number is cited for a quotation). Thus the citation in the text, for
example, (Bates, 1995), connects with the reference in the reference list which begins: Bates, J. K. (1995).
Citations and references are (almost) always paired. You cannot reference something you do not cite, and generally, vice versa (an exception is made for
personal communications, which are cited but not referenced). Nor can you reference material that does not exist or is no longer retrievable. If a Web page is
no longer available when you finish your paper you cannot cite and reference it (from personal experience I know that editors do check!). When using the
APA author-date system reference what you cite, cite what you reference, and makes sure all sources are available.
There are just two other styles in addition to the author-date system. These are the bibliography style and the endnote/footnote style. The bibliography style
is used by the Modern Language Association. The endnote system is used in medicine, and footnotes are used in history. APA style makes no provision for
a bibliography, that is, a list of interesting sources that were not cited in the text. The style does make provision for referencing some sources in footnotes, but only
in very rare circumstances (e.g., with tables).
References are composed of elements. In APA style there are four basic elements found in all references. The basic elements are: author, date, title,
and publication information (publisher). Additional information is added on as needed. For example, the retrieval statement has come into use with the advent of
the Internet. This is the part of the reference where the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) goes for online sources. Other add-on statements may indicate where
a document might be found, or when it was originally published. These statements will be addressed in lesson 3. Consistencies in the elements, from one type
of source to another, reveal the underlying logic to the APA reference style. Without this understanding APA references can appear to be a mass of arbitrary
detail. With this understanding most APA references are easier to compose.
The goal in the process of documentation is to link an idea or quote in the text to a reference that has enough information to allow the reader to find the
source. Books and journal articles are the standard fare of research writing, but there are many other sources that might be cited. It may be necessary to
add additional information to the reference to enable the reader to find it, such as the URL (Uniform Resource Locator), or even the street address of the publisher
of a report that might not find its way to most libraries. APA style makes provision for these sources, too. The key question when composing references: Can
the reader find the source?
APA Rule. All authors' names go last name first, followed by initials, in the order they are presented in the source. With two or more authors place
an ampersand before the last author; more than six list the first six plus et al. If the author is an organization give the full name. If no author, start the
reference with the title (not with "Anonymous").
A paper cited in lesson 1 gave this list of authors: Britton W. Brewer, Carrie B. Scherzer, Judy L. Van Raalte, Albert J. Petitpas, Mark B. Andersen. There are
five authors in the list so all are given in the reference, and the last is preceeded by an ampersand (&). (The ampersand is an APA trademark!) The reference begins:
Brewer, B. W., Scherzer, C. B., Van Raalte, J. L., Petitpas, A. J., & Andersen, M. B. (2001). The elements of (APA) style:
A survey of psychology journal editors. American Psychologist, 56, 266-267.
Each name is presented last name first, followed by first and middle initials (when they are available). An ampersand is placed before the last author. It is
customary when placing initials after a name to separate the name and initials with a comma (the initials are in apposition to the name), and to separate all
the words in a list with commas. This is standard English usage. It gets a bit busy if there is a "Jr." or "III" in the name, which then becomes Smith, S. R.,
Jr., Jones, F. M., III, and so forth. When listing a series of nouns it is also standard English usage to place a comma after each item. For example, "The
menu included apple, oranges, and lemons." APA style follows the same convention.
Note. British [and pretentious U.S.] usage sometimes drops the last comma, the comma before "and lemons." The Chicago Manual of Style does not
support this usage, citing even Fowler as well as other authorities (CMS, 2003, sec. 6.19).
Note. APA style would have you space once after all punctuation (except in abbreviations like a.m.) (APA, 2001, sec. 5.11). The period-comma pair after
initials and other abbreviations, where there is no space between them, is an exception.
Text citations. Text citations are placed in parentheses, just last names and given (no initials), but with standard usage of commas and the ampersand.
The objective is to allow the reader to unambiguously link the citation to the reference. Alas, APA style is showing its age, and can't agree with itself. The first
six authors are listed in references (if there are more than six), but just the first five are listed in citations. Either rule serves equally well. This is a petty detail
to remember. There are also a couple of tricks you should know about.
APA Rule. Text citations list the last names of up to five authors to a reference and the full names of group authors (no abbreviations). With two or
more authors place an ampersand before the last author; follow standard rules for the use of commas. If there are more than five authors give the first
plus et al.
Citation: (Brewer, Scherzer, Van Raalte, Petitpas, & Andersen, 2001). Next citation (Trick 1): (Brewer et al., 2001).
Trick 1. When there are three to five authors to a reference, all three, four, or five, are listed in the first citation. Thereafter, just the lead author is given
followed by et al. In the example above all five authors are listed. But the next citation is (Brewer, et al., 2001).
Trick 2. A comparable trick is used with group authors. The first citation follows this form: (American Psychological Association [APA], 2001, sec 3.43).
The acronym APA (technically, it is an initialism) is inserted after the full name of the organization in square brackets. Thereafter, just the acronym is used:
(APA, 2001, sec 3.43).
Note. These tricks can cause confusion. If the first and subsequent citations are close together, and used frequently thereafter, then the reader is not likely to
be confused. But if you cite the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) early in your paper, then again 20 pages later, the reader may
not remember what ICMJE stands for. This is less of a problem with a list of names. But, while they are given as rules in the APA Manual, they are really
tricks intended to improve the readability of the text by not cluttering it up with long-winded citations. Their use is governed by the overriding demand for clarity.
If instructions like this confuse the reader rather than add clarity, then don't follow them. That's why APA101 labels them as "tricks."
APA Rule. Dates are placed in parentheses after the author(s). If the month or month and day are to be noted, these follow the year, after a
comma, in American month-day format. All full dates in APA style, such as the retrieval date for an online document, follow American month-day-year
format.
Wilson, E. O. (1998, March). Back from chaos. Atlantic Monthly, 281, 41-62.
Goleman, D. (1991, October 24). Battle of insurers vs. therapists. New York Times, pp. D1, D9.
Note. Only the year is included in text citations: (Wilson, 1998; Goleman, 1991).
APA Rule. Titles of free-standing works (nonperiodicals) are set in italics---books, reports, Web sites, and the names of journals. Parts of works---
articles in periodicals; chapters in edited books---are referenced in plain text without quotation marks. Use sentence capitalization for all titles
except the names of periodicals (format as proper nouns).
Berry, D. S., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1993). Nonverbal and verbal emotional expression and health. Psychotherapy
and Psychosomatics, 59, 11-19.
Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (1995). The craft of research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Stephan, W. G. (1985). Intergroup relations. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology
(3rd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 599-658). New York: Random House.
The last example, Stephan (1985), is a reference to an article or chapter in an edited book. The title of the chapter is in plain text; the title of the book is set in italics.
Capitalization comes in two basic forms: heading capitalization and sentence capitalization. Sentence capitalization, as the name implies, is
the capitalization used in sentences: the first letter of the first word is capitalized, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns. Heading capitalization
capitalizes the first letter of every word, with some exceptions. This style is used for some text headings and when noting titles in the text. APA style has a rule
for doing this that will be presented in lesson 4.
Titles in the text are capitalized (in heading caps, see rule in lesson 4). Titles of books and other nonperiodicals are set in italics as they are in references.
Title of articles and parts of works are capitalized and placed inside quotation marks. Quotation marks are also used when a short title must be used in a
text citation. Quotation marks are not used in APA references. For example, "Intergroup Relations" is the title of a chapter by Walter G. Stephan in
The Handbook of Social Psychology ("Intergroup Relations," 1985).
APA Rule. The place of publication and publisher are given in references to free-standing works (nonperiodicals); the volume and page numbers
for articles in journals or magazines; the full date and page numbers for articles in newspapers. Both publisher and page numbers are given in
references to articles or chapters in books.
Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (1995). The craft of research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Brewer, B. W., Scherzer, C. B., Van Raalte, J. L., Petitpas, A. J., & Andersen, M. B. (2001). The elements of
(APA) style: A survey of psychology journal editors. American Psychologist, 56, 266-267.
Goleman, D. (1991, October 24). Battle of insurers vs. therapists. New York Times, pp. D1, D9.
Stephan, W. G. (1985). Intergroup relations. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology
(3rd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 599-658). New York: Random House.
Books, and especially journal articles (the first two above), make up the bulk of references in the research literature. In the section above on titles it
was pointed out that APA style places the titles of free-standing works in italics. This may be the title of a book, edited book, or the name of a journal, magazine
or newspaper. The volume, issue, and page number information immediately follows, if relevant. For books, the place of publication and publisher is then added,
as if an afterthought.
Note. There is no obvious explanation as to why APA style adds the abbreviation "pp." before the page numbers in newspapers and edited books, but not
journals and magazines. This abbreviation is also used in all text citations when page numbers are cited (as when citing a direct quote).
Citations: (Booth, Colomb, & Williams, 1995, p. 123); (Brewer et al., 2001, pp. 266-267); (Goleman, 1991, p. D1);
APA Rule. Documents directly accessed on the Internet add a retrieval statement in the form: Retrieved access date in month-day, year
format, from name of the Web site if relevant, URL. Documents accessed indirectly through a Web site follow the form: Available from name
of the Web site if relevant, URL. No period is added to a URL.
American Psychological Association (2001). Electronic references: Reference examples for electronic source materials.
Retrieved November 21, 2001, from the American Psychological Association Web site: http://www.apastyle.org/
elecsource.html
Beers, M. H., & Berkow, R. (Eds.). (1999). The Merck manual of diagnosis and therapy (17th ed.). Retrieved January 17, 2003,
from http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/
Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group. (2002). Effect of Hypericum perforatum (St John's Wort) in major depressive disorder:
A randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 287, 1807-1814. Available from the Journal of the American Medical Association Web site,
http://www.jama.org
Note. There is no period at the end of these retrieval/availability statements. APA reasoning is that a period might confuse the reader, thinking it is part of the
URL. Most people today are too savvy about the Internet to make this mistake, but that's the way the APA wants it. APA style considers Web a proper noun,
and Web site two words. (The convention has become website.) Use either, depending on how "APA correct" you wish to be, but be consistent. Do not
switch from spelling to spelling anywhere in your manuscript. Long URLs may not fit on a line. It is best to break them after a slash or before a period.
Apply the Rules. Format the following attributions as APA references and citations based on the rules given in this lesson. Exercises may draw on the
basic rules, notes, and examples, and may ask you to reason your way to the correct result (trick exercises). They are not intended to be easy,
E1. The noted French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu collaborated with Jean-Claude Passeron to publish their influential 1977 book, Reproduction in
Education, Society and Culture. The English language version was published in London by the Russell Sage Foundation.
E2. Trick exercise! William Strunk, Jr., wrote the original edition of the Elements of Style, then little more than a pamphlet, in 1918. It was required reading
in his course at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, where he also lived. The author published this first edition himself. It was subsequently revived and revised
in 1959, and is still in print today.
E3. Trick exercise! It was long thought that science developed in a steady cumulative state. But Thomas S. Kuhn argued that science reached tipping points
that cascaded into new paradigms. A second edition his thesis, The Structure of Scientific Revolutions was published in 1970 by the University of
Chicago Press.
E4. Trick exercise! The New England Journal of Medicine published a provocative analysis entitled "The Quality of Health Care Delivered to Adults in
the United States" in 2003 (volume 348, pages 2635-45). The authors were Elizabeth A. McGlynn, Ph.D., Steven M. Asch, M.D., M.P.H., John Adams, Ph.D.,
Joan Keesey, B.A., Jennifer Hicks, M.P.H., Ph.D., Alison DeCristofaro, M.P.H., and Eve A. Kerr, M.D., M.P.H.
E5. "Ethical Issues Concerning Research in Complementary and Alternative Medicine" was the title of an article that appeared in JAMA (journal of the
American Medical Association) in 2004 (volume 291, pp. 599-604). The authors Franklin G. Miller, PhD; Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD; Donald L. Rosenstein, MD;
and Stephen E. Straus, MD.
E6. Trick exercise! The Homeland Security Council announced their first "national strategy for pandemic influenza" in a monograph posted on the
Whitehouse Web site [http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/pandemic-influenza.html] on November 1, 2005. You accessed it on November 2, 2005.
Answers to Exercises
Fifth Edition. The APA Publication Manual is the commanding guide in psychology, and found in other fields ranging from
education to literature. The new edition shows how to format papers (40 pp., 15 with diagrams), expands coverage of tables and figures
(50 pp.), adds Web sources to the 95 references sources covered (75 pp.), and refines the best section on avoiding bias found
anywhere (15 pp.). The spiral bound edition lies open to the page you select, not a trivial convenience!
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Article or Paper? A distinction is made between articles as published papers or manuscripts, and papers as unpublished manuscripts. This distinction
is found in the APA Manual.
Host/Sponsor. Some Web pages are found on very large and complex sites, such as a government or university Web sites. When this is the case the
specific department hosting or sponsoring the page is noted in the retrieval statement.
PDF Facsimile. Adobe's portable document format (PDF) has become the standard for electronic publication. PDF files can be exact facsimiles of their
print counterparts.
Paged by issue. Some periodicals, mostly magazines and newspapers, start every issue at page one.
Paged by volume. Most journals page issues continuously from issue to issue through a volume, which usually spans a year, but may not coincide with
a calendar year.
The APA Manual provides sample references to 95 different sources. Many of these are minor variations that have been covered by the rules presented
in lesson 1. For example, the rule for listing one author to a work to six or more. The APA Manual devotes four examples to this rule while covering a couple
of other details in the process. Some of the sources are extremely rare in research publications, such as tracks on a music CD or messages posting to
electronic mailing lists. It is useful to know that the Manual has examples for such a varied array of sources, should you need them. There are some things to note:
APA style uses standard punctuation in references. Each element---author, date, title, publisher---ends with a period (not URLs). Commas
follow standard usage in references and citations. Space once after most punctuation.
APA references have a passion for parentheses!
The goal is to provide enough information to enable the reader to locate the source. Follow the basic rules and satisfy this goal to apply APA style effectively.
pages. Some journals charge for access to articles which are protected behind firewalls. Others use database engines to retrieve documents, which may
have changing URLs. APA style makes provision for all these possibilities.
Fauci, A. S. (2006a). Pandemic influenza threat and preparedness. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 12, 73-77.
Fauci, A. S. (2006b). Pandemic influenza threat and preparedness [Electronic version]. Emerging Infectious
Diseases, 12, 73-77.
Fauci, A. S. (2006c). Pandemic influenza threat and preparedness. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 12, 73-77.
Available from the Centers for Disease Control Web site, www.cdc.gov/eid
Fauci, A. S. (2006d). Pandemic influenza threat and preparedness. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 12, 73-77.
Retrieved April 30, 2006 from www.cdc.gov/eid/05-0983.htm
Citations: (Fauci, 2006a); (Fauci, 2006b); (Fauci, 2006c); (Fauci, 2006d).
The first example is to the print version, the second to the electronic facsimile, a PDF file. The designation [Electronic version] is added in brackets after the title
to indicate this. In the third example the article is available on this Website, accessible through an index, perhaps after paying a fee. The URL does not lead to
the specific document, so no retrieval date is noted. Finally, the article may also be available as a Web page which may differ from the print or PDF versions.
This calls for a full retrieval statement. These variations are all common sense. The print version carries the most authority and credibility in research; the
PDF facsimile is nearly equivalent. Web pages are less reliable since they are more subject to hacking, manipulation, and change.
Multiple works by the same author published in the same year are designated by placing a lowercase letter after the date.
Magazines
Wilson, E. O. (1998, March). Back from chaos. Atlantic Monthly, 281, 41–62.
Pricing terror: America's government still has role to play in insuring against a big terrorist attack.
(2005, November 19-25). The Economist, 377, 45.
Citations: (Wilson, 1998); ("Pricing Terror," 2005).
Magazines are like journals paged by issue, however, the month or full date is a more useful designation of the issue than an issue number, even when it
is available. The second example is to a news magazine published weekly. The author of the article is not given so the title is placed in the author position.
The citation to this article uses just the first few word of the title to avoid cluttering up the text. Titles in the text, whether article or book titles, whether in a citation
or in the text, are capitalized in standard English usage (heading caps), and in APA style.
Newspapers
Goleman, D. (1991, October 24). Battle of insurers vs. therapists: Cost control pitted against proper care.
New York Times, pp. D1, D9.
Citation: (Goleman, 1991).
Newspapers sometimes have strange page numbers. As a result, APA style insist in putting the abbreviation "pp." before all page numbers in references
to newspaper articles, whether strange or not (the abbreviation "p." is used for citing single pages). Otherwise, references to these sources follow the same
general form as for other periodicals, including those reproduced on Web pages.
Editions other than the first note that fact by placing the edition number in (who would guess?) parentheses, trailing the title. In addition to editions in
succeeding numbers, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and so on, revised editions (Rev. ed.) and abridged editions (Abr. ed.) are common.
Compilations of articles by various authors are common. Usually a reference is to a specific article in the book. This reference format is covered below. The
entire compilation can also be referenced. In this case, the compiler or editor for the volume is placed in the author position with a note in parentheses (who
would ever guess?) trailing. Notes in parentheses almost always start with a capital letter, the noteworthy exception is the abbreviation pp.
Parts of Edited Books or Compilations
These are among the more complex references found in any style. Both the author of the article or chapter must be noted as well as the editor of the
compilation. The title of the article, and of the volume, must be given, along with the page numbers in the volume.
Alderson, A. S., & Corsaro, W. A. (2000). Cross-cultural analysis. In E. F. Borgatta (Editor-in-Chief) &
R. J. V. Montomery (Managing Editor), Encyclopedia of sociology (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 546-553).
New York: Macmillan Reference USA.
Beers, M. H., & Berkow, R. (1999). Mood disorders. In M. H. Beers & R. Berkow (Eds.), The Merck manual
of diagnosis and therapy (17th ed., sec. 15, chap. 18). Retrieved January 17, 2003, from
http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/section15/chapter189/189a.htm
Bourdieu, P. (1993). The market of symbolic goods. In R. Johnson (Ed.), The field of cultural production:
Essays in art and literature (pp. 112-141). New York: Columbia University Press. (Original work
published 1983)
Stephan, W. G. (1985). Intergroup relations. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.), The handbook of social
psychology (3rd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 599-658). New York: Random House.
Citations: (Alderson & Corsaro, 2000); (Beers & Berkow, 1999); (Bourdieu, 1983/1993); (Stephan, 1985).
Reversed? All names in the author position in references go last name first. Names of editors (and translators) not in the author position go in their normal
order. The Chicago Manual of Style follows the same practice so it has legitimacy, but it is one more detail that simply must be remembered. The names go
in the order they are presented in the source, not necessarily in alphabetical order. Again, the APA passion for parentheses is fully evidenced. The
abbreviation (Eds.) follows the name of the editors, the edition, volume, and page numbers are placed in parentheses after the title. The reference to Bourdieu is
a reprint, a fact noted in parentheses at the end of the reference.
Most references to works in edited books will cite just page numbers. The need to cite editions and volumes is not too common except with reference
works such as a encyclopedias. It is rare to see the title of an editor, as in Alderson and Corsaro (2000), cited in a reference, although the practice is covered in
the APA Manual (2001, sec. 4.16, ex. 36).
List several works by the same author chronologically, the oldest first, the most recent last.
When there are several works by the same author published in the same year, add lowercase letters to the date in chronological order, oldest first, as best
you can ascertain it (list July before December).
Two general features of APA references and citations are emphasized in this lesson: (a) the passion for parentheses, and (b) the use of
conventional punctuation. The lesson has also explored the more common variants of the basic form. Most of these are rare in practice where 90% of
references follow one of the basic forms.
The following references are formatted in Chicago bibliography style. Reformat them in APA style and add the text citation.
1. Arendt, Hannah. The Human Condition. 1958. Reprint, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998.
2. Barry, John M. The Site of Origin of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic and Its Public Health Implications. Journal of Translational Medicine 2, no. 1 (January 20,
2004): 3-7. http://www.translational-medicine.com/content/2/1/3 (accessed November 18, 2005).
3. Erikson, Robert S., Gerald C. Wright Jr., and John McIver. Political Parties, Public Opinion, and State Policy in the United States. American Political Science
Review 83 (1989): 729-50.
4. Feds Close Vail Logging Road. Colorado Daily (Boulder), July 29, 1999, 2.
5. Hemingway, Ernest. The Big Two-Hearted River. In The Nick Adams Stories, edited by Philip Young, 159-80. New York: Bantam Books, 1973.
6. Jonsson, Patrick. A Bill of Rights, Looted Long Ago is Stolen Back. The Christian Science Monitor, April 22, 2003. http://www.csmonitor.com/2003/0422/
p01s01 (accessed April 27, 2003).
7. Kelly, John D., and Martha Kaplan. Ritual Studies. Annual Review of Research in Anthropology 19 (1990): 119-50.
8. McFadden, Maggie. Weaving the Cloth of International Sisterhood. Unpublished paper presented at the National Women's Studies Association conference,
Minneapolis, June 1988.
9. McNeary, Stephen A. Where Fire Came Down: Social and Economic Life of the Niska. Ph.D. dissertation, Bryn Mawr College, 1976.
10. Morrissey, Elizabeth. Work and Poverty in Metro and Nonmetro Areas. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1991. Rural Development Research
Report No. 81.
11. Purdue University Online Writing Lab. Using American Psychological Association (APA) format, 2003. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/handouts/print/research/
r_apa.html (accessed February 18, 2003)
12. University of Chicago Press. The Chicago Manual of Style. 15th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Answers to Exercises
Fifth Edition. The APA Publication Manual is the commanding guide in psychology, and found in other fields ranging from
education to literature. The new edition shows how to format papers (40 pp., 15 with diagrams), expands coverage of tables and figures
(50 pp.), adds Web sources to the 95 references sources covered (75 pp.), and refines the best section on avoiding bias found
anywhere (15 pp.). The spiral bound edition lies open to the page you select, not a trivial convenience!
Amazon.com
About/FAQ | Amazon.com | Guide Books | Site Map | Style Links | Writing Test | Home Page
AMA Guide | APA Guide | ASA Guide | CBE Biostyle Guide | Chicago Guide | MLA Guide
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● Amazon. ● APA101● 1. Intro● 2. Refs● 3. Sources● 4. Pages● 5. Tables● 6. Text● 7. Stats● 8. Review● APA Home
com
Article. A published paper. Final manuscript. A paper formated to emulate an article as printed in an
APA journal.
Appendixes. The APA preferred spelling of the plural of appendix. Heading caps. A style of capitalization where the first letter of most words is
Block spacing. Blocks of text---long quotes, headings, references, titles--- capitalized. APA style has a rule for this.
single-spaced within and double spaced from surrounding text. Paper. An unpublished document or manuscript.
Copy manuscript. A research paper formatted for typesetting and Sentence caps. A style of capitalization where just the first word, the first
publication---the focus of the APA Publication Manual. word after a colon, and proper nouns are capitalized.
Final manuscripts are meant to be read, not typeset. Unlike copy manuscripts, this allows tables and figures to be inserted appropriately in the text. (In
copy manuscripts they are placed on separate pages at the end of the manuscript.) Since there is no need to separate the author's name on the title page from
the abstract to facilitate anonymous review, these pages can be combined. There is no need for a "running head" (as shown in the Manual0, since this is used
only for publication. The APA Manual encourages block paragraph spacing for long quotes, headings, references, and tables, and the placement of page
numbers to improve presentation (2001, chap. 6).
APA101 is focused on the research paper, 10-20 pages in length or 2,000-4,000 words. This is comparable in length and complexity to a paper prepared
for publication. A thesis or dissertation is often organized into chapters and may require more levels of headings as well as front material
(preface, acknowledgements, table or contents, etc.) not featured in this course. (The APA Manual offers little help, the Chicago Manual of Style more.)
Figure 1. APA style title and text pages for final manuscripts.
Every page must be numbered. This page number is centered at the bottom of the title page, then combined with a short title header (in heading caps!)
at the upper right corner of each succeeding page. Pages are numbered consecutively. The short title header is a condensed version of the title, the first few
words or significant keywords.
Margins are a minimum one inch around the text. A wider left margin may be appropriate when using an binder. Leave the right margin of your text
unjustified (ragged) and turn off the hyphenation feature of your word processor. Hyphenation can introduce ambiguity in a text by altering the possible meaning of
a word, something that must be avoided.
Block quotes are covered in detail in lesson 6, the first of the two lessons on text rules. Single space within the block, double space before and after. This
is block paragraph spacing.
Footnotes are discouraged in APA style to report content that might better be included in the text. The exception to this is a copyright permission
footnote when large amounts of material or a table or figure from another author are being directly quoted in a paper to be published. The original
author's permission is required in these cases. Works not for publication, including a thesis or dissertation, generally call for an acknowledgement, but not
express permission.
APA Rule. A serif font is required for APA style papers. This is a font with small cross bars on the letters. Common serif fonts are Courier and
Times Roman. Use a 12 point font (or a size equivalent to an elite or pica typewriter font). Do not proportionally space or hyphenate words, use a
compressed typeface, or justify the right margin.
Heading Caps. APA style, like most styles, uses heading caps for titles and some headings in the text. They have a rule explaining how to do this.
APA Rule. Heading caps capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon; all words of four letters or more; and all adjectives, adverbs,
nouns, and pronouns in a heading or title. Articles, conjunctions, and short prepositions are not capitalized. Capitalize all words of a hyphenated
compound word.
Headings help organize a paper in meaningful topics. APA style makes provision for five levels of headings, but in a complex hierarchy that changes
depending on the number of headings used. Three levels are consistent in their order of use and these are usually adequate for most papers. These are
labeled levels A, B, and C below, corresponding to APA levels 1, 3, and 4. The APA Manual does not suggest using a bold font for headings, although
published articles often do, thereby adding clarity to the organization of a paper.
Seriation is the technique of enumerating a series of topics in the text. This is essentially an extension of the process of using headings to organize a paper.
APA style provides for two types of series: (a) topics enumerated in running text with lowercased letters in parentheses, and (b) numbered paragraphs.
Numbered paragraphs are used to list the steps in a procedure or itemize the parts of a conclusion. For example, APA101 is organized around three groups
of topics:
1. Documentation is the process of citing and referencing sources referred to in the text. This is a minimal requirement for research writing. If you are unable
to get this right then . . .
2. Page formatting follows a style that is uniquely characteristic of APA style papers. However, many features, such as the width of margins, are
conventional. Block paragraph spacing is encouraged for final manuscripts as noted in . . .
3. Text rules reflect APA preferences for modes of writing and presentation that are not fixed by convention. For example, APA style uses unconventional
symbols for some statistics, and has rules for when to spell numbers and when to . . ..
The items enumerated must be conceptionally equivalent, that is, one cannot be a subset of another. Many students find it difficult to find enough to say to fill 10
or 20 pages. However, once you have a topic that is robust enough to merit publication the opposite is more often the case. Seriation is a useful technique
for condensing text as well as keeping it organized. Remember, use letters in the text, numbers for paragraphs.
must double space everything. This can be hard to read, especially with tables and references.
Figure 3. APA style table and reference list for final manuscripts.
Tables and figures are covered in detail in the next lesson, lesson 5.
Appendixes (APA prefers this spelling) are rare in publication. However, the APA requires authors to make their raw data available to anyone for 5 years
after publication (APA, 2001, sec. 8.05, p. 354). If you are working with research data it is appropriate to include it in an appendix. Otherwise, if the material is
central to your paper, why is it not included in the text? If it is not important enough to include in the text, why include it at all?
What's to study? Page formatting is straightforward in APA style. Chapter 6 of the APA Manual gives instructions for research papers not destined
for publication. The short of it: Make it look good to the reader. There is not much point to testing your ability to format heading caps, or reset the font in your
word processor to Times Roman. Therefore, the exercise for this lesson will introduce you to the classic organization of the research paper.
Research papers usually follow the IMRAD model. This stands for Introduction, Method, Results and Analysis, and Discussion. The APA Manual prefers
to shorten this to IMRD, but the initials are hard to pronounce and remember. There are other kinds of papers, such as reviews, theory papers, or
commentaries, but it is surprising how often the IMRAD model appears even in these papers. You begin with what you are going to talk about and why it
is important, an introduction. How you are going to investigate the topic reasonably comes next; the method you are to employ. This is followed by what
you discovered, the results and what you make of them (analysis). Finally, you discuss what the results mean, how they might be interpreted in the context of
the topic presented in the introduction. This is the organization of the classic research paper.
Lesson 1 introduced the following article and explored the findings the study reported. Your assignment is to find this paper and identify the IMRAD parts to it.
There are no headings in the text, and it has just 12 paragraphs, but the classic construction of the paper is evident. Can you find it?
Brewer, B. W., Scherzer, C. B., Van Raalte, J. L., Petitpas, A. J., & Andersen, M. B. (2001). The elements of (APA) style:
A survey of psychology journal editors. American Psychologist, 56, 266-267.
Answers to Exercises
Fifth Edition. The APA Publication Manual is the commanding guide in psychology, and found in other fields ranging from
education to literature. The new edition shows how to format papers (40 pp., 15 with diagrams), expands coverage of tables and figures
(50 pp.), adds Web sources to the 95 references sources covered (75 pp.), and refines the best section on avoiding bias found
anywhere (15 pp.). The spiral bound edition lies open to the page you select, not a trivial convenience!
Amazon.com
About/FAQ | Amazon.com | Guide Books | Site Map | Style Links | Writing Test | Home Page
AMA Guide | APA Guide | ASA Guide | CBE Biostyle Guide | Chicago Guide | MLA Guide
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● Amazon. ● APA101● 1. Intro● 2. Refs● 3. Sources● 4. Pages● 5. Tables● 6. Text● 7. Stats● 8. Review● APA Home
com
Body/Cells/Data Field. The body or data field of a table contains the Probability Note. It is common to identify statistically significant results in a
data cells, the numbers in the table as distinct from title, headings, and notes. table. These are marked with asterisks in the data cells. A probability note then
Caption. The title and/or description below a figure or graph. goes below the table and other notes to display the significance level, e.g., *p
< .05, **p < .01.
Column. The vertical alignment cells in of a table.
Row. The horizontal alignment of cells in a table.
Column Heading. The heading or description at the top of a column.
Rule. The horizontal line that spans a table.
Dependent Variable. The dependent variables in a table are its rows.
Changes to the dependent variable are displayed horizontally across the table. Stub/Stub head. The left side of the table is called the stub. The stub
includes the row headings or descriptions as well as the stub head, the
Independent Variable. The variables presented vertically in the columns
description of the dependent variables in the rows below.
of a table.
Stub (Row Heading). The description of the dependent variables at the left
Legend. "In APA journals a legend explains the symbols used in a figure [or
side of the table rows.
graph]" (APA, 2001, p.199). Some styles used the term interchangeably with
caption. Table Notes. Table notes are placed below a table. They come in three
categories, (a) general notes, (b) specific notes, and (c) probability notes.
Tables and figures were high on the list of problem areas identified in the survey of journals editors by Brewer et al. (2001). This was discussed in lesson
1. The survey did not identify the specific source of the problem, that is, were the problems with presentation or formating? Or were the problems with expression
or content? APA101 is focused on the presentation of research papers in APA style. Content issues are dealt with at length in the APA Manual, Chicago
Manual, and the AMA Manual. However, the APA Manual presents a list of Standards for Figures that merits repeating, and readily applies to tables
as well (2001, sec. 3.67).
The standards for good figures [and tables] are simplicity, clarity, and continuity. A good figure [or table]:
augments rather than duplicates the text;
coveys only essential facts;
omits distracting detail;
is easy to read---its elements (type, lines, labels, symbols, etc.) are large enough to be read with ease in printed form;
is easy to understand---its purpose is readily apparent;
is consistent with and is prepared in the same style as similar figures [and tables] in the same article; . . . and;
is carefully planned and prepared.
Table #
Title of the Table in Heading Caps and Italics Flush With the Left Margin
Note. General table notes apply to the entire table. These may include clarifications of the values in the table, an attribution
to the source or copyright permission, explanations of abbreviations, and so on. These are set in a smaller font. Need not be
complete sentences.
aSpecific notes follow general notes, beginning on a new line flush left with the table margin. bNotes can continue within
the same block of text.
*p < .05 [a probability note comes last]
Tables are double-spaced in copy manuscripts. Chapter 6 of the APA Manual (2001), "Material Other Than Journal Articles," notes
that "double-spacing is required throughout most of the manuscript. When single-spacing would improve readability, however, it is usually encouraged.
Single-spacing can be used for table titles and headings, figure captions, references (but double-spacing is required between references), footnotes, and
long quotations" (p. 326).
Table formats are readily explained by illustration. There are some details to observe as well:
Tables are numbered consecutively through the paper. Partial or fractional numbering is unacceptable (i.e., no 5a or 5.1).
Titles should adequately explain the content of a table without referring the reader to the text.
Titles are placed in heading caps and italics, positioned flush left with the table margin.
Every column and row must have a heading, set in sentence caps.
Columns should report comparable values down all rows. That is, the same number of decimal places should be displayed; commas put in the same places;
the same units of measure used.
Leave empty cells (the intersection of a row and column) blank.
Use a smaller font or typeface for notes, but large enough to be readable.
General notes are used to explain abbreviations, symbols, units of measure, sources and permissions. A general note begins with the word Note. in
italics followed by a period.
Specific notes are indicated with a superscript lowercase letter and explain a particular item in the table.
Probability notes are used to identify statistically significant results. Asterisks are used to mark values in the table and in the probability note. Once a
probability level is assigned in a table that value must be carried to all succeeding tables. For example, *p < .05 is generally the lowest level of
significance acceptable in behavioral research, **p < .01 is better. The symbol p is placed in italics.
When to use a table, and what to put in it, can be challenging questions. The APA Manual (2001) advises "tables that communicate quantitative data
are effective only when the data are arranged so that their meaning is obvious at a glance" (p. 148). Lesson 1 reported the results of a survey of problem areas
in using APA style found by journal editors (Brewer et al., 2001). These results were reported in table 3. However, they were reported in text in the article:
Respondents cited references (M = 3.23, SD = 1.07), tables and figures (M = 3.00, SD = 0.98), and mathematics and statistics (M = 2.81, SD = 0.99) as
the categories in which they most frequently observed deviations from APA style. Similarly, deviations from APA style in mathematics and statistics (M =
2.31, SD = 1.32), references (M = 2.27, SD = 1.32), and tables and figures (M = 2.23, SD = 1.27) were identified as having the strongest impact on
editorial decisions.
APA style uses the symbol M for the mean, and SD for the standard deviation. Judge for yourself how clear the results are when read in the text as
compared to the presentation in the table (link to the table). The decision was made to drop the standard deviations and present the two sets of responses side
by side. Differences in the rankings are nearly insignificant, especially with the second set of numbers (Influence, 2.31, 2.27, 2.23). The standard deviations
are different. The first set of data identifying problem areas cluster around a standard deviation of 1.0 (0.99 to 1.07) suggesting greater agreement in this area
than in the area of influence where the standard deviations were greater (1.32, 1.39, 1.27) indicating a greater scattering of results across a wide range. The point
of the table was to emphasize the problem areas, and to suggest the consequences for publication (or a class grade). The standard deviations were a
distraction. Does the following table more effectively convey this message?
Table 4
APA Style Problems Identified by Journal Editors
Note. Values are the mean of reported scores on a 5-point scale (1 = none, 5 = a lot). A frequency score of 3 indicates a
fairly common occurrence; an influence score of 2 indicates some influence on the decision to accept or reject a paper.
Adapted from "The Elements of (APA) Style: A Survey of Psychology Journal Editors," by B. W. Brewer, C. B. Scherzer,
J. L. Van Raalte, A. J. Petitpas, and M. B. Andersen, 2001, American Psychologist, 56, p. 266.
aStandard deviation.
The column headings for Frequency and Influence are called cell spanners. The mean and standard deviation are presented with the same number
of decimal places. This makes it difficult to focus on the relevance of the two columns. The important statistic is the mean since this indicates the
relative seriousness of the problem area. The standard deviation indicates the quality of the agreement: greater for Frequency, less for Influence, a point that
might be more effectively made in the text. For example, "The standard deviation was about 1.00 for Frequency (range, 0.98-1.07), and about 1.30 for
Influence (range, 1.27-1.39), indicating greater agreement on identifying the problems areas relative to their influence on editorial decisions."
Reference? References in table and figure captions follow a special format found in the APA Manual in the section on tables (2001, sec. 3.73)
"Judicious use of noncanonical forms can be effective but must always be motivated by the special circumstances of the data array" (APA, 2001, p. 149).
In other words, depart from the accepted format only in "special circumstances."
Figure 4. Cases of Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS) confirmed in the Four Corner states
(Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah) from 1993 through 2002 by quarter of onset of
symptoms. From "Hantavirus in Indian Country: The First Decade in Review," by R. Pottinger,
2005, American Indian Culture and Research Journal, 29(2), p. 42. Used with permission of the
author.
The bar graph illustrates quantitatively the episodic character of this very lethal disease (the mortality rate is about 40%). The outbreaks are contrasted with
the low endemic or background rate in a manner that would be difficult to describe in the text since the time scales and severity vary.
Labels. The graph meets APA standards for presentation and labeling the axes. The Y-axis, the vertical axis on the left side of the graph, is labeled with the text
in heading caps parallel to the axis (readable when the graph is rotated 90 degrees clockwise). These are APA requirements. The X-axis, the horizontal axis, is
self explanatory and need no additional labels.
Legend. The legend of a graph identifies what each line or segment indicates. In this case there is only one metric, HPS cases, but the legend identifies periods
of outbreak of the disease in contrast with periods when few cases are reported. Legends must be presented within the dimensions of the graph,
not outside it.
Caption. Figures are numbered like tables, starting with 1 and continuing in whole numbers through the text, the word Figure and number in italics. The
caption explains enough about the content so the reader need not refer to the text.
Draft a table. Turn the data in the following paragraph into a table. Organize the information to illustrate the point the paragraph is making.
The consequences of economic development, or its lack, are illustrated by data from the chapter on "Comparative International Statistics," in the Statistical
Abstract of the United States: 2002, (Washington, DC: U. S. Census Bureau, 2002). The United Kingdom (UK) serves as a frame of reference. With a
population of 59,508,000 the UK had a per capita income of $23,500 (U.S. dollars), and an average life expectancy of 77.1 years, based on data from 2000-
2001. A proportionate share of the of the population, 18.1%, was under 15 years of age. The figures for China (population 1,261,832,000) were $3,920, and
71.6 years, with 25% of the population under 15; and for India (population 1,014.004,000) were $2,340, and 62.9 years, with 33.1% under 15. This is sharp
contrast to Ethiopia and Nigeria where, respectively, 44.7% and 43.7% of the population was under 15, the per capita income was $660 and $800, and life
expectancy was 44.7 years and 51.1 years. With a population of 126,636,000, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. The population of Ethiopia, the
second most populous country in sub-Saharan Africa, has doubled in just a generation to 64,117,000.
Answer to Exercise
Fifth Edition. The APA Publication Manual is the commanding guide in psychology, and found in other fields ranging from
education to literature. The new edition shows how to format papers (40 pp., 15 with diagrams), expands coverage of tables and figures
(50 pp.), adds Web sources to the 95 references sources covered (75 pp.), and refines the best section on avoiding bias found
anywhere (15 pp.). The spiral bound edition lies open to the page you select, not a trivial convenience!
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Acronym. A word formed from the first (or first few) letters of a word---NASA, Radar---and pronounced as a word.
Block quote. Any direct quote of 40 words or more is set as a block of text, the entire block indented from the left margin. In final manuscripts the block is
single-spaced within, double-spaced before and after.
Initialism. The Chicago Manual of Style term for abbreviations pronounced as initials: APA, FBI (2003, p.558).
Contraction. This is the term Chicago prefers for common abbreviations: abbr. (abbreviation), chap. (chapter).
Latin abbreviation. Abbreviated Latin words used in research writing: e.g. (exempli gratia, for example), i.e. (id est, that is), etc.
"When editors or typesetters refer to style, they usually do not mean writing style; they mean editorial style---the rules or guidelines a publisher observes
to ensure clear, consistent presentation of the printed word. Editorial style concerns uniform use of punctuation and abbreviations, construction of tables, selection
of headings, and citation of references, as well as many other elements that are part of every manuscript" (APA, 2001, p. 77).
Editorial style, text rules, includes such things as capitalization and hyphenation---subjects where it is difficult to draw a firm line between APA style
and conventional usage---as well as documentation and page formatting. The boundary is made more fuzzy by nuanced inconsistencies. The first two sections
in this lesson present instructions that are not unique to APA stye. The third restates an APA rule presented in lesson 4. When you get these wrong the mistakes
are glaringly obvious to knowledgeable readers, so they merit attention. Text rules for numbers and statistics are the subjects of the next lesson, lesson 7.
"The American Psychological Association (APA) publishes a style guide, the Publication Manual American Psychological Association.
The APA Manual is a standard reference in psychology and education. The manual is revised from time to time by the APA."
This example (a) defines the acronym the first time it is used; but (b) does not use the acronym in a formal block of text, a title (if it is not in the original, do not use
it in the text); (c) an amalgam of the acronym and title is used to transcend this limitation; and finally, (d) the acronym is used in appropriate context. The
example might also be written, "The APA (American Psychological Association) publishes. . . ." The key thing is to define the term. Note, APA101 uses the
short form APA Manual, the APA Manual prefers the term "Publication Manual," without the "APA." Neither the APA, nor APA101, bother to define
these respective usages, leaving it up to reader to figure it out. The important thing is not to confuse or distract the reader.
"To maximize clarity, APA prefers that authors use abbreviations sparingly. . . . Abbreviations introduced on the first mention of a term and used fewer
than three time thereafter, . . . may be difficult for the reader to remember" (APA, 2001, p. 103).
Contractions, including Latin abbreviations, are not used in plain text. The equivalent phrase in English must be written out. An exception to this is the
Latin abbreviation et al. which may be used with citations outside of parentheses. For example, Brewer et al. (2001) found authors commonly had problems
with references.
6.2. Quotations
Direct quotations are not too common in research writing, but not rare either. A skillful writer can strengthen the authority of his or her argument by
weaving quotations into the flow of their text, adding them to their discourse and arguments. The paramount rule in quoting another's work is to be absolutely
faithful to the original, not only word for word, but faithful to the context and meaning the original author intended. These two themes, working a quote into the
text and reporting it faithfully, govern the rules for quotations. They are not always compatible. Therefore, rules have evolved for editing quotes to fit the
context while remaining true to the source. An attribution to the original source is an added requirement.
In their survey of journal editors Brewer et al. (2001) made the following statement.
"Consequently, it behooves authors seeking to publish in psychology to prepare their manuscripts in general compliance with APA style" (p. 267).
As originally written the quote is difficult to work into another text. It can be edited to do so.
Example 1
Drawing on a survey of journal editors, Doc Scribe cautions authors to "prepare their manuscripts in general compliance [italics added] with APA
style" (Brewer et al., 2001, p. 267).
The quote is faithful to the original, but also uses italics to draws attention to a specific word choice. The authors could have used terms like full
compliance, or strict compliance, but instead chose the term general compliance. This was the only reasonable phrasing given other information
reported in the study, notably that most editors gave greater weight to content than style. APA101 is focused on general compliance, on getting the more
visible aspects of APA style right. This quote reinforces the wisdom of this strategy. A note must be added to the quote [italics added] in brackets to indicate
the original authors did not emphasize this point, but the current author is.
Example 2
After surveying over 200 editors, Brewer et al. (2001) stated, "It behooves authors . . . to prepare their manuscripts in general compliance with APA style!" (p.
267).
This example introduces the quote formally, making it appropriate to uppecase the lead character in the quote following a colon. The original began:
"Consequently, it behooves . . ." The first word was dropped and "It" was uppercased. A lowercased word can be uppercased, and vice versa, without adding
a note, and words beginning or ending a quote in the original can be dropped, also without adding a note. A part of the original---"seeking to publish in
psychology"---was dropped and replaced by an ellipsis, three periods with a single space before, between, and after each. An ommission within a quote
must be so noted. Finally, an exclamation point was added to the quote. This too can be done without a note of explanation.
Example 3
Class papers are a prelude to publication, "consequently, it behooves authors seeking to publish in psychology [or education] to prepare their manuscripts in
general compliance with APA style" (Brewer et al., 2001, p. 267).
The first word of the quote was lowercased to fit the syntax. The phrase "[or education]" was added in brackets to suggest that journal editors in that field are
likely no less demanding than those in psychology (e.g., the Harvard Educational Review follows APA style too). The brackets indicate text that was not
in the original.
The page number always follows the quote. The citations in examples 1 and 3 come at the end of the quote. Example 2 introduces the authors in the
the text, followed by the year in parentheses. A second citation with the page number comes after the quote.
APA Rule. Quotations must fit the sense and syntax of your text and may be edited to do so. A quote must be faithful to the original, but an
explanation is not needed to change case and punctuation; brackets are used to note added text or emphasis; an ellipsis is inserted in place of
ommissions. Block format long quotes or 40 words or more.
Longer quotations, quotes of 40 words or more, are set as block quotes. Block quotes indent the entire quote 1/2 inch from the left margin (the same
distance as a paragraph indent). In final manuscripts single-space within the quote, double-space before and after. Do not add a second indent to the quote even
if the original begins a paragraph. But if you are quoting more than one paragraph, begin subsequent paragraphs with a paragraph indent. A block quote is
typically in the text following a colon:
In contrast with the preponderance of their peers, a subset of journal editors (approximately one fifth of the sample) ascribe high importance to preparing
manuscripts in a manner consistent with APA style. . . . Consequently, it behooves authors seeking to publish in psychology to prepare their manuscripts in
general compliance with APA style. (Brewer et al., 2001, p. 267)
The two sentences come at the beginning and end of a paragraph. An ellipsis is inserted after the period in first sentence indicating the ommission. The
citation follows the quote, after the final period. There is no period after the citation. This indicates the citation applies to the entire block, not just the last
sentence. The Chicago Manual of Style (2003) follows the same practice.
APA Rule. A serif font is required for APA style papers. This is a font with small cross bars on the letters. Common serif fonts are Courier and
Times Roman. Use a 12 point font (or a size equivalent to an elite or pica typewriter font). Do not proportionally space or hyphenate words, use a
compressed typeface, or justify the right margin.
Do not proportionally space or hyphenate words, use a compressed typeface, or justify the right margin. Word processors can be set to produce a straight
right margin. This may be attractive, but to achieve the effect words and spaces are usually strung out on a line of text. Even worse, words may be hyphenated
at the end of lines. This can introduce ambiguity into the meaning of words. Research styles are focused on clarity of communication. Anything that impedes
that objective is ruled out. Therefore, research styles require a ragged right margin in manuscripts.
APA style goes further, asking that you space just once after all punctuation (with the exception of commas after initials or abbreviations, where no
space is appropriate). This applies to the spacing after colons as well as at the end of a sentence. This rule rests of a tenuous foundation, since it is hard to see
how it improves clarity. If you elect to violate it, for example, at the end of sentences where two spaces are often preferred, be consistent!
APA Rule. Heading caps capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon; all words of four letters or more; and all adjectives, adverbs,
nouns, and pronouns in a heading or title. Articles, conjunctions, and short prepositions are not capitalized. Capitalize all words of a hyphenated
compound word.
Capitalization should otherwise be straightforward, following common usage in the text. But the APA Manual offers several nuances and exceptions.
These are the sort of details you might not think to check. They illustrate why the APA Manual is an essential reference when writing important papers.
Capitalize the first word after a colon if the clause following can stand alone as a complete sentence (APA, 2001, sec. 3.04). For example, Jack noted
two obstacles on the climb: a gendarme on the ridge, and a cornice above the head wall. Jack rested after the climb: He was exhausted.
Capitalize tables and figures in your text, for example, Table 3, Figure 4, and words that designate a specific place in a series, Trial 3, Table 4, Figure 3.
But, do not capitalize nouns that denote common parts of books or tables followed by numerals or letters, for example, lesson 4, chapter 6, page vi, row
7, column 8 (APA, 2001, sec. 3.15).
Do not capitalize nouns that precede a variable, for example, trial x and item y. But when these become specific, they are capitalized, for example, Trial 5, Item
d (APA, 2001, sec. 3.15).
Apply the Rules. The following sentences or phrases may contain errors. Apply the rules presented in this lesson to correct them.
Q1. Her French friend wished her bonne année, a happy new year.
Q2. The American Psychiatric Association (APA) prefers a pharmacological approach to treating mental illness: the APA (American Psychological
Association) would like psychologists to to have the same authority.
Q3. The study focused on homosexuals and lesbians while ignoring other schizophrenics.
Q4. The alcoholics went through detoxification cold turkey.
Q5. The title of the little book is "Life among the South Seas savages."
Q6. According to Brewer et al. (2001, p. 267) "[A] subset of journal editors . . . ascribed a high importance to . . . (following) . . . APA style."
Q7. Brewer et al. (2001) presented their statistics in the text, but APA101 presented them in table 3, lesson 1, and table 4 in lesson 5.
Q8. The authors of the study argued that it behooves writers to follow APA style so as not to be rejected by APA Style Sticklers.
Q9. The study (Brewer et al., 2001) observed that writers had a variety of problems in a number of categories, i.e., formatting the title page and abstract,
presenting statistics, documentation (p. 266).
Q10. When editors' speak of "style," they generally refer to the clear expression of ideas (APA, 2001).
Fifth Edition. The APA Publication Manual is the commanding guide in psychology, and found in other fields ranging from
education to literature. The new edition shows how to format papers (40 pp., 15 with diagrams), expands coverage of tables and figures
(50 pp.), adds Web sources to the 95 references sources covered (75 pp.), and refines the best section on avoiding bias found
anywhere (15 pp.). The spiral bound edition lies open to the page you select, not a trivial convenience!
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Cardinal number. Simple counting (whole) numbers that give no Inferential statistics. Methods that tell how much we can generalize about
information about the order of the count or relationship among the numbers. a population based on an analysis of a sample of that population.
Common fraction. Simple fractions expressed as words---one quarter, Ordinal number. A number indicating order or succession---first, second,
two fifths, etc. third, etc.
Descriptive statistics. Measures of populations that provide a concise SI. The International System of Units, universally abbreviated SI (from the
description of various characteristics. The mean (arithmetic average), standard French Le Système International d’Unités), is the modern metric system of
deviation, median, and mode are examples of descriptive statistics. measurement.
Three topics merit attention in the presentation of numbers and statistics in APA style: (a) when to use words for numbers, (b) physical measurements in
the metric system, and (c) statistics. It is useful when considering these topics to think of the difference between a rule and a practice. It is helpful when
practices follow general rules or accepted conventions. When they don't they become exceptions that challenge the validity of the rule. The APA presentation
of numbers and statistics occasionally does this. Measurements in APA style requires are governed by the International System of Units (SI). The SI is
rigorously consistent, but sometimes measurements appear to defy common convention. The lesson in all this is to check the APA Manual when you have
doubts, and to proof read the final draft of a paper specifically for the accepted APA usage of numbers, measurements, and statistics.
APA Rule. Write numbers under 10, common fractions, centuries (e.g., twentieth century), and numbers beginning a sentence as words. Use
numerals to express all precise measures, a specific place in a series, numbers grouped with numbers over 10, percentages, percentiles, times, dates,
ages, points on a scale, and sums of money.
SI numbers have three parts: the numerical value, the prefix (multiplier), and the unit symbol (abbreviation). Each of these parts is strictly
defined. The number 25.3 kg is an SI number. Numbers are always formatted in plain text (no italics), there is always a space after the
numerical value (never a hyphen or other character), there is never a period after the units (except at the end of a sentence).
Numerical values are presented without commas in SI notation. For example, the distance between Chicago and Denver is 1600 km (not 1,600 km). The
km stands for kilo-meters. The prefix kilo indicates the units are multiplied by 1000. There are about 1.6 km to a mile. If it is important for clarity in your text you
can note the conventional U.S. measure in parentheses after the SI number: 1600 km (1000 miles).
There is always a space after the numerical value, and only a space. This can look awkward. For example, the temperature at the beach was 25 °C, or
about 77 °F today. There is a space after the numerical value before the degree symbol and temperature abbreviation. Conventional notation, 77° F, is not
an acceptable SI number.
The APA Manual (2001) shows a number used as a compound adjective with a hyphen after the numerical value, "a 5-mg dose" (sec. 3.42c). This is wrong!
SI numbers are not subject grammatical conventions other than those of the SI. Only a space may follow a numerical value, no exceptions!
Common prefixes are k (kilo-, multiply by one thousand), M (mega-, multiply by one million), and m (milli-, multiply by one-one thousandth [0.001]). For
example, KVOD broadcasts at 90.1 MHz on the FM dial. This number is read ninety point one megahertz. A hertz is a measure of frequency, after a man
by that name, so the abbreviation is capitalized Hz. A complete listing of prefixes is found in the APA Manual (2001, Table 3.5), and the NIST Guide (1995,
Table 5).
Units of measure are always abbreviated when presented with numerical values, but written out when noted in the text without a numerical value. For
example, a liter is about a quart; "It took 22 L to top off the gas tank."
Units of measure never take periods or other punctuation except at the end of a sentence.
Numerical values less than one are preceeded by a zero. For example, one yard is 0.91 m, or about three inches short of a meter. An exception is made
for statistical values that by definition cannot be greater than one, for example the probability, p < .05.
APA style requires all measures to be presented as SI metric numbers, except when the instrument used is calibrated in U. S. conventional units. Then
the conventional unit is presented followed by the SI measure in parentheses. For example, the thermometer at the beach read 77 °F (25 °C); the maze was laid
out with a tape measure on a 3 ft by 3 ft (0.91 m x 0.91 m) grid pattern.
APA Rule. Present all physical measures in the metric system using the format and symbols of the International System of Units. Space once after
all numerical values (except for percents). Use only the unit symbol or abbreviation, without a period, with numerical values; write out the unit of
measure when used without figures.
Review the section on metrication in the APA Manual, or refer to the NIST Guide if your paper includes many physical measurements or
unconventional measures.
Conventional units are widely used in medicine. The American Medical Association Manual of Style (1997) has an extensive table of
conventional medical units and their SI conversion factors and units (chap. 15).
Taylor, B. N. (1995). Guide for the use of the International System of Units (SI) (Special Publication 811).
Gaithersburg, MD: National Institute of Standards and Technology.
Link to NIST: (http://physics.nist.gov/Document/sp811.pdf). Free, PDF.
Free Style Guide for Numbers. The NIST is the official representative of the United States before the Convention du Metre
which in turn is the body that defines the International System of Units (SI) for the world scientific community. A free 80 page style guide
is available from their website. This link (click on the title above) is directly to the document which is in Adobe PDF format. To download
rather than display the document click the right mouse button on the link and select "Save Target As" (400 KB).
Respondents cited references (M = 3.23, SD = 1.07), tables and figures (M = 3.00, SD = 0.98), and mathematics and statistics (M = 2.81, SD
= 0.99) as the categories in which they most frequently observed deviations from APA style. Similarly, deviations from APA style in mathematics
and statistics (M = 2.31, SD = 1.32), references (M = 2.27, SD = 1.32), and tables and figures (M = 2.23, SD = 1.27) were identified as having
the strongest impact on editorial decisions. (p. 266)
Descriptive statistics like the mean and standard deviation are routinely placed in parentheses. A descriptive statistic offers a terse and concise measure of
a population, a measure that would be more meaningful than a repetition of the raw data. Other simple statistics are also placed in parentheses depending on
the context. For example, "The findings of the study were highly significant (p < .001, two-tailed test)." A probability is not a descriptive statistic, but is simple in that
it is a brief statement, and appropriately noted in parentheses.
Inferential statistics are statistics that infer or reason from a sample to the characteristics of a population. It answers the question, "What do we reliably
know about the population being sampled, what can we infer or deduce from studying a sample?" APA style wants the degrees of freedom reported (and
sample size when relevant). The APA Manual (2001) instructs authors to "include sufficient information to allow the reader to fully understand the
analyses conducted and possible alternative explanations for the results of these analyses" (pp. 138-139). It offers this example:
This is read: "The chi-square statistic of the sample of 90---with 4 degrees of freedom---is 10.51. This is statistically significant at p = .03" (events like these
are observed to occur by chance in only 3 of 100 trials of samples of 90). The APA Manual also observes, "What constitutes sufficient information depends on
the analytic approach [statistic] selected" (p. 138). It offers this example:
The high-hypnotizability group (M = 21.41, SD = 10.35) reported statistically greater occurrences of extreme, focused attention than did the low
group (M = 16.24, SD = 11.09), t(75) = 2.11, p = .02 (one-tailed), d = .48.
This example first reports the mean and standard deviations of two samples, (M = 21.41, SD = 10.35) for the high group and [M = 16.24, SD = 11.09] for
the low group. It then answers the question "Did these differences occur by chance?" by using the t statistic, t(75) = 2.11, p = .02 (one-tailed), d = .48. This
is not the best example. When using the t test for significance between sample means the degrees of freedom are always N - 2, in this case 75 (where N is the
sum of both samples) . So the sample size is 77. The statistic could have been reported t(75, N = 77) = 2.11, but doing so would be redundant to any
knowledgeable reader, and presumably to the author using this test.
The probability statistic, p = .02, is followed by a note in parentheses: (one-tailed). A frequency distribution like the t distribution or a normal curve has a low
end and high end, its two "tails." Most tests are presumed to be two-tailed tests unless otherwise specified.
APA Rule. Place statistics in italics using symbols specified in the APA Manual (or standard symbols if there is no APA preference). Place
descriptive statistics in parentheses; inferential statistics are followed by degrees of freedom (or other meaningful characteristics) in parentheses.
Space before and after variables and operators.
Apply the Rules. The following text contains numerous errors. Find and correct them.
Popular at a Cost: Psychology Students Rate Their Department
Annabelle Scribe
Ivy and Oak University
Psychology graduate students at Ivy and Oak University were unhappy. They were paying huge tuition fees, $25 thousand a year, and
going deeply in debt to attend this prestigious private school, but were unable to find good jobs in their field. The students felt that faculty-
course evaluations were biased toward popularity at the expense of competence. Popular professors were promoted: highly competent but
less popular instructors were denied tenure. The faculty was becoming increasingly mediocre as a consequence, devaluing their degrees in the
job market. They designed a survey to test this hypothesis.
The survey included questions to measure the competence of the instructor, the demands of the course, and popularity. Also included was
an assessment of physical appearance. The grad students hypothesized that instructors that were physically attractive would be more popular.
These instructors could spend some of that popularity by teaching more demanding courses. One metric of physical appearance is the Body
Mass Index. This index is computed by dividing the weight in kgs. by the square of the person's height in mtrs. A BMI over 25 is
considered overweight: a BMI over 30 qualifies as obese. Stature was measured on a three-point scale: short (men under five feet four
inches, women under five feet), medium, and tall (men six feet and above, women five feet ten and above). All other measures were on a five-
point scale. It was also noted whether faculty were tenured, or not.
The survey was sent to all third- and fourth-year students majoring in psychology at IOU. There were 237 surveys returned, with just
nine discarded as unusable. Instructors with high popularity scores, mean 4.5154, median 4, sigma=.913, rated only average on
competence, mean=2.81, median=2, sigma=1.473. But as expected, instructors rating high in attractiveness (BMI<25) were both somewhat
popular, mean=3.8, median=4, sigma=1.33, and very competent, mean=4.1, median=4, sigma=1.2. Just 5 faculty, 11%, fell into this group. Still,
the results were highly significant p<0.01, t = 2.918, 229 df. Tenured male professors (N=16) had an average BMI of 32, with an average height
of five feet nine inches (175 cms), and average body weight of 216 lbs. (98 kgs). There were just 3 tenured female instructors so results
were inconclusive. Nontenured faculty had a BMI=24.3.
A extensive and elaborate statistical analysis of the data was conducted using SPSS, but the students could make no sense of the data.
The statistics requirement for a degree in psychology at IOU had been dropped in 1998.
Fifth Edition. The APA Publication Manual is the commanding guide in psychology, and found in other fields ranging from
education to literature. The new edition shows how to format papers (40 pp., 15 with diagrams), expands coverage of tables and figures
(50 pp.), adds Web sources to the 95 references sources covered (75 pp.), and refines the best section on avoiding bias found
anywhere (15 pp.). The spiral bound edition lies open to the page you select, not a trivial convenience!
Amazon.com
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● Amazon. ● APA101● 1. Intro● 2. Refs● 3. Sources● 4. Pages● 5. Tables● 6. Text● 7. Stats● 8. Review● APA Home
com
The article by Brewer et al. (2001), "The Elements of (APA) Style: A Survey of Psychology Journal Editors," is required reading for APA101. You may
have noticed that the article displays a wide range of APA style features. The exercise in lesson 4 asked you to assign IMRAD headings to the article, and data
from the article is used to illustrate the format of tables in lesson 5. Now the assignment is to go through this article and identify all the APA style rules that are
being applied, or perhaps, misapplied.
Start with the title. It is set in heading caps, but in a sans serif font. The former is consistent with APA rules, but the font is not. It should be a serif font. The
authors names are in plain text, but their affiliation is in italics. Lesson 4 showed a title page, with the title in heading caps, in plain text along with the author's
name, but with the abstract and author affiliation in italics. Did you notice? (Did you also happen to notice in passing that an abstract is not indented as
a paragraph? This, too, is APA style.) The first sentence is:
"For over seven decades, the American Psychological Association (APA) has offered guidelines for scholarly writing in psychology (VandenBos, 1995)."
There are three style features that stand out in this one sentence: (a) the number seven is written as a word in accordance to the under 10 rule (lesson 7), (b)
the acronym APA is defined at its first use (lesson 6), and the sentence ends with a standard citation (lessons 1 & 2).
How many style features and rules can you find? Do not count repetitions. What rule or rules do each feature illustrate? Count the references as
well. What is the source (e.g., book, journal article, etc.). What unique features are illustrated? The answers are given by paragraph and line number; it is helpful
to number paragraphs.
Can you find all 30?
Answers to the Exercise
APA101 has focused on the general rules underlying APA style. But when it comes to presenting simple numbers in a text the rule becomes a bit vaporous.
There are exceptions that simply must be memorized. For example, writing chapter 5, Table 6, seventh grade, and Grade 8. There are other nuances
that merit attention, not so much as things to be memorized, but to alert you to double check with the APA Manual when you must get it right. These
example illustrate the usefulness of getting to know the Manual by simply paging through and exploring the various topics.
Pet Spelling (APA, 2001, p. 89)
The APA Manual insists that data is plural, although common usage (and the dictionary) allow the word to be used in both a singular and plural sense.
There are a few others.
appendix (appendixes not appendices)
datum (data is plural only!)
matrix (matrices not matrixes)
phenomenon (phenomena is plural)
schema (schemas is plural)
Pet Usage (APA, 2001, pp. 54-56)
That versus which. "APA prefers to reserve which for nonrestrictive clauses and use that in restrictive clauses" (APA, 2001, p. 55). That is more
specific than which. Generally, use that instead of which unless which seems to fit particularly well (or study the APA Manual on the subject).
"Consistent use of that for restrictive clauses and which for nonrestrictive clauses, which are set off with commas, will help make your writing clear
and precise" (APA, 2001, p. 55).
While versus since. Use these words only in their precise temporal sense. For example, "While Tom is a good fellow, he’s not all that bright" makes sense
in everyday conversation. While in this context means "even though." But in the temporal sense, the example would read, "During the time (While) Tom is a
good fellow, he’s not all that bright." This makes no sense. Write instead, "Whereas (or Although) Tom is a good fellow, he’s not all that bright."
Although conveys no sense of time and so is preferred to while when introducing an exception. Since in the temporal sense is to be read "since 11:00 AM all
air traffic was shut down." That is, the term introduces events after a specific point in time. APA style wants you to read since as meaning "after that" not "because."
Because introduces a casual connection. Because since is to be used only in its temporal sense, because is preferred when indicating cause and effect.
Inclusive Page Numbers (APA, 2001, pp. ?-???)
The APA Manual does not remind you that digits are never dropped from inclusive page numbers, or any range of numbers, in APA publications. However,
the practice is quite common. The Chicago Manual of Style (2003) has an elaborate system for doing this, dropping digits from large numbers: 1087-89,
11564-615 (p. 396). Unless you are aware that APA style does not permit this practice you may do it without realizing the mistake. This gives critical
readers something to find fault with. It is one of the subtle nuances of the style, like placing the volume number in references to a journal articles in italics. It is
easy to overlook---but glares ineptitude to those who know the style---if you do. The only way you would know this is by studying APA journals, so it is a
great "gotcha."
Required Text for APA101
Fifth Edition. The APA Publication Manual is the commanding guide in psychology, and found in other fields ranging from
education to literature. The new edition shows how to format papers (40 pp., 15 with diagrams), expands coverage of tables and figures
(50 pp.), adds Web sources to the 95 references sources covered (75 pp.), and refines the best section on avoiding bias found
anywhere (15 pp.). The spiral bound edition lies open to the page you select, not a trivial convenience!
Amazon.com
About/FAQ | Amazon.com | Guide Books | Site Map | Style Links | Writing Test | Home Page
AMA Guide | APA Guide | ASA Guide | CBE Biostyle Guide | Chicago Guide | MLA Guide
www.docstyles.com