APA Style Basics

Why Use APA Format?

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Allows readers to cross-reference your sources easily. Provides consistent format within a discipline. Gives you credibility as a writer. Protects from plagiarism.

APA

Double Space

One-inch margins on all sides

Times New Roman, 12 pt

Page Numbers on right in Header, every page

Elements to an APA paper

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Title Page Abstract Introduction / Literature review Results

Conclusion/Discussion References Appendix

Abstract

An abstract is a summary of the problem (issue), findings, and recommendations made throughout the entire paper. Keywords Do not give any reference in abstract.

In Text Citation
Cite by author Last Name and date the works used For single author

Walker (2001) compared reaction times In a study of reaction times (Walker, 2001)

Reference: Walker, M. M. (2001). Transfer of lexical information in adults with reading disorders. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 93 (1), 257267.

In text (Last Name & Year)

The citation can either appear at the beginning of the sentence, or at the end of the sentence, the choice is up to you.

Johnson (1998) tested the effects antidepressants were found to decrease anxiety (Johnson, 1998)

Stylistically, change it up! Begin some citations at the beginning of the sentence, begin some citations in parentheses at the end of the sentence.

Important details for In Text

 Use an ampersand (&) between authors when their names are within parentheses. . . . is an effective treatment (Smith & Jones, 2009).  Use a regular and between authors when their names are not within parentheses. . . . is the most effective treatment according to Smith and Jones (1999).  If your source does not have a date, replace the date in the citation with n.d., which is the abbreviation for no date. . . . British Psychological Association (n.d.).

In Text Citation
 Works with up to five authors  First citation: list all authors, followed by the year of publication in parentheses Johnson, Martin, Lopez, Roberts, and Walker (2005)  Subsequent citations: list all authors if work has up to TWO authors, if more than two authors, use et al. Johnson et al. (2005), or if only two authors, Johnson and Martin (2005).  Works with more than six authors  Use et al. in first citation and subsequent citations

In Text Citation One author: (Sinatra, 2007)  Two authors: (Sinatra & Garland, 2007)  Three to five authors: (Sinatra, Garland, & Fitzgerald, 2007) on first reference with (Sinatra et al., 2007) after that  Six or more authors: (Sinatra et al., 2007) on first and all subsequent references

In Text Citation - Practice

Duhig, Phares, and Birkeland (2002) did a survey on A survey on fathers involvement in (Duhig, Phares & Birkeland, 2002)

Reference: Duhig, A. M., Phares, V., & Birkeland, R. W. (2002). Involvement of fathers in therapy: A survey of clinicians. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 33(4), 389-395.

In Text Citation - Practice

 Citing the same study in the same paragraph

Within a paragraph, when the name of the author is part of the narrative, you need not include the year in subsequent non parenthetical references to a study. Do include the year in all parenthetical citations.

King (2008) found that citing is fun. King took great care in conducting the research, surveying 150 current Walden students. In fact students really grow to love APA (King, 2008, p. 23). King also found that students secretly love APA even when first introduced to the style.

References Alphabetical order by first author s last name Hanging indent Begins on new page  References appears at the top of the page, centered and Bold Follows guidelines of each type of work (book chapter, journal article, etc.) List authors in order in which they appear in the original publication

Reference Guidelines
Capitalization: Only First letter of every word of journal title is capitalized. Italicize the title of books and periodicals, do not underline them Put a period after author s initials, date, title of article, and at the end of the reference. If the reference ends in an Internet address, do not put a period at the end of the Internet address. Line 1 should be flush with the left margin, and subsequent lines should be indented (5) spaces (referred to as a hanging indent ) List should be alphabetized by author s last names. Articles by the same author should be listed oldest to newest (reverse chronological order)

How to Reference a Book

Last, F. M. (year). Title of work. Location: Publisher. Thomas, A. E. (2004). Introductory Psychology. New York: NY Publishing.

Book Chapter Reference

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In A. Editor, & B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xxx-xxx). Location: Publisher. Patterson, C. H. (1997). Client-centered supervision. In C. E. Watkins (Ed.), Handbook of psychotherapy supervision (pp. 134-146). New York: Wiley.

Book Examples

Book (specified edition) Clear, T. R., & Cole, G. F. (2003). American corrections (6th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing. Book (no edition) Bergner, D. (1999). God of the rodeo. NY: The Ballentine Publishing Group.

APA Practice
 Write the correct APA Style citation for the following:

Author: Ann Streissguth Title of book: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: A Guide for Families and Communities Publisher info: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Company, 1997, 306 pages, Baltimore.

APA Practice: Book Citation

Streissguth, A. (1997). Fetal Alcohol Syndrome: A guide for families and communities. Baltimore: Brookes Publishing.

Journal Article Guidelines

 The title of the article s first word is capitalize.  The name of journal and volume number is italicized with capitalization throughout.  Do not write p. or pp. for page numbers.

Reference of a Journal Article

Last, F. M., & Last, F. M. (year). Title of article. Title of Publication, Volume Number, page-page.

Smith, A. B., Johnson, J. K., Parker, L. M., & Martin, U. M. (2009). Depression and anxiety in the work environment. Depression Monthly, 24, 209-215.

APA Practice Journal

Write the correct APA Style citation for the following:

Author: Pamela K. Adams Title of article: Blockbusters: Ideas for the Block Center Name of Journal: Early Childhood Education Journal Publication info: Volume 24, No Issue number, 1996, pages 8792.

APA Practice: Journal Citation

Adams, P. K. (1996). Blockbusters: Ideas for the block center. Early Childhood Education Journal, 24, 87-92.

Quotations

 Incorporate short quote (<40 words) in text  Give page number  As suggested, yet another challenge is to strive towards greater heights in our attempts to achieve professionalism through training and self-renewal (Tan, 2002, p. 99).

Quotations

 Within quotation use to replace  Use to indicate omitted words  She stated, The placebo effect disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner (Miele, 1993, p. 276).

Quotations

 For longer quotations of 40 or more words (indent without )

We agree with Obrue (2002), who concluded: Neurofeedback is perhaps best viewed not as an alternative to conventional psychopharmcological agents but rather (p. 8)

Personal Communication

 For interview, email message, letter:

J.H. Lim (interview, June 4, 2004) J. Tan (personal communication, March 15, 2005) (J. Tan, personal communication, March 15, 2005)
 Normally not cited in References

Newspaper Article Reference

Author, A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Newspaper, pages (pp).

Lee, J. (1999, September 6). More turning to acupuncture. The Straits Times, pp. 28-29.

Unpublished Thesis Reference

Author, A. (Year). Title of thesis. Unpublished level thesis. University, Place. Ho, M. (2000). Coping strategies of counseling professionals. Unpublished master s thesis. Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

UMI Thesis Reference

Author, A. (Year). Title of thesis. (Level of thesis, University). Dissertation Abstracts International, vol (no), page. (UMI No. xxxxx) Morris, A. J. F. (2003). Charity, therapy and poverty: Private social service in the era of public welfare. (Doctoral dissertation, University of Virginia). Dissertation Abstracts International, 63(12), 4444. (UMI No. AAT 3073579)

Web Page Reference

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work. Retrieved Month Day, Year, from source.  Provide URLs that work American Psychological Association. (2003). Electronic references. Retrieved March 21, 2010, from http://www.apastyle.org/elecref.html

Audiovisual Reference

Author, A. A. (Producer) & Author, B. (Director). (Year). Title of audiovisual [Motion picture]. Country: Movie Studio. Scorsese, M. (Producer) & Lonergan, K. (Writer/Director). (2000). You can count on me [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

Seriation

 Within a paragraph or sentence, use lowercase letters in parentheses, (a), (b), (c), etc.  For seriation of separate paragraphs, number each paragraph with numeral, followed by a period but not enclosed in or followed by a parentheses 1. 2. 3.

Figure
 Use the figure number not the figure below or the next figure.  Figures are inserted into the narrative as close to the text that introduces them as is practical.  Try not to place a figure in the middle of a paragraph.  Figures are labeled underneath the figure an italicize the word Figure and number.

Tabl

r ac tic e 5 7 14 14 17 17 25 25 27 29

A -1 A -2 B-1 B-2 C-1 C-2 -1 -2

s outh midw es t midw es t midw es t w es t midw es t midw es t midw es t northeas t s outh

E-1 E-2

A v g. 18.0

y rs . in

ori in

hy gienis t? number treatment of s taf f no no no no y es y es no no no no 4 2 5 5 3 3 3 5 5 12 4.4 rooms 4 3 6 4 3 3 3 6 6 6 4.4

w ork 3 3 5 5 3 3 3 2 3 15 4.5

urban or s uburban urban s uburban s uburban s uburban s uburban urban urban urban urban

A meric an patients 70% 98% 60% 75% 98% 50% 70% 85% 99% 98% 80% y es no no no no no no no y es no

ov erall s pec ialty ? s iz e (s q. f t.) 2000 1250 2000 2000 800 1000 1000 1500 2000 1250 1480

s tations s uburban

 

a l C a rac teri tic of

a rtic i a nts and Sites es ti a ted % of A f ric an es ti a ted

Figure 2. A model showing the critical elements for successful course development in online education.

Tables
 Tables are labeled above.  Table number is plain type.  Table title is on next line (double space), with italic.  Make sure text fills in the table cells.  There should be atmost 2 horizontal lines on the top and one in bottom.

Right Table

Right Table

Wrong Table

Wrong Table