APA WRITING STYLE

Soraya

APA (American Psychological

Association)

The most commonly used style to cite sources

within the social sciences.
APA Style originated in 1929, when a group of
psychologists, anthropologists, and business
managers convened and sought to establish a
simple set of procedures, or style rules, that would
codify the many components of scientific writing
to increase the ease of reading comprehension.
APA Style consists of rules or guidelines that a
publisher observes to ensure clear and consistent
presentation of written material.

Whats Included in APA

Style?
How your
pages are
set up

How you
cite
sources

Your
reference
s

Your
language

The list of references

Required if you cite any sources in your

paper
Every source cited in your paper must
appear on the reference list, and every
entry in your reference list must be cited
in your paper
Its written in double-spaced

Two types of citation

the intext
citation

Yanovski and Yanovski (2002)

reported that the current state
of the treatment for obesity is
similar to the state of the
treatment of hypertension
several decades ago (p. 600).

The
Referenc
es entry

Yanovski, S. Z. & Yanovski, J. A.

(2002). Drug therapy: Obesity
[Electronic version]. The New
England Journal of Medicine, p.
346, 591-602.

Creating the References List

In APA style essays, all works cited in intext citations in the body paragraphs are
identified in an alphabetical list of
References.

This list of References is then included

as the last page of the document.

Basic Pattren of References

Article in a Journal:
Author last name, Author first name. (Year). Title of
article. Title of Journal, volume number, page
number range.

Article in a Book:

Author last name, Author first name. (Year). Title of

Book. State of Publication: Name of Publisher.

Article from a Library Database:

Author name/s as above. (Year). Title of article. Title
of Journal, vol.#(issue#), page range. Retrieved by
Month, Date, Year, from Database Name
(Document#).
Holliday, R. E., & Hayes, B. K. (2001). Dissociating
automatic and intentional processes in
eyewitness memory. Journal of Experimental Child

In-text Citations

Within a paragraph, you don't need to

repeat the year or other elements of the intext citation as long as the reference cannot
be confused with other cited sources;
If you cite a source in one paragraph and
then refer to the same text again in the
next, its best to re-cite it, so as to avoid
confusion;
Better to cite too often than too little

In-text Citations

If you are referring to an idea from another work

but NOT directly quoting the material, or making
reference to an entire book, article or other work,
you only have to make reference to the author
and year of publication in your in-text reference.
If you are directly quoting from a work, you will
need to include the author, year of publication,
and the page number for the reference.
Keep quotations to a minimum (less than 3 per
paper)

When do you cite your sources in your

paper?

When youre referring to an idea or

concept you drew from something
you read.
When you quote from something
you read or heard.
When you want to give the reader
some other places to look for
additional information.

Paraphrasing

Scott (1992) identified

Several researchers (Anthony, 1990;

Gregory & Jacobs, 1985; Polk et al.,
1980) reported

At the end of a sentence paraphrased

from another work (Scott, 1992).

Citing while paraphrasing

List the last names of all authors the first

time you cite them, unless there are
more than 5.
If there are more than five, or you are
citing the paper of 3 or more authors for
a second or more time, list last name of
first author, followed by et al., and the
date.

Examples

Scott, Williamson, and Schaffer (1990) reported that

(FIRST TIME)

Scott et al. (1990) reported that

(EVERY TIME AFTER)

Scott and Williamson (1990) reported that

(FIRST TIME and EVERY TIME)

6 or more authors, use et al., first time and every

time.

Citing while quoting

You need to put the author last name(s)

and date, like while paraphrasing, but
also the PAGE NUMBERS or PARAGRAPH
NUMBERS (for online sources).
Example: the research findings clearly
indicate support for the hypotheses
(Douglass, 1986, p. 55).

How to set up your paper in

APA

Use 8 by 11 white paper, with

margins of 1 (or 1 )
Double space EVERYTHING
Font should be pica 10 pitch or Times
Roman 12 pitch
Single spaces between sentences
Page numbers in upper right hand
corners

Other rules

Title page should contain the title of your

paper (not a topic, but a title that reflects
the content of the paper), your name, the
course name the paper is for, and the date
you wrote it
APA recommends using a hanging indent:
Type the first line of an entry flush left and
indent any additional lines one-half inch
(or five spaces).

Other rules
AUTHORS NAMES
Invert all authors names and use initials instead of
first names. With two or more authors, use an
ampersand (&) before the last authors name.
Separate the names with commas. Include names for
the first six authors; if there are additional authors, end
the list with et al. (Latin for
and others).

TITLES OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES

Italicize the titles and subtitles of books; capitalize only

the first word of the title and subtitle (and all proper
nouns).
Capitalize names of periodicals as you would capitalize
them normally.

Other rules
ABBREVIATIONS FOR PAGE
NUMBERS

Abbreviations for page and pages (p.

and pp.) are used before page numbers of
newspaper articles and articles in edited
books
not before page numbers of articles
appearing in magazines
BREAKING
A URL and scholarly
journals.
When a URL must be divided, break it after
a slash or before a period.
Do not insert a hyphen.

Headings
Using headings makes it easier to navigate
your paper. In a short paper like your lit
review, youd probably only use the firstlevel heading, but this is what they look
like in order:
First-Level Heading
Second-Level Heading
Third-level heading. Begin text of
paragraph

If you have references, tables, and appendicesthe order is

1. Title page
2. Paper
3. References
4. Appendices
5. Notes
6. Tables, Figures, etc.

WRITING IN REFERENCES

Single-authored book
Perloff, R. M. (1995). The dynamics of
persuasion. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

*Note: In the 5th edition of APA, there is NO

underlining (everything that was
underlined is now in italics).

Reissued book
Newcomb, H. (Ed.). (1995). Television: The
critical view (5th ed.). New York: Oxford
University Press.
*Note: Capitals in the title of the book are
restricted to the first letter of the first
word of the title, the first letter of any
proper names, and the first letter of the
first word after a semicolon, period, or
question mark.

Dual-authored book
Baran, S. J., & Davis, D. K. (1995). Mass
communication theory: Foundations,
ferment and future. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth.
*Note: when listing authors, use an
ampersand (&) in the reference list, not
and.

Essay or chapter in an
edited book
Bryant, J. (1989). Message features and
entertainment effects. In J. J. Bradac
(Ed.), Message effects in communication
sceince (pp. 231-262). Newbury Park,
CA: Sage.
*Note: You must include the page numbers
if youre just referencing one part of a
book.

Single-authored article
Garramone, G. M. (1985). Effects of
negative political advertising: The roles
of sponsor and rebuttal. Journal of
Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 29,
149-159.
*Note: The first letter of every important
word in the title of the journal is
capitalized.

Two or more authors

(article)
Suzuki, S., & Rancer, A. S. (1994).
Argumentativeness and verbal
aggressiveness: Testing for conceptual
and measurement equivalence across
cultures. Communication Monographs,
61, 256-279.
*Note: Can you find the volume number
and page numbers in this citation?

Unpublished convention
paper
Thomas, S., & Gitlin, T. (1993, May). Who
says theres a dominant ideology and
what happens if that concept is falsified?
Paper presented at the annual meeting
of the International Communication
Association, Washington, DC.
Note: Conference papers are less highly
regarded than published works

Internet articles based on a print source

VandenBos, G., Knapp, S., & Doe, J.
(2001). Role of reference elements in the
selection of resources by psychology
undergraduates. [Electronic version].
Journal of Bibliographic Research, 5, 117123.
*Note: Sometimes electronic versions are
different from the print versions.

Article in an internet-only
journal
Frederickson, B. L. (2000, March 7).
Cultivating positive emotions to optimize
health and well-being. Prevention &
Treatment, 3. Retrieved November 20,
2000, from
http://journals.apa.org/prevention/volu
me3/pre0030001a.html
*Note: this would be the correct citation
format for the article you abstracted for
class

General Guidelines for Listing

Authors:

Alphabetize entries in the list of references by

authors last names;
If a work has no author, alphabetize it by its title;
The first element of each entry is important
because citations in the text of the paper refer to
it and readers will be looking for it in the
alphabetized list. Make sure the first element of
each entry corresponds with your in-text citations;
The date of publication appears immediately after
the first element of the citation.

When there is no author

American
organizati
Psychiatric
on
Association. (2003)

Book
Journal

Oxford essential
world atlas. (2001).
Omega-3 fatty
acids. (2004,
November 23).

Work by the same author

(Different year) List the entries by year, the

earliest first.

Schlechty, P. C. (1997).

Schlechty, P. C. (2001).

(The same year) In the parentheses, following

the year, add a, b, c, etc. Use these same
letters when giving the year in the in-text
citation.

Durgin, P. A. (2003a). At-risk behaviors in children.

Durgin, P. A. (2003b). Treating obesity with psychotherapy

Article in a jornal

Article In A Journal Paginated By Volume:

After the italicized title of the journal, give the volume

number (also italicized), followed by the page numbers:

Morawski, J. (2000). Social psychology a century ago.

American Psychologist, 55,
1427-1431.

Article In A Journal Paginated By Issue:

When each issue of a journal begins with page 1, include

the issue number in parentheses after the volume
number. Italicize the volume number but not the issue
number.

Smith, S. (2003). Government and nonprofits in the modern

age. Society, 40(4), 36-45.

Article in Mass Media

Article In A Magazine:
In addition to the year of publication, list the
month and, for weekly magazines, the day. If there
is a volume number, include it (italicized) after the
title.
Raloff, J. (2001, May 12). Lead therapy wont
help most kids. Science News, 15, 292.
Article In A Newspaper:
Begin with the name of the author followed by the
exact date of publication. Page numbers are
introduced with p. (or pp.).
Lohr, S. (2004, December 3). Health care
technology is a promise unfinanced. The New

Book with an editor

For a book with an editor but no author, begin with

the name of the editor (or editors) followed by the
abbreviation Ed. (or Eds.) in parentheses:

Bronfen, E., & Kavka, M. (Eds.). (2001). Feminist

consequences: Theory for a new century. New York:
Columbia University Press.

For a book with an author and an editor, begin with

the authors name. Give the editors name in
parentheses after the title of the book, followed by
the abbreviation Ed. (or Eds.):

Plath, S. (2000). The unabridged journals (K. V. Kukil,

Ed.). New York: Anchor.

ARTICLE OR CHAPTER IN AN EDITED BOOK

After the author, year of publication, and title

of the article or chapter, write In and give
the editors name, followed by Ed. in
parentheses; the title of the book; and the
page numbers of the article or chapter in
parentheses. End with the books publication
information:

Luban, D. (2000). The ethics of wrongful

obedience. In D. L. Rhode (Ed.), Ethics in practice:
Lawyers roles, responsibilities, and regulation
(pp. 94-120). New York: Oxford University Press.

An article from a newspapers

searchable website

Give the URL for the site, not for the

exact source:

Cary, B. (2001, June 18). Mentors of the

mind. Los Angeles Times.Retrieved July 5,
2001, from http://www.latimes.com

Television Program

To cite a television program, list the

producer and the date it was aired. Give
the title, followed by Television
broadcast in brackets, the city, and the
television network or service:

Pratt, C. (Executive Producer). (2001,

December 2). Face the nation[Television
broadcast].
Washington, DC: CBS
News.

Email and Personal

Interviews

Email messages and other personal

communications are not included in the list of
APA style references.

Must, however, use in-text citations within your

body paragraphs when information (quotations,
paraphrases and summaries) comes from
email, letters and face-to-face interviews:

The pregnancy rate continues to decrease but is

still many times higher than in other, comparable
countries (E. Robbins, personal communication,
January 5, 2006).

Citing Lectures

There is some contention as to whether or not to cite

lectures in the references list, since some people consider
them personal communications. For our purposes, please
cite them as follows:
Write the speakers last name, followed by a comma,
followed by their first name;
Give the title of the presentation in quotes marks;
Include the name of the institution or conference title,
followed by the class title (if applicable);
Include the location of the lecture, i.e., the city;
Follow with the day, month (abbreviated) and year (four
digits), i.e., 28 Sept. 2005.

Mesian, Bill. Woman online: fronteering a new feminine power.

University of Texas., SOC. 159: Feminist Theory. Austin, Texas. 4
Apr. 2005.

Citing Lectures

If the lecture material (notes or slides) is

available in electronic format, use the format for
referencing electronicsources to reference this
material even if you read the material first
elsewhere (ie: in class).Example:

Smith, P.R. (2003) . New approaches to

leadership. Retrieved August 25, 2003 from the
University of Auckland, BBIM MGMT 192 Cecil
website:
http://
www.cecil.edu/interface/cwiframes.asp?UserID=
m
gmt192

Where can I go to learn APA

style?

Publication Manual of the American

Psychological Association (5th edition)
Your textbook
Various internet sites, such as
http://www.lib.usm.edu/~instruct/guides
/apa.html
(make sure theyre reputable!)