APA, 5th Edition Made EasyHow A Scholarly Paper Should Look

Basics

Font: Times New Roman (recommended, but Courier and Arial okay), 12 point

Margins, 1.0 all around- ragged right margin (left margin can be l.5 inches if instructor has

requested the paper to be bound.)

Everything is double spaced – this includes quotes and reference page.

Page numbers start with title page by setting header feature of your software.

Header includes 2 or 3 words from title, then 5 spaces and page number.

See example of a title page on the next slide.

Title Page

Title page 1

Running head: YOUR TITLE (optional)

Appropriate Title

Your name

Name of College

Course number

Instructor name

Date assignment is due

  

  

  

  

  

APA Title Page – Example(Text in yellow and blue boxes reference specific pages in the APA Manual 5th

edition.)

Text pages

Title of paper is centered on first page of text.

All paragraphs are indented 5-7 spaces

Everything is double spaced

Must have at least 2 lines of a paragraph at the bottom of the page and 2 at the top of the page. (No widows or orphans!)

Two Easy Rules on Quotes

Short quotes with fewer than 40 words are incorporated into text and enclosed by quotation marks.

Example: “Approximately 27% of the workforce displays poor emotional intelligence” (Miele, 1993, p. 276).

(Publication Manual, 2001, p. 118)

Block Quote over 40 wordsMiele (1993) found the following:

The ‘placebo effect,’ which had been verified in

previous studies, disappeared when behaviors were

studied in this manner. The behaviors were not

exhibited again even when real drugs were given.

(p. 40)

Electronic Quotes

Documents retrieved from the Internet should include Internet source, document title, and date retrieved on the reference page (URL or uniform resource locator). Remember, properly cited sources add to the researcher’s credibility.

Electronic Example (in-text citation):As Myers (2000, para. 5) aptly phrased it, “positive emotions are great.”

In-Text Citations

(Cheek & Turner, 1981, p. 332)  

(Jones, 1989, chap. 3)

 (Myers, 2000, ¶ 5)

 (Bow, 2000, Summary section, para. 1)

References

Reference page follows text and references must be discussed and cited in text.

ALERT!!!! If you have five references listed on your reference page, you must have at least five citations in the text.

Watch reference indentations!

Double space references.

First line is flush left with remaining

lines of reference indented 5 spaces

Next slide provides an example

References

Elkind, D. (1978). The child's reality: Three

developmental themes. New York:

Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.      Issac, G. (1995). Is solar disorder timed?

Adolescents, 30 (118), 273-276.

No Author Reference Citation

Book, no author or editor:

Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (10th ed.).

(1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

Note references are flush left with 2nd line indented

No Author, Web Citation

Title of article. (1987). Retrieved from URL

_____ on 2/13/2004.

Another example:

History of South West Airlines. Retrieved ProQuest at

[school name] on 2/13/2004.

Electronic retrieved material`8

Borman, W. C. (2001). Role of supervisor. Journal of Applied

Psychology, 78, 443-449. Retrieved October 23, 2003, from

[school’s name] ProQuest data.

OR

Jones, G. (2001). Role of reference elements.

Prevention Research, 5, 117-123. Retrieved

October 13, 2003 http://jbr.org/article.html

Newspaper Article, Electronic version

Hills, P. J. (1999, February 16). In forecasting their

emotions, most people flunk out. New York

Times. Retrieved November 21, 2003, from

http://www/nytimes.com.

Computer Software Reference

Miller, M. E. (1993). The Interactive

Tester (Version 4.0) [Computer

software]. Westminter, CA: Psytek

Services.

No Author/no Date Example

Alphabetize works with no author by the first word in the title. Example:

The new health-care lexicon. (1993, August/September). Health

Care Today, 4, 1-2.

Or (NO AUTHOR, NO DATE)

Document title or name of Web page. (n.d.). Retrieved [date] from

[URL]

Same Author Variables (see p. 221) arrange alphabetically by title

Jones, J. R. (2001a). Control….

Jones, J. R. (2001b). Roles of ….

Same Authors, Different Year of Publication; list earliest publication first

(see p. 220, APA, 5th edition).

Jones, J. R. , & Wright, K. (2000).

Jones, J. R. , & Wright, K. (2001).

Common Knowledge

Exception to the citation rule: Common knowledge–

commonly known facts (e.g., Washington D.C. is the

capital of the U.S.) does not need a citation even if

one had to look up the data.

When in doubt, CITE references and citations

Adding Emphasis

• If you want to emphasize a word or words, italicize them. Do not put them in quotation marks.

• Wrong: He is “politically correct.”

• Correct: He is politically correct.

Information on emphasis added to original presentation by Bette Keeling, PhD, RN, CNAA

Tables

A table usually presents quantitative data and if included must be discussed in text and should be on the same page as discussed for reader ease.Everything is double spacedNumber all tables with Arabic numbers (1,2,3), double space and add a clear title. Clarify where the copied table originated.

Example that goes above your table: Table 1Analysis of Grade Variance

Figures

Each figure is numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Figures are photographs, drawings or non-quantitative data.Each figure must have a caption and is located at the top left.

Example: Figure 1. Gender Differences

Order of APA Pages

Title page with header, title, byline and school name

Abstract if required by professor

Text pages-remember title

Reference Page/s –get their own page

Common APA FeloniesFailure to:

Double space EVERYTHING

Remember ragged right edge

Quotes need 3 things (author’s last name, year of publication and pg/para number, URL, chapter, etc.)

References flush left for first line and never use author’s first name, only initials.

APA is easy

What is new:Updates on: apastyle.org

Consequence of not citing other sources

is called

Plagiarism

Roots of Plagiarism

The word “plagiarism” is derived from a Latin word for manstealer, or kidnapper, and by extension literary thief.

Plagiarism is using another’s:

Words/Facts

Graphs/Charts

Direct quotes

Academic Policy

Students are subject to disciplinary actions for

“intentionally or knowingly representing the

words or ideas of another as one's own in an

academic exercise.”