Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA)

Writing Style Workshop

This will cover several aspects of APA style:

• Why we cite sources • What needs to be cited • How to use parenthetical citations

Why Use APA Format?

• Allows readers to cross-reference your sources easily

• Provides consistent format within a discipline

• Gives you credibility as a writer

• Protects yourself from plagiarism

• Leaves a trail of clues for interested readers

What needs to be cited?

You need to document: • Direct quotes • Paraphrases (rephrased or summarized material) • Phrases taken from sources • Words specific or unique to the author's research,

theories, or ideas • Use of an author's argument or line of thinking • Historical, statistical, or scientific facts • Articles or studies you may refer to within your

text

You do not need to document:

• Proverbs, axioms, and sayings ("A stitch in time saves nine.")

• Well-known quotations ("The personal is political.")

• Common knowledge (Thomas Edison invented the phonograph, or oxygen's atomic number is 8, or Vincent Van Gogh painted "Starry Night".)

Keys to Parenthetical Citations

Readability• Keep references brief • Give only information

needed to identify the source on your reference page

• Do not repeat unnecessary information

In-Text Citation Methods

APA citations require the following:

Author(s) surname (excluding titles,

Jr., or II)

Year of Publications

Page number (for direct

quotes)

Types of Citations

Direct Quote

s

• Participants had demonstrated “words can be successfully ignored if the task conditions are right” (Strafford & Gurney, 2004, p. 977).

• Stroop (1935) noted there commonly occurred a “sex difference in naming colors” (p. 21).

Paraphrasing

•Some studies have suggested reading may not be an automatic process (Strafford & Gurney, 2004).

•Stroop (1935) examined potential factors for the different reaction times his participants exhibited.

Exceptions and Special Cases

When two works with

three or more authors shorten

to the same abbreviation, use enough authors to distinguish

between them:

•(Ali, Asad, & Jahangir, 2004) and (Ali, Shaheen, & Saleem, 2004)•Shorten to: (Ali ,Asad, et al., 2004) and (Ali, Shaheen, et al., 2004)•DO NOT change the order of the authors! They must be represented as they are credited in the study.

Citation Rules, cont’d…

Anonymous authors:

Cite with ‘anonymous’ as author:• (Anonymou

s, 1994)

Unknown authors:

Cite the first few words of the title, along with the year:• For articles or

chapters, use quotes: (“Cognitive dissonance,” 2004)

• For titles of periodicals, books, brochures or reports, use italics: (Psychology, 2005)

Personal communications :

(i.e. letters, interviews,

memos, emails, telephone

conversations, etc.)

(A. F. Butan, personal

communication, October 25, 2005)

Note: do not include personal communications in the reference

list

Citation Rules, cont’d…

Groups as Authors:

•When a group or corporation has a long name and a common or easily understood abbreviation:•First citation: (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2000)•Subsequent citations: (NIMH, 2000)

Unknown date:

•Cite with abbreviation “n.d.” for works with no known publication date:•(Samson, n.d.)

Citing Web Pages

In-text citation of web-based material follows the same rules :

If no author, use the first few words of title: (“Chimps,”

2005).

If no date, use the abbreviation “n.d.” : (Johnson, n.d.)

Direct quotes of web-based documents:

Websites have no page numbers!

Cite the paragraph number if possible:• (Kirby, 2004, para. 5)Cite the sub-section and paragraph number if possible: • (“Snakes,” n.d., Care and

Feeding section, para. 4)• Note: when a web-based

source is printed, the top of the page will include a number for the purpose of printing, i.e. “1 of 3.” These are NOT the page numbers of the document and should not be cited as such.

Handling Quotes in Your Text

There are many different combinations and variations within APA citation format.

If you run into something unusual, look it up!

• How to do Quotations in text…

Quotations in Text

• Display quotation of fewer than 40 words in double quotation marks. Include page number in parentheses.– Black (1993) stated, “The ‘placebo effect’ …

disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner” (p. 276).

Quotations in Text, cont.

• Display quotation of 40 or more words in block quotation (single spaced ) without quotation marks.– Black (1993) found the following:

The “placebo effect” had been verified in previous studies. This effect was found to be indicative of a patient’s belief that they were suffering from x diagnosis and were receiving y medication which was helping them to reduce z psychosomatic side effects. (p. 276)

Quotations in Text, cont.

• Omitting material (insert …)• Inserting material (use brackets [ ] )• For errors introduce the word sic(italicized &

bracketed)– For e.g. “the speaker stttutered [sic] terribly”

How to Create the Reference Page

• The Reference page, entitled "References," will appear near the end of your written document--that is, after your study, report, conclusion, or literature review. The Reference page lists the bibliographic information for all the sources that you cited in your paper, not all works you have merely consulted. This page is not necessarily the last page in your paper; tables and/or appendices, if you have them, will come after the Reference page.

Reference List

• Journal Article:

Carlson, L. A. (2003). Existential theory: Helping school counselors attend to youth at risk for violence. Professional School Counseling, 6(5), 310-315.

(Remember to do a “hanging indent” (under Word FORMAT- Paragraph) on each reference of one half inch or the standard “Hanging” Indention.)

Reference List

• Entire Book:

Beck, C. A. J., & Sales, B. D. (2001). Family mediation: Facts, myths, and future prospects. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Reference List

• Chapter in an edited book:Johnson, R. A. (1989). Retrieval inhibition as an adaptive

mechanism in human memory. In H. L. Roediger III & F. I. M. Craik (Eds.), Varieties of memory & consciousness (pp. 309-330). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Reference List

• English translation of a book:Lang, P. S. (1951). A philosophical essay on probabilities (F. W. Truscott & F. L. Emory, Trans.). New York: Dover. (Original work published 1814)

*In text, cite original date and translation date: (Lang, 1814/1951).

Reference List

• Secondary Source– Text citation:• Seidenberg and McClelland’s study (as cited in

Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins, & Haller, 1993)

– Reference List Entry:• Coltheart, M., Curtis, B., Atkins, P., & Haller, M. (1993).

Models of reading aloud: Dual-route and parallel- distributed-processing approaches. Psychological Review, 100, 589-608.

Reference List

•Electronic Media (p. 268)

•Stand-alone document, no author identified, no date:

GVU’s 8th WWW user survey. (n.d.). Retrieved August 8, 2000, from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/user_surveys/survey-1997-10/

Reference List

• Personal Interview• Cite ONLY within the text – – DO NOT include in reference list!

• This includes: interviews, emails, letters, and other person-to-person communication.

• Examples:– T.K. Lutes claims…. (personal communication, April 18, 2005).– (V.G. Brown, personal communication, September 10, 2005).