The purpose of the American

Psychological Association

(APA) format is to give credit

for ideas and information

borrowed from other sources,

to prevent plagiarism, and

allow for quick identification

of author and location of

borrowed information.

Learning Services has many

books available for students

to use to further help with

APA style.

The Purpose of

APA Format

LEARNING

SERVICES

Avila University

How to wr i te an APA

reference page

www.avila.edu/ls

816-501-3666

Many instructors use varia-

tions of the standard APA

format, so ask your instructor

which citation format to use.

General Format for APA Style

Papers

• APA requires a title page. A short title consisting of the first two or three words of the title is followed by the page number 1/2 inch from the top of the page, flush right. The full title, writer’s name and sec-tion number of the course, instruc-tor’s name and date all centered.

• The upper right-hand corner of each page includes the short title and page number.

• The margins should be one inch on all four sides.

• Use double-spacing and 12-point font.

• Each paragraph should begin with an indentation of five spaces.

• For quotations longer than forty words, indent each line five spaces from the left. Quotation marks are not necessary when a quote is in-dented.

Phone: 816-501-3666

www.avila.edu/ls

Hodes Center

11901 Wornall Rd.

Kansas City, MO 64145

Article from an online periodical Ashe, D. D., & McCutcheon, L. E. (2001, May

4). Shyness, loneliness, and attitude

toward celebrities. Current Research in

Social Psychology, 6 (9). Retreived July 3,

2001, from http://www.uiowa.edu/

~grpproc/crisp/crisp.6.9.htm.

Journal article from a database Poupart, L.M. (2002). Crime and justice in

American Indian communities.

Social Justice, 29 (1/2), 144-159.

Retrieved July 18, 2005, from Pro

Quest database (208056261).

Document from a web site with an author

Archer, Z. (n.d.). Exploring nonverbal communica-

tion. Retrieved July 18, 2001, from

http://zzyx.ucsc.edu/~archer.

Document from a web site without an author Quick facts. (2008). Retrieved May 2, 2007, from

http://www.avila.edu/admission/facts.

IMPORTANT NOTE: In this brochure references are single spaced to save space and provide more examples.

References should be double spaced in APA style papers.

General guidelines for a book Author’s last name, Author’s first ini

tial. (date). Title of book. City of

Publication: Publisher.

General guidelines for an article Author’s last name, Author’s first ini

tial. (date). Title of article. Title

of Periodical, Volume (Issue),

page numbers.

General guidelines for a Web site Author. (Date of publication or most re

cent update.) Title of document

on Web site. Title of Web site or

section of site. Retrieved Date of

access, from URL of document.

Journal article, one author Moeller, C. S. (1999). How to win friends.

Communication Digest, 15(3), 4-285.

Journal article, two authors Moeller, C. S. & Swanson, A. B. (1999). How

to win more friends. Communication

Digest, 7(2), 285-290.

Journal article, more than six authors Anderson, G. R., Rowdy, I. M., Faulk, M.,

Moss, R., Tarkenton, F., Sweeny, M.

E., et al. (1980). The end justifies the

mean in statistics. Statistics For Fun

and Profit, 19, 1044-1054.

Magazine article, popular magazine Switzer, J. J. (2000, November 15). Brains and

how they work. Science, 290, 113-120.

Daily newspaper article, no author Crime watch group snares tire slasher. (1999,

July 1). The Kansas City Star, p. A7.

Edited book

Frederick, C. J. & Geerage, L. S. (Eds.). (1884). Using

stories in the college classroom. St. Louis: ABC

Press.

Book with no author or editor

Merriam-Webster’s collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (1994).

Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

Motion picture (or recording) Glazer, B. (Producer), & Howard, R. (Director)

(1984). Splash. [Motion picture]. United

States: Touchstone.

Television program Wells, N. (Executive Producer). (2001, October 30).

Primetime [Television broadcast]. New York:

ABC Broadcasting Co.

Music recording Simon, L. (2001). Hold on [Recorded by original

London cast]. On The secret garden [CD].

London: First Night. (February 17, 2001).

Published interview Albright, Madeline K. (1999, April 4). Interview

with Tim Russert and Andrea Mitchell.

Meet the Press. NBC, Washington, D.C.

Advertisement

Sony. Advertisement. (1999, December 13). ESPN .

Examples Of How to Write

APA Citations

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