APA Style

The Basics

Why use APA?

• Allows others to access your sources

• Helps you stay organized

• Establishes credibility

• Prevents plagiarism

Setting up your paper:

• One-inch margins• Double-spaced• Title page – centered text placed in

top half of page• Page number in header (right

justified)• Title of essay in header (left

justified, all capital letters)

Breakdown of APA

• Title page

• Parenthetical citations

• Reference page

Title Page Example

Running Head: ALCOHOL USE AMONG TEENS 1

Alcohol Use Among TeensJane B. Smith

Tulsa Community College

First Page of Paper

ALCOHOL USE AMONG TEENS 2

Alcohol Use Among Teens

Begin typing your essay here. Remember to left justify, indent the first line of each paragraph,

and double-space all text.

Use in-text citations when. . .

•Quoting•Paraphrasing

•Summarizing

Source within a source

• Don’t quote a source that your source has also quoted.– Instead, find the original source and quote it

directly. – This eliminates confusion within your paper

and the reference list.

How do citations work?

They direct your reader to your reference page.

Include only the necessary elements, so I don’t become confused.

Necessary Info

Page number

Author’s last name

Year of publication

Example:

In fact, one technician suggests, “General wisdom of every new technology progresses through four phases: Disbelief, Hype, Backlash, and finally Acceptance or Rejection” (Feeley, 2006, p. 53).

(Author’s last name, year, and page number)

Another Approach:

In fact, Feeley (2006) suggests, “General wisdom of every new technology progresses through four phases: Disbelief, Hype, Backlash, and finally Acceptance or Rejection” (p. 53).

When introducing a quote by an author, info in parenthesis changes.

What info would you provide in the parenthesis?

A recent report indicates, “The Anycast Station features a six-input 4:2:2 video switcher, and audio mixer . . . and server” (_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ).Mill, 2006, p. 42

What info would you provide in the parenthesis?

Lester (2004) argues, “few realize the price they pay for such extremities” (_ _ _ _ _ _ ). p. 32

A source with no author?

However, some speculate, “35% will adopt these new systems by next year” (_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _). “America’s,” 2006, p. 93

If the source doesn’t list an author or editor, provide the first one or two words of the title.

Use quotation marks for titles of articles or chapters and italics for titles of books.

A source with multiple authors?

3 to 6 authors first reference:(Kelly, Richer, & Switz, 2006, p.32)

7 or more authors:(Kelly et al., 2006, p. 32)

3 to 6 authors subsequent references:(Kelly et al., 2006, p.32)

Misc. APA Rules

• Quotes longer than 40 words should be indented 5 spaces.

• When summarizing, do not give a page number (only use last name and publication year).

Reference Page

Author

Title of the Work

Publication Information

Other Necessary Information

Book with one author:

Simmons, L. (2004). Six steps to combating ignorance. Durham, NC:

Duke University Press.

Last name, First initial. (pub. Year). Title of book. Publication city: Publisher.

Book with two or more authors:

Cleve, K., & Russell, M. (2005). A nation at a glance: America in the twentieth century. New York: Glenhaven.

Cleve, K., Palmer N., & Russell, M. (2005). A nation at a glance: America in the twentieth century. New York: Glenhaven.

Article in an edited book or anthology:

Smith, A. (2002). Editing for clarity. In R.M. Miller (Ed.), Writing with precision (pp. 120-132). Detroit: St. Martin’s Press.

Last name, First initial. (pub. Year). Title of article or chapter. In Editor’s name (Ed.),Title of book (pp. ). Publication city: Publisher.

Article from a database:

Moser, P., & Mun, T. (2004). Supply and demand. Business First, 32 (2), 34-37. Retrieved from General BusinessFile ASAP database.

Last name, First initial. (pub. Year). Title of Article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pp. Retrieved from database name.

Document in a website:

U.S. Department of State. (1997). Germany: Economic policy and trade practices, 1996. Retrieved from http://tradeport.org/ts/countries/germany.html

Name of organization or author. (pub. Year). Title of document. Retrieved from website url

Source with unknown author or editor. . .

Book with unknown author:

Taking control. (1999). New York: Norton.

Start with the title—everything else is the same.

Source with Organization as Author. . .

Hawaii Department of Education. (2005).

Kauai district schools, profile 2004-05.

Honolulu, HI: U.S. Government Printing

Office.

List the name of the organization as the author.

For each entry. . .

• Invert each author’s name

• Put publication year in parenthesis after author info

• In titles of books and articles, capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle and any proper nouns.

• In titles of journals, capitalize first word and all other important words.

• Italicize all book and journal titles.

• Do not italicize or use quotation marks around article titles.

• Give the state only if the city is not well-known.

• Use a hanging indent .

When in doubt, look it up!

Example of a Reference Page

ALCOHOL USE AMONG TEENS11

References

Amanae, O. (2006). The basics of troubleshooting. Technology in a Modern Age Journal, 41, 72-79. Retrieved from Lexis-Nexis database.

Brazil, K., & Mayes, S. (2005). Keys to aesthetics: The look of HDV technology. Denver: Green Publishers.

Luther, L. (2005). Incorporating technology into the workplace. Business Forum, 35, 322-326.

Again. . .

Consult a writing handbook when questions arise.

I don’t bite—at least not very hard.

Helpful Websites

• www.apastyle.org

• owl.english.purdue.edu

• http://lrc.tulsacc.edu

Other Resources

• FACET Center– Writing

handbooks– Editing help

• LRC– APA Manual

– Bibliomaker