APA STYLE

What is an APA style?

A format for citing sources and typing research papers in the social sciences developed by the American Psychological Association (APA).

Cover page

The page header The running head The title (summarize the main idea of the

paper) The identification information

Page header

First two or three words of your title or two very important words in your title,

Upper right hand corner of every page Five spaces between the header and page

number)

The running head

Abbreviated title Does not exceed 50 characters Just below the header, flush left All uppercase letters

The title

Summarize the main idea of the paper Very simple, fully explanatory Upper and lowercase letters Centered Double spaced if it is more than two lines 10-12 words

The identification information

The title, your name and institutional affiliation

Your name should be: Upper and lower case letters Centered and double-spaced one line below

the title

Abstract

The page header The title (Type Abstract centered one double

space line above abstract's body). The body (brief summary one paragraph not

exceeding 960 characters)

The text

The page header The title The body (double spaced in paragraph form) The headings and subheadings 8.5x11 inches, margins of 1 inch on all sides 12 Times New Roman 5 and 7 spaces indented paragraph

The headings and subheadings

Level 1Centered upper and lowercase heading Level 2Centered, italicized, upper and lowercase

heading Level 3Flush left, italicized, uppercase and lowercase

heading

The headings and subheadings

Level 4

Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period

Level 5

Centered uppercase heading

If two levels, use 1 and 3

If three levels, use 1, 3 and 4.

Abbreviations

Spell out the first time when abbreviating terms

Multiple Intelligence (MI)cf.compare, etc.and so forth e.g.,for examplei.e.,that iset al.and othersvs.versus, against

Abbreviations

Do not use periods with the followings

cm centimeter,s seconds

Mg milligrams, min minutes, g grams

Hr hours

M mean

IQ intelligence

Numbers

0-9 spelled out except figure, table numbers and metric measurement

10 and above, write in numbers

Tables

Tables No vertical lines Table number e.g. Table 1 Next double spaced line: Table title flush left

and italicized. No periods used after the table number or

title.

Figures

Start on a new page. Center the phrase Figure Captions at the top.

Each figure caption is typed flush left in block format.

The word 'figure' and the number are italicized, for example, Figure 1. The effects of...

References in the text

A direct quote (Smith, 1998, p.265)Smith (1998) states that “whether paraphrasing

or quoting, you must credit the source” (p.35).

If any material is left within sentence, use …If any material is left between two sentences,

use …. It is stated that “whether paraphrasing or

quoting, you must credit the source” (Smith, 1998, p.35).

References in the text

Paraphrasing with one author (Smith, 1998)

Smith (1998) states, it is important to explain the references

Smith (1998) states that …………

It is important to explain the references (Smith, 1998).

References in the text

Paraphrasing with two authors (Smith & Bradley, 1998).

Smith and Bradley (1998) mentioned that ….

It was mentioned that …. (Smith & Bradley, 1998).

References in the text

With three to five authors first time (Smith, Bradley & Sean, 1998).

Smith, Bradley and Sean (1998) stated that

It was stated that ….. (Smith, Bradley & Sean, 1998).

References in the text

With three to five authors after first time (Smith et al., 1998).

Smith et al. (1998) state, ………..If at the end of the sentence, use (Smith et al.,

1998).With six or more authors (Smith et al., 1998). With no author, use the first identifying words

of the title (“Journey”, 1998).

References in the text

Secondary source

You read an article Smith (1998)

In that article, it refers to Osborne (1996)

Osborne (as cited in Smith, 1998) suggests the use of citations. In the reference section, put Smith (1998).

Reference page

The page header References centered

References

Journal articleSmith, B., & Cornell, J. (1991). Apa guide.

Journal of APA, 38, 1189-1192.Smith, B., & Cornell, J. (1991). Apa guide.

Journal of APA, 38 (9), 1189-1192. Book Smith, B. (1990). APA guide. Washington, DC:

American Psychological Association.

References

A web sitePlonsky, M. (2004). Psychology with style: A

hypertext writing guide (Version 5). Retrieved from the Web January 10, 2004. http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/apa4b.htm

Edited bookMarshall, F. D. (Ed.). (2000). Apa style. Atlanta:

Kluwer Publications.

References

An article in an edited book

Cicero, T. J. (1979). A critique of animal analogues of alcoholism. In E. Majchrowicz & E. P. Noble (Eds.), Biochemistry and pharmacology of ethanol (Volume 2, pp. 31-59). New York: Plenum Press.

References

Groups as authors

U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. (1971). Alcohol and Health. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

References

Unpublished manuscript with a university cited

Smith, J. J. (2000). APA style. Unpublished manuscript, New York University.