the basics of apa style a guide to student papers

The Basics of APA Style

A guide to student papers

Three areas of concern:

Part I: Formatting your paper Part II: The reference list Part III: Parenthetical, or in-text

citation

Part I:Formatting your paper

Use 8½ X 11 inch paper 12 point, New Times Roman, or similar

font 3 cm margins, 3,5 cm for left-hand

margin. Double-space your text


Number pages consecutively The first page is your title page:

Title

Your name

Your affiliation


Abstract (summary) on page two, if required by teachers.

Next page: center full title, followed by the main body of the text on the next line

Indent the first line of each paragraph by five spaces (1 cm).

Figures, tables, charts may be incorporated into the body of the text

Part II:The reference list

Reference sources used in your paper must be listed. Start references on a new page after the body of your text.

List alphabetically by author’s last name (or title, if author not known).


The purpose of the reference list is to: Identify and credit the sources you used Enable the reader to locate your sources

APA style is used in the social sciences, education, engineering and business.

Emphasizes the date of publication

Example of reference listReferences

Heinerman, J. (1988). Heinerman’s encyclopedia of fruits, vegetables and herbs. Paramus, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Kowalchik, C. & Hylton, W. (1998). Rodale’s illustrated encyclopedia of herbs. Emmaus, PA: Rodale Press.

Wardlaw, G. M. & Smith, A. M. (2006). Contemporary nutrition. Boston: McGraw Hill.

Weiss, S. E. (Ed.). (1997). Foods that harm, foods that heal. Pleasantville, NY: The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.


If you have more than one source by the same author, arrange by year of publication beginning with the earliest.

Capitalization: titles of books and articles are treated like sentences with only the first word capitalized. (Proper nouns should be capitalized, just as they would in a sentence.)


Single-author entries precede those with co-authors.

Multiple authors are joined with an ampersand “&” instead of with the word “and”.

Authors’ first names are always reduced to initials.


PeriodicalsAuthor, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title

of article. Title of Periodical, xx(x), xxx-xxx.

Sacks, S. E. (2004). Fraud risk: are you prepared? Journal of Accountancy, 198(3), 57-63.


Nonperiodicals

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work. Location: Publisher.

Lipson, C. (2004). Doing honest work in college. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.


Part of a nonperiodical (e.g., a book chapter)

Author, A. (Year). Title of chapter. In A. Editor (Ed.), Title of book (pp. xxx-xxx). Location: Publisher.

Lipson, C. (2004). Plagiarism and academic honesty. In S. Jones (Ed.), Integrity in scholarship (pp. 32-48). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.


References to Electronic Sources In general, include the same information

as you would for a print resource, and add as much electronic retrieval info as needed to locate the source.

Content with no fixed publication date should include a retrieval date.

If the source has a DOI (Digital Object Identifier), use it instead of a URL


Article with DOI assignedAuthor, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of

article. Title of Periodical, xx, xxx-xxx. doi:

Belli, B. (2007). Nuking food: Contamination fears and market possibilities spur an irradiation revival. E: The Environmental Magazine, 18 (4), 136-142. doi: 10.1037/0002-9432.76.4.482


Article with no DOI assignedAuthor, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of

article. Title of Periodical, xx, xxx-xxx. Retrieved from URL

Belli, B. (2007). Nuking food: Contamination fears and market possibilities spur an irradiation revival. E: The Environmental Magazine, 18 (4), 136-142. Retrieved from http://www.emagazine.com/view/?3790


EncyclopediaAuthor, A. A. (Year). Title of article. In A. Editor

(Ed.), Title of work. Retrieved month day, year, from URL

Ennis, W. (2006). Sign Language. In G. Albrecht (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Disability. Retrieved August 28, 2007, from Gale Virtual Reference Library, Pima County Public Library, www.tppl.org


Newspaper article

Author, A. (Year, Month Day). Title of article. Title of newspaper. Retrieved from URL

Rico, G. (2007, August 28). Hayden could get Superfund cleanup. The Arizona Daily Star. Retrieved from http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/198476


Podcast

Creator, Producer, Director, etc. (Person’s title). (Year, Month Day). Title of show, segment, etc. [Number or other identifier]. Title of podcast. Podcast retrieved from URL

Glass, I. (Producer). (2007, August 3). Blame it on art [Show 73]. This American Life. Podcast retrieved from http://www.thisamericanlife.org


Article on web site, no dateAuthor, A. A. (n. d.). Title of article. Retrieved

Month Day, Year, from URL

Doughan, D. (n. d.) J. R. R. Tolkien: A biographical sketch. Retrieved August 28, 2007, from http://www.lordotrings.com/noflash/biography.asp

Part III:Parenthetical, or in-text citation

Within the body of your text, you must cite your sources as you use them.

You must cite any and all data, facts, information, opinions, ideas, tables, charts, graphics, photographs, etc. that you obtained in your research.


ParaphrasingOne idea is to surround quotations with big Q’s to

distinguish the author’s words from your own ideas (Lipson, 2004).

In Doing honest work in college, Lipson (2004) suggests surrounding quotations with big Q’s to distinguish the author’s words from your own ideas.

___________________________________________Lipson, C. (2004). Doing honest work in college.

Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.


Direct quoteLipson’s first rule of academic honesty is, “When you

say you did the work yourself, you actually did it” (2004, p. 3).

A good rule to follow is “When you say you did the work yourself, you actually did it” (Lipson, 2004, p. 3).

___________________________________________Lipson, C. (2004). Doing honest work in college.

Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.

Conclusion

Formatting rules make research papers uniform and easy to read

The ability to verify facts through proper citation of sources is essential to good scholarship

In-text citation and the reference list Identify and credit the sources you used Enable the reader to locate your sources

the basics of apa style a guide to student papers

Documents

title page

reference listpart

reference listif

title of book

title of work

title of article

title of periodical

title of chapter