Writing in APA StyleA Guide to Style and

Citations for the 6th EditionBy

Sarah Viehmann, Writing Center Consultant

&

Megan Knight, Writing Center Consultant

Edited & Presented by

Michael Frizell, Writing Center Director

Original presentation created by Laura Burrows, former Writing Center Consultant

APA 6th Edition

• About $30• MAJOR CHANGES• new ethics guidance • new journal article reporting

standards• simplified heading style• updated guidelines for reducing

bias• new guidelines for reporting

inferential statistics• significantly revised table of

statistical abbreviations • new instruction on using

supplemental files• expanded content on the

electronic presentation of data• expanded discussion of

electronic sources emphasizing the role of the digital object identifier (DOI)

• expanded discussion of the publication process

“Rules of Thumb” - FORMAT

Page setup

•1” on every side of the document

•Double-spaced; no extra spaces between paragraphs (new Word must be adjusted!)

•12 pt font•TWO spaces follow punctuation

Style

•Avoid colloquial expressions

•Avoid the use of second person “you”

•Avoid biased language (see “General Guidelines for Reducing Bias,” APA Manual 6th edition, p. 71-76)

Mechanics

•Use active rather than passive voice

•Select tense carefully

•Be careful about subject-verb agreement

•See APA Manual 6th edition Chapters 3 and 4 for APA preferred standards

Empirical Reports vs. Literature Reviews

Empirical Reports:

*Title Page

*Abstract

*Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

*References

*Appendices

Literature Reviews:

A literature review follows APA citation style only

Most still use a cover page

Some professors may request an abstract

They will include a reference page

* Indicates a new section/page and requires a level 1 heading.

Order of PagesTitle Page

Abstract

Body

References

Appendices

Footnotes

Tables

Figure Captions

Figures

Title Page Running head

Now included in the header NOTE: This means that

the Running head appears on EVERY PAGE OF THE PAPER!

Type “Running head” a colon then an abbreviated version

of the title in all caps

No more than 50 characters, spaces

included Title

Concise statement of main topic Fully explanatory on its own

Author Name(s) Omit titles (Dr., Professor) and

degrees (PhD, EdD, MD, etc.) Institutional Affiliation

If none, list city and state of residency

Author Note (if applicable)

The Author NoteShould appear on the first page below title, byline, institutional affiliation

First paragraph: Complete departmental affiliation

Author name as it appears in the byline, department name, university name; next author name, department name, university name.

State names should be spelled out

Second paragraph: Changes of affiliation (if any)

Use this wording: [author’s name] is now at [affiliation].

Include department and institution

Third paragraph: Acknowledgements

Identify grants/other financial support (and source), other colleagues who assisted. Do not acknowledge peer reviewers/editors, etc.

Explain special circumstances concerning authorship

Thanks for personal assistance

Special circumstances (see APA Manual 6th edition, p. 25)

Fourth paragraph: Contact info

Complete mailing address. End w/email address, no period.American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

The Abstract

Empirical Study Abstract

Problem under investigation

Participants, specifying pertinent characteristics

Essentials of study method

Basic findings

Conclusions and implication or applications of study

Literature Review Abstract

Problem/relation(s) under investigation

Study eligibility criteria

Type(s) of participants included in primary studies

Main results

Conclusions (including limitations)

Implications for theory, policy, and/or practice

A good abstract should be accurate, non-evaluative, coherent and readable, and concise

should describe…

should describe…

For more types of abstracts, see APA Manual6th edition, p. 27.

American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Introduction

The introduction should:

Explore importance of the problem Why is this problem important?

How does this study relate to previous work in the area?

Describe relevant scholarship What has been said about this problem previously?

State hypotheses and research design What is your hypothesis/thesis?

How will you solve this problem/answer this question?

American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Methods SectionThe Methods section should: Describe in detail how the study was conducted

Be as complete as you can; this allows readers to evaluate and replicate your method

Identify subsections

Include the following:

Describe participant characteristics

Describe sampling procedures

Describe sample size, power, and precision

Describe measures and covariates

Specify research design

Describe experimental manipulations/interventionsAmerican Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.

Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Results Section

The Results section should:Define sources of potential subjects, periods of recruitment and follow-up

Give statistics and data analysisDescribe intervention or manipulation fidelity

Give baseline dataDescribe adverse events

American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Discussion SectionThe Discussion section should:

Open with a clear statement of support/nonsupport of original hypothesis

Examine, interpret, and qualify results and draw inferences and conclusions from results

Emphasize any theoretical/practical consequences of results

Should take into account:

Sources of potential bias

Imprecision of measures

Overlap among tests

Effect sizes observed

Other limitations/weaknesses

Consider:

What is the theoretical/clinical/practical significance of your outcomes?

What phenomena may be explained or modeled by results?

What problems arise from research or remain unsolved?American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Header LevelsThese have changed!

Level One is Centered, Bold, Uppercase and Lowercase

Level Two is Flush Left, Bold, Uppercase and Lowercase

Level Three is Indented, bold, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. The paragraph follows.

Level Four is indented, bold, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. The paragraph follows.

Level Five is indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. The paragraph follows.

Good news! Now, you will follow the pattern of levels from the top down: if you have one level, use Level 1; if you have two levels, use Levels 1 and 2;

and so on.American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.

Washington, DC: American Psychological Association

In-Text Citations

No more than 25 percent of your paper should be direct quotations. Paraphrase as much as you can. Use direct quotations when citing a

statistic or original theory.Use an author's words if they

capture a point exactly.

Avoiding PlagiarismPlagiarism is…

…using someone else’s words or ideas as though they were your own.

…deliberately stealing someone’s work.

…paying someone to write a paper.

…a serious offense.

When to Cite

You DO need to cite: When using someone

else’s exact words

When using someone else’s data (statistics, etc.)

When using someone else’s figures (tables, graphs, images)

When stating someone’s unique idea

You DON’T need to cite: Your own unique

ideas

Common knowledge

Common Knowledge vs.Unique Ideas

Don’t need to cite: Ideas widely believed to be

true.

Folklore, stories, songs, or saying without an author but commonly known.

Quotations widely known and used.

Information shared by most scholars in your discipline.

WHEN IN DOUBT…

CITE!

In-text Citation Methods

•Surname (e.g., Smith)

•Exclude titles (PhD, M.D.) and suffixes (Jr., III)

Author name

•Year onlyPublicatio

n Date

•For direct quotes only

Page numbers

APA Citations require the following…

Types of Citations

Direct Quoting

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.

Parenthetical Citations

One Author

(Stroop, 1935)

Two Authors

(Strafford & Gurney, 2004)

Three to five

authors

First citation: (Risko, Stolz,

& Besner, 2005)

Subsequent citations:

(Risko et al., 2005)

Six or more

authors

(Smith et al., 2004)*

* In the references page, list up to seven authors

Eight or more

authors

First six authors’ names, three ellipses, last

author’s name

Gilbert, McClernon, Rabinovich, Sugai, Plath,

Asgaard,…Botros, (2004).

As Part of a Narrative

One author Stroop (1935)

Two authors

Strafford and Gurney (2004)

Three to five

authors

First citation: Risko,

Stolz, and Besner (2005)

Subsequent citations: (Risko et

al., 2005)*

Six or more authors

Smith et al. (2004)

Exceptions & Special Cases

When two works with three or more authors shorten to the same

abbreviation, use enough authors to

distinguish between them.

•(Smith, Jones, & Madson, 2004) and (Smith, Johnson, & Jones, 2004)•Shorten to: (Smith, Jones, et

al., 2004) and (Smith, Johnson, et al., 2004)

•DO NOT change the order of the authors! They must be represented as they are credited in the study.

When two

different works

have the same author and the same year:

•(Smith, 2005a) and (Smith, 2005b) •Works will be

listed as they appear in the reference pages

When two

different authors have the

same surname

:

•(A. Smith, 2005) and (C. D. Smith, 1995)•Even if the

date of publication differs, distinguish between the two authors by including first initials

When Page Numbers Are Not Available

•(Anderson & Jones, 2007, para. 5)

If paragraph numbers are visible

(numbered), use them in place of page

numbers.

•(Anderson & Jones, 2008, Discussion section, para. 2)

If the document includes headings and neither paragraph nor page

numbers are visible, cite the heading and the

number of the paragraph following it.

•(Anderson & Jones, 2008, “Common Symptoms,” para. 1)

•(Full heading is “Common Symptoms of Ailments Such as the Stomach Flu”)

When headings are too unwieldy to cite in full, use

a short title enclosed in quotation marks.

More Citation Rules

Multiple studies in one citation

By the same author:

• Order by year of publication:

(Skinner, 1966, 1981)

By multiple authors:

• Order as references appear in Reference* page:

(Branch, 1980; Carlson, 2001; Todd & Morris, 2005)

One author cited multiple times in one paragraph

If there is no possibility of confusion, only cite the year in the first citation*

Once a new paragraph begins, the study must be fully cited again

* If one citation is more significant, it may be listed first, with a phrase such as “see also” inserted to separate the others: (Zimmerman, 1993; see also Branch, 1980; Smith, 2001)

Citation Rules, Continued Anonymous Authors

Cite with ‘anonymous’ as author: (Anonymous, 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)

Group as Author

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)

Citation Rules, Continued

Personal Communications

(i.e. letters, interviews, memos, emails, telephone conversations, etc.)

(A. F. Butan, personal communication, October 25, 2005)

Writing Tip: Note that the first initials ARE used for personal communication

Note: do not include personal communications in the reference list

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.

Block Quotes

Required for quotes longer than 40 words

Inset by two tab spaces (or one inch) on both the right and the left.

Double-Spaced

When a quotation is indented in this way, quotation marks are not needed.

Usually, quotations longer than four lines require block quote formatting. (Author, date, p. #)

Reference List: Basics Reference lists should be alphabetized by the last name of the first authors listed.

Remember, you can not change the order of authors within the study!

Nothing precedes something: Green, E. C. (2000). Greene, B. A. (1994).Harrison, M. R. (2004).Harrison, M. R., & Blake, C. D. (2001)

NOTE: First Initials ARE used on the

Reference page!

The DOI: Digital Object Identifier The DOI is like a social security number for a source. It is

meant to help readers find the exact source you are referencing.

You can type a DOI into Google and get the exact source.

All DOI numbers begin with a 10 and contain a prefix and a suffix separated by a slash.

Not all sources have DOIs.

If the source has a DOI, cite it after the rest of the citation is finished:

Brownlie, D. Toward effective poster presentations: An annotated bibliography. European Journal of Marketing, 41(11/12), 1245-1283. doi:10.1108/03090560710821161

Reference List, Continued

Multiple works by the same author:

One author: arrange chronologically

• Blake, B. R. (1990)• Blake, B. R. (1993)

One author, same year: order by title

• Blair, S. M. (2000a). Care and feeding…• Blair, S. M. (2000b). Observations…

Common Reference Entries Book

Gravetter, F. J., & Forzano, L. B. (2005). Research methods for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson.

Book with editor Plath, S. (2000). The unabridged journals (K. V. Kukil, Ed.). New

York: Anchor.

Journal paginated by volume Risko, E. F., Stolz, J. A., & Besner, D. (2005). Basic processes in

reading: Is visual word recognition obligatory? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 12, 119-124.

With DOI: Same format, but after page number: doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225

Journal paginated by issue Schmidt, J. R., & Cheesman, J. (2005). Dissociating stimulus-stimulus

and response-response effects in the Stroop task. Canadian Journal of Experimental Psychology, 59(2), 132-138.

Journal Pagination: Volume or Issue?

Paginated by volume

Some journals begin each issue where the last left off:

Volume 1, issue 1: page 1-200

Volume 1, issue 2: page 201-400

These journals are paginated by volume, and do not require the issue number in the reference citations

Paginated by issue

Journals whose issues each begin on page one require the issue number in the reference page to specify the issue in which an article appears:

Volume 23, issue 1: page 1-205

Volume 23, issue 2: page 1-300

[An article listed in volume 23, page 189, would not tell a reader which issue contained the article]

Online References Article From an Online Periodical

Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial visual reactions [Electronic version]. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 121(1), 15-23.

(Note: if there is no print version available, include date of access and URL after the issue: Retrieved July 5, 2005, from http://www... Use the exact URL of the article if possible, unless you have retrieved an article from a newspaper’s site (i.e., www.newyorktimes.com)

Article from a Database

Holliday, R. E., & Hayes, B. K. (2001, January). Dissociating automatic and intentional processes in children’s eyewitness memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 75(1), 1-5. Retrieved February 21, 2001, from Expanded Academic ASAP database (A59317927).

Non-Periodical Web Document

List as many as possible of the following:

Author’s name. Date of publication (use “n.d.” if no date is known or available). Title of the document in italics. Date of access. URL directly to the source

Chovil, I. (n.d.). What is schizophrenia? Retrieved November 6, 2005, from http://www.chovil.com/first.html

Keep them in this order!

If there is no author, use the title as the author, followed by the date in parenthesis.When no DOI is included and the URL is given, a retrieved date is needed unless the source material may change over time (e.g., wikis)

Misc. References

Encyclopedia Entries

Glickman, H. (1994). Occupational safety and health administration (OSHA). In World book encyclopedia (Vol. 14, pp. 647-648). Chicago: World Book.

Occupational therapy. (1994). In World book encyclopedia (Vol. 14, p. 648). Chicago: World Book.

Newspaper Articles

Schwartz, J. (1993, September 30). Obesity affects economic, social status. The Washington Post, pp. A1, A4.

A complete list of types of sources, cross-referenced to examples, can be found in the APA Publication Manual on pages 193-215.

Contact Information Michael Frizell, Writing Center Director

michaelfrizell@missouristate.edu

Phone number 417-836-5006

Office: Meyer Library 112

Writing Center

First floor Meyer Library – The Bear Claw

Phone Number 417-836-6398

http://writingcenter.missouristate.edu

Supplemental Instruction

http://si.missouristate.edu