Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
Basics of APA formatting
Anna Aghlamazyan Writing Consultant
Quick outline
1. Brief introduction
2. Mechanics
3. In-text citations
4. Reference list
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
What is APA Style?
APA Style establishes standards of written communication concerning:
• the organization of content
• writing style
• citing references
• how to prepare a manuscript for publication in certain disciplines
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
American Psychological Association
Who Should Use APA?
APA Style describes rules for writing in:
• Social Sciences (Psychology, Linguistics, Sociology, Economics, and Criminology)
• Business
• Nursing
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
Margins and Spacing
1 inch on all sides
Double Spacing
NO spacing between paragraphs
Indent the paragraphs
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
The Title
Use title case All important words are capitalized.
Prepositions, articles and conjunctions are not capitalized.
No bold, no underline, no italics
Centered
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
In-text citation
APA style uses author-date citation method
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
Citing one and more authors Paraphrasing and summarizing
One author: (Walker, 2007)
Two authors: Walker and Allan, 2004 (“and” used in signal
pharses)
Two authors: (Walker & Allan, 2004) ( “&” is used in the
parentheses)
Three authors: (Bradley, Ramirez, and Soo, 2004)
Subsequent citation: (Bradley et al., 2004)
Three and more authors: (Bradley et al., 2004)
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
Examples
In purely financial terms, the drugs cost more than $3 a day on average (Duenwald, 2004).
As journalist Greg Critser (2003) noted in his book Fat Land…
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
Signal phrases (past simple or present perfect)
In the words of Smith (2004), “…”
As Smith has noted (2004), “…”
Hoppin and Taveras (2004), medical researchers, pointed out that “. . .”
“ . . .,” claimed Critser (2003).
Crister (2003) has offered a compelling case for this view: “ . . .”
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
Several studies in the same parentheses
Several studies (Walker & Allan, 2004; Bradley, Ramirez, and Soo, 2004) have
confirmed…
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
Direct quoting
As journalist Greg Critser (2003) noted in his book Fat Land, use of weight-loss drugs is unlikely to have an effect without the proper “support system”—one that includes doctors, facilities, time, and money (p. 3).
Two of the medications were withdrawn from the market because of severe side effects (Yanovski & Yanovski, 2002, p. 592)
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
Verbs in signal phrases
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
admitted compared insisted rejected
agreed confirmed noted reported
argued contended observed responded
asserted declared pointed out suggested
believed denied reasoned thought
claimed emphasized refuted wrote
Publications with no date
The author states that… (Colins, n.d., p.52)
n.d. stands for “no date”
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
Reference list should be in alphabetical order
A BOOK with a single author
Egeland, J. (2008). A billion lives: An eyewitness report from the frontlines of humanity. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.
Author’s last name, first initial. ---> Year (in parentheses). ---> Title (italicized. Capitalize only the first word). ---> Place of publication: ---> Publisher.
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
A BOOK with multiple authors
Musick, M.A., & Wilson, J. (2007). Volunteers: A social profile. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
An organization as an author
American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed). Washington, DC.
Citing a source with an unknown author
For works with unknown authors, begin with the work’s title.
New concise world atlas. (2007). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
Citing an online source
Cain, A., & Burris, M. (1999). Investigation of the use of mobile phones while driving. Retrieved from http://www.cutr.eng.usf.edu/its/mobile_phone_text.htm
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
Source with no date
Archer, D. (n.d.). Exploring nonverbal communication. Retrieved from http://nonverbal.ucsc.edu/
Citing a work which is discussed in another work
Smith argued that... (as cited in Andrews, 2007)
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
How to create in-text citations and a reference list in MS Word?
Oct/2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
References
Sep, 2015 AUA, Center for Student Success
Hacker, D., Sommers, N. (2012). Rules for writers with
writing about literature. Bedford/St. Martin’s,
Boston, New York.
Purdue Online Writing Lab. (n.d.). APA style
workshop. Retrieved from
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/664/
1/
Top Related