Transcript APA Formatting: An Introduction

Sonya C. Brown, Presenter
A Writing Across the Curriculum Workshop
Sponsored by a Title III Grant
Fayetteville State University
September 25, 2008
APA General Guidelines
APA=American Psychological Association
Information for this workshop comes from the 5th
edition of the style manual.
APA is used by academics writing or teaching in the
social sciences, such as psychology, sociology and
social work, education, criminal justice, and others.
Formatting a Basic Page
 Double space
 1” margins on all sides (top, bottom, left, right)
 10-12 point Times New Roman or a similar serif font
 Each page has a “header” at the top right: use a short
title (2-3 words of your title), insert 5 spaces, then put
the page number
 To put in a header using Word 2007, choose Insert
menu, Page Number (click arrow), “Top of Page,” Plain
3, then type the short title and click the space bar five
times, save and close.
Formatting an Overall Document
 Most papers are divided into sections:
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Title Page
Abstract
Body (usually divided into sections)
References (where you list your sources)
Footnotes (where you put your “asides” or extra comments)
Tables
Figures (non-table images, such as photographs)
Some instructors may not require all portions or may want figures to
be placed within the body. Check your assignment sheet or ask your
instructor for details about your individual assignment.
Formatting a Title Page
 Include the header (short title, five spaces, and page
number 1)
 On the first line, flush with the left margin, type the words
Running head: YOUR SHORT TITLE
 In the upper half of the Title Page, center, in all caps, your
full title, which may be 1-2 lines
 Put your name on the next line, centered (not all caps)
 Put your university on the next line, centered
 Insert a Page Break to go to the next page
Go to the Online Writing Lab at Purdue to see a sample Title
Page: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01
APA Preferred Title Style
Your title should be specific and suggest the results of your
research. Here are some sample APA style titles to consider:
Using enhanced text to facilitate recognition of drug
names: Evidence from two experimental studies.
2) Effects of navigation method on workload and
performance in simulated high-speed ship navigation.
3) Dynamic visual information plays a critical role for spatial
navigation in water but not on solid ground.
4) Childhood trauma and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.
1)
The Abstract
 The header will appear top right (page 2)
 On the first line of the abstract page, type “Abstract”
 Beginning on the next line, provide a double-spaced
summary of your paper, emphasizing the results of
your research
 Do not indent to begin or change to a new paragraph
 Include no more than 120 words
Main Body Formatting
 Each page should have the header
 Do not repeat the title on the first page
 Skip only one space after each period
 Double space everything (no extra lines needed
between paragraphs)
 Indent to begin a new paragraph
Dividing the Body into Sections
 Typical sections include
 Unlabeled introduction
 Methods (where you say how you obtained your data)
 Discussion (where you analyze your data)
 Results (what important things does your data tell you)
Headings for Subdivision
 APA style allows various levels of headings for denoting different
sections of a paper.
 From highest-level to lowest:
 Level 1. Centered, uppercase and lowercase
 Level 2. Centered, underlined (or italicized), uppercase and
lowercase
 Level 3. Flush left, underlined (or italicized), uppercase and
lowercase
 Level 4. Indented, underlined (or italicized), only first letter
capitalized, with a period
 Level 5. Centered uppercase
NOTE: Upper and lower case means first and significant words have
capital letters at the beginning, as in
Revising the First Draft of an Essay
Headings for Subdivision, cont.
 Depending on how many levels of subdivision you
have, use the following:
 One level of subdivision: Use Level 1
 Two levels of subdivisions: Use 1, 3 (in that order)
 Three levels: Use 1, 3, 4
 Four levels: Use 1, 2, 3, 4
 Five levels: Use 5, 1, 2, 3, 4
Sample APA Paper Online
For his students at Illinois State University, Jeffrey H.
Kahn has prepared a sample paper in APA format. The
body of this “paper” explains the formatting and style.
See his .pdf file online at
http://www.ilstu.edu/~jhkahn/APAsample.pdf
Labeling Tables and Figures
 Tables and Figures are numbered separately (Table 1, 2,
3, and Figure 1, 2, 3)
 Provide labels for tables and figures where they appear
in the text
 Italicize titles, and capitalize first word, as in:
Table 3: Number of students enrolled
In-Text Citation
 ALL sources that are used in any way, whether quoted,
paraphrased or summarized, must be credited with an
in-text citation AND an entry on the References page
 In-text citation is when you provide information about
your sources within the body of your document
 The in-text citation MUST lead the reader to a
matching entry on the References page
 Without BOTH, you risk being accused of misuse of
sources or plagiarism
Incorporating Sources
 Quotation repeats exactly what was in an original
 Paraphrase puts the source’s ideas into significantly
different language or style
 Summary condenses the ideas of the original into
main points
Reminder: ALL use of sources should be cited with an
in-text citation and entry on References page!
Short Quotes
 Quotations are treated differently depending on the
length of the quoted source.
 Quotations of less than 40 words are enclosed by
quotation marks:
Joffrey and Sullivan (2005) note that “no causal
relationship has been found between anemia and
auto-immune dysfunction.”
Quotation for More Than 40 Words
 Display quotations of 40 or more words in a
freestanding block of typewritten lines, and omit the
quotation marks, as shown here:
Start such a block quotation on a new line, and indent
the block about 1/2 in. (1.3 cm, or five space) from the
left margin (in the same position as a new paragraph).
If there are additional paragraphs within the
quotation, indent the first line of each additional 1/2 in.
The entire quotation should be double- spaced. (2001, p.
117).
A Note on Quotation
The APA style manual recommends limiting the length
and number of direct quotations from previously
published sources.
In-Text Citation: Three Options
 When you use a resource in your paper, the location of
the in-text or parenthetical citation you provide varies
according to how you have used the source.
 The following three slides are examples from the APA
citation guide provided online by the University of
Wisconsin—Madison
http://www.wisc.edu/writetest/Handbook/DocAPACitations_Place.html
1. Idea-focused
Place the author(s) and date(s) in parentheses at
an appropriate place in or at the end of a sentence
Researchers have pointed out that the lack of
trained staff is a common barrier to providing
adequate health education (Fisher, 1999) and
services (Weist & Christodulu, 2000).
2. Researcher-focused
Place only the date in parentheses
Fisher (1999) recommended that health
education be required for high school
graduation in California.
3. Chronology-focused
Integrate both the author and date into your
sentence
In 2001, Weist proposed using the Child and
Adolescent Planning Schema to analyze and
develop community mental health programs
for young people.
Note that APA requires you to put
page numbers for direct quotation,
following the year: (Chasten, 2007,
p. 121).
You can also include page numbers
for paraphrase. Check with your
instructor to see if s/he has a
preference.
More Examples of In-Text Citation
Source: Brarydog.net
http://www.brarydog.net/apastyle.asp
Wilson (2001) compared student scores...
One study comparing student scores (Wilson, 2001) found that...
In his 2001 study, Wilson found that...
Hopewell High School is described (North Carolina School Directory, 2002)...
Reviews were favorable ("Harmonious Galaxy," 2002)...
Ms. Wright believes homework is necessary (personal communication, May 24, 2002).
Madison referred to the Internet as "a highway to nowhere." (1990, p.21)
North Carolina's Outer Banks are described as:
Fringing virtually the entire Atlantic coast of the state is a long chain of barrier
islandsthe—Outer Banks—ranging in height from a few feet to more than 100 feet
(30 meters) at Kill Devil Hill and Jockey's Ridge. From these banks, Cape
Hatteras, Cape Lookout, and Cape Fear jut out into the ocean. Between the banks
and the mainland are five sounds: Currituck, Albemarle, Pamlico, Core, and
Bogue. ("North Carolina," 2002)
Try the first exercise on your handout to see if you can correctly
locate and format an in-text citation.
References Page:
General Guidelines
 Double space
 Alphabetize entries based on first letters of lead author’s
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last name
Use author last name and initials only (no first names or
titles)
If citing a text with no listed author, alphabetize by first
significant word in title
Articles submitted for potential publication indent first
lines, leave remaining portion of citation flush with left
margin
Student papers usually use a hanging indentation (first line
flush with left margin, remaining lines indented one tab)
Building a Reference Page:
Title Formatting
Get the title from the title page, not the cover.
Spell out symbols (&=and)
Capitalize only the first letters of
the title's first word,
the word after a colon,
proper names,
and acronyms (like NCDPI, OSHA, and FBI)
Building a References Page:
Title Formatting
 The titles of works published
independently (not within another
volume) are typically formatted with
underlining or italics. These include
books, plays, long poems published
as books, pamphlets, newspapers,
magazines, journals, films, radio
and television programs, web sites,
CDs, software, ballets, operas,
paintings, and other works and
artifacts that stand on their own.
 Examples:
Sociology of sport medicine
Rites of spring
CSI: Miami
Julius Caesar
 The titles of works published within
other works are presented in plain
text. These include articles, essays,
chapters, encyclopedia entries,
sections of online documents, short
poems, stories, songs, and
individual episodes of broadcast
programs.
 Examples:
McCain seeks debate delay
Darkness at noon
Strange fits of passion
Building a Reference Page: Page
Numbers
 Page numbers are not compressed: 127-148 and 221-
229, not 127-48 or 221-9.
 In certain cases the abbreviations p. and pp. are used
before page numbers. See a style manual for specifics
or ask for your instructor’s preference.
Use a manual to check citations
It’s almost impossible to memorize the format of every
kind of source.
The library provides a list of external links to style
manuals online.
Read through the manuals to determine what kind of
source you have (an article in a scholarly journal v. a
chapter in a book v. a website v. a pamphlet)
Provide as much information as possible, in the exact
order and in the exact formatting as the model for that
type of source.
Recommended Online Guides
 The Ohio State Guide to APA Citation
 http://library.osu.edu/sites/guides/apagd.php
 The Online Writing Lab at Purdue on APA style
 http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Try the second exercise on your handout to see if you can use
one of the online style guides to help you build entries for a
References page.
APA FAQs
 Articles with no author are shown in quotation marks within in-
text citation (“Motivating students,” 2006)
 Interviews, e-mails, and other unpublished sources are cited intext as personal communications, but are not included in the
reference list (Personal Communication, date)
 Use “as cited in” to quote sources within sources:
 If you read Shubert (2008) and would like to paraphrase the
following sentence within that book: Ogden (2006) defined selfefficacy as "people's beliefs about their capabilities to exercise
control over events that affect their lives" (p. 1175)
 Then your in-text citation would be ”(Ogden, 2006, as cited in
Shubert, 2008).
 Note that this “as cited in” format is discouraged in published
papers. Editors will expect published authors to use original sources
in most cases.