Transcript – The Public Policy- PPA 503 Making Process – APA Editorial Style

PPA 503 – The Public PolicyMaking Process
Lecture 2c – APA Editorial Style
Punctuation
 Period.
 Use a period to end a complete sentence (also abbreviations,
quotations, numbers, and references).
 Comma.
Use a comma
 Between elements (including before and and or) in a series of
three or more items.
 The height, width, or depth.
 To set off a nonessential or nonrestrictive clause, that is, a
clause that embellishes a sentence but if removed would leave
the grammatical structure and meaning of the sentence intact.
 Switch A, which was on a panel, controlled the recording device.
Punctuation
Comma (contd.)
To separate two independent clauses joined by
a conjunction.
Cedar shavings covered the floor, and paper was
available for shredding and nest building.
To set of the year in exact dates.
April 18, 1992, was the correct date.
But, April 1992 was the correct date.
To separate groups of three digits in most
numbers of 1,000 or more.
Punctuation
 Comma (contd.).
Do not use a comma
Before an essential or restrictive clause, that is, a clause
that limits or defines the material it modifies. Removal
of the clause would alter the meaning.
 The switch that stops the recording device also controls
the light.
Between the two parts of a compound predicate.
 The results contradicted Smith’s hypothesis and indicated
that the effect was nonsignificant.
To separate parts of measurement.
 8 years 2 months.
Punctuation
Semicolon.
Use a semicolon
To separate two independent clauses that are
not joined by a conjunction.
The participants in the first study were paid; those in
the second were unpaid.
To separate elements in a series that already
contains commas.
The color order was red, yellow, blue; blue, yellow,
red; or yellow, red, blue.
Punctuation
 Colon.
Use a colon
 Between a grammatically complete introductory clause
(one that could stand as a sentence) and a final phrase
or clause that illustrates, extends, or amplifies the
preceding thought. If the clause following the colon is a
complete sentence, it begins with a capital letter.
 For example, Freud (1930/1961) wrote of two urges: an urge
toward union with others and an egoistic urge toward happiness.
 They have agreed on the outcome: Informed participants
perform better than do uninformed participants.
Punctuation
Colon (contd.).
Do not use a colon
After an introduction that is not a complete
sentence.
The policy alternatives included
The status quo, which reflected the current policy
choices,
Alternative A, which required direct intervention, and
Alternative B, which required indirect intervention.
Punctuation
 Dash
Use a dash to indicate only a sudden interruption in the
continuity of a sentence. Do not overuse.
 These two alternatives—reducing benefits and
disqualifying recipients—significantly reduced the size of
the program.
 Quotation marks
Use double quotation marks
To introduce a word or phrase used as an ironic
comment, as slang, or as an invented or coined
expression. Use only the first time cited.
 Considered “normal” behavior.
 The “good-outcome” variable . . . The good-outcome
variable.
Punctuation
Quotation marks (contd.)
To reproduce material from a test item or
verbatim instructions to participants.
The first question was “what is your gender?”
Use italics and not double quotation marks
Identify the anchors of a scale.
To cite a letter, word, phrase, or sentence as a
linguistic example.
To introduce a technical or key term.
Punctuation
 Parentheses
Use parentheses
To set off structurally independent elements
 The patterns were significant (see Figure 5).
To set off reference citations in text.
 Kingdon (2003) suggests
To introduce an abbreviation
 The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
To set off letters that identify items in a series within a
sentence or paragraph.
 The policies include (a) welfare policy, (b) energy policy,
and (c) defense policy.
Punctuation
Parentheses (contd.)
Do not use parentheses
To enclose material within other parentheses
(use brackets to enclose material within
parentheses).
(the Department of Housing and Urban Development
[DHUD]).
Back to back.
(e.g., policy learning; May 1990).
Punctuation
 Brackets
Use brackets
 to enclose parenthetical material that is already within
parentheses.
 (The results for the control group [n=8] appear in Figure
2.)
 Exception: do not use brackets if the meaning is clear
using commas.
• Not (as Imai [1990] later concluded)
• But (as Imai, 1990, later concluded)
to enclose material inserted in a quotation by someone
other than the author.
 “when [the author’s] words are quoted” (Dummy, 1995, p.
151).
Punctuation
Slash
Do not use a slash
When a phrase would be clearer.
Not: Smith acted as a supervisor/mentor.
But: Smith acted as a supervisor or mentor.
For simple comparisons. Use a hyphen or short
das (en dash) instead.
Test-retest reliability
Not: test/retest reliability.
Spelling
 Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary is the standard
spelling reference for APA journals and books.
 The more comprehensive version is the Webster’s Third
New International Dictionary.
 Plural forms of Latin or Greek origin
Singular
Plural
Appendix
appendices
Cannula
cannulas
Datum
data
Matrix
matrices
Phenomenon
phenomena
Schema
schemas
Spelling
Hyphenation
Use the dictionary to determine the use of
hyphens in compound words.
Follow-up is a noun or adjective, but follow up is a
verb.
If a compound is in a dictionary, it is considered a
permanent compound (e.g., high school, caregiver,
and self-esteem).
Spelling can also change (life-style became lifestyle;
data base became database).
Spelling
 General principles of hyphenation
 Do not use a hyphen unless it serves a purpose. If a compound
adjective cannot be misread, do not use a hyphen.
 Grade point average.
 Health care reform.
 In a temporary compound that is used as an adjective before a
noun, use a hyphen if the term can be misread or if the term
expresses a single thought (all words modify the noun).
 Different-word lists (lists of different words).
 Different word lists (different lists of words).
 Most compound adjective rules are applicable only when the
compound adjective precedes the term it modifies. If it follows
the term, do not use a hyphen.
 Client-centered advice.
 But: the advice was client centered.
Spelling
General principles of hyphenation.
Write most words with prefixes as one word;
however, there are exceptions.
When two or more compound modifiers have a
common base, this base is sometimes omitted
in all except the last modifier, but the hyphen is
retained.
Capitalization
 Words beginning a sentence
The first word of a complete sentence.
The first word after a colon that begins a complete
sentence.
 Major words in titles and headings
Not conjunctions, articles, or short prepositions, but all
words four letters or longer. Capitalize all verbs, nouns,
adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns. When a capitalized
word is hyphenated, capitalize both words. Capitalize
the first word after a colon or dash in the title.
Major words in article headings and subheadings.
Major words in table titles and figure legends.
References to titles of sections within the same article.
Capitalization
Proper nouns and trade names.
Proper nouns and adjectives and words used
as proper nouns.
Names of departments if they refer to a specific
department.
Trade and brand names of drugs, equipment,
food, programs, etc.
Do not capitalize names of laws, theories,
models, or hypotheses (except retain
uppercase in proper names).
Capitalization
Nouns followed by numerals or letters.
On Day 2 of Experiment 4.
Do not capitalize nouns that denote common
parts of books or tables followed by numerals or
letters.
Titles of tests
Capitalize complete, exact titles of published
and unpublished tests.
Do not capitalize shortened, inexact, or general
titles of tests
Italics
Use italics for
Titles of books, periodicals, and microfilm
publications.
Genera, species, and varieties.
Introduction to a new, technical, or key term or
label (do not italicize after the first use).
Letter, word, or phrase used as a linguistic
example.
Words that could be misread.
Periodical volume numbers in reference lists.
Italics
Do not use italics
Foreign phrases and abbreviations (ad lib, et
al., per se, vis-à-vis.
Greek letters.
Mere emphasis.
Abbreviations
 Use abbreviations sparingly.
 Do not overuse because it creates confusion.
 Do not underuse. If you introduce an abbreviation, and only use
it two or three times subsequently, you are better spelling it out in
all cases.
 Explain the abbreviation the first time, and use the
abbreviation subsequently.
 Some abbreviations are in dictionaries. They can be
used without explanation.
 IQ, REM, ESP, AIDS, HIV, NADP, ACTH.
 Use the standard Latin abbreviations only inside
parentheses. Spell out the English equivalent in the
main text (e.g., use and so forth for etc.).