A Hitchhiker’s Guide to APA Style and Formatting

A Hitchhiker’s Guide to

APA Style and Formatting

Briar Cliff UniversityWriting Center

Great APA Resources 6th edition of APA Publication Manual OWL at Purdue:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Beware of citation generators that supposedly do all the work for you—as with all things, if it’s too good to be true, then it probably is.

Strategies for Navigating APA Successfully

1. Figure out what type of source you are looking at.-Is it a book, a periodical, or is it electronic?

2. Recognize how you are accessing it.-Are you holding a physical copy of the book or periodical in your hand, or did you get them electronically?

3. Go to the applicable spot in OWL (or other resource) and model the example that fits your specific source type.

Potential Pitfalls in APA

1. Point of View: make sure you write in the 3rd person point of view.

2. 1-1 Correspondence: make sure the sources you provide in your reference list are represented by at least one in-text citation within the essay itself. Author and date of publication information within in-text citation should match up with information provided in reference citation.

Some Common Citation Errors

1. Citing a web page2. Citing an article from a database3. Citing indirect sources4. Citing a direct quote vs. Citing a

paraphrase or summary5. Citing an unknown author6. Citing an organization as author7. Citing an unknown date of publication8. Citing sources without page #’s

Citing a Web Page

Citing an Article from a Database

Citing Indirect Sources

Citing a Direct Quote vs.Citing a Paraphrase or Summary

When citing a paraphrase or summary, at minimum, you must include the author’s last name and the year of publication.› Example: (Allen, 2010).› It would not be wrong, however, to include a

page # here as well—Example: (Allen, 2010, p.33).

When citing a direct quote, you must include author, date, and page information.› Example: (Allen, 2010, p.33).

Unknown Author/Organization as Author

Unknown Date of Publication/Sources Without Page #’s

Some Basic Reminders from OWL

GOOD LUCK!

If you have any additional questions, please contact the Writing Center.

writing.center@briarcliff.edu712-279-5520

Heelan Hall 050