Apa format

APA Format: Another Way to Cite Sources

The How’s and Why’s of Using APA Format

A Writing Center Presentation

APA=American Psychological Association

The reason we use a standard form of citing sources is so that there is

no confusion. It’s standard, therefore someone 3,000 miles away (who also uses APA) will understand what the citation

means.

APA is commonly used for social science based disciplines.

What does the American Psychological Association say?

“When editors or teachers ask you to write in ‘APA style,’ they do not mean writing

style. They are referring to the editorial style that many of the social and behavioral sciences have adopted to

present written material in the field.”

Q: Where Do I Start?

A: With the Cover Page…

Title centered

and double-spaced

Running Head: PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY SANDWICH 1

How to Make a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich:An Easy Lunch That (Almost) Anyone Can Create

Susie StudentRowan Cabarrus Community College

Q: Where Do I List My Sources?

A: In the paper and on the References page…

Heading centered on new page

Entries listed alphabetically – author’s last name is first; initials used for first and middle

names

Year of publication Title of work –

only first word is capitalized

unless it is a proper noun

City of publication

Publisher

Q: What About the Citations in the Paper?

A: In-text Citations are Based on the References page…

Harris, S. (2004). Getting over the fear of being afraid.

New York: Penguin.

The area of the brain that contains past memoriesis sometimes filled with “horrid distortions of pasttragedy” (Harris, 2004).

Sample Reference Page Entries

Book

Smith, J. (2005). Teaching the children of tomorrow. Springfield, IL: Education Press.

Author's last name and first and middle initial

Year of publication

Title and subtitle (if any), italicized

*Only the first word is capitalized unless there is a proper noun in the title

City of publication (if the city is not well

known or is a duplicate, list the

state as well)

Publisher

Always be sure to indent every line after the first of each

entry

Where to find this information in a book…

Book Title(also on the cover)

Copyright/Publication Date

Publisher Information

Author’s Name

Magazine, Journal or Periodical

Carter, H. & Smith, M. J. (2003). Exploring world culture: An understanding of Ethiopia. Culture de Monde, 12(2), 26-37.

Author's last names and first (and middle)

initials.*Use “&” instead of

“and”

Year of publication

Article title (and

subtitle)*Only first words and

proper nouns are capitalized

Magazine, journal or

periodical title; italicized

Volume number (italicized), and issue

number if any

Page numbers

Where to find this information in a magazine…

Title of article

Magazine title; date of publication; volume and

issue numbers; page number

Author of the article

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_HOYdbgL7E

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFo_KBQtv9o

Additional Resources for APA format…

Online Writing Lab at Purdue University

APA Style.Org: Electronic Resources

Vanguard University APA Style Essentials

Son of Citation Machine

If you need one-to-one assistance…

GO TO THE WRITING CENTER!

*And earn Extra Credit!