APA format

APA formatLusine AvagyanAUA Math and Writing CenterFeb. 3, 2014

What is APA?

APA (American Psychological Association) Style originated in 1929, when a group of psychologists, anthropologists, and business managers convened and sought to establish a simple set of procedures, or style rules, that would codify the many components of scientific writing to increase the ease of reading comprehension.

Paper setup: MarginsSet the margins of your paper to be 1 inch on all sides (go to Margins under Page Layout)2)      Use the font: Times New Roman3)      The font size should be 12 point.4)      Make sure your paper is double-spaced and that the Before and After boxes both read

0 (go to Paragraph and then look under Spacing.)5)      Your text should be aligned left (also go to Paragraph and look under General.)6)      Indent the first line of paragraphs one half-inch from the left margin. (Use Tab key).

The paper setup: Title page• Running Head: This tells the reader that this shortened title will occur throughout the

paper. (Go to the INSERT tab at the top and click on HEADER). You will notice that a green menu shows up at the top. That is the HEADER menu.

• Title: The full title of your paper

• Writer’s Name: Name of the person(s) who wrote the paper.

• School: Name of the school where the writer(s) work or attend.

• Page numbers: Always in upper-right corner, starting with number 1. (select PAGE NUMBER in the Header menu. Make sure you select the PLAIN 3 page number so that the page number is in the upper right corner.  

Title page sample

Note!

Please follow your professor’s instructions on how he/she would like the essay set-up.  

Citations When you use others' ideas in your paper, you should credit them with citations.

Why to cite? There are many reasons why it is important to cite the resources that you consult

when researching a paper. The most important of these are:

• Gives credit to authors whose works you have used.

• Provides a trail by which others can locate the materials you consulted.

• Provides evidence of your research.

• Properly citing materials is one strategy to help you avoid plagiarizing.

In-text citationsAs the name author–date system implies, APA Style in-text citations include the author and

date, either both inside parentheses or with the author names in running text and the date in parentheses. Here are two examples:

After the intervention, children increased in the number of books read per week (Smith & Wexwood, 2010). 

Smith and Wexwood (2010) reported that after the intervention, children increased in the number of books read per week. 

One authorIn most cases, providing the author's last name and the publication year are sufficient: 

Smith (1997) compared reaction times... 

Within a paragraph, you need not include the year in subsequent references. 

Smith (1997) compared reaction times. Smith also found that...

Two authorsIf there are two authors, include the last name of each and the publication year: 

...as James and Ryerson (1999) demonstrated... 

...as has been shown (James & Ryerson, 1999)...

What to do when citing a work which is discussed in another work?

When citing a work which is discussed in another work, include the original author's name in an explanatory sentence, and then include the source you actually consulted in your parenthetical reference and in your reference list.

Smith argued that...(as cited in Andrews, 2007)- See more at:

Short Direct quotations Quotations of less than 40 words should be incorporated in the text and enclosed with

double quotation marks. Provide the author, publication year and a page number. 

She stated, "The 'placebo effect,' ...disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner" (Miele, 1993, p. 276), but he did not clarify which behaviors were studied. 

Miele (1993) found that "the 'placebo effect,' which had been verified in previous studies, disappeared when [only the first group's] behaviors were studied in this manner" (p. 276).

Practical activity

Writing short direct quotations

Long Direct quotations When making a quotation of more than 40 words, use a free-standing "block quotation" on

a new line, indented five spaces and omit quotation marks. 

Miele (1993) found the following: The "placebo effect," which had been verified in previous studies, disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner. Furthermore, the behaviors were never exhibited, even when

reel [sic] drugs were administered. Earlier studies were clearly premature in attributing the results to a

placebo effect. (p. 276)

Paraphrasing. Is it a plagiarism?If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to the

author and year of publication in your in-text reference, but APA guidelines encourage you to also provide the page number (although it is not required.)

According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners.

APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998, p. 199).

How to make a Reference list The alphabetical list of references that appears at the end of your paper contains more

information about all of the sources you have used allowing readers to refer to them, as needed. The main characteristics are:

• The list of references must be on a new page at the end of your text• The word References should be centered at the top of the page• Entries are arranged alphabetically by the author's last name or by the title if there is no

author• Titles of larger works (i.e. books, journals, encyclopedias) are italicized• Entries are double-spaced

Reference list sample

Practical activity

Writing a Reference list together

References

American Psychological Association. What is APA style? Retrieved from http://

www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/what-is-apa-style.aspx

Concordia University Library. APA CitationStyle. Retrieved from http://

library.concordia.ca/help/howto/apa.php#sthash.v6VFEw48.dpuf

Mississippi College. How to Set up a paper. Retrieved from. http://

mc.libguides.com/content.php?pid=232120&sid=2135653

Purdue University Online Writing Lab. General APA Format. Retrieved from

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

• (

THANK YOU