APA STYLE 6TH EDITION

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What is APA Style?

APA Style establishes standards of written communication concerning:

the organization of content writing style citing references

Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

APA Formatting basics Separate title page

Should contain title, author’s name, and institutional affiliation Abstract Contains a running header

On the title page the header should read Running head: SHORTENED TITLE The following pages should read SHORTENED TITLE Each page is numbered in the upper right corner

1” margins Double space everything Two spaces after periods (except in published work) 12 pt. Times New Roman Indent paragraphs .5”

Do not indent the first line of an abstract

Center the full title of the paper

Do not label introduction. Simply begin body paragraph.

APA Headings

Level 1    Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Headings

Level 2 Left-aligned, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading   

Level 3    Indented, boldface, lowercase heading with a period. Begin body text after the period.

Level 4    Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase heading with a period. Begin body text after the period.

Level 5    Indented, italicized, lowercase heading with a period. Begin body text after the period.

In-Text STYLE basics

Clear and Concise Active Voice Word Choice Names of large works are italicized

books, periodicals, album titles, etc. Names of works within larger works are placed in quotation marks

articles, chapters, essays, poems, songs, etc. In titles, the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon are capitalized.

Citing Sources in the Text

Author’s name in text The author’s first and last name should be used the first

time he or she is referenced in the text; after the first time, only the last name should be used to identify the author.

Caroline Robbins (2003) suggested that the “therapists in dropout cases may have inadvertently validated parental negativity about the adolescent without adequately responding to the adolescent’s needs or concerns” (p. 541), contributing to an overall climate of negativity. According to Robbins (2003), students in these cases are unlikely to return to school.

Author’s name in reference Confusing this issues is the overlapping nature of roles in

palliative care, whereby “medical needs are met by those in the medical disciplines; nonmedical needs may be addressed by anyone on the team” (Csikai & Chaitin, 2006, p.112).

Citing Sources in the Text

Paraphrasing Paraphrasing is the APA-preferred method of conveying

information from outside sources rather than directly quoting the text.

To paraphrase is to restate someone else’s idea in your own words without repeating the original text. Paraphrasing should result in a condensed, reworded version of the author’s original idea.

When paraphrasing or referring to an idea that is not your own, you must provide a page or paragraph number so that your reader may locate the material within the text.

In his aquatic research, John Robertson (2010) explained that sleeping fish do not close their eyes (p. 136).

Basics of References

Book Basic Form

Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.

Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Article or chapter in edited book O'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's gender

role journeys: A metaphor for healing, transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp. 107-123). New York, NY: Springer.

Basics of References Journal

Basic Form Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article.

Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages. Web database

Smyth, A. M., Parker, A. L., & Pease, D. L. (2002). A study of enjoyment of peas. Journal of Abnormal Eating, 8(3), 120-125. Retrieved from http://www.articlehomepage.com/full/url/

In print Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New Criterion, 15(30), 5-13.

Online journal Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights.

Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 8. Retrieved from http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html

Online source with no author What causes Alzheimer’s disease. (2008). Retrieved from

http://www.memorystudy.org/alzheimers_causes.htm

Online Resources

The Bedford Handbook Writing Center website

writingcenter.txstate.edu Owl Purdue: owl.english.purdue.edu www.worldcat.org Texas State library databases APA style guide