Research Guides

APA Style Guide

General Format
Your paper should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5 X 11 inches) with margins of 1 inch on all sides. Your final paper should include, in the order indicated below, as many of the following sections as are applicable, each of which should begin on a separate page: title page, which includes a running head for publication (also set "header" so the running head title appears on each page with page number), title, name, class, date, and school.

abstract
text
references
appendices
author note
footnotes/endnotes
tables
figure captions
figures

Consecutively number the pages of your manuscript, beginning with the title page, as part of the manuscript header in the upper right corner of each page. Your references should begin on a separate page from the text of the essay with the title References (with no quotation marks, underlining, etc.), centered at the top of the page. Similarly format appendices and notes.

Look at the title page for this handout. Note how it includes the running head and page number in the upper right hand corner, defines the running head that will title all manuscript pages, and centers the title in the middle of the page. If your professor requires a different format for the title page, follow the professor's guidelines.

Documentation
Any time you use information from a source, whether you paraphrase, summarize, or quote it, you must document the source. Documentation includes two parts: parenthetical (also called in-text) citations and a References list. The citations refer the reader to the References page for complete source information.

In-text Citations

Summaries and Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing means that you explain what an author has said in your own words. When you paraphrase, you need to give credit to the original author of the ideas. This is done by inserting the author's name and year the material was published in parentheses. This style of citing is called the author-date method of citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper. If the author is not named, use a shortened version of the title instead of an author's name.

Example:

Jones (1998) compared student performance...

Quotations
Follow the author-date method of citation and include the page number(s) on which the original material is found. Use "p." when referring to one page of a source (p. 40), and "pp." when referring to a range of pages (pp. 40-45).

Short Quotations
To indicate quotations of fewer than 40 words in your text, enclose the quotation within double quotation marks. Provide the author, year, and specific page citation in the text, and include a complete reference in the reference list. Punctuation marks, such as periods, commas, and semicolons, should appear after the parenthetical citation. Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quotation but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.

Example:
She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style," (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.

Long Quotations
Place quotations longer than 40 words in a freestanding block of typewritten lines, and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented one inch from the left margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout. The parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.

Example:

Larsgaard's 1998 study explains that:
The very first job the librarian should undertake in this area is to get a Web page for the collection up and running, and then to have as many of the collection's publications and handouts as possible available through that Web page. The page should include a brief introduction to the collection, a map of the collection, the aforementioned handouts and publications (or at least citations to them, if copyright does not permit their appearance on the Web), and links to spatial data in digital form. (p. 287).

Missing Information

No Author Named
Use a shortened version of the title instead of an author's name.

Example:

A similar study was done of students learning to format research papers ("Using APA," 2001).

No author, no date and no page numbers
Use the first few words from the title, then the abbreviation n.d. (for "no date"), and then use paragraph numbers (if available) or simply leave out any reference to pages.

Example:

In another study of students and research decisions, it was discovered that students succeeded with tutoring ("Tutoring and APA," n.d.).

Choosing double or single quotation marks
If you are using a short quotation that includes quotation marks within it, use single quotation marks to set off the material that was originally in quotation marks. If you are using a block quotation that includes quotation marks within it, use double quotation marks to set off the material that was originally in quotation marks.

The Reference List
Your reference list should appear at the end of your paper. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body of the paper. Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your reference list. Your references should begin on a separate page from the text of the essay. Center the title References (with no quotation marks, underlining, etc.) at the top of the page. It should be double-spaced just like the rest of your paper.
Basic Rules

• Invert (last name first) authors' names; give the last name and initials for all authors of a particular work.

• Alphabetize the reference list by authors' last names.

• If you have more than one work by a particular author, order the works by publication date, oldest to newest (thus a 1991 article would appear before a 1996 article).

• When an author appears both as a sole author and, in another citation, as the first author of a group, list the one-author entries first.

• If no author is given for a particular source, alphabetize using the title of the work, which will be listed in place of the author, and use a shortened version of the title for parenthetical citations.

• Use "&" instead of "and" when listing multiple authors of a single work (in text citations, too).

• Indent all lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation.

• Capitalize only the first word of a title and subtitle of a work.

• Italicize titles of books and journals.

• Do not place article titles in quotation marks.

• When you use numbers in your text, spell out numbers equal to or less than ten; write the numbers 11 and up as numbers. For example, write, "The survey consists of 100 questions and should take approximately one hour".

Print Sources Citation Format

Books (also use for reports, brochures, and audiovisual media)

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

NOTE: For "Location," you should always list the city, but you should also include the state if the city is unfamiliar or if the city could be confused with one in another state.

Part of a Book (e.g., a book chapter or an article in a collection)

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In A. Editor & B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pages of chapter). Location: Publisher.

An article in a Periodical (e.g., a journal, newspaper, or magazine)

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year, add month and day of publication for daily, weekly, or monthly publications). Title of article. Title of periodical, volume number, pages.

NOTE: You need list only the volume number if the periodical uses continuous pagination throughout a particular volume. If each issue begins with page 1, then you should list the issue number as well: Title of Periodical, Volume (Issue), pages.

Electronic Sources Citation Format

Article in an Internet Magazine or Journal

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Title of journal, volume number (issue if available). Retrieved month day, year, from http://Web address.

Other Internet Document (e.g., a Web page or report)

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication). Title of article. Retrieved month date, year, from http://Web address.

If there is no date available for the document, use (n.d.) for no date. 

Examples of Citations
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association provides extensive examples covering a wide variety of potential sources. Below are some of the most commonly cited kinds of sources. If your particular source is not listed below, use the basic forms (above) to determine the correct format, check the Publication Manual, or consult www.apastyle.org/

Book

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

Journal article, one author

Harlow, H. F. (1983). Fundamentals for preparing psychology journal articles.
Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55, 893-896.

Journal article, three to six authors

Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., & Harlow, T. (1993). There's more to self-esteem than whether it is high or low: The importance of stability of self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1190-1204.

Journal article, more than six authors

Harris, M., Karper, E., Stacks, G., Hoffman, D., DeNiro, R., Cruz, P., et al. (2001). Writing labs and the Hollywood connection. Journal of Film and Writing, 44(3), 213-245.

NOTE: The phrase et al. stands for "and others."

Magazine article, one author

Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade in today's schools. Time, 135, 28-31.

A book or article with no author or editor named

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th ed.).(1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam- Webster.

A government publication

National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental illness (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

A translated work and/or a republished work

Laplace, P. S. (1951). A philosophical essay on probabilities (F. W. Truscott & F. L. Emory, Trans.). New York: Dover. (Original work published 1814).

NOTE: When you cite this work in text, it should appear with both dates: Laplace (1814/1951).
 
An entry in an encyclopedia

Bergmann, P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The new encyclopedia britannica (Vol. 26, pp. 501-508). Chicago: Encyclopedia Britannica.

An article retrieved from a database

DeNike, K. (2001, August). Firewire 16x CD-RW drives. Macworld, 18 (8), 28-29. Retrieved August 10, 2001, from the Proquest database: http://proquest.umi.com/.

An online journal article

Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 8(4). Retrieved February 20, 2001, from: http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html.

Chapter or section of an online document

The Foundation for a Better World. (2000). Pollution and banana cream pie. In Great chefs cook with chlorofluorocarbons and carbon monoxide (Chap. 3). Retrieved July 13, 2001, from: http://www.bamm.com/cream/pollution/bananas.htm.

NOTE: Use a chapter or section identifier and provide a URL that links directly to the chapter section, not the home page of the Web site.

Message posted to an online newsgroup, forum, or discussion group

Frook, B. D. (1999, July 23). New inventions in the cyberworld of toylandia [Msg 25]. Message posted to http://groups.earthlink.com/forum/messages/00025.html

NOTE: If only the screen name is available for the author, then use it. Be sure to provide the exact date of the posting. Follow the date with the subject line, the thread of the message (not in italics). Provide any identifiers in brackets after the title, as in other types of references.

References

Drumheller, Russ. (2007). Optical disk storage technology. Retrieved October 30, 2007, from the Faulkner database: http://www.faulkner.com.proxy.devry.edu/products/faccts/

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

DeNike, K. (2001, August). Firewire 16x CD-RW drives. Macworld, 18 (8), 30-32. Retrieved September 1, 2002, from the Proquest database: http://proquest.umi.com/

Henry, B., III (2001, May 20). Making the grade in college. Newsweek 127, 17-20.
New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death from heart failure. (1993, July 15). The Washington Post, p. A12.

O'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's gender role journeys: Metaphor for healing, transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp. 107-123). New York: Springer.

Sources for APA Style Guidelines

Amato, C. J. (2002). The World's Easiest Guide to Using the APA. 3rd ed. Corona, CA: Stargazer Publishing. (Call No. REF BF 76.7 .A468 2002)

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington, D.C.: The Association. (Call No. REF BF 76.7 .P83 2001)

Purdue University. Online Writing Lab (2007). APA Formatting and Style Guide. 5th ed. Retrieved October 30, 2007 from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/.

DeVry Institute of Technology New York Library (2003). Running Head:  LEARNING
 TO FORMAT PAPERS January 28, 2003. http://www.ny.devry.edu/library.