11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

WelcometothePurdueOWL
ThispageisbroughttoyoubytheOWLatPurdue
(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/).Whenprintingthispage,youmust
includetheentirelegalnoticeatbottom.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

GeneralFormat
PleaseusetheexampleatthebottomofthispagetocitethePurdueOWLinAPA.

Toseeasidebysidecomparisonofthethreemostwidelyusedcitationstyles,includinga
chartofallAPAcitationguidelines,seetheCitationStyleChart.

YoucanalsowatchourAPAvidcastseriesonthePurdueOWLYouTubeChannel.

GeneralAPAGuidelines

Youressayshouldbetyped,doublespacedonstandardsizedpaper(8.5"x11")with1"
marginsonallsides.Youshoulduseaclearfontthatishighlyreadable.APArecommends
using12pt.TimesNewRomanfont.

Includeapageheader(alsoknownasthe"runninghead")atthetopofeverypage.To
createapageheader/runninghead,insertpagenumbersflushright.Thentype"TITLEOF
YOURPAPER"intheheaderflushleftusingallcapitalletters.Therunningheadisa
shortenedversionofyourpaper'stitleandcannotexceed50charactersincludingspacingand
punctuation.

MajorPaperSections

Youressayshouldincludefourmajorsections:theTitlePage,Abstract,MainBody,and
References.

TitlePage

Thetitlepageshouldcontainthetitleofthepaper,theauthor'sname,andtheinstitutional
affiliation.Includethepageheader(describedabove)flushleftwiththepagenumberflush
rightatthetopofthepage.Pleasenotethatonthetitlepage,yourpageheader/runninghead
shouldlooklikethis:

Runninghead:TITLEOFYOURPAPER

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 1/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Pagesafterthetitlepageshouldhavearunningheadthatlookslikethis:

TITLEOFYOURPAPER

AfterconsultingwithpublicationspecialistsattheAPA,OWLstafflearnedthattheAPA6th
edition,firstprintingsamplepapershaveincorrectexamplesofRunningheadsonpages
afterthetitlepage.ThislinkwilltakeyoutotheAPAsitewhereyoucanfindacompletelist
ofalltheerrorsintheAPA's6theditionstyleguide.

Typeyourtitleinupperandlowercaseletterscenteredintheupperhalfofthepage.APA
recommendsthatyourtitlebenomorethan12wordsinlengthandthatitshouldnotcontain
abbreviationsorwordsthatservenopurpose.Yourtitlemaytakeuponeortwolines.Alltext
onthetitlepage,andthroughoutyourpaper,shouldbedoublespaced.

Beneaththetitle,typetheauthor'sname:firstname,middleinitial(s),andlastname.Donot
usetitles(Dr.)ordegrees(PhD).

Beneaththeauthor'sname,typetheinstitutionalaffiliation,whichshouldindicatethe
locationwheretheauthor(s)conductedtheresearch.

ImageCaption:APATitlePage

Abstract

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 2/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Beginanewpage.Yourabstractpageshouldalreadyincludethepageheader(described
above).Onthefirstlineoftheabstractpage,centerthewordAbstract(nobold,formatting,
italics,underlining,orquotationmarks).

Beginningwiththenextline,writeaconcisesummaryofthekeypointsofyourresearch.(Do
notindent.)Yourabstractshouldcontainatleastyourresearchtopic,researchquestions,
participants,methods,results,dataanalysis,andconclusions.Youmayalsoincludepossible
implicationsofyourresearchandfutureworkyouseeconnectedwithyourfindings.Your
abstractshouldbeasingleparagraphdoublespaced.Yourabstractshouldbebetween150
and250words.

Youmayalsowanttolistkeywordsfromyourpaperinyourabstract.Todothis,indentas
youwouldifyouwerestartinganewparagraph,typeKeywords:(italicized),andthenlist
yourkeywords.Listingyourkeywordswillhelpresearchersfindyourworkindatabases.

ImageCaption:APAAbstractPage

PleaseseeourSampleAPAPaperresourcetoseeanexampleofanAPApaper.Youmay
alsovisitourAdditionalResourcespageformoreexamplesofAPApapers.

HowtoCitethePurdueOWLinAPA

IndividualResources

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 3/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Contributors'namesandthelastediteddatecanbefoundintheorangeboxesatthetopof
everypageontheOWL.

Contributors'names(Lastediteddate).Titleofresource.Retrievedfromhttp://Webaddress
forOWLresource

Angeli,E.,Wagner,J.,Lawrick,E.,Moore,K.,Anderson,M.,Soderlund,L.,&Brizee,A.
(2010,May5).Generalformat.Retrievedfrom
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

InTextCitations:TheBasics
Referencecitationsintextarecoveredonpages169179ofthePublicationManual.What
followsaresomegeneralguidelinesforreferringtotheworksofothersinyouressay.

Note:APAstylerequiresauthorstousethepasttenseorpresentperfecttensewhenusing
signalphrasestodescribeearlierresearch,forexample,Jones(1998)foundorJones(1998)
hasfound...

APAcitationbasics

WhenusingAPAformat,followtheauthordatemethodofintextcitation.Thismeansthat
theauthor'slastnameandtheyearofpublicationforthesourceshouldappearinthetext,for
example,(Jones,1998),andacompletereferenceshouldappearinthereferencelistatthe
endofthepaper.

IfyouarereferringtoanideafromanotherworkbutNOTdirectlyquotingthematerial,or
makingreferencetoanentirebook,articleorotherwork,youonlyhavetomakereferenceto
theauthorandyearofpublicationandnotthepagenumberinyourintextreference.All
sourcesthatarecitedinthetextmustappearinthereferencelistattheendofthepaper.

Intextcitationcapitalization,quotes,anditalics/underlining

Alwayscapitalizepropernouns,includingauthornamesandinitials:D.Jones.
Ifyourefertothetitleofasourcewithinyourpaper,capitalizeallwordsthatarefour
letterslongorgreaterwithinthetitleofasource:PermanenceandChange.Exceptions
applytoshortwordsthatareverbs,nouns,pronouns,adjectives,andadverbs:Writing
NewMedia,ThereIsNothingLefttoLose.

(Note:inyourReferenceslist,onlythefirstwordofatitlewillbecapitalized:Writing
newmedia.)

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 4/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Whencapitalizingtitles,capitalizebothwordsinahyphenatedcompoundword:
NaturalBornCyborgs.
Capitalizethefirstwordafteradashorcolon:"DefiningFilmRhetoric:TheCaseof
Hitchcock'sVertigo."
Italicizeorunderlinethetitlesoflongerworkssuchasbooks,editedcollections,
movies,televisionseries,documentaries,oralbums:TheClosingoftheAmerican
MindTheWizardofOzFriends.
Putquotationmarksaroundthetitlesofshorterworkssuchasjournalarticles,articles
fromeditedcollections,televisionseriesepisodes,andsongtitles:"Multimedia
Narration:ConstructingPossibleWorlds""TheOneWhereChandlerCan'tCry."

Shortquotations

Ifyouaredirectlyquotingfromawork,youwillneedtoincludetheauthor,yearof
publication,andthepagenumberforthereference(precededby"p.").Introducethe
quotationwithasignalphrasethatincludestheauthor'slastnamefollowedbythedateof
publicationinparentheses.

AccordingtoJones(1998),"StudentsoftenhaddifficultyusingAPAstyle,especiallywhenit
wastheirfirsttime"(p.199).

Jones(1998)found"studentsoftenhaddifficultyusingAPAstyle"(p.199)what
implicationsdoesthishaveforteachers?

Iftheauthorisnotnamedinasignalphrase,placetheauthor'slastname,theyearof
publication,andthepagenumberinparenthesesafterthequotation.

Shestated,"StudentsoftenhaddifficultyusingAPAstyle"(Jones,1998,p.199),butshedid
notofferanexplanationastowhy.

Longquotations

Placedirectquotationsthatare40words,orlonger,inafreestandingblockoftypewritten
lines,andomitquotationmarks.Startthequotationonanewline,indented1/2inchfromthe
leftmargin,i.e.,inthesameplaceyouwouldbeginanewparagraph.Typetheentire
quotationonthenewmargin,andindentthefirstlineofanysubsequentparagraphwithinthe
quotation1/2inchfromthenewmargin.Maintaindoublespacingthroughout.The
parentheticalcitationshouldcomeaftertheclosingpunctuationmark.

Jones's(1998)studyfoundthefollowing:
StudentsoftenhaddifficultyusingAPAstyle,
especiallywhenitwastheirfirsttimecitingsources.Thisdifficultycouldbeattributedtothe
factthatmanystudentsfailedtopurchaseastylemanualortoasktheirteacherforhelp.(p.
199)

Summaryorparaphrase

Ifyouareparaphrasinganideafromanotherwork,youonlyhavetomakereferencetothe
authorandyearofpublicationinyourintextreference,butAPAguidelinesencourageyouto
alsoprovidethepagenumber(althoughitisnotrequired.)

AccordingtoJones(1998),APAstyleisadifficultcitationformatforfirsttimelearners.
APAstyleisadifficultcitationformatforfirsttimelearners(Jones,1998,p.199).

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 5/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

InTextCitations:Author/Authors
APAstylehasaseriesofimportantrulesonusingauthornamesaspartoftheauthordate
system.Thereareadditionalrulesforcitingindirectsources,electronicsources,andsources
withoutpagenumbers.

CitinganAuthororAuthors
AWorkbyTwoAuthors:Namebothauthorsinthesignalphraseorintheparentheseseach
timeyoucitethework.Usetheword"and"betweentheauthors'nameswithinthetextand
usetheampersandintheparentheses.

ResearchbyWegenerandPetty(1994)supports...
(Wegener&Petty,1994)

AWorkbyThreetoFiveAuthors:Listalltheauthorsinthesignalphraseorinparentheses
thefirsttimeyoucitethesource.Usetheword"and"betweentheauthors'nameswithinthe
textandusetheampersandintheparentheses.

(Kernis,Cornell,Sun,Berry,&Harlow,1993)

Insubsequentcitations,onlyusethefirstauthor'slastnamefollowedby"etal."inthesignal
phraseorinparentheses.

(Kernisetal.,1993)
Inetal.,etshouldnotbefollowedbyaperiod.

SixorMoreAuthors:Usethefirstauthor'snamefollowedbyetal.inthesignalphraseorin
parentheses.

Harrisetal.(2001)argued...
(Harrisetal.,2001)

UnknownAuthor:Iftheworkdoesnothaveanauthor,citethesourcebyitstitleinthe
signalphraseorusethefirstwordortwointheparentheses.Titlesofbooksandreportsare
italicizedorunderlinedtitlesofarticles,chapters,andwebpagesareinquotationmarks.

Asimilarstudywasdoneofstudentslearningtoformatresearchpapers("UsingAPA,"
2001).

Note:Intherarecasethe"Anonymous"isusedfortheauthor,treatitastheauthor'sname
(Anonymous,2001).Inthereferencelist,usethenameAnonymousastheauthor.

OrganizationasanAuthor:Iftheauthorisanorganizationoragovernmentagency,
mentiontheorganizationinthesignalphraseorintheparentheticalcitationthefirsttimeyou
citethesource.

AccordingtotheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation(2000),...

Iftheorganizationhasawellknownabbreviation,includetheabbreviationinbracketsthe
firsttimethesourceiscitedandthenuseonlytheabbreviationinlatercitations.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 6/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Firstcitation:(MothersAgainstDrunkDriving[MADD],2000)
Secondcitation:(MADD,2000)

TwoorMoreWorksintheSameParentheses:Whenyourparentheticalcitationincludes
twoormoreworks,orderthemthesamewaytheyappearinthereferencelist(viz.,
alphabetically),separatedbyasemicolon.

(Berndt,2002Harlow,1983)

AuthorsWiththeSameLastName:Topreventconfusion,usefirstinitialswiththelast
names.

(E.Johnson,2001L.Johnson,1998)

TwoorMoreWorksbytheSameAuthorintheSameYear:Ifyouhavetwosourcesby
thesameauthorinthesameyear,uselowercaseletters(a,b,c)withtheyeartoorderthe
entriesinthereferencelist.Usethelowercaseletterswiththeyearintheintextcitation.

ResearchbyBerndt(1981a)illustratedthat...

Introductions,Prefaces,Forewords,andAfterwords:WhencitinganIntroduction,
Preface,Foreword,orAfterwordsintext,citetheappropriateauthorandyearasusual.

(Funk&Kolln,1992)

PersonalCommunication:Forinterviews,letters,emails,andotherpersontoperson
communication,citethecommunicator'sname,thefactthatitwaspersonalcommunication,
andthedateofthecommunication.Donotincludepersonalcommunicationinthereference
list.

(E.Robbins,personalcommunication,January4,2001).
A.P.SmithalsoclaimedthatmanyofherstudentshaddifficultieswithAPAstyle(personal
communication,November3,2002).

CitingIndirectSources
Ifyouuseasourcethatwascitedinanothersource,nametheoriginalsourceinyoursignal
phrase.Listthesecondarysourceinyourreferencelistandincludethesecondarysourcein
theparentheses.

Johnsonarguedthat...(ascitedinSmith,2003,p.102).

Note:Whencitingmaterialinparentheses,setoffthecitationwithacomma,asabove.Also,
trytolocatetheoriginalmaterialandcitetheoriginalsource.

ElectronicSources

Ifpossible,citeanelectronicdocumentthesameasanyotherdocumentbyusingtheauthor
datestyle.

Kenneth(2000)explained...

UnknownAuthorandUnknownDate:Ifnoauthorordateisgiven,usethetitleinyour
signalphraseorthefirstwordortwoofthetitleintheparenthesesandusetheabbreviation
"n.d."(for"nodate").

Anotherstudyofstudentsandresearchdecisionsdiscoveredthatstudentssucceededwith
tutoring("TutoringandAPA,"n.d.).

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 7/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

SourcesWithoutPageNumbers

Whenanelectronicsourcelackspagenumbers,youshouldtrytoincludeinformationthat
willhelpreadersfindthepassagebeingcited.Whenanelectronicdocumenthasnumbered
paragraphs,usetheabbreviation"para."followedbytheparagraphnumber(Hall,2001,para.
5).Iftheparagraphsarenotnumberedandthedocumentincludesheadings,providethe
appropriateheadingandspecifytheparagraphunderthatheading.Notethatinsome
electronicsources,likeWebpages,peoplecanusetheFindfunctionintheirbrowsertolocate
anypassagesyoucite.

AccordingtoSmith(1997),...(MindoverMattersection,para.6).

Note:NeverusethepagenumbersofWebpagesyouprintoutdifferentcomputersprintWeb
pageswithdifferentpagination.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

FootnotesandEndnotes
APAdoesnotrecommendtheuseoffootnotesandendnotesbecausetheyareoftenexpensive
forpublisherstoreproduce.However,ifexplanatorynotesstillprovenecessarytoyour
document,APAdetailstheuseoftwotypesoffootnotes:contentandcopyright.

Whenusingeithertypeoffootnote,insertanumberformattedinsuperscriptfollowingalmost
anypunctuationmark.Footnotenumbersshouldnotfollowdashes(),andiftheyappear
inasentenceinparentheses,thefootnotenumbershouldbeinsertedwithintheparentheses.

Scientistsexaminedoverseveralyears1thefossilizedremainsofthewoolywoolyyak.2
(ThesehavenowbeentransferredtotheChauanMuseum.3)

WhenusingthefootnotefunctioninawordprocessingprogramlikeMicrosoftWord,place
allfootnotesatthebottomofthepageonwhichtheyappear.Footnotesmayalsoappearon
thefinalpageofyourdocument(usuallythisisaftertheReferencespage).Centertheword
Footnotesatthetopofthepage.Indentfivespacesonthefirstlineofeachfootnote.Then,
follownormalparagraphspacingrules.Doublespacethroughout.

1Whilethemethodofexaminationforthewoolywoolyyakprovidesimportantinsightsto
thisresearch,thisdocumentdoesnotfocusonthisparticularspecies.

ContentNotes

ContentNotesprovidesupplementalinformationtoyourreaders.WhenprovidingContent
Notes,bebriefandfocusononlyonesubject.Trytolimityourcommentstoonesmall
paragraph.

ContentNotescanalsopointreaderstoinformationthatisavailableinmoredetailelsewhere.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 8/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

1SeeBlackmur(1995),especiallychapters3and4,foraninsightfulanalysisofthis
extraordinaryanimal.

CopyrightPermissionNotes

Ifyouquotemorethan500wordsofpublishedmaterialorthinkyoumaybeinviolationof
FairUsecopyrightlaws,youmustgettheformalpermissionoftheauthor(s).Allother
sourcessimplyappearinthereferencelist.

FollowthesameformattingrulesaswithContentNotesfornotingcopyrightpermissions.
Thenattachacopyofthepermissionlettertothedocument.

Ifyouarereproducingagraphic,chart,ortable,fromsomeothersource,youmustprovidea
specialnoteatthebottomoftheitemthatincludescopyrightinformation.Youshouldalso
submitwrittenpermissionalongwithyourwork.BeginthecitationwithNote.

Note.FromTitleofthearticle,byW.JonesandR.Smith,2007,JournalTitle,21,p.122.
Copyright2007byCopyrightHolder.Reprintedwithpermission.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

ReferenceList:BasicRules
Yourreferencelistshouldappearattheendofyourpaper.Itprovidestheinformation
necessaryforareadertolocateandretrieveanysourceyouciteinthebodyofthepaper.
Eachsourceyouciteinthepapermustappearinyourreferencelistlikewise,eachentryin
thereferencelistmustbecitedinyourtext.

Yourreferencesshouldbeginonanewpageseparatefromthetextoftheessaylabelthis
page"References"centeredatthetopofthepage(doNOTbold,underline,orusequotation
marksforthetitle).Alltextshouldbedoublespacedjustliketherestofyouressay.

BasicRules

Alllinesafterthefirstlineofeachentryinyourreferencelistshouldbeindentedone
halfinchfromtheleftmargin.Thisiscalledhangingindentation.
Authors'namesareinverted(lastnamefirst)givethelastnameandinitialsforall
authorsofaparticularworkforuptoandincludingsevenauthors.Iftheworkhasmore
thansevenauthors,listthefirstsixauthorsandthenuseellipsesafterthesixthauthor's
name.Aftertheellipses,listthelastauthor'snameofthework.
Referencelistentriesshouldbealphabetizedbythelastnameofthefirstauthorofeach
work.
Formultiplearticlesbythesameauthor,orauthorslistedinthesameorder,listthe
entriesinchronologicalorder,fromearliesttomostrecent.
Presentthejournaltitleinfull.
Maintainthepunctuationandcapitalizationthatisusedbythejournalinitstitle.
Forexample:ReCALLnotRECALLorKnowledgeManagementResearch&
PracticenotKnowledgeManagementResearchandPractice.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 9/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Capitalizeallmajorwordsinjournaltitles.
Whenreferringtobooks,chapters,articles,orWebpages,capitalizeonlythefirstletter
ofthefirstwordofatitleandsubtitle,thefirstwordafteracolonoradashinthetitle,
andpropernouns.Donotcapitalizethefirstletterofthesecondwordinahyphenated
compoundword.
Italicizetitlesoflongerworkssuchasbooksandjournals.
Donotitalicize,underline,orputquotesaroundthetitlesofshorterworkssuchas
journalarticlesoressaysineditedcollections.
Pleasenote:WhiletheAPAmanualprovidesmanyexamplesofhowtocitecommon
typesofsources,itdoesnotproviderulesonhowtocitealltypesofsources.
Therefore,ifyouhaveasourcethatAPAdoesnotinclude,APAsuggeststhatyoufind
theexamplethatismostsimilartoyoursourceandusethatformat.Formore
information,seepage193ofthePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychological
Association,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

ReferenceList:Author/Authors
Thefollowingrulesforhandlingworksbyasingleauthorormultipleauthorsapplytoall
APAstylereferencesinyourreferencelist,regardlessofthetypeofwork(book,article,
electronicresource,etc.)

SingleAuthor

Lastnamefirst,followedbyauthorinitials.

Berndt,T.J.(2002).Friendshipqualityandsocialdevelopment.CurrentDirectionsin
PsychologicalScience,11,710.

TwoAuthors

Listbytheirlastnamesandinitials.Usetheampersandinsteadof"and."

Wegener,D.T.,&Petty,R.E.(1994).Moodmanagementacrossaffectivestates:The
hedoniccontingencyhypothesis.JournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology,66,
10341048.

ThreetoSevenAuthors

Listbylastnamesandinitialscommasseparateauthornames,whilethelastauthornameis
precededagainbyampersand.

Kernis,M.H.,Cornell,D.P.,Sun,C.R.,Berry,A.,Harlow,T.,&Bach,J.S.(1993).There's
moretoselfesteemthanwhetheritishighorlow:Theimportanceofstabilityofself
esteem.JournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology,65,11901204.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 10/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

MoreThanSevenAuthors

Listbylastnamesandinitialscommasseparateauthornames.Afterthesixthauthor'sname,
useanellipsesinplaceoftheauthornames.Thenprovidethefinalauthorname.There
shouldbenomorethansevennames.

Miller,F.H.,Choi,M.J.,Angeli,L.L.,Harland,A.A.,Stamos,J.A.,Thomas,S.T.,...
Rubin,L.H.(2009).Websiteusabilityfortheblindandlowvisionuser.Technical
Communication,57,323335.

OrganizationasAuthor

AmericanPsychologicalAssociation.(2003).

UnknownAuthor

MerriamWebster'scollegiatedictionary(10thed.).(1993).Springfield,MA:Merriam
Webster.

NOTE:Whenyouressayincludesparentheticalcitationsofsourceswithnoauthornamed,
useashortenedversionofthesource'stitleinsteadofanauthor'sname.Usequotationmarks
anditalicsasappropriate.Forexample,parentheticalcitationsofthesourceabovewould
appearasfollows:(MerriamWebster's,1993).

TwoorMoreWorksbytheSameAuthor

Usetheauthor'snameforallentriesandlisttheentriesbytheyear(earliestcomesfirst).

Berndt,T.J.(1981).

Berndt,T.J.(1999).

Whenanauthorappearsbothasasoleauthorand,inanothercitation,asthefirstauthorofa
group,listtheoneauthorentriesfirst.

Berndt,T.J.(1999).Friends'influenceonstudents'adjustmenttoschool.Educational
Psychologist,34,1528.

Berndt,T.J.,&Keefe,K.(1995).Friends'influenceonadolescents'adjustmenttoschool.
ChildDevelopment,66,13121329.

Referencesthathavethesamefirstauthoranddifferentsecondand/orthirdauthorsare
arrangedalphabeticallybythelastnameofthesecondauthor,orthelastnameofthethirdif
thefirstandsecondauthorsarethesame.

Wegener,D.T.,Kerr,N.L.,Fleming,M.A.,&Petty,R.E.(2000).Flexiblecorrectionsof
jurorjudgments:Implicationsforjuryinstructions.Psychology,PublicPolicy,and
Law,6,629654.

Wegener,D.T.,Petty,R.E.,&Klein,D.J.(1994).Effectsofmoodonhighelaboration
attitudechange:Themediatingroleoflikelihoodjudgments.EuropeanJournalof
SocialPsychology,24,2543.

TwoorMoreWorksbytheSameAuthorintheSameYear

Ifyouareusingmorethanonereferencebythesameauthor(orthesamegroupofauthors
listedinthesameorder)publishedinthesameyear,organizetheminthereferencelist
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 11/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

alphabeticallybythetitleofthearticleorchapter.Thenassignlettersuffixestotheyear.
Refertothesesourcesinyouressayastheyappearinyourreferencelist,e.g.:"Berdnt
(1981a)makessimilarclaims..."

Berndt,T.J.(1981a).Agechangesandchangesovertimeinprosocialintentionsand
behaviorbetweenfriends.DevelopmentalPsychology,17,408416.

Berndt,T.J.(1981b).Effectsoffriendshiponprosocialintentionsandbehavior.Child
Development,52,636643.

Introductions,Prefaces,Forewords,andAfterwords

Citethepublishinginformationaboutabookasusual,butciteIntroduction,Preface,
Foreword,orAfterword(whatevertitleisapplicable)asthechapterofthebook.

Funk,R.,&Kolln,M.(1998).Introduction.InE.W.Ludlow(Ed.),UnderstandingEnglish
grammar(pp.12).Needham,MA:AllynandBacon.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

ReferenceList:ArticlesinPeriodicals
BasicForm

APAstyledictatesthatauthorsarenamedlastnamefollowedbyinitialspublicationyear
goesbetweenparentheses,followedbyaperiod.Thetitleofthearticleisinsentencecase,
meaningonlythefirstwordandpropernounsinthetitlearecapitalized.Theperiodicaltitle
isrunintitlecase,andisfollowedbythevolumenumberwhich,withthetitle,isalso
italicized.IfaDOIhasbeenassignedtothearticlethatyouareusing,youshouldincludethis
afterthepagenumbersforthearticle.IfnoDOIhasbeenassignedandyouareaccessingthe
periodicalonline,usetheURLofthewebsitefromwhichyouareretrievingtheperiodical.

Author,A.A.,Author,B.B.,&Author,C.C.(Year).Titleofarticle.TitleofPeriodical,
volumenumber(issuenumber),pages.http://dx.doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyyy

ArticleinJournalPaginatedbyVolume

Journalsthatarepaginatedbyvolumebeginwithpageoneinissueone,andcontinue
numberingissuetwowhereissueoneended,etc.

Harlow,H.F.(1983).Fundamentalsforpreparingpsychologyjournalarticles.Journalof
ComparativeandPhysiologicalPsychology,55,893896.

ArticleinJournalPaginatedbyIssue

Journalspaginatedbyissuebeginwithpageoneeveryissuetherefore,theissuenumbergets
indicatedinparenthesesafterthevolume.Theparenthesesandissuenumberarenotitalicized
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 12/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

orunderlined.

Scruton,R.(1996).Theeclipseoflistening.TheNewCriterion,15(3),513.

ArticleinaMagazine

Henry,W.A.,III.(1990,April9).Makingthegradeintoday'sschools.Time,135,2831.

ArticleinaNewspaper

Unlikeotherperiodicals,p.orpp.precedespagenumbersforanewspaperreferenceinAPA
style.Singlepagestakep.,e.g.,p.B2multiplepagestakepp.,e.g.,pp.B2,B4orpp.C1,C3
C4.

Schultz,S.(2005,December28).Callsmadetostrengthenstateenergypolicies.TheCountry
Today,pp.1A,2A.

Note:Becauseofissueswithhtmlcoding,thelistingsbelowusingbracketscontainspaces
thatarenottobeusedwithyourlistings.Useaspaceasnormalbeforethebrackets,butdo
notincludeaspacefollowingthebracket.

LettertotheEditor

Moller,G.(2002,August).Ripplesversusrumbles[Lettertotheeditor].ScientificAmerican,
287(2),12.

Review

Baumeister,R.F.(1993).Exposingtheselfknowledgemyth[ReviewofthebookTheself
knower:Aheroundercontrol,byR.A.Wicklund&M.Eckert].Contemporary
Psychology,38,466467.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

ReferenceList:Books
BasicFormatforBooks

Author,A.A.(Yearofpublication).Titleofwork:Capitalletteralsoforsubtitle.Location:
Publisher.

Note:For"Location,"youshouldalwayslistthecityandthestateusingthetwoletterpostal
abbreviationwithoutperiods(NewYork,NY).

Calfee,R.C.,&Valencia,R.R.(1991).APAguidetopreparingmanuscriptsforjournal
publication.Washington,DC:AmericanPsychologicalAssociation.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 13/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

EditedBook,NoAuthor

Duncan,G.J.,&BrooksGunn,J.(Eds.).(1997).Consequencesofgrowinguppoor.New
York,NY:RussellSageFoundation.

EditedBookwithanAuthororAuthors

Plath,S.(2000).Theunabridgedjournals.K.V.Kukil(Ed.).NewYork,NY:Anchor.

ATranslation

Laplace,P.S.(1951).Aphilosophicalessayonprobabilities.(F.W.Truscott&F.L.Emory,
Trans.).NewYork,NY:Dover.(Originalworkpublished1814)

Note:Whenyoucitearepublishedwork,liketheoneabove,inyourtext,itshouldappear
withbothdates:Laplace(1814/1951).

EditionOtherThantheFirst

Helfer,M.E.,Kempe,R.S.,&Krugman,R.D.(1997).Thebatteredchild(5thed.).Chicago,
IL:UniversityofChicagoPress.

ArticleorChapterinanEditedBook

Author,A.A.,&Author,B.B.(Yearofpublication).Titleofchapter.InA.A.Editor&B.B.
Editor(Eds.),Titleofbook(pagesofchapter).Location:Publisher.

Note:Whenyoulistthepagesofthechapteroressayinparenthesesafterthebooktitle,use
"pp."beforethenumbers:(pp.121).Thisabbreviation,however,doesnotappearbeforethe
pagenumbersinperiodicalreferences,exceptfornewspapers.

O'Neil,J.M.,&Egan,J.(1992).Men'sandwomen'sgenderrolejourneys:Ametaphorfor
healing,transition,andtransformation.InB.R.Wainrib(Ed.),Genderissuesacross
thelifecycle(pp.107123).NewYork,NY:Springer.

MultivolumeWork

Wiener,P.(Ed.).(1973).Dictionaryofthehistoryofideas(Vols.14).NewYork,NY:
Scribner's.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

ReferenceList:OtherPrintSources
AnEntryinanEncyclopedia

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 14/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Bergmann,P.G.(1993).Relativity.InTheNewEncyclopediaBritannica.(Vol.26,pp.501
508).Chicago,IL:EncyclopediaBritannica.

WorkDiscussedinaSecondarySource

Listthesourcetheworkwasdiscussedin:

Coltheart,M.,Curtis,B.,Atkins,P.,&Haller,M.(1993).Modelsofreadingaloud:Dual
routeandparalleldistributedprocessingapproaches.PsychologicalReview,100,
589608.

NOTE:Givethesecondarysourceinthereferenceslistinthetext,nametheoriginalwork,
andgiveacitationforthesecondarysource.Forexample,ifSeidenbergandMcClelland's
workiscitedinColtheartetal.andyoudidnotreadtheoriginalwork,listtheColtheartetal.
referenceintheReferences.Inthetext,usethefollowingcitation:

InSeidenbergandMcClelland'sstudy(ascitedinColtheart,Curtis,Atkins,&Haller,1993),
...

DissertationAbstract

Yoshida,Y.(2001).Essaysinurbantransportation.DissertationAbstractsInternational,62,
7741A.

Dissertation,Published

Lastname,F.N.(Year).Titleofdissertation(Doctoraldissertation).RetrievedfromNameof
database.(AccessionorOrderNumber)

Dissertation,Unpublished

Lastname,F.N.(Year).Titleofdissertation(Unpublisheddoctoraldissertation).Nameof
Institution,Location.

GovernmentDocument

NationalInstituteofMentalHealth.(1990).Clinicaltraininginseriousmentalillness
(DHHSPublicationNo.ADM901679).Washington,DC:U.S.GovernmentPrinting
Office.

Forinformationaboutcitinglegalsourcesinyourreferencelist,seetheUniversityof
Nebraska,KearneypageonCitingLegalMaterialsinAPAStyle.

ReportFromaPrivateOrganization

AmericanPsychiatricAssociation.(2000).Practiceguidelinesforthetreatmentofpatients
witheatingdisorders(2nded.).Washington,DC:Author.

ConferenceProceedings

Schnase,J.L.,&Cunnius,E.L.(Eds.).(1995).ProceedingsfromCSCL'95:TheFirst
InternationalConferenceonComputerSupportforCollaborativeLearning.Mahwah,
NJ:Erlbaum.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 15/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

ReferenceList:ElectronicSources(Web
Publications)
Pleasenote:TherearenospacesusedwithbracketsinAPA.Whenpossible,includethe
year,month,anddateinreferences.Ifthemonthanddatearenotavailable,usetheyearof
publication.Pleasenote,too,thattheOWLstillincludesinformationaboutprintsourcesand
databasesforthosestillworkingwiththesesources.

ArticleFromanOnlinePeriodical

Onlinearticlesfollowthesameguidelinesforprintedarticles.Includeallinformationthe
onlinehostmakesavailable,includinganissuenumberinparentheses.

Author,A.A.,&Author,B.B.(Dateofpublication).Titleofarticle.TitleofOnline
Periodical,volumenumber(issuenumberifavailable).Retrievedfrom
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Bernstein,M.(2002).10tipsonwritingthelivingWeb.AListApart:ForPeopleWhoMake
Websites,149.Retrievedfromhttp://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving

OnlineScholarlyJournalArticle:CitingDOIs

Pleasenote:InAugustof2011theformattingrecommendationsforDOIschanged.DOIsare
nowrenderedasanalphanumericstringwhichactsasanactivelink.AccordingtoTheAPA
StyleGuidetoElectronicReferences,6thedition,youshouldusetheDOIformatwhichthe
articleappearswith.So,ifitisusingtheoldernumericstring,usethatastheDOI.If,
however,itispresentedastheneweralphanumericstring,usethatastheDOI.ThePurdue
OWLmaintainsexamplesofcitationsusingbothDOIstyles.

BecauseonlinematerialscanpotentiallychangeURLs,APArecommendsprovidingaDigital
ObjectIdentifier(DOI),whenitisavailable,asopposedtotheURL.DOIsareanattemptto
providestable,longlastinglinksforonlinearticles.Theyareuniquetotheirdocumentsand
consistofalongalphanumericcode.Manybutnotallpublisherswillprovideanarticle's
DOIonthefirstpageofthedocument.

Notethatsomeonlinebibliographiesprovideanarticle'sDOIbutmay"hide"thecodeunder
abuttonwhichmayread"Article"ormaybeanabbreviationofavendor'snamelike
"CrossRef"or"PubMed."Thisbuttonwillusuallyleadtheusertothefullarticlewhichwill
includetheDOI.FindDOI'sfromprintpublicationsoronesthatgotodeadlinkswith
CrossRef.org's"DOIResolver,"whichisdisplayedinacentrallocationontheirhomepage.

ArticleFromanOnlinePeriodicalwithDOIAssigned

Author,A.A.,&Author,B.B.(Dateofpublication).Titleofarticle.TitleofJournal,volume
number,pagerange.doi:0000000/000000000000orhttp://dx.doi.org/10.0000/0000

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 16/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Brownlie,D.(2007).Towardeffectiveposterpresentations:Anannotatedbibliography.
EuropeanJournalofMarketing,41,12451283.doi:10.1108/03090560710821161

Wooldridge,M.B.,&Shapka,J.(2012).Playingwithtechnology:Mothertoddlerinteraction
scoreslowerduringplaywithelectronictoys.JournalofAppliedDevelopmental
Psychology,33(5),211218.http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.appdev.2012.05.005

ArticleFromanOnlinePeriodicalwithnoDOIAssigned

OnlinescholarlyjournalarticleswithoutaDOIrequiretheURLofthejournalhomepage.
Rememberthatonegoalofcitationsistoprovideyourreaderswithenoughinformationto
findthearticleprovidingthejournalhomepageaidsreadersinthisprocess.

Author,A.A.,&Author,B.B.(Dateofpublication).Titleofarticle.TitleofJournal,volume
number.Retrievedfromhttp://www.journalhomepage.com/full/url/

Kenneth,I.A.(2000).ABuddhistresponsetothenatureofhumanrights.Journalof
BuddhistEthics,8.Retrievedfromhttp://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html

ArticlefromaDatabase

Pleasenote:APAstatesthatincludingdatabaseinformationincitationsisnotnecessary
becausedatabaseschangeovertime(p.192).However,theOWLstillincludesinformation
aboutdatabasesforthoseuserswhoneeddatabaseinformation.

Whenreferencingaprintarticleobtainedfromanonlinedatabase(suchasadatabaseinthe
library),provideappropriateprintcitationinformation(formattedjustlikea"normal"print
citationwouldbeforthattypeofwork).Byprovidingthisinformation,youallowpeopleto
retrievetheprintversioniftheydonothaveaccesstothedatabasefromwhichyouretrieved
thearticle.YoucanalsoincludetheitemnumberoraccessionnumberordatabaseURLatthe
end,buttheAPAmanualsaysthatthisisnotrequired.

Ifyouarecitingadatabasearticlethatisavailableinotherplaces,suchasajournalor
magazine,includethehomepage'sURL.Youmayhavetodoawebsearchofthearticle's
title,author,etc.tofindtheURL.

Forarticlesthatareeasilylocated,donotprovidedatabaseinformation.Ifthearticleis
difficulttolocate,thenyoucanprovidedatabaseinformation.Onlyuseretrievaldatesifthe
sourcecouldchange,suchasWikis.Formoreaboutcitingarticlesretrievedfromelectronic
databases,seepages187192ofthePublicationManual.

Author,A.A.,&Author,B.B.(Dateofpublication).Titleofarticle.TitleofJournal,volume
number,pagerange.Retrievedfromhttp://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

Smyth,A.M.,Parker,A.L.,&Pease,D.L.(2002).Astudyofenjoymentofpeas.Journalof
AbnormalEating,8(3),120125.Retrievedfrom
http://www.articlehomepage.com/full/url/

Abstract

Ifyouonlyciteanabstractbutthefulltextofthearticleisalsoavailable,citetheonline
abstractasanyotheronlinecitations,adding"[Abstract]"afterthearticleorsourcename.
However,ifthefulltextisnotavailable,youmayuseanabstractthatisavailablethroughan
abstractsdatabaseasasecondarysource.

Paterson,P.(2008).HowwelldoyoungoffenderswithAspergerSyndromecopeincustody?:
Twoprisoncasestudies[Abstract].BritishJournalofLearningDisabilities,36(1),

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 17/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

5458.

Hendricks,J.,Applebaum,R.,&Kunkel,S.(2010).Aworldapart?Bridgingthegapbetween
theoryandappliedsocialgerontology.Gerontologist,50(3),284293.Abstract
retrievedfromAbstractsinSocialGerontologydatabase.(AccessionNo.50360869)

NewspaperArticle

Author,A.A.(Year,MonthDay).Titleofarticle.TitleofNewspaper.Retrievedfrom
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

ParkerPope,T.(2008,May6).Psychiatryhandbooklinkedtodrugindustry.TheNewYork
Times.Retrievedfromhttp://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/06/psychiatry
handbooklinkedtodrugindustry/?_r=0

ElectronicBooks

Electronicbooksmayincludebooksfoundonpersonalwebsites,databases,oreveninaudio
form.Usethefollowingformatifthebookyouareusingisonlyprovidedinadigitalformat
orisdifficulttofindinprint.Iftheworkisnotdirectlyavailableonlineormustbepurchased,
use"Availablefrom,"ratherthan"Retrievedfrom,"andpointreaderstowheretheycanfind
it.Forbooksavailableinprintformandelectronicform,includethepublishdatein
parenthesesaftertheauthor'sname.Forreferencestoebookeditions,besuretoincludethe
typeandversionofebookyouarereferencing(e.g.,"[KindleDXversion]").IfDOIsare
available,providethemattheendofthereference.

DeHuff,E.W.(n.d.).Taytaystales:TraditionalPuebloIndiantales.Retrievedfrom
http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/dehuff/taytay/taytay.html

Davis,J.(n.d.).FamiliarbirdsongsoftheNorthwest.Availablefrom
http://www.powells.com/cgibin/biblio?inkey=197809316861080

KindleBooks
TociteKindle(orotherebookformats)youmustincludethefollowinginformation:Theauthor,
dateofpublication,title,ebookversion,andeithertheDigitalObjectIdentifer(DOI)number,orthe
placewhereyoudownloadedthebook.PleasenotethattheDOI/placeofdownloadisusedinplace
ofpublisherinformation.

Heresanexample:

Stoker,B.(1897).Dracula[KindleDXversion].RetrievedfromAmazon.com

Chapter/SectionofaWebDocumentorOnlineBookChapter

Author,A.A.,&Author,B.B.(Dateofpublication).Titleofarticle.InTitleofbookor
largerdocument(chapterorsectionnumber).Retrievedfrom
http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 18/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Engelshcall,R.S.(1997).Modulemod_rewrite:URLRewritingEngine.InApacheHTTP
Serverversion1.3documentation(Apachemodules).Retrievedfrom
http://httpd.apache.org/docs/1.3/mod/mod_rewrite.html

Peckinpaugh,J.(2003).ChangeintheNineties.InJ.S.BoughandG.B.DuBois(Eds.),A
centuryofgrowthinAmerica.RetrievedfromGoldStardatabase.

NOTE:UseachapterorsectionidentifierandprovideaURLthatlinksdirectlytothe
chaptersection,notthehomepageoftheWebsite.

OnlineBookReviews

Citetheinformationasyounormallywouldfortheworkyouarequoting.(Thefirstexample
belowisfromanewspaperarticlethesecondisfromascholarlyjournal.)Inbrackets,write
"Reviewofthebook"andgivethetitleofthereviewedwork.Providethewebaddressafter
thewords"Retrievedfrom,"ifthereviewisfreelyavailabletoanyone.Ifthereviewcomes
fromasubscriptionserviceordatabase,write"Availablefrom"andprovidetheinformation
wherethereviewcanbepurchased.

Zacharek,S.(2008,April27).Naturalwomen[ReviewofthebookGirlslikeus].TheNew
YorkTimes.Retrievedfrom
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/books/review/Zachareck
t.html?pagewanted=2

Castle,G.(2007).NewmillennialJoyce[ReviewofthebooksTwentyfirstJoyce,Joyce's
critics:Transitionsinreadingandculture,andJoyce'smessianism:Dante,negative
existence,andthemessianicself].ModernFictionStudies,50(1),163173.Available
fromProjectMUSEWebsite:
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/modern_fiction_studies/toc/mfs52.1.html

Dissertation/ThesisfromaDatabase

Biswas,S.(2008).DopamineD3receptor:AneuroprotectivetreatmenttargetinParkinson's
disease.RetrievedfromProQuestDigitalDissertations.(AAT3295214)

OnlineEncyclopediasandDictionaries

Oftenencyclopediasanddictionariesdonotprovidebylines(authors'names).Whenno
bylineispresent,movetheentrynametothefrontofthecitation.Providepublicationdatesif
presentorspecify(n.d.)ifnodateispresentintheentry.

Feminism.(n.d.).InEncyclopdiaBritannicaonline.Retrievedfrom
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/724633/feminism

OnlineBibliographiesandAnnotatedBibliographies

Jrgens,R.(2005).HIV/AIDSandHCVinPrisons:ASelectAnnotatedBibliography.
Retrievedfromhttp://www.hcsc.gc.ca/ahcasc/alt_formats/hpbdgps/pdf/intactiv/hiv
vihaidssidaprisoncarceral_e.pdf

DataSets

PointreaderstorawdatabyprovidingaWebaddress(use"Retrievedfrom")orageneral
placethathousesdatasetsonthesite(use"Availablefrom").

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 19/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

UnitedStatesDepartmentofHousingandUrbanDevelopment.(2008).Indianaincomelimits
[Datafile].Retrievedfromhttp://www.huduser.org/Datasets/IL/IL08/in_fy2008.pdf

GraphicData(e.g.InteractiveMapsandOtherGraphicRepresentationsofData)

Givethenameoftheresearchingorganizationfollowedbythedate.Inbrackets,providea
briefexplanationofwhattypeofdataisthereandinwhatformitappears.Finally,provide
theprojectnameandretrievalinformation.

SolarRadiationandClimateExperiment.(2007).[GraphillustrationtheSORCESpectral
PlotMay8,2008].SolarSpectralDataAccessfromtheSIM,SOLSTICE,andXPS
Instruments.Retrievedfromhttp://lasp.colorado.edu/cgibin/ionp?
page=input_data_for_spectra.ion

QualitativeDataandOnlineInterviews

Ifaninterviewisnotretrievableinaudioorprintform,citetheinterviewonlyinthetext(not
inthereferencelist)andprovidethemonth,day,andyearinthetext.Ifanaudiofileor
transcriptisavailableonline,usethefollowingmodel,specifyingthemediuminbrackets
(e.g.[Interviewtranscript,Interviewaudiofile]):

Butler,C.(Interviewer)&Stevenson,R.(Interviewee).(1999).OralHistory2[Interview
transcript].RetrievedfromJohnsonSpaceCenterOralHistoriesProjectWebsite:
http://www11.jsc.nasa.gov/history/oral_histories/oral_histories.htm

OnlineLectureNotesandPresentationSlides

Whencitingonlinelecturenotes,besuretoprovidethefileformatinbracketsafterthe
lecturetitle(e.g.PowerPointslides,Worddocument).

Hallam,A.Dualityinconsumertheory[PDFdocument].RetrievedfromLectureNotes
OnlineWebsite:http://www.econ.iastate.edu/classes/econ501/Hallam/
index.html

Roberts,K.F.(1998).Federalregulationsofchemicalsintheenvironment[PowerPoint
slides].Retrievedfromhttp://siri.uvm.edu/ppt/40hrenv/index.html

NonperiodicalWebDocumentorReport

Listasmuchofthefollowinginformationaspossible(yousometimeshavetohuntaroundto
findtheinformationdon'tbelazy.Ifthereisapagelike
http://www.somesite.com/somepage.htm,andsomepage.htmdoesn'thavetheinformation
you'relookingfor,moveuptheURLtohttp://www.somesite.com/):

Author,A.A.,&Author,B.B.(Dateofpublication).Titleofdocument.Retrievedfrom
http://Webaddress

Angeli,E.,Wagner,J.,Lawrick,E.,Moore,K.,Anderson,M.,Soderland,L.,&Brizee,A.
(2010,May5).Generalformat.Retrievedfrom
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

NOTE:WhenanInternetdocumentismorethanoneWebpage,provideaURLthatlinksto
thehomepageorentrypageforthedocument.Also,ifthereisn'tadateavailableforthe
documentuse(n.d.)fornodate.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 20/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

TociteaYouTubevideo,theAPArecommendsfollowingtheaboveformat.

ComputerSoftware/DownloadedSoftware

Donotcitestandardofficesoftware(e.g.Word,Excel)orprogramminglanguages.Provide
referencesonlyforspecializedsoftware.

Ludwig,T.(2002).PsychInquiry[computersoftware].NewYork:Worth.

SoftwarethatisdownloadedfromaWebsiteshouldprovidethesoftwaresversionandyear
whenavailable.

Hayes,B.,Tesar,B.,&Zuraw,K.(2003).OTSoft:OptimalityTheorySoftware(Version2.1)
[Software].Availablefromhttp://www.linguistics.ucla.edu/people/hayes/otsoft/

Email

Emailsarenotincludedinthelistofreferences,thoughyouparentheticallycitetheminyour
maintext:(E.Robbins,personalcommunication,January4,2001).

OnlineForumorDiscussionBoardPosting

Includethetitleofthemessage,andtheURLofthenewsgroupordiscussionboard.Please
notethattitlesforitemsinonlinecommunities(e.g.blogs,newsgroups,forums)arenot
italicized.Iftheauthor'snameisnotavailable,providethescreenname.Placeidentifierslike
postormessagenumbers,ifavailable,inbrackets.Ifavailable,providetheURLwherethe
messageisarchived(e.g."Messagepostedto...,archivedat...").

Frook,B.D.(1999,July23).Newinventionsinthecyberworldoftoylandia[Msg25].
Messagepostedtohttp://groups.earthlink.com/forum/messages/00025.html

Blog(Weblog)andVideoBlogPost

IncludethetitleofthemessageandtheURL.Pleasenotethattitlesforitemsinonline
communities(e.g.blogs,newsgroups,forums)arenotitalicized.Iftheauthorsnameisnot
available,providethescreenname.

JDean.(2008,May7).Whentheselfemerges:Isthatmeinthemirror?[Weblogcomment].
Retrievedfromhttp://www.spring.org.uk/the1sttransport

PsychologyVideoBlog#3[Videofile].Retrievedfromhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=lqM90eQi5M

Wikis

PleasenotethattheAPAStyleGuidetoElectronicReferenceswarnswritersthatwikis(like
Wikipedia,forexample)arecollaborativeprojectsthatcannotguaranteetheverifiabilityor
expertiseoftheirentries.

OLPCPeru/Arahuay.(n.d.).RetrievedApril29,2011fromtheOLPCWiki:
http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OLPC_Peru/Arahuay

AudioPodcast

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 21/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Forallpodcasts,provideasmuchinformationaspossiblenotallofthefollowing
informationwillbeavailable.PossibleadditionidentifiersmayincludeProducer,Director,
etc.

Bell,T.,&Phillips,T.(2008,May6)[email protected]
retrievedfromhttp://science.nasa.gov/podcast.htm

VideoPodcasts

Forallpodcasts,provideasmuchinformationaspossiblenotallofthefollowing
informationwillbeavailable.PossibleadditionidentifiersmayincludeProducer,Director,
etc.

Scott,D.(Producer).(2007,January5).Thecommunitycollegeclassroom[Episode7].
AdventuresinEducation.Podcastretrievedfromhttp://www.adveeducation.com

Formorehelpwithcitingelectronicsources,pleaseusetheselinks:

DocumentingElectronicSources
APAstylewebsite'scoverageofelectronicreferences
APAFrequentlyAskedQuestions

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

ReferenceList:OtherNonPrintSources
Interviews,Email,andOtherPersonalCommunication

Nopersonalcommunicationisincludedinyourreferencelistinstead,parentheticallycitethe
communicator'sname,thephrase"personalcommunication,"andthedateofthe
communicationinyourmaintextonly.

(E.Robbins,personalcommunication,January4,2001).
A.P.SmithalsoclaimedthatmanyofherstudentshaddifficultieswithAPAstyle(personal
communication,November3,2002).

MotionPicture

Basicreferencelistformat:

Producer,P.P.(Producer),&Director,D.D.(Director).(Dateofpublication).Titleofmotion
picture[Motionpicture].Countryoforigin:Studioordistributor.

Note:Ifamovieorvideotapeisnotavailableinwidedistribution,addthefollowingtoyour
citationafterthecountryoforigin:(AvailablefromDistributorname,fulladdressandzip
code).

AMotionPictureorVideoTapewithInternationalorNationalAvailability
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 22/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Smith,J.D.(Producer),&Smithee,A.F.(Director).(2001).Reallybigdisastermovie
[Motionpicture].UnitedStates:ParamountPictures.

AMotionPictureorVideoTapewithLimitedAvailability

Harris,M.(Producer),&Turley,M.J.(Director).(2002).Writinglabs:Ahistory[Motion
picture].(AvailablefromPurdueUniversityPictures,500OvalDrive,WestLafayette,
IN47907)

TelevisionBroadcastorSeriesEpisode

Writer,W.W.(Writer),&Director,D.D.(Director).(Dateofbroadcastorcopyright).Titleof
broadcast[TelevisionbroadcastorTelevisionseries].InP.Producer(Producer).City,
stateoforigin:Studioordistributor.

SingleEpisodeofaTelevisionSeries

Writer,W.W.(Writer),&Director,D.D.(Director).(Dateofpublication).Titleofepisode
[Televisionseriesepisode].InP.Producer(Producer),Seriestitle.City,stateof
origin:Studioordistributor.

Wendy,S.W.(Writer),&Martian,I.R.(Director).(1986).Therisingangelandthefalling
ape[Televisionseriesepisode].InD.Dude(Producer),Creaturesandmonsters.Los
Angeles,CA:BelarusStudios.

TelevisionBroadcast

Important,I.M.(Producer).(1990,November1).Thenightlynewshour[Television
broadcast].NewYork,NY:CentralBroadcastingService.

ATelevisionSeries

Bellisario,D.L.(Producer).(1992).Excitingactionshow[Televisionseries].Hollywood,
CA:AmericanBroadcastingCompany.

MusicRecording

Songwriter,W.W.(Dateofcopyright).Titleofsong[Recordedbyartistifdifferentfrom
songwriter].OnTitleofalbum[Mediumofrecording].Location:Label.(Recording
dateifdifferentfromcopyrightdate).

Taupin,B.(1975).Someonesavedmylifetonight[RecordedbyEltonJohn].OnCaptain
fantasticandthebrowndirtcowboy[CD].London,England:BigPigMusicLimited.

Formoreaboutcitingaudiovisualmedia,seepages209210oftheAPAPublicationManual
6thEdition,secondprinting.

Forinformationaboutcitinglegalsourcesinyourreferencelist,seetheWestfieldState
CollegepageonCitingLegalMaterialsinAPAStyle.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 23/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

AdditionalResources
It'salwaysbesttoconsultthePublicationManualfirstforanyAPAquestion.Ifyouareusing
APAstyleforaclassassignment,it'sagoodideatoconsultyourprofessor,advisor,TA,or
othercampusresourcesforhelpwithusingAPAstylethey'retheoneswhocantellyouhow
thestyleshouldapplyinyourparticularcase.Forextraordinaryquestionsthataren'tcovered
clearlyinthestylemanualorhaven'tbeenansweredbyyourteacheroradvisor,contactus
viaemailbyusingourOWLtutoremailform.

PrintResources

HerearesomeprintresourcesforusingAPAstyle.ClickThePurdueOWLdoesnotmake
anyprofitfromnordoesitendorsetheseagencieslinksaremerelyofferedforinformation.
Mostofthesebooksareprobablyavailableinyourlocallibrary.FromtheAmerican
PsychologicalAssociation:

PublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation(6thedition)(ISBN13:
9781433805615ISBN10:1433805618)
MasteringAPAStyle:Instructor'sResourceGuide(ISBN:1557988900)
MasteringAPAStyle:Student'sWorkbookandTrainingGuide(ISBN:143380557X)
PresentingYourFindings:APracticalGuideforCreatingTables(ISBN:143380705X)
DisplayingYourFindings:APracticalGuideforCreatingFigures,Posters,and
Presentations(ISBN:1433807076X)

Fromotherpublishers:

WritingWithStyle:APAStyleMadeEasy(ISBN:084003167X)
WritingWithStyle:APAStyleforSocialWork(ISBN:084003198X)

OnlineResourcesfromtheAPA

APAStyleWebsite
APAStyleBlog

OtherOnlineResources:DocumentingandReferencingSources

CitingLegalMaterialsinAPAStyle(WestfieldStateCollege)

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

TypesofAPAPapers
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 24/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

TherearetwocommontypesofpaperswritteninfieldsusingAPAStyle:theliterature
reviewandtheexperimentalreport.Eachhasuniquerequirementsconcerningthesections
thatmustbeincludedinthepaper.

Literaturereview

Aliteraturereviewisacriticalsummaryofwhatthescientificliteraturesaysaboutyour
specifictopicorquestion.OftenstudentresearchinAPAfieldsfallsintothiscategory.Your
professormightaskyoutowritethiskindofpapertodemonstrateyourfamiliaritywithwork
inthefieldpertinenttotheresearchyouhopetoconduct.

Aliteraturereviewtypicallycontainsthefollowingsections:

Titlepage
Introductionsection
Listofreferences

Someinstructorsmayalsowantyoutowriteanabstractforaliteraturereview,sobesureto
checkwiththemwhengivenanassignment.Also,thelengthofaliteraturereviewandthe
requirednumberofsourceswillvarybasedoncourseandinstructorpreferences.

NOTE:Aliteraturereviewandanannotatedbibliographyarenotsynonymous.Ifyouare
askedtowriteanannotatedbibliography,youshouldconsultthePublicationManualofthe
AmericanPsychologicalAssociationfortheAPAFormatforAnnotatedBibliographies.

Experimentalreport

Inmanyofthesocialsciences,youwillbeaskedtodesignandconductyourown
experimentalresearch.Ifso,youwillneedtowriteupyourpaperusingastructurethatis
morecomplexthanthatusedforjustaliteraturereview.Wehaveacompleteresource
devotedtowritinganexperimentalreportinthefieldofpsychologyhere.

Thisstructurefollowsthescientificmethod,butitalsomakesyourpapereasiertofollowby
providingthosefamiliarcuesthathelpyourreaderefficientlyscanyourinformationfor:

Whythetopicisimportant(coveredinyourintroduction)
Whattheproblemis(alsocoveredinyourintroduction)
Whatyoudidtotrytosolvetheproblem(coveredinyourmethodssection)
Whatyoufound(coveredinyourresultssection)
Whatyouthinkyourfindingsmean(coveredinyourdiscussionsection)

Thusanexperimentalreporttypicallyincludesthefollowingsections.

Titlepage
Abstract
Introduction
Method
Results
Discussion
References
Appendices(ifnecessary)
Tablesand/orfigures(ifnecessary)

Makesuretochecktheguidelinesforyourassignmentoranyguidelinesthathavebeengiven
toyoubyaneditorofajournalbeforeyousubmitamanuscriptcontainingthesectionslisted
above.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 25/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Aswiththeliteraturereview,thelengthofthisreportmayvarybycourseorbyjournal,but
mostoftenitwillbedeterminedbythescopeoftheresearchconducted.

Otherpapers

Ifyouarewritingapaperthatfitsneitherofthesecategories,followtheguidelinesabout
GeneralFormat,consultyourinstructor,orlookupadviceinthePublicationManualofthe
AmericanPsychologicalAssociation.

Whensubmittingamanuscripttoajournal,makesureyoufollowtheguidelinesdescribedin
thesubmissionpoliciesofthatpublication,andincludeasmanysectionsasyouthinkare
applicabletopresentingyourmaterial.Remembertokeepyouraudienceinmindasyouare
makingthisdecision.Ifcertaininformationisparticularlypertinentforconveyingyour
research,thenensurethatthereisasectionofyourpaperthatadequatelyaddressesthat
information.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

APAStylistics:AvoidingBias
ResearcherswhouseAPAoftenworkwithavarietyofpopulations,someofwhomtendtobe
stereotypedbytheuseoflabelsandotherbiasedformsoflanguage.Therefore,APAoffers
specificrecommendationsforeliminatingbiasinlanguageconcerningrace,disability,and
sexuality.

MakeAdjustmentstoLabels

Althoughyoushouldavoidlabelingwheneverpossible,itissometimesdifficulttoaccurately
accountfortheidentityofyourresearchpopulationorindividualparticipantswithoutusing
languagethatcanbereadasbiased.Makingadjustmentsinhowyouuseidentifiersandother
linguisticcategoriescanimprovetheclarityofyourwritingandminimizethelikelihoodof
offendingyourreaders.

Ingeneral,youshouldcallpeoplewhattheyprefertobecalled,especiallywhendealingwith
raceandethnicity.Butsometimesthecommonconventionsoflanguageinadvertentlycontain
biasestowardscertainpopulationse.g.using"normal"incontrasttosomeoneidentifiedas
"disabled."Therefore,youshouldbeawareofhowyourchoiceofterminologymaycome
acrosstoyourreader,particularlyiftheyidentifywiththepopulationinquestion.

Youcanfindanindepthdiscussionofthisissueandspecificrecommendationsforhowto
appropriatelyrepresentpeopleinyourtextontheAPAwebsiteonthefollowingpages:

RemovingBiasinLanguage:Disabilities
RemovingBiasinLanguage:Race&Ethnicity
RemovingBiasinLanguage:Sexuality

AvoidGenderedPronouns

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 26/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Whileyoushouldalwaysbeclearaboutthesexidentityofyourparticipants(ifyou
conductedanexperiment),sothatgenderdifferencesareobvious,youshouldnotusegender
termswhentheyaren'tnecessary.Inotherwords,youshouldnotuse"he,""his"or"men"as
generictermsapplyingtobothsexes.

APAdoesnotrecommendreplacing"he"with"heorshe,""sheorhe,""he/she,""(s)he,"
"s/he,"oralternatingbetween"he"and"she"becausethesesubstitutionsareawkwardand
candistractthereaderfromthepointyouaretryingtomake.Thepronouns"he"or"she"
inevitablycausethereadertothinkofonlythatgender,whichmaynotbewhatyouintend.

Toavoidthebiasofusinggenderedpronouns:

Rephrasethesentence
Usepluralnounsorpluralpronounsthiswayyoucanuse"they"or"their"
Replacethepronounwithanarticleinsteadof"his,"use"the"
Dropthepronounmanysentencessoundfineifyoujustomitthetroublesome"his"
fromthesentence
Replacethepronounwithanounsuchas"person,""individual,""child,""researcher,"
etc.

Formoreaboutaddressinggenderinacademicwriting,visittheOWL'sresourceonnon
sexistlanguageuse.

FindAlternativeDescriptors

Toavoidunintentionalbiasesinyourlanguage,looktotheparametersofyourresearchitself.
Whenwritingupanexperimentalreport,describeyourparticipantsbythemeasuresyouused
toclassifythemintheexperiment,aslongasthelabelsarenotoffensive.

Example:Ifyouhadpeopletakeatestmeasuringtheirreactiontimesandyouwere
interestedinlookingatthedifferencesbetweenpeoplewhohadfastreactiontimesandthose
withslowreactiontimes,youcouldcallthefirstgroupthe"fastreactiontimegroup"andthe
secondthe"slowreactiontimegroup."

Also,useadjectivestoserveasdescriptorsratherthanlabels.Whenyouusetermssuchas
"theelderly"or"theamnesiacs,"thepeoplelosetheirindividuality.Onewaytoavoidthisis
toinsertanadjective(e.g.,"elderlypeople,""amnesicpatients").Anotherwayistomention
thepersonfirstandfollowthiswithadescriptivephrase(e.g.,"peoplediagnosedwith
amnesia"),althoughitcanbecumbersometokeeprepeatingphraseslikethis.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

APAStylistics:Basics
WritinginAPAismorethansimplylearningtheformulaforcitationsorfollowingacertain
pagelayout.APAalsoincludesthestylisticsofyourwriting,frompointofviewtoword
choice.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 27/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

PointofViewandVoice

WhenwritinginAPAStyle,youcanusethefirstpersonpointofviewwhendiscussingyour
researchsteps("Istudied...")andwhenreferringtoyourselfandyourcoauthors("We
examinedtheliterature...").Usefirstpersontodiscussresearchstepsratherthan
anthropomorphisingthework.Forexample,astudycannot"control"or"interpret"youand
yourcoauthors,however,can.

Ingeneral,youshouldforegroundtheresearchandnottheresearchers("Theresultsindicate
...").Avoidusingtheeditorial"we"ifyouuse"we"inyourwriting,besurethat"we"refers
toyouandyourfellowresearchers.

Itisacommonmisconceptionthatforegroundingtheresearchrequiresusingthepassive
voice("Experimentshavebeenconducted...").Thisisinaccurate.Rather,youwoulduse
pronounsinplaceof"experiments"("Weconductedexperiments...").

APAStyleencouragesusingtheactivevoice("Weinterpretedtheresults...").Theactive
voiceisparticularlyimportantinexperimentalreports,wherethesubjectperformingthe
actionshouldbeclearlyidentified(e.g."Weinterviewed..."vs."Theparticipantsresponded
...").

ConsulttheOWLhandoutformoreonthedistinctionbetweenpassiveandactivevoice.

ClarityandConciseness

ClarityandconcisenessinwritingareimportantwhenconveyingresearchinAPAStyle.You
don'twanttomisrepresentthedetailsofastudyorconfuseyourreaderswithwordinessor
unnecessarilycomplexsentences.

Forclarity,bespecificratherthanvagueindescriptionsandexplanations.Unpackdetails
accuratelytoprovideadequateinformationtoyourreaderssotheycanfollowthe
developmentofyourstudy.

Example:"Itwaspredictedthatmaritalconflictwouldpredictbehaviorproblemsinschool
agedchildren."

Toclarifythisvaguehypothesis,useparallelstructuretooutlinespecificideas:

"Thefirsthypothesisstatedthatmaritalconflictwouldpredictbehaviorproblemsinschool
agedchildren.Thesecondhypothesisstatedthattheeffectwouldbestrongerforgirlsthan
forboys.Thethirdhypothesisstatedthatoldergirlswouldbemoreaffectedbymarital
conflictthanyoungergirls."

Tobemoreconcise,particularlyinintroductorymaterialorabstracts,youshouldpareout
unnecessarywordsandcondenseinformationwhenyoucan(seetheOWLhandouton
Concisenessinacademicwritingforsuggestions).

Example:Theabovelistofhypothesesmightberephrasedconciselyas:"Theauthors
wantedtoinvestigatewhethermaritalconflictwouldpredictbehaviorproblemsinchildren
andtheywantedtoknowiftheeffectwasgreaterforgirlsthanforboys,particularlywhen
theyexaminedtwodifferentagegroupsofgirls."

Balancingtheneedforclarity,whichcanrequireunpackinginformation,andtheneedfor
conciseness,whichrequirescondensinginformation,isachallenge.Studypublishedarticles
andreportsinyourfieldforexamplesofhowtoachievethisbalance.

WordChoice

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 28/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Youshouldevenbecarefulinselectingcertainwordsorterms.Withinthesocialsciences,
commonlyusedwordstakeondifferentmeaningsandcanhaveasignificanteffectonhow
yourreadersinterpretyourreportedfindingsorclaims.Toincreaseclarity,avoidbias,and
controlhowyourreaderswillreceiveyourinformation,youshouldmakecertain
substitutions:

Usetermslike"participants"or"respondents"(ratherthan"subjects")toindicatehow
individualswereinvolvedinyourresearch
Usetermslike"children"or"communitymembers"toprovidemoredetailaboutwho
wasparticipatinginthestudy
Usephraseslike"Theevidencesuggests..."or"Ourstudyindicates..."ratherthan
referringto"proof"or"proves"becausenosinglestudycanproveatheoryor
hypothesis

Aswiththeotherstylisticsuggestionshere,youshouldstudythediscourseofyourfieldto
seewhatterminologyismostoftenused.

AvoidingPoeticLanguage

WritingpapersinAPAStyleisunlikewritinginmorecreativeorliterarystylesthatdrawon
poeticexpressionsandfigurativelanguage.Suchlinguisticdevicescandetractfrom
conveyingyourinformationclearlyandmaycomeacrosstoreadersasforcedwhenitis
inappropriatelyusedtoexplainanissueoryourfindings.

Therefore,youshould:

minimizetheamountoffigurativelanguageusedinanAPApaper,suchasmetaphors
andanalogiesunlesstheyarehelpfulinconveyingacomplexidea
avoidrhymingschemes,alliteration,orotherpoeticdevicestypicallyfoundinverse
usesimple,descriptiveadjectivesandplainlanguagethatdoesnotriskconfusingyour
meaning

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

APAHeadingsandSeriation
Headings

APAStyleusesauniqueheadingssystemtoseparateandclassifypapersections.Thereare5
headinglevelsinAPA.The6theditionoftheAPAmanualrevisesandsimplifiesprevious
headingguidelines.Regardlessofthenumberoflevels,alwaysusetheheadingsinorder,
beginningwithlevel1.Theformatofeachlevelisillustratedbelow:

APAHeadings
Level Format
1 Centered,Boldface,UppercaseandLowercaseHeadings

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 29/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

2 Leftaligned,Boldface,UppercaseandLowercaseHeading
Indented,boldface,lowercaseheadingwithaperiod.Beginbodytextafterthe
3
period.
Indented,boldface,italicized,lowercaseheadingwithaperiod.Beginbodytext
4
aftertheperiod.
Indented,italicized,lowercaseheadingwithaperiod.Beginbodytextafterthe
5
period.

Thus,ifthearticlehasfoursections,someofwhichhavesubsectionsandsomeofwhich
dont,useheadingsdependingonthelevelofsubordination.Sectionheadingsreceivelevel
oneformat.Subsectionsreceiveleveltwoformat.Subsectionsofsubsectionsreceivelevel
threeformat.Forexample:

Method(Level1)

SiteofStudy(Level2)

ParticipantPopulation(Level2)

Teachers.(Level3)

Students.(Level3)

Results(Level1)

SpatialAbility(Level2)

Testone.(Level3)

Teacherswithexperience.(Level4)

Teachersintraining.(Level4)

Testtwo.(Level3)

KinestheticAbility(Level2)

InAPAStyle,theIntroductionsectionnevergetsaheadingandheadingsarenotindicatedby
lettersornumbers.Levelsofheadingswilldependuponthelengthandorganizationofyour
paper.Regardless,alwaysbeginwithleveloneheadingsandproceedtoleveltwo,etc.

Seriation

APAalsoallowsforseriationinthebodytexttohelpauthorsorganizeandpresentkeyideas.
Fornumberedseriation,dothefollowing:

OnthebasisoffourgenerationsofusabilitytestingonthePurdueOWL,thePurdueOWL
UsabilityTeamrecommendedthefollowing:

1.MovethenavigationbarfromtherighttotheleftsideoftheOWLpages.
2.Integratebrandedgraphics(theWritingLabandOWLlogos)intothetextontheOWL
homepage.
3.AddasearchboxtoeverypageoftheOWL.
4.DevelopanOWLsitemap.
5.Developathreetierednavigationsystem.

Forliststhatdonotcommunicatehierarchicalorderorchronology,usebullets:

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 30/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Ingeneral,participantsfoundusercenteredOWLmockuptobeeasiertouse.Whatfollows
aresamplesofparticipants'responses:

"Thisversioniseasiertouse."
"Versiontwoseemsbetterorganized."
"Ittookmeafewminutestolearnhowtousethisversion,butafterthat,Ifeltmore
comfortablewithit."

Authorsmayalsouseseriationforparagraphlengthtext.

Forseriationwithinsentences,authorsmayuseletters:

Onthebasisofresearchconductedbytheusabilityteam,OWLstaffhavecompleted(a)the
OWLsitemap(b)integratinggraphicswithtextontheOWLhomepage(c)searchboxeson
allOWLpagesexcepttheorangeOWLresources(thatispendingwedohaveasearch
page)(d)movingthenavigationbartotheleftsideofpagesonallOWLresourcesexceptin
theorangearea(thatispending)(e)pilotingthefirstphaseofthethreetierednavigation
system,asillustratedinthenewEngagementsection.

Authorsmayalsoseparatepointswithbulletlists:

Onthebasisoftheresearchconductedbytheusabilityteam,OWLstaffhavecompleted

theOWLsitemap
integratinggraphicswithtextontheOWLhomepage
searchboxesonallOWLpagesexcepttheorangeOWLresources(thatispendingwe
dohaveasearchpage)
movingthenavigationbartotheleftsideofpagesonallOWLresourcesexceptinthe
orangearea(thatispending)
pilotingthefirstphaseofthethreetierednavigationsystem,asillustratedinthenew
Engagementsection.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

APAPowerPointSlidePresentation
SelecttheAPAPowerPointPresentationlinkintheMediaboxabovetodownloadslidesthat
provideadetailedreviewoftheAPAcitationstyle.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 31/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

APASamplePaper
ClickonthelinkaboveintheMediaboxtodownloadthepdfhandout,APASamplePaper.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

APATablesandFigures1
Thepurposeoftablesandfiguresindocumentsistoenhanceyourreaders'understandingof
theinformationinthedocument.Mostwordprocessingsoftwareavailabletodaywillallow
youtocreateyourowntablesandfigures,andeventhemostbasicofwordprocessorspermit
theembeddingofimages,thusenablingyoutoincludetablesandfiguresinalmostany
document.

Generalguidelines

Necessity.Visualmaterialsuchastablesandfigurescanbeusedquicklyandefficientlyto
presentalargeamountofinformationtoanaudience,butvisualsmustbeusedtoassist
communication,nottouseupspace,ordisguisemarginallysignificantresultsbehindascreen
ofcomplicatedstatistics.Askyourselfthisquestionfirst:Isthetableorfigurenecessary?For
example,itisbettertopresentsimpledescriptivestatisticsinthetext,notinatable.

RelationofTablesorFiguresandText.Becausetablesandfiguressupplementthetext,
referinthetexttoalltablesandfiguresusedandexplainwhatthereadershouldlookfor
whenusingthetableorfigure.Focusonlyontheimportantpointthereadershoulddraw
fromthem,andleavethedetailsforthereadertoexamineonherown.

Documentation.Ifyouareusingfigures,tablesand/ordatafromothersources,besureto
gatheralltheinformationyouwillneedtoproperlydocumentyoursources.

IntegrityandIndependence.Eachtableandfiguremustbeintelligiblewithoutreferenceto
thetext,sobesuretoincludeanexplanationofeveryabbreviation(exceptthestandard
statisticalsymbolsandabbreviations).

Organization,Consistency,andCoherence.Numberalltablessequentiallyasyoureferto
theminthetext(Table1,Table2,etc.),likewiseforfigures(Figure1,Figure2,etc.).
Abbreviations,terminology,probabilitylevelvaluesmustbeconsistentacrosstablesand
figuresinthesamearticle.Likewise,formats,titles,andheadingsmustbeconsistent.Donot
repeatthesamedataindifferenttables.

Tables
TableChecklist

Isthetablenecessary?
Istheentiretablesingleordoublespaced(includingthetitle,headings,andnotes)?
Areallcomparabletablespresentedconsistently?
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 32/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Isthetitlebriefbutexplanatory?
Doeseverycolumnhaveacolumnheading?
Areallabbreviationsspecialuseofitalics,parentheses,anddashesandspecial
symbolsexplained?
Areallprobabilitylevelvaluescorrectlyidentified,andareasterisksattachedtothe
appropriatetableentries?Isaprobabilitylevelassignedthesamenumberofasterisks
inallthetablesinthesamedocument?
Arethenotesorganizedaccordingtotheconventionofgeneral,specific,probability?
Areallverticalruleseliminated?
Ifthetableoritsdataarefromanothersource,isthesourceproperlycited?
Isthetablereferredtointhetext?

Tables

Datainatablethatwouldrequireonlytwoorfewercolumnsandrowsshouldbepresentedin
thetext.Morecomplexdataisbetterpresentedintabularformat.Inorderforquantitative
datatobepresentedclearlyandefficiently,itmustbearrangedlogically,e.g.datatobe
comparedmustbepresentednexttooneanother(before/after,young/old,male/female,etc.),
andstatisticalinformation(means,standarddeviations,Nvalues)mustbepresentedin
separatepartsofthetable.Ifpossible,usecanonicalforms(suchasANOVA,regression,or
correlation)tocommunicateyourdataeffectively.

ImageCaption:Table1

TableStructure

Thefollowingimageillustratesthebasicstructureoftables.

ImageCaption:Table2

Numbers.Numberalltableswitharabicnumeralssequentially.Donotusesuffixletters(e.g.
Table3a,3b,3c)instead,combinetherelatedtables.Ifthemanuscriptincludesanappendix
withtables,identifythemwithcapitallettersandarabicnumerals(e.g.TableA1,TableB2).

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 33/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Titles.Likethetitleofthepaperitself,eachtablemusthaveaclearandconcisetitle.When
appropriate,youmayusethetitletoexplainanabbreviationparenthetically.

Example:ComparisonofMedianIncomeofAdoptedChildren(AC)v.FosterChildren(FC)

Headings.Keepheadingsclearandbrief.Theheadingshouldnotbemuchwiderthanthe
widestentryinthecolumn.Useofstandardabbreviationscanaidinachievingthatgoal.All
columnsmusthaveheadings,eventhestubcolumn(seeexamplestructure),which
customarilyliststhemajorindependentvariables.

Body.Inreportingthedata,consistencyiskey:Numeralsshouldbeexpressedtoaconsistent
numberofdecimalplacesthatisdeterminedbytheprecisionofmeasurement.Neverchange
theunitofmeasurementorthenumberofdecimalplacesinthesamecolumn.

SpecificTypesofTables

AnalysisofVariance(ANOVA)Tables.TheconventionalformatforanANOVAtableisto
listthesourceinthestubcolumn,thenthedegreesoffreedom(df)andtheFratios.Givethe
betweensubjectvariablesanderrorfirst,thenwithinsubjectandanyerror.Meansquare
errorsmustbeenclosedinparentheses.Provideageneralnotetothetabletoexplainwhat
thosevaluesmean(seeexample).UseasteriskstoidentifystatisticallysignificantFratios,
andprovideaprobabilityfootnote.

ImageCaption:Table3ANOVATable

Regression.Conventionalreportingofregressionanalysisfollowstwoformats.Ifthestudy
ispurelyapplied,listonlytheraworunstandardizedcoefficients(B).Ifthestudyispurely
theoretical,listonlythestandardizedcoefficients(beta).Ifthestudywasneitherpurely
appliednortheoretical,thenlistbothstandardizedandunstandardizedcoefficents.Specify
thetypeofanalysis,eitherhierarchicalorsimultaneous,andprovidetheincrementsof
changeifyouusedhierarchicalregression.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 34/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

ImageCaption:Table4RegressionTable

NotesinTables

Therearethreetypesofnotesfortables:general,specific,andprobabilitynotes.Allofthem
mustbeplacedbelowthetableinthatorder.

Generalnotesexplain,qualifyorprovideinformationaboutthetableasawhole.Put
explanationsofabbreviations,symbols,etc.here.

Example:Note.TheracialcategoriesusedbytheUSCensus(AfricanAmerican,Asian
American,Latinos/as,NativeAmerican,andPacificIslander)havebeencollapsedintothe
categorynonWhite.E=excludesrespondentswhoselfidentifiedasWhiteandatleast
oneothernonWhiterace.

Specificnotesexplain,qualifyorprovideinformationaboutaparticularcolumn,row,or
individualentry.Toindicatespecificnotes,usesuperscriptlowercaseletters(e.g.a,b,c),and
orderthesuperscriptsfromlefttoright,toptobottom.Eachtablesfirstfootnotemustbethe
superscripta.

Example:an=823.bOneparticipantinthisgroupwasdiagnosedwithschizophreniaduring
thesurvey.

Probabilitynotesprovidethereaderwiththeresultsofthetextsforstatisticalsignificance.
Asterisksindicatethevaluesforwhichthenullhypothesisisrejected,withtheprobability(p
value)specifiedintheprobabilitynote.Suchnotesarerequiredonlywhenrelevanttothe
datainthetable.Consistentlyusethesamenumberofasterisksforagivenalphalevel
throughoutyourpaper.

ImageCaption:SampleTableNotes

Ifyouneedtodistinguishbetweentwotailedandonetailedtestsinthesametable,use
asterisksfortwotailedpvaluesandanalternatesymbol(suchasdaggers)foronetailedp
values.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 35/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

ImageCaption:MoreTableNotes

TablesfromOtherSources

Ifusingtablesfromasource,copythestructureoftheoriginalexactly,andcitethesourcein
accordancewithAPAstyle.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

APATablesandFigures2
Figures

FigureChecklist

Isthefigurenecessary?
Isthefiguresimple,clean,andfreeofextraneousdetail?
Arethedataplottedaccurately?
Isthegridscalecorrectlyproportioned?
Istheletteringlargeanddarkenoughtoread?Istheletteringcompatibleinsizewith
therestofthefigure?
Areparallelfiguresorequallyimportantfigurespreparedaccordingtothesamescale?
Aretermsspelledcorrectly?
Areallabbreviationsandsymbolsexplainedinafigurelegendorfigurecaption?Are
thesymbols,abbreviations,andterminologyinthefigureconsistentwiththoseinthe
figurecaption?Inotherfigures?Inthetext?
ArethefiguresnumberedconsecutivelywithArabicnumerals?
Areallfiguresmentionedinthetext?

Astablessupplementthetext,soshouldeachfigure.

TypesofFigures

Graphsaregoodatquicklyconveyingrelationshipslikecomparisonanddistribution.The
mostcommonformsofgraphsarescatterplots,linegraphs,bargraphs,pictorialgraphs,and
piegraphs.Formoredetailsandspecificsonwhatkindofinformation,relations,and
meaningcanbeexpressedwiththedifferenttypesofgraphs,consultyourtextbookon
quantitativeanalysis.Spreadsheetprograms,suchasMicrosoftExcel,cangeneratethegraphs
foryou.

Scatterplotsarecomposedofindividualdotsthatrepresentthevalueofaspecificeventon
thescaleestablishedbythetwovariablesplottedonthexandyaxes.Whenthedotscluster

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 36/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

together,acorrelationisimplied.Ontheotherhand,whenthedotsarescatteredrandomly,no
correlationisseen.

ImageCaption:ScatterPlotGraph

Linegraphsdepicttherelationshipbetweenquantitativevariables.Customarily,the
independentvariableisplottedalongthexaxis(horizontally)andthedependentvariableis
plottedalongtheyaxis(vertically).SeeexampleFigure1...

Bargraphscomeinthreemaintypes:1)solidverticalorhorizontalbars,2)multiplebar
graphs,and3)slidingbars.Insolidbargraphs,theindependentvariableiscategorical,and
eachbarrepresentsonekindofdatum,e.g.abargraphofmonthlyexpenditures.Amultiple
bargraphcanshowmorecomplexinformationthanasimplebargraph,e.g.monthly
expendituresdividedintocategories(housing,food,transportation,etc.).Inslidingbar
graphs,thebarsaredividedbyahorizontallinewhichservesasthebaseline,enablingthe
representationofdataaboveandbelowaspecificreferencepoint,e.g.highandlow
temperaturesv.averagetemperature.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 37/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

ImageCaption:BarGraph

ImageCaption:BarGraphbyType

Pictorialgraphscanbeusedtoshowquantitativedifferencesbetweengroups.Pictorial
graphscanbeverydeceptive:iftheheightofanimageisdoubled,itsareaisquadrupled.
Therefore,greatcareshouldbetakenthatimagesrepresentingthesamevaluesmustbethe
samesize.

Circle(pie)graphsareusedtorepresentpercentagesandproportions.Forthesakeof
readability,nomorethanfivevariablesshouldbecomparedinasinglepiegraph.The
segmentsshouldbeorderedverystrictly:beginningattwelveoclock,orderthemfromthe
largesttothesmallest,andshadethesegmentsfromdarktolight(i.e.,thelargestsegment
shouldbethedarkest).Linesanddotscanbeusedforshadinginblackandwhitedocuments.

ImageCaption:Circle(orPie)Graph

Chartsareusedtorepresentthecomponentsoflargerobjectsorgroups(e.g.atribal
hierarchy),thestepsinaprocess(asinaflowchart),ortheschematicsofanobject(the
componentsofacellphone).

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 38/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

ImageCaption:Chart

Drawingsandphotographscanbeusedtocommunicateveryspecificinformationabouta
subject.Thankstosoftware,botharenowhighlymanipulable.Forthesakeofreadabilityand
simplicity,linedrawingsshouldbeused,andphotographsshouldhavethehighestpossible
contrastbetweenthebackgroundandfocalpoint.Cropping,cuttingoutextraneousdetail,can
beverybeneficialforaphotograph.UsesoftwarelikeGraphicConverterorPhotoshopto
convertcolorphotographstoblackandwhitebeforeprintingonalaserprinter.Otherwise
mostprinterswillproduceanimagewithpoorcontrast.

ImageCaption:Photograph

PreparingFigures

Inpreparingfigures,communicationandreadabilitymustbetheultimatecriteria.Avoidthe
temptationtousethespecialeffectsavailableinmostadvancedsoftwarepackages.While
threedimensionaleffects,shading,andlayeredtextmaylookinterestingtotheauthor,
overuse,inconsistentuse,andmisusemaydistortthedata,anddistractorevenannoyreaders.
Designproperlydoneisinconspicuous,almostinvisible,becauseitsupportscommunication.
Designimproperly,oramateurishly,donedrawsthereadersattentionfromthedata,and
makeshimorherquestiontheauthorscredibility.

TheAPAhasdeterminedspecificationsforthesizeoffiguresandthefontsusedinthem.
Figuresofonecolumnmustbebetween2and3.25incheswide(5to8.45cm).Twocolumn
figuresmustbebetween4.25and6.875incheswide(10.6to17.5cm).Theheightoffigures

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 39/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

shouldnotexceedthetopandbottommargins.Thetextinafigureshouldbeinasanserif
font(suchasHelvetica,Arial,orFutura).Thefontsizemustbebetweeneightandfourteen
point.Usecirclesandsquarestodistinguishcurvesonalinegraph(atthesamefontsizeas
theotherlabels).(Seeexamplesabove.)

CaptionsandLegends

Forfigures,makesuretoincludethefigurenumberandatitlewithalegendandcaption.
Theseelementsappearbelowthevisualdisplay.Forthefigurenumber,typeFigureX.Then
typethetitleofthefigureinsentencecase.Followthetitlewithalegendthatexplainsthe
symbolsinthefigureandacaptionthatexplainsthefigure:

Figure1.HowtocreatefiguresinAPAstyle.Thisfigureillustrateseffectiveelementsin
APAstylefigures.

Captionsserveasabrief,butcomplete,explanationandasatitle.Forexample,Figure4.
Populationisinsufficient,whereasFigure4.PopulationofGrandRapids,MIbyrace
(1980)isbetter.Ifthefigurehasatitleintheimage,cropit.

Graphsshouldalwaysincludealegendthatexplainsthesymbols,abbreviations,and
terminologyusedinthefigure.Thesetermsmustbeconsistentwiththoseusedinthetextand
inotherfigures.Theletteringinthelegendshouldbeofthesametypeandsizeasthatusedin
thefigure.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

APAAbbreviations
InAPA,abbreviationsshouldbelimitedtoinstanceswhena)theabbreviationisstandardand
willnotinterferewiththereadersunderstandingandb)ifspaceandrepetitioncanbegreatly
avoidedthroughabbreviation.

ThereareafewcommontrendsinabbreviatingthatyoushouldfollowwhenusingAPA,
thoughtherearealwaysexceptionstotheserules.Whenabbreviatingaterm,usethefullterm
thefirsttimeyouuseit,followedimmediatelybytheabbreviationinparentheses.

AccordingtotheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation(APA),abbreviationsarebestused
onlywhentheyallowforclearcommunicationwiththeaudience.

Exceptions:Standardabbreviationslikeunitsofmeasurementandstatesdonotneedtobe
writtenout.APAalsoallowsabbreviationsthatappearaswordsinMeriamWebsters
CollegiateDictionarytobeusedwithoutexplanation(IQ,REM,AIDS,HIV).

Donotuseperiodsorspacesinabbreviationsofallcapitalletters,unlessitisapropername
orreferstoparticipantsusingidentityconcealinglabels:

MA,CD,HTML,APA
P.D.James,J.R.R.Tolkien,E.B.WhiteorF.I.M.,S.W.F.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 40/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Exceptions:UseaperiodwhenabbreviatingtheUnitedStatesasanadjective(U.S.Marines
orU.S.Senator)

UseaperiodiftheabbreviationisLatinabbreviationorareferenceabbreviation:

etc.,e.g.,a.m.orVol.7,p.12,4thed.

Donotuseperiodswhenabbreviatingmeasurements:

cd,ft,lb,mi,min

Exceptions:Useaperiodwhenabbreviatinginch(in.)toavoidconfusion.

Unitsofmeasurementandstatisticalabbreviationsshouldonlybeabbreviatedwhen
accompaniedbynumericalvalues:

7mg,12mi,M=7.5
measuredinmilligrams,severalmilesaftertheexit,themeansweredetermined

Onlycertainunitsoftimeshouldbeabbreviated.

Donotabbreviate:

day,week,month,year

Doabbreviate:

hr,min,ms,ns,s

Toformthepluralofabbreviations,addsalonewithoutapostropheoritalicization.

vols.,IQs,Eds.

Exception:Donotaddstopluralizeunitsofmeasurement(12mnot12ms).

AbbreviationsinCitations

Citationsshouldbeascondensedaspossible,soyoushouldknowthebasicrulesof
abbreviationendorsedbytheAPAtoprovideyourreaderswithreferenceinformation.

Alwaysabbreviatethefirstandmiddlenamesofauthors,editors,etc.

Shakespeare,W.,Chomsky,N.

Usethefollowingabbreviationswithincitations(takenoteofcapitalization):

APACitationAbbreviations
BookPart Abbreviation
edition ed.
revisededition Rev.ed.
SecondEdition 2nded.
Editor(s) Ed.orEds.
Translator(s) Trans.
Nodate n.d.
Page(s) p.orpp.
Volume(s) Vol.orVols.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 41/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Number No.
Part Pt.
TechnicalReport Tech.Rep.
Supplement Suppl.
Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

StatisticsinAPA
Whenincludingstatisticsinwrittentext,besuretoincludeenoughinformationforthereader
tounderstandthestudy.Althoughtheamountofexplanationanddataincludeddependsupon
thestudy,APAstylehasguidelinesfortherepresentationofstatisticalinformation:

Donotgivereferencesforstatisticsunlessthestatisticisuncommon,used
unconventionally,oristhefocusofthearticle
Donotgiveformulasforcommonstatistics(i.e.mean,ttest)
Donotrepeatdescriptivestatisticsinthetextiftheyrerepresentedinatableorfigure
Usetermslikerespectivelyandinorderwhenenumeratingaseriesofstatisticsthis
illustratestherelationshipbetweenthenumbersintheseries.

Punctuatingstatistics

Useparenthesestoenclosestatisticalvalues:

...provedtobestatisticallysignificant(p=.42)withallvariables.

Useparenthesestoenclosedegreesoffreedom:

t(45)=4.35
F(3,87)=2.11

Usebracketstoencloselimitsofconfidenceintervals:

89%CIs[3.45,2.7],[6.0,3.89],and[7.23,1.89]

Usestandardtypeface(noboldingoritalicization)whenwritingGreekletters,subscriptsthat
functionasidentifiers,andabbreviationsthatarenotvariables.

Useboldfaceforvectorsandmatrices:

V,

Useitalicsforstatisticalsymbols(otherthanvectorsandmatrices):

t,F,N

Useanitalicized,uppercaseNinreferencetonumberofsubjectsorparticipantsinthetotal
sample.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 42/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

N=328

Useanitalicized,lowercaseninreferencetoonlyaportionofthesample.

n=42
Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

APAClassroomPoster
TheAPAposteratthelinkbelowisaprintablejpgfileyoumaydownloadandprintoutat
differentsizesforuseinclassrooms,writingcenters,orasapocketreference.Pleasekeepin
mindthatthefilesize,asaprintqualityresource(120dpi),islarge,soitmaytakeawhileto
download.Youmayadjusttheprintsizeoftheposterfromyourprintmenu.Asis,theposter
is27x36inches.

Becausetheposterisquitelarge,standardprinterscannotprinttheposter.Ifyoudonothave
accesstoaprinterthatcanprintlargedocuments,contactalocalprintshoptoprinttheposter.
ThePurdueOWLcannotgrantrequeststoprintandmailposters.

Ifyoudonothaveaccesstoaprintshoptoprinttheposter,pleaseusetheresourceswehave
availablehereforprintingonstandard8.5x11inchpaper.Gotoresourceyouwouldliketo
print,scrolldowntothebottomofthepage,andclick"FullResourceforPrinting."

AlsopleasenotethattheposteronlycontainsbasicAPAguidelines.Fordetailedinstructions,
pleaseseethecompleteOWLAPAresourceshere.

ThePurdueOWLAPAClassroomPosterwasdevelopedbyKateBouwensforthePurdue
ProfessionalWritingPurdueOWLInternshipclass,English490,inspring2009.

PurdueOWLAPAClassroomPoster(Pleasenote:TheposterisbestviewedinFirefox.)

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

APAChanges6thEdition
TheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation(APA)updateditsstylemanualinthesummerof
2009.Thisresourcepresentsthechangesmadebetweenthefifthandsixtheditions.Please
notethatthefirstprintingoftheAPAsixtheditioncontainedmisprintsifyouareusingthe
APAmanual,makesureyouareusingatleastthesecondprintingofthesixthedition.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 43/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Traditionally,psychologistswerethemainusersofAPA,butrecently,studentsandwritersin
otherfieldsbeganusingAPAstyle.Therefore,thesixtheditionwaswrittenwithabroader
audienceinmind.Thechangesmadetothesixtheditionreflectthisbroaderaudience.

ThisresourcewascreatedfollowingtheAPAmanualsWhatsNewinAPA,isorganized
accordingtotheAPAmanualchapters,andhighlightsupdatestothesixtheditionthatmost
concernstudentwritersinsteadofthoseinterestedinpublishingmanuscripts.Foramore
completediscussionofthechanges,pleasevisitthissite.

LevelsofHeading
Headingsareusedtohelpguidethereaderthroughadocument.Thelevelsareorganizedby
levelsofsubordination,andeachsectionofthepapershouldstartwiththehighestlevelof
heading.

FifthEdition(Section3.31intheAPAmanual)

APAHeadings
Level Format
1 CENTEREDUPPERCASEHEADINGS
2 CenteredUppercaseandLowercaseHeadings
Centered,Italicized,UppercaseandLowercase
3
Headings
Leftaligned,Italicized,UppercaseandLowercaseSide
4
Heading
Indented,italicized,lowercaseparagraphheading
5
endingwithaperiod.

SixthEdition(3.03)

APAHeadings
Level Format
Centered,Boldface,UppercaseandLowercase
1
Headings
Leftaligned,Boldface,UppercaseandLowercase
2
Heading
Indented,boldface,lowercaseheadingwitha
3
period.
Indented,boldface,italicized,lowercaseheading
4
withaperiod.
Indented,italicized,lowercaseheadingwitha
5
period.

Forexample,inascientificreportfollowingAPAstyle,areportcontainsthreesections:
Method,Results,andDiscussion.Eachofthesesectionsstartwithlevel1headings:

Methods(Level1)

SiteofStudy(Level2)
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 44/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

ParticipantPopulation(Level2)

Teachers.(Level3)

Students.(Level3)

Results(Level1)

SpatialAbility(Level2)

Testone.(level3)

Teacherswithexperience.(Level4)

Teachersintraining.(Level4)

Testtwo.(Level3)

KinestheticAbility(Level2)

ReducingBiasinLanguage(3.11)
Usingpreciselanguageisexpectedinscientificwriting,andthesixtheditionoffersnewways
inwhichtotalkaboutresearchparticipants(notethatsubjectsisstillanacceptabletermto
use,butparticipantsismorerepresentativeoftheindividualsrolesintheresearchproject).

Refertoparticipantsattheappropriatelevelofspecificity.Themanualprovidesthe
exampleofusingwomenandmentorefertoallhumanbeingsinsteadofonlyusingman.
Manisappropriatetousewhenreferringtoonemanbutnotwhenreferringtoapopulation
thatincludesmenandwomen.

Refertoparticipantshowtheywishtobecalled.Trytoavoidlabelsifpossible,butifthis
isnotavoidable,berespectful.Focusonthepeopleandnotthelabel.Forexample,insteadof
labelingagrouptheelderly"or"thearthritic,"labelsinwhichindividualsarelost,tryolder
adults"or"awomanwitharthritis."

Acknowledgeparticipantsparticipationwhilestillfollowingtherulesinyourfield.For
example,acognitivepsychologystudentmightusethetermsubjectsinherresearchreport,
butanursingstudentmightusethetermpatientstorefertothosewhoparticipatedinhis
research.Whatevertermyouchoosetouse,besureyouareconsistentthroughoutyourpaper
andwithyourfieldsguidelines.

TheMechanicsofStyle
Spacing(4.01).Regardingpunctuationinmanuscriptdrafts,APAsuggestsusingtwospaces
afterperiodsendingsentencestoaidreadability.

Onespace:Previousresearchshowsthatpatientsareinterestedinpalliativecare.This
researchprojectexploreshowtodiscusspalliativecarewithpatients.

Twospaces:Previousresearchshowsthatpatientsareinterestedinpalliativecare.This
researchprojectexploreshowtodiscusspalliativecarewithpatients.

Approximations(4.3132).Usewordstoexpressapproximationsofdays,months,andyear.

Istartedspelunkingaboutfouryearsago.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 45/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Reportingstatistics(4.35,44,and10).Useazerobeforethedecimalpointwithnumbers
lessthanonewhenthestatisticcanbegreaterthanone.

0.56kg

Donotuseazerobeforethedecimalpointwhenthenumbercannotbegreaterthanone.

r=.015

Includeeffectsizesandconfidenceintervalswithstatistics.Thiswillallowthereadertomore
fullyunderstandtheconductedanalyses.

Usebracketstogrouptogetherconfidenceintervallimitsinboththebodytextandtables
(5.15).

95%Cls[7.2,4.3],[9.2,12.4],and[1.2,0.5](p.94)

DisplayingResults
Thesixtheditionincludesasection(5.01)onthepurposeofdisplayingdata.Thissectioncan
helpyoudecidewhenandhowtodisplayyourdata.Forexample,yourdatamightshowthat
youareexploringdataandinformation,oryourdatamayserveastoragepurposeforlater
retrieval.

Morethanlikely,though,yourdatawillserveeitheracommunicationpurposetoshowyou
havediscoveredmeaningindataandyouwanttoshow/communicatetoothersthismeaning.

Figures.Figuresincludegraphs,charts,maps,drawings,andphotographs.Asageneralrule,
onlyincludefigureswhentheyaddtothevalueofthepaper.Ifthefiguremerelyrepeatswhat
iswritteninthepaper,donotincludeit,asitdoesnotaddanynewinformationtothepaper.

Thesixtheditionalsoemphasizestheimportanceofclearlylabelingelectrophysiological,
radiological,andgeneticdata.

References
DirectQuotations(6.0121)
Thesixtheditionprovidesexplicitrulesfordirectquotationsandstatesthatyoumustcredit
thesourcewhenparaphrasing,quotinganauthordirectly,ordescribinganideathat
influencedyourwork(p.170).

Ifthequotationislessthan40words,incorporatethequotationintothetextandplace
quotationmarksroundthequotation.Citethesourceimmediatelyafterthequotationand
continuewiththesentence.

Porter(1998)hasstatedthat,Theinternetworkedclassroomhasthepotential(notyet
realized)toempowerstudents(p.5),andthisresearchprojectexaminesthis
potential.

Ifthequotationyouareusingfallsattheendofthesentence,enclosethequotationwith
quotationmarkswithoutincludingthequotationsoriginalpunctuation.Heresasentenceas
itappearsintheoriginaltext:

Semanticframes/domainsrepresentoneofthetwomajororganizingprinciplesfor
conceptualstructure(Croft&Cruse,2004,p.32).

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 46/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Hereswhatthesentencelookslikewhenquotedwithinatext:

Inarguingforframesemantics,CroftandCruse(2004)asserted,Semanticframes/domains
representoneofthetwomajororganizingprinciplesforconceptualstructure(p.32).

Ifthequotationhasmorethan40words,useablockquotation.Beginthequotationonanew
lineandindentahalfinchfromtheleftmargin.Doublespacetheentirequotation,andatthe
endofthequotation,providecitationinformationafterthefinalpunctuationmark.

JohnNicholson(1820)anticipatedthiseffectwhendiscussionfarmingmethodsinthenineteenth
century:

Perhapsitwouldbewell,ifsomeinstitutionweredevised,andsupportedattheexpenseof
theState,whichwouldbesoorganizedaswouldtendmosteffectuallytoproducea
duedegreeofemulationamongFarmers,byrewardsandhonorarydistinctions
conferredbythosewho,bytheirsuccessfulexperimetnaleffortsandimprovements,
shouldrenderthemselvesdulyentitledtothem.(p.92)

TheReferenceList
Referencesthatappearinthetextmustappearinthereferenceslistinalphabeticalorderby
theauthorslastname,withtheexceptionofpersonalcommunicationonlycitepersonal
communicationinthetext,notinthereferencelist.

Electronicsources(6.31).Becauseelectronicpublishinghasbecomeastandardinresearch,
thesixtheditionprovidesanoverviewofelectronicsourcesandhowtoreferencethem,
specificallywithURLsandDOIs.

URLs,morecommonlyknownasawebaddress,locateinformationhousedontheInternet.
Thefiftheditionspecifiedthatreferencestoelectronicsourcesshouldrefertothearticlesor
documentsURL.However,theyarepronetobreakingordeleting,andtoresolveissues
associatedwiththeunstablenatureofURLs,publishershavestartedusingDOIswitharticles.

Formoredetailsonhowtociteelectronicsourceswithfollowingthesixthedition,consult
yourAPAmanualortheOWLsresourceoncitingelectronicsources.

Whilecitingfromawebpage,youmaynotbeabletofindapagenumbertoreferto,i.e.,
thereisnopagination.Instead,refertotheparagraphnumberfromwhichyouareciting
whereyouwouldusuallyinsertapagenumberbyusingpara.insteadofp..Besureto
includetheauthors/sname/sandyear,too,ifapplicable.

ThePurdueUniversityWritingLabandPurdueOnlineWritingLab(OWL)assistclientsin
theirdevelopmentaswritersnomatterwhattheirskilllevelwithoncampus
consultations,onlineparticipation,andcommunityengagement(PurdueOWL,
2010,Mission,para.1).

Missionisusedheretorefertothesectioninwhichthisquotewasfound.

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,Kristen
Moore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,AllenBrizee,RussellKeck.
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesources
withinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprinting
oftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearchpapers,intext
citations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsult
thePublicationManualoftheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 47/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

GeneralAPAFAQs
ThefollowingFAQsaddressissuesinAPAcitationand/orformatting.Theentriesinthis
sectionarebasedonfrequentlyaskedquestionsreceivedbyourformerOWLMailTutors.
Also,FurtherinformationonAPAstyleandcitationcanbefoundatthePurdueOWLsAPA
StyleandFormattingresource.

ImwritinganAPAstylepaper,butIcantgettheheaderonthefirstpage
tobedifferentthanthesubsequentpages.HowdoIsetadifferentheader
onthefirstpage?

IfyouareusingWord2007,youcanmaketheheaderofthefirstpagedifferentfromthe
headeronthesecondandfollowingpages.Todothis,pleasefollowthesesteps:

1.AfteropeningWord2007,clickon"Insert"atthetopofthepage.
2.Clickon"Header"andchoosetheHeadertemplateyouwishtouse.Type
inthetextyouwouldlikeforthefirstpage.
3.Whenyoutypeinyourtextintheheader,youwillseethe"Design"tab
ishighlighted.Thereyoucanclickon"Differentfirstpage."Thiswill
allowyoutotypeindifferenttextwithinyourheaderbeginningwithpage
two.

IfyoudonothaveaversionofWordwhichallowsyoutodothis,youcansimplytype
RunningHead:SHORTENED
TITLEOFYOURPAPERattheuppermostlineonthefirstpagewithout
typingitinsidetheheader.Thentypetheshortenedtitleinsidethe
headerasyouwishittoappearthroughoutyourdocument.

UsingAPA,howdoIciteanauthoriftheirworkisreferencedmorethan
onceinasingleparagraph?

Hereswhatthe6theditionoftheAPAmanualsays:"Withinaparagraph,whenthenameof
theauthorispartofthenarrative...youneednotincludetheyearinsubsequent
nonparentheticalreferencestoastudyaslongasthestudycannotbeconfusedwithother
studiescitedinthearticle.Doincludetheyearinallparentheticalcitations"(pg.174).

Inotherwords,everytimeyoubringuptheauthorinanewparagraph,you
shouldusetheyear,butyoudonthavetowithinaparagraph,aslongasitsclearfromyour
wordingthatyouarediscussingthesameauthor.Ifyouweregivingadirectquotationthat
neededaparentheticalreferenceforthepagenumber,thenyoudincludetheyearaswell.

HowdoIciteaworkthathasnolistedauthorinanAPAstylepaper?

AccordingtotheOWLwebsitesresourceonAPAstylecitations,"Whenyouressayincludes
parentheticalcitationsofsourceswithnoauthornamed,useashortenedversionofthe
sourcestitleinsteadofanauthorsname.Usequotationmarksanditalicsasappropriate.For
example,parentheticalcitationsofthesourceabovewouldappearasfollows:(Merriam
Websters1993)."Thebibliographicalcitationisasfollows:

MerriamWebsterscollegiatedictionary(10thed.).(1993).Springfield,MA:Merriam
Webster.

WhatdoIdoifthesourcetypethatImusingdoesntappearinanyAPA
reference/styleguides?
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 48/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

TheAPAmanualmodelsseveraldifferenttemplatesforreferences,buttheformsgivenmay
notapplytoalldocuments.Inthiscase,theAPAmanualstatesthatyoushouldformatthe
entryasbestyoucaninaccordancewiththeirmodels:

"Occasionally,however,youmayneedtouseareferenceforasourceforwhichthischapter
doesnotprovidespecificguidance.Insuchacasechoosetheexamplethatismostlikeyour
sourceandfollowthatformat...Whenindoubt,providemoreinformationratherthanless."
(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation,2009p.193).

WhatdoIdoifawebsiteismissinginformationrequiredforanAPAstyle
citation?
TheAPAStyleBlogisahelpfulsourcewhenitcomestocitingwebsiteswithmissing
information.

Forexample,ifyourwebsitehasnoauthor,youcanusethefollowingexampleasatemplate
forthecitationforyourreferencepage:

All33Chileminersfreedinflawlessrescue.(2010,October13).Retrievedfrom
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39625809/ns/world_news
americas/

Asyoucansee,thetitleofthedocumentismoveduptowheretheauthorsnamewouldbe.

Ifyourwebsitehasnodate,youcanput"n.d."instead.Forexample:

TheCollegeofWilliamandMary.(n.d.).Collegemissionstatement.Retrievedfrom
http://www.wm.edu/about/administration/provost
/mission/index.php

IfIcoauthorapaper,howshouldtheauthorsnamesappearinanAPA
styletitlepage?

Accordingtothe6theditionoftheAPAmanual,"Thenamesoftheauthorsshouldappearin
theorderoftheircontributions,centeredbetweenthesidemargins.Fornameswithsuffixes
(e.g.,Jr.andIII),separatethesuffixfromtherestofthenamewithaspaceinsteadofa
comma.Theinstitutionalaffiliationshouldbecenteredundertheauthorsname,onthenext
line"(p.24).

Someexamplesincludethefollowing:

Twoauthors,oneaffiliation:

JohnQ.FosterIIandRoyR.DavisJr.
EducationalTestingService,Princeton,NewJersey

Threeauthors,oneaffiliation:

JuanitaFuentes,PaulDykes,andSusanWatanabe
UniversityofColoradoatBoulder

Twoauthors,twoaffiliations:

DavidWolf
UniversityofCalifornia,Berkeley
AmandaBlue

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 49/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

BrandonUniversity

Threeauthors,twoaffiliations:

MariahMeadeandSylviaEarleywine
GeorgetownUniversity

ImincludingclipartinmyAPAstylePowerPointpresentation.HowdoI
properlycitetheclipartthatImgoingtouse?
IfyouareusingtheclipartsimplytoadornyourPowerPointpresentation,youdontneedto
citeit.The6thEditionoftheAPAmanualdoesnotofferaspecificdiscussionofthisissue,
butitseemsunnecessarytoprovidecitationonadocumentpresentedviatheMicrosoft
programforstockimagesthataspecifictothatsoftwarepackage.

However,iftheclipartispresentedinaseparatemedium(likeahandout),andyouwantto
beverythoroughaboutcitationorifyourpresentationisspecificallyaboutclipartandthe
pointistodiscussclipartfromdifferentsources,thenyoushouldcitethesource.Hereisthe
formatyoushouldfollow:

TitleofProgram(Versionnumber)[Descriptionofformat].Location:Name
ofproducer.

Herestheexampleinthe6thEditionoftheAPAmanual:

ComprehensiveMetaAnalysis(Version2)[ComputerSoftware].Englwood,NJ:
Biostat.

Fortheclipartfromonlinesources,becausethesearetextsthatarerelocatedfroman
outsidesource,youshouldprobablycitethemregardlessofthesituation.Herestheformat:

Nameofimagecreator,A.A.(Yearimageswasmade).Titleofimagein
italics[mediumofimagei.efiletype].Retrievedfromhttp://.....

HowdoIciteunpublishedworksinAPA?

HereistherelevantformatfromtheAPAmanual,6thedition,p.211:

Unpublishedmanuscriptswithauniversitycited:

Blackwell,E.,&Conrod,P.J.(2003).Afivedimensionalmeasureof
drinkingmotives.Unpublishedmanuscript,Departmentof
Psychology,UniversityofBritishColumbia,Vancouver,Canada.

Manuscriptinprogressorsubmittedforpublication:

Ting,J.Y.,Florsheim,P.,&Huang,W.(2008).Mentalhealthhelpseeking
inethnicminoritypopulations:Atheoreticalperspective.
Manuscriptsubmittedforpublication[or"Manuscriptinpreparation"].

Alongwiththeformatforthelatterwork,youcanaddtheuniversitywheretheauthorworks
(ifindeedtheyaredoingresearchaspartoftheirpositionwithauniversityorcollege).

Imwritingapaperaboutcomputeraidedwritinginstruction.HowdoI
citepiecesofsoftwareinAPA?
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 50/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

Accordingtothe6theditionoftheAPAmanual,hereisthegeneralformat
forcitingsoftware:

Rightsholder,A.A.(Year).Titleofprogram(Versionnumber)[Description
ofform].Location:Nameofproducer.

Alternatively,insteadofusing"Location:..."youcanuse"Retrievedfrom
http://www...."

Ifyoucan'tfindwhotherightsholderis(i.e.thecompanyorpersonwho
madethesoftware),youcanstartthecitationwiththenameofthe
program.

Heresanotherexamplefromthemanual:

ComprehensiveMetaAnalysis(Version2)[Computersoftware].Englewood,
NJ:Biostat.

Thedatemaybeexcludedifitisnotavailable.

Ifyouarecitingapieceofsoftwareforasmartphoneofavideogameconsole,Iwoulduse
themostdescriptivetermforthekindofsoftwareyoureusing,i.e.,[iPhoneapplication].

HowdoIcitemyprofessorsclassroomPowerPointpresentationsinAPA?
YourfirstchoiceistofollowtheformatforonlinePowerPointpresentationslides
exemplifiedonthispageofthePurdueOWL,andtosimplynotincludetheurl:

Youwouldreferencethissourceintextasyounormallywouldbytheauthorslastnameand
date.

Yoursecondchoiceistorefertothelectureaspersonalcommunication.Foranexample,
pleaseseethisresourceonthePurdueOWL.

Pleasenote:personalcommunicationisonlycitedintextandnotwithinyour
Referenceslist.

HowdoIcitelecturenotesinmyAPAstyleresearchpaper?

ThecitationontheReferencepageforthelecturenoteswouldlooklikethefollowingin
APA:

Author.(year).Initalicswritethenameortitleofthelecture.PersonalCollectionof(the
lecturersname),schoolororganizationtheyteachfor,city,state.

Berliner,A.(1959).LectureonReminiscencesofWundtandLeipsig.
PersonalCollectionofA.Berliner,UniversityofAkron,AkronOH.

HowdoIciteaworkofart,likeSalvadorDalisTheEcumenicalCouncil,
inAPA?
ThereisnoofficialAPAcitationstyleforpaintingsorotherworksofart,buttheAPAStyle
Blogrecentlyaddressedthisquestionwiththeinarecentpost.Youcanaccessthatpostby
clickinghere.

Astheysay,"Therearenoguidelinesforpaintings,sculptures,ormorecomplicated

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 51/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

installations(e.g.,achair,aphotoofachair,andadefinitionofchair).Soletsusethe
Frankenreferenceconcepttomodelafewwaystohandleartinyourreferencelist."

Thebasicformattheysuggestisbelow(usingWyethspaintingChristinasworldasan
example:

Wyeth,A.(1948).Christinasworld[Painting].Retrievedfrom
http://www.moma.org/explore/collection/index

Icreatedandadministeredmyownsurveyforaproject.HowwouldIcite
thissurveyinanAPAstylepaper?
Sinceasurveyyouconductedyourselfisnotpublishedelsewherebysomeoneelse,youdo
notciteitinthesamewayyouciteothermaterials.Instead,inyourpaperyoudescribeyour
surveyandmakeitclearthatthedatayourereferringtoisfromthesurvey,usuallybysaying
soinintroductorysentences.Inyourpaper,youshouldincludeashortoverviewofyour
surveymethod:whomthesurveywasadministeredto,howitwasadministered,howmany
responsesyougot,andwhatkindofquestionsyouasked.Youshouldincludeacopyofthe
surveyinstrument(thefullsetofquestionsasked)asanappendixtoyourpaper.Youdonot
needtoincludeyoursurveyinyourworkscitedlist.

HowdoesonecitestatebillsinAPA?

APAfollowstheguidelinesforlegalcitationsintheUnitedStatesasoutlinedinThe
Bluebook.YoucanaccessaversionofTheBluebookbyclickinghere.

However,guidelinesforreferencestolegalmaterialscanalsobefoundon
pages216224inthe6thofthePublicationManualoftheAPA.
Thefollowingsamplereferencetoastatuteinastatecodeandits
explanationcanbefoundonpage220:

MentalCareandTreatmentAct,4Kan.Stat.Ann.5929012941(1983&
Supp.1992).

Explanation:ThisKansasactcanbefoundincodifiedversionbetweensections2901and
2941inChapter59ofvolume4ofthe1983editionofKansasStatutesAnnotated.Two
amendmentstotheactandadditionalreferencesareprovidedinthe1992supplementforthe
KansasStatutesAnnotated.

HowdoIciteartifactsinanAPAstylepaper?
Artifactsmayfallunder"ArchivalDocumentsandCollections."Anextensiveexplanationof
thiscanbefoundinthe6theditionoftheAPApublicationmanual.Thegeneralformatfor
thisreferenceisasfollows:

Author,A.A.(Year,MonthDay).Titleofmaterial.[Descriptionof
material].NameofCollection(Callnumber,Boxnumber,Filenameor
number,etc.).NameofRepository,Location.

Thisgeneralformatmaybemodifiedforcollectionsrequiringmoreorlessspecific
informationtolocatematerials,fordifferenttypesofcollections,orforadditionaldescriptive
information.Iftheartifactyouarereferencingisnotaccessiblebyothers,norisit
reproducible,itmaynotneedtobecited.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 52/53
11/24/2016 PurdueOWL

HowdoIciteaproductsinstructionalguide(e.g.,theAppleiPadusers
manual)inAPA?

WhiletheAPApublicationmanuallistsmanydifferentreferences,productinstructionsare
notsomethingthathasaspecificreferenceexample.Sincethereisnotaspecificreference
guidelineforinstructions,Iwouldadaptanothersimilarreferenceforyouruses.Forexample:

TitleoftheInstructions(Year).Nameoftheproduct.CompanyName,City,State.Current
LocationoftheProduct.

Note:Iftheproductismaintainedatabusiness,listthenameofthebusinessandcity,state
forthe"currentlocationofproduct."Ifyouowntheproductyouarereferencing,list"Copy
inpossessionofauthor."

HowdoIcitegenealogiesinAPA?

TheAPAdoesnotseemtospecificallyaddressthisissue,probablybecauseitisvery
particular.Hereswhatwevebeenabletofindfromothersources:

Genealogy.comoffersamethodofcitingbirth/deathcertificates,whichcanbefoundby
clickinghereandscrollingdowntotheOfficialRecordssectionofthepage.

Archive.govalsoofferssuggestionsonhowtocitebirth/deathcertificates,whichcanbe
accessedbyclickinghere.

Copyright19952016byTheWritingLab&TheOWLatPurdueandPurdueUniversity.Allrights
reserved.Thismaterialmaynotbepublished,reproduced,broadcast,rewritten,orredistributedwithout
permission.Useofthissiteconstitutesacceptanceofourtermsandconditionsoffairuse.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/owlprint/560/ 53/53