American Psychological Association (APA)

Formatting Guide

A Guide For:

General Formatting
In-Text Citations
References

Jackson Christian School

Updated-- Fall 2006

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1. General Format

ƒ APA (American Psychological Association) is most commonly used to cite

sources within the social sciences.

ƒ When a writer properly uses APA they demonstrate their credibility by giving
credit to the source material. It is even more important that a writer be protected
from being accused of plagiarism, which is improper use (purposeful or
accidental) of source material by other writers.

Paper Format

Below are some basic guidelines for preparing a manuscript using APA format.

General Guidelines

Your paper should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized (8 ½ x 11 inch)

paper with margins of 1 inch on all sides. Your final paper should include, in the
order listed below, as many of the following sections as applicable, each of which
should begin on a separate page.

Title Page: includes a running head for publication, title, author, school, etc.

Learning to Format 1

Running head: LEARNING TO FORMAT

Learning to Format Papers

in APA Style

John A. Smith

Jackson Christian School

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Page Numbers and Running Head: In the upper right-hand corner of each
page include a 1-2 word version of your title. Follow with five spaces and then
the page number.

Abstract: If your instructor requires an abstract, write a 75-100 word overview of

your paper, which should include your main idea and your major points. Place
the abstract on its own page immediately following the title page. Center the
word Abstract and then follow with the paragraph. Maintain double spacing.
Learning to Format 2

Abstract

This is the abstract page and is labeled as the Abstract. It is never

indented and is always the second page of an APA document (unless one is not

required). The abstract is the writer's general overview of the purpose and

content of the paper. The abstract is intended to help the reader decide if

the paper is relevant to his or her area of inquiry.

Headings: Although not absolutely necessary, headings can be helpful. For

high school and undergraduate level papers, only one level of headings are
necessary. Major headings should be centered. Capitalize every word in the
heading except articles (a, an, the), short prepositions (in, by, for) and
coordinating conjunctions (and, but or).
Learning to Format 3

Learning to Format

Please note that page three is the actual beginning of the text of the

paper, the first line which is the full, formal title of the paper as it

appears on the title page. The formal title is centered on the page in

uppercase and lowercase letters (a Level 1 heading) and is one inch from the

top edge of the page. Beginning with page three, all initial lines of

paragraphs are to be indented five spaces throughout the paper.

Margins and Spacing

All APA margins are one inch, with the exception of page headers, which

are one half inch down from the top of the page and one inch in from the right

edge of the paper. Left margins are justified. Right margins are left

ragged. All spaces between lines are one double space. There is no double-

double spacing or any other type of spacing acceptable.

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Visuals: Visuals are tables, figures, graphs, charts, drawings, and photographs.
Try to keep them as simple as possible and clearly label each visual with an
Arabic numeral (Ex: Table 1, Figure 2, etc.) and include the title of the visual.
The label and the title should appear on separate lines above the visual flush left.
Below the table, provide the source.

List of References: Create your list of references on its own page after the last
page of the text of your paper. Center the title References one inch from the top
of the page. Double space. Alphabetize the list of references by the last name
of the authors. If the work has no author or editor, alphabetize the work by the
first word of the title (excluding A, An, or The).

Learning to Format 11

References

American Psychological Association (1992). Ethical principles of

psychologists and code of conduct. American Psychologist, 47,

1597-1611.

Brown, H., & Milstead, J. (1968). Patterns in poetry: An

introductory anthology. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.

Note the "hanging" indentation format. The first line of the

reference is at the one inch left margin and the subsequent lines are
at the five-space standard indent.

2. In-Text Citations: The Basics

In-Text Citations are notations that are made within the body/text of your paper
that signals to your reader that the information you have used comes from
another source. In-Text Citations will not be included in every paper that you
write, but if the paper includes factual information that you researched and are
including in your paper, it is imperative that you cite the source.

APA Citation Basics

When using APA format, follow the author-date method of an in-text citation.
This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source
should appear in the text. For example, (Jones, 1998), and a complete
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reference should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper.
Immediately following a paraphrase of a source's ideas or a quotation from a
source, you place the author's name followed by a comma and the page
number(s) on which the information was found.

If you are referring to an idea from another work, but NOT directly quoting the
material, or making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only
have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text
reference.

When a source does not have an author listed (such as in a Internet source),
use a shortened title of the work instead of the author's name. Place the title in
quotation marks or italicize it.

In-Text Citation Capitalization, Quotes, and Italics/Underlining

ƒ Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials.

ƒ If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words
that are four letters long or greater within the title of a source (Ex.
Permanence and Change). Exceptions apply to short words that are
verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, or adverbs. (Ex. Writing New Media,
There Is Nothing Left to Lose). Note: On your References page, only the
first word of a title will be capitalized. For example, Writing new media.
ƒ When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in an hyphenated
compound word. For example, Natural-Born Cyborgs.
ƒ Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon. For example, "Defining
Film Rhetoric: The Case of Hitchcock's Vertigo.”
ƒ Italicize or underline the titles of longer works such as books, edited
collections, movies, television series, documentaries, or albums. For
example, The Closing of the American Mind; The Wizard of Oz, Friends.
ƒ Put quotation marks around the titles of shorter works such as journal
articles, articles from edited collections, television series episodes, and
song titles. For example, "Multimedia Narration: Constructing Possible
Worlds"; 'The One Where Chandler Can't Cry."

When a Citation is Not Needed

The questions that always arise are "When do I use an in-text citation?" or "How
do I know if I should cite the information?" A good rule is follow is that "it is better
to be safe than sorry." In other words, if you are not sure if it deserves an in-text
citation it is better to cite the source and give credit to the author of that work.
You do not need to give sources for familiar proverbs, well-known quotations or
common knowledge.
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Short Quotations

If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year,
of publication, and the page number for the reference (preceded by "p.").
Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name
followed by the date of publication in parentheses.

For example:

According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA

style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).

Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA style" (p.

199); what implications does this have for teachers?

If the author is not named in a signal phrase, place the author's last name, the
year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation.

For example:

She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style," (Jones,

1998, p. 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why.

Long Quotations

Place direct quotations longer than 40 words in a free-standing block of

typewritten lines, and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line,
indented five spaces from the left margin. Type the entire quotation on the new
margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation
five spaces from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout. The
parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark.

For example:

Jones' (1998) study found the following:

Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it

was their first time citing sources. This difficulty could be

attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase a

style manual or to ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)

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Summary or Paraphrase

If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference
to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference, but APA guidelines
encourage you to also provide the page number (although it is not required).

For example:

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

time learners.

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

p. 199).

3. In-Text Citations: Author/Authors

APA style has a series of important rules on using author names as part of the
author-date system. There are additional rules for citing indirect sources, electronic
sources, and sources without page numbers.

Citing an Author or Authors

A Work by Two Authors: Name both authors in the signal phrase or in the
parentheses each time you cite the work. Use the word "and" between the authors'
names within the text and use "&" in the parentheses.

Research by Wegener and Petty (1984) showed…

(Wegener & Petty, 1994)

A Work by Three to Five Authors: List all the authors in the signal phrase or in
the parentheses the first time you cite the source.

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

In subsequent citations, only the first author's last name followed by "et al." in the
signal phrase or in parentheses.

(Kernis et al., 1993)

NOTE: In et al., et should not be followed by a period.

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Six or More Authors: Use the first author's name followed by et al. in the signal
phrase or in parentheses.

Harris et al. (2001) argued…

(Harris et al., 2001)

Unknown Author: If the work does not have an author, cite the source by its title
in the signal phrase or use the first word or two in the parentheses. Titles of books
and reports are italicized or underlined; titles of articles and chapters are in
quotation marks.

A similar study was done of students learning to format research papers ("Using

APA," 2001).

Note: In the rare case the "Anonymous" is used for the author, treat it as the
author's name (Anonymous, 2001). In the reference list, use the name Anonymous
as the author.

Organization as an Author: If the author is an organization or a government

agency, mention the organization in the signal phrase or in the parenthetical
citation the first time you site the source.

According to the American Psychological Association (2000) , . . .

If the organization has a well-known abbreviation, include the abbreviation in

brackets the first time the source is cited and then use only the abbreviation in later
citations.

First Citation: (Mothers Against Drunk Driving [MADD], 2000)

Second Citation: (MADD, 2000)

Authors with the Same Last Name: To prevent confusion, use first initials with
the last names.

(E. Johnson, 2001)

Personal Communication: For interviews, letters, e-mails, and other person-to

person communication, cite the communicators name, the fact that it was personal
communication, and the date of the communication. Do not include personal
communicate in the reference list.

(E. Robbins, personal communication, January 4, 2001).

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A. P. Smith also claimed that many of her students had difficulties with APA

style (personal communication, November 3, 2002).

Citing Indirect Sources

Sometimes you may have to use an indirect source. This is when an author quotes
another author/person in his work. It is always best to try and find the original
source where the quote was made, but many times that is not possible. List the
secondary source in your reference list and include the secondary source in the
parentheses. For example:

Johnson argued that . . . (as cited in Smith, 2003, p. 102).

Citing the Bible

When citing the Bible, you want to make clear which version of the Bible you are
using. The first time you quote from the Bible you should state the version.
Italicize or underline the version of the Bible, followed by the book of the Bible,
chapter and verse. For example:

Ezekiel saw "what seemed to be four living creatures," each with faces of a man, a

lion, an ox, and an eagle (New Jerusalem Bible, Ezekiel 1:5-10).

All other references can just cite the book of the Bible, chapter and verse since you
already stated what version you are using.

Electronic Sources

If possible, cite an electronic document the same as any other document by using
the author-date style.

Kenneth (2000) explained . . .

Unknown Author and Unknown Date: If no author or date is given, use the title
in your signal phrase or the first word or two of the title in the parentheses and use
the abbreviation "n.d." (for "no date").

Another study of students and research decisions discovered that students

succeeded with tutoring ("Tutoring and APA," n.d.).

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Sources Without Page Numbers

When an electronic source lacks page numbers, you should try to include
information that will help readers find the passage being cited. When an electronic
document has numbered paragraphs, use the paragraph symbol, or the abbreciation
"para." Followed by the paragraph number (Hall, 2001, para. 5). If the paragraphs
are not numbered and the document includes headings, provide the appropriate
heading and specificy the paragraph under that heading. Note that in some
electronic sources, like Web pages, people can use the Find function in their
browser to locate any passages you cite.

According to Smith (1997), . . . (Mind over Matter section, para. 6).

Note: Never use the page numbers of Web pages you print out; different computers
print Web pages with different pagination.

4. Reference List: Basic Format

Your reference list should appear at the end of your paper. It provides the
information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the
body of the paper. Each source you cite in the paper must appear in the reference
list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in your text.

Your references should begin on a new page separate from the text of the paper;
label this page References (with no quotation marks, underlining, etc.), centered at
the top of the page. If should be double-spaced just like the rest of your paper.

Basic Guidelines:

ƒ All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be
indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging
indentation.

ƒ Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give the last name and initials
for all authors of a particular work unless the work has more than six
authors. If the work has more than six authors, list the first six and then use
et al. after the sixth author's name to indicate the rest of the authors.

ƒ Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first
author of each work.

ƒ If you have more than one article by the same author, single-author
references or multiple-author references with the exact same authors in the
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exact same order are listed in order by the year of publication, starting with
the earliest.

ƒ When referring to any work that is NOT a journal, such as a book, article, or
the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns. Do not
capitalize the first letter of the second word in a hyphenated compound
word.

ƒ Capitalize all major words in journal titles.

ƒ Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals.

ƒ Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works
such as journal articles or essays in edited collections.

Using Noodle Tools to Complete your Works Cited Page

A helpful tool in completing your Works Cited Page is the online site Noodle Tools.
This site allows you to enter information regarding your source. It then places the
information in the correct order and formats the punctuation and spacing according
to APA style.

The instructions for accessing and using this site are as follows:

ƒ Go to www.noodletools.com

ƒ Click on NoodleBib Express

ƒ Select either
MLA APA
ƒ Because we are using APA Style Format, you would choose APA.

ƒ Select the type of citation (book, internet, magazine, etc.) and click GO

ƒ Go through the questions and fill in the blanks. If something does not apply
to your source, leave it blank.

ƒ Click "Create Citation."

ƒ Cut and paste the citation to your document. You will have to change the
font to match the font of your paper. You will also need to change the color
of the font to black and be sure to double space.