OVERVIEW OF APA STYLE

Reynaldo C. Nicdao, Ph.D.

Professor
Various Style Manuals
 APA – American Psychological Association
 MLA – Modern Language Association
 Chicago Style – Chicago Manual of Style
 Turabian Style – based on Chicago Style
 Harvard Referencing System
 ASA – American Sociological Association
 CBE - Council of Biology Editors
 What is the APA Style?
 Publication Manual of the
American Psychological
Association
 In 1929, the APA
published a manual with
instructions for authors on
how to prepare
manuscripts for publication
in psychology journals
 Later used for theses, term
papers, etc.
 Widely used in the social
sciences
General Guidelines
 Type or print on one side only of heavy, white,
unruled paper
 Paper size: 8½ X 11 inches
 Double-space the entire paper
 Left justify text only
 Leave a minimum one-inch margin on the sides, top,
and bottom of each page
 Number pages consecutively in the top right corner,
beginning with the title page
 Just before the page number, use a shortened form
of the title as a header
General Guidelines
 Font size 12-point
 Times New Roman or Courier are
acceptable typefaces
 Only black toner
 Indent paragraphs 5-7 spaces
 No more than 27 lines of text per page
Headings
Numbers
 In general write as words all numbers
from one to nine and use numerals for
all numbers 10 and over.

 Never begin a sentence with a numeral.

Seriation
 Within paragraph or sentence: use lowercase
letter in parentheses

Participants considered (a) some alternative

courses of action, (b) the factors influencing
the decision, and (c) the probability of
success.
Seriation
 Separate paragraphs: number each
paragraph with an arabic numeral, followed
by a period

1. Begin with paragraph indent. Type

second and succeeding lines flush left.
2. The second item begins a new
paragraph.
 Tables
Table 2. Reading Level for First Through Third Graders
Children
Number of Viewing
Grade Reading Level
Hours

First Grade 5 - 10 hours 2.8

Second Grade 16 - 20 hours 2.6

Third Grade 11 - 15 hours 4.2

Figures
Figure 2. Pie chart of total sales
Other 3%

IT Services 14%

Imaging and
Printing Systems
41%
Computing
Systems 42%
Citations
Citations
Citations
Author’s Name in Sentence

Schwepps (1998) stated “that the

solution sat dormant for several months

before any of the employees tested it”

(p. 743).
 Author’s Name in Parentheses

When the solution had been sitting for a

number of months, the employees tested

for bacteria (Schwepps, 1998).

Short Quotations
 When fewer than 40 words
 Put quote marks around quoted
material
 Author’s last name, publication year,
and page number(s) of quote must
appear in the text
Example – Short Quotations
Caruth (1996) stated that a traumatic
response frequently entails a “delayed,
uncontrolled repetitive appearance of
hallucinations and other intrusive
phenomena” (p. 11).
A traumatic response frequently entails a
“delayed, uncontrolled repetitive appearance
of hallucinations and other intrusive
phenomena” (Caruth, 1996, p. 11).
Long Quotations
 When 40 words or more
 In block form
 Indent 5-7 spaces and omit the quotation
marks. If the quotation has internal
paragraphs, indent the internal paragraphs a
further 5-7 spaces
 Do not use quotation marks
 Double space the block quote
 Cite the source after the end punctuation of
the quote
Example – Long Quotations
Meile (1993) found the following:
The placebo effect, which had been
verified in previous studies,
disappeared when behaviors were
studied in this manner. Furthermore,
the behaviors were never exhibited
again, even when real drugs were
administered. Earlier studies were
clearly premature in attributing the
results to a placebo effect. (p. 276)
Secondary Reference
In 1947 the World Health
Organization proposed the following
definition of health. “Health is a state of
complete physical, mental, and social
well-being and not merely the absence
of disease and infirmity” (World Health
Organization, cited in Potter & Perry,
2001, p. 3).
Parenthetical Citations –
Multiple Authors
 2 authors – cite both names separated by &
Example:
(Kosik & Martin, 1999, p. 127)
 3-5 authors – cite all authors first time; after
first time, use et al.
Example:
(Wilson, et al., 2000)
 6 or more authors – cite first author’s name
and et al.
Example:
(Perez, et al., 1992)
 Parenthetical Citations –
Multiple Citations
 Multiple sources from same author –
chronological order, separated by comma
Example:
(Burke, 1998, 1999, in press)
 Within same year:
Example:
(Burke, 1998a, 1998b, 1999, in press)
 Parenthetical Citations –
Multiple Citations
 Multiple sources – separated by semicolon,
alphabetical order
Example:
(Burke, 1998; Perez, 1992; Wilhite, 2001)
 Personal communication (not included in references)
Example:
(T.K. Lutes, personal communication,
September 19, 2001)
Handling Parenthetical Citations
Sometimes additional information is necessary .
..
 More than one author with the same last
name
(H. James, 1878); (W. James, 1880)
 Two or more works in the same parentheses

(Caruth, 1996; Fussell, 1975; Showalter,

1997)
 Specific part of a source

(Jones, 1995, chap. 2)

Handling Parenthetical Citations
 If the source has no known author,
then use an abbreviated version of the
title:
Full Title: California Cigarette Tax
Deters Smokers
Citation: (California, 1999)
 Sample Parenthetical Citations
Recently, the history of warfare has been
significantly revised by Higonnet, et al. (1987), Marcus
(1989), and Raitt and Tate (1997) to include women’s
personal and cultural responses to battle and its
resultant traumatic effects. Feminist researchers now
concur that “It is no longer true to claim that women's
responses to the war have been ignored” (Raitt & Tate,
p. 2). Though these studies focus solely on women's
experiences, they err by collectively perpetuating the
masculine-centered impressions originating in Fussell
(1975) and Bergonzi (1996).However, Tylee (1990)
further criticizes Fussell, arguing that his study “treated
memory and culture as if they belonged to a sphere
beyond the existence of individuals or the control of
institutions” (p. 6).
Reference List
 Place the list of references cited at the end of
the paper
 Start references on a new page
 Begin each entry flush with the left margin
 Indent subsequent lines five to seven spaces
(hanging indent)
 Double space both within and between
entries
 Italicize the title of books, magazines, etc.
Capitalization in Reference List

 Capitalize only the first word of the title,

the first word after a colon or dash, and
proper nouns in titles of books, articles,
etc.
Reference List Order
 Arrange sources alphabetically
beginning with author’s last name
 If author has more than one source,
arrange entries by year, earliest first
 When an author appears both as a sole
author and, in another citation as the
first author of a group, list the one
author entries first
Reference List Order

 If no author given, begin entry with

the title and alphabetize without
counting a, an, or the
 Do not underline, italicize or use quote
marks for titles used instead of an
author name
Example – Reference List Order
 Baheti, J. R. (2001). Control …
 Baheti, J. R. (2001). Roles of …

 Kumpfer, K. L. (1999). Factors …

 Kumpfer, K. L. (2002). Prevention …

 Kumpfer, K. L., Alvarado, R., Smith,

P., …
 Yoshikawa, H. (1994). Preventions …
 Group Author

American Psychological Association.(2001).

Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association (5th
ed.).Washington, DC: Author.
Book with one author

Carter, R. (1998). Mapping the mind.

Berkeley, CA: University of
California Press.
Book with two authors

Struck, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (1979).

The elements of style (3rd ed.).
New York: Macmillan.
Book with six or more authors

Wolchik, S. A., West, S. G., Sandler, I. N.,

Tein, J., Coatsworth, D., Lengua, L.,
et al. (2000). An experimental
evaluation of…
 Book with no author

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary

(10th ed.). (1993). Springfield, MA:
Merriam-Webster.
 Book with editors

Allison, M. T., & Schneider, I. E.

(Eds.).(2000). Diversity and the
recreation profession:
Organizational perspectives.
State College, PA: Venture.
Chapter in Book
Stern, J. A., & Dunham, D. N. (1990).
The ocular system. In J. T.
Cacioppo & L. G. Tassinary (Eds.),
Principles of psychophysiology:
Physical, social, and inferential
elements (pp. 513-553). Berkeley,
CA: University of California Press.
Multivolume book

Koch, S. (Ed.). (1959-1963). Psychology:

A study of science (Vols. 1-6). New
York: McGraw-Hill.
Journals with Continuous Pagination

Bekerian, D. A. (1993). In search of the

typical eyewitness. American
Psychologist, 48, 574-576.
Journals with Pagination by Issue

Sellard, S., & Mills, M. E. (1995).

Administrative issues for use of
nurse practitioners. Journal of
Nursing Administration, 25(5),
64-70.
Article in press

Jones, R. (in press). The new healthcare

lexicon. Journal of Health.
Abstract
Misumi, J., & Fumita, M. (1982). Effects
of PM organizational development in
supermarket organization. Japanese
Journal of Experimental Social
Psychology, 21, 93-111. [Abstract]
Psychological Abstracts, 1982, 68,
Abstract No. 11474
Magazine

Posner, M. I. (1993, October 29).

Seeing the mind. Science, 262,
673-674.
Newspaper

Schwartz, J. (1993, September 30).

Obesity affects economic, social
status. The Washington Post, pp.
A1, A4.
Encyclopedia
Blaser, L. (1996). Relativity . In Gale
encyclopedia of science (Vol. 15,
pp. 82-86). New York, Gale
Encyclopedia Co.
Thesis
Ho, M. (2000). Coping strategies of
counselling professionals.
Unpublished master’s thesis,
Nanyang Technological University,
Singapore.
 Videotape

National Institute on Mental Health. (1980).

Drug abuse [videotape]. Bethesda:
Author.
Electronic sources
Velmans, M. (1999). When perception
becomes conscious. British
Journal of Psychology, 90, 543-
566. Retrieved May 25, 2001,
from the Expanded Academic
ASAP database.
 Web page

Green, C. (2000, April 16). History &

philosophy of psychology web
resources. Retrieved May 22, 2001,
from http://www.yorku.ca/dept.htm
Professional paper from Internet
Jacob, B. & Shoemaker, N. (n.d.). The
Myers-Briggs Type Indicator: An
interpersonal tool for system
administrators. Retrieved October 19,
2003 from:
http://www.mindspring.com/~nancysho
emaker/nes/mbti/mbtipaper.pdf
 Stand-Alone Web Document with
no author or date

GVU’s 8th WWW user survey. (n.d.).

Retrieved January 17, 2003, from
http://www.ccgatech.edu/gvu
For More Information

APA Manual Website:

www.apastyle.org