AN INTRODUCTION TO APA
DOCUMENTATION
Part One:
THE BASICS
WHAT IS APA DOCUMENTATION?
When your teacher states that you must use
APA documentation style, he or she is simply
directing you to use a system that reveals to
your reader what sources and information you
have utilized in writing your paper.
 The documentation style also determines
certain formatting practices in your paper.

GENERAL PAPER FORMAT RULES
Double space entire paper.
 Use 12 point, Times New Roman font
 Set all margins to 1”
 New paragraphs should be indented ½” from
the margin

PARTS OF DOCUMENTATION
In-text (parenthetical) citation
 Bibliography (the References page)

The in-text citation acts as a key to your
bibliography and directs your reader to specific
sources. The in-text citation includes the author’s
last name (and/or) the title of the work so that
you can easily locate the complete source
information in the bibliography.
Part Two:
THE TITLE PAGE, THE HEADER, AND THE PAGE
NUMBER
APA Title Page
•The page number
•Introduction of the running head of
your essay, formatted Running
head: TITLE OF ESSAY
•The title of the essay, your name,
and the university name should
appear centered, double spaced,
and on the top half of the page.
•All text should be in 12 pt. Times
New Roman font and should not be
bolded.
•Author’s note (optional) contains
contact information and
acknowledgements and should be
placed at the bottom half of essay.
Running Head
(Title in all caps)
Page number
SUBSEQUENT
PAGES
CREATING AN APA HEADER

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

An APA header is more complicated than an
MLA header.
On the first page, the header will have the
words Running head: followed by the title in
all caps (i.e. Running Head: TITLE OF
ESSAY). This phrase is justified on the left.
The page number is justified on the right.
Subsequent pages do not include the words
Running head: before the title.
CREATING AN APA STYLE HEADER
Click the
“Insert”
tab.
Select the “Page
Number” icon.
CREATING AN APA HEADER
1. Select the “Top
of the Page”
menu.
2. Select “Plain
Number 1.”
CREATING AN APA HEADER: JUSTIFYING THE
TITLE ON THE LEFT AND THE PAGE NUMBER ON
THE RIGHT
Type the title of
your paper in
all caps.
Tab twice to
right justify the
page number.
CREATING AN APA STYLE HEADER, CONT.
Remember: select the entire text and format it as
12 pt., Times New Roman font.
CREATING AN APA HEADER, MAKING THE
FIRST AND SUBSEQUENT PAGES DIFFERENT
On the design tab, click
the box labeled
different first page.
Your header will
disappear, for now.
(Don’t worry it will
appear after you have
more than one page).
CREATING THE FIRST PAGE HEADER
Click the icon for the page number.
CREATING AN APA HEADER, FORMATTING
THE FIRST PAGE
Type the words
Running head:
followed by the title in
all caps, and then tab
twice. (Don’t forget to
format the font as 12
pt. Times New Roman)
CLOSING THE HEADER
To close the
header, return
to the “Design”
tab. Click the
“Close Header
and Footer”
Button . (It is
red and located
in the right
corner of the
screen.)
EXERCISE

Create a title page
Part Three:
IN-TEXT CITATIONS
IN-TEXT CITATIONS
You need to give credit to a source any time you
use information from the source in the following
ways:
 Direct Quotation
 Paraphrase
 Summary
TYPES OF QUOTATIONS
Block Quotations – must be longer than three
lines, set off from main body of paragraph (like
a block)
 Integrated Quotations – three lines of text or
fewer, flows seamlessly in the paragraph

BLOCK QUOTATION FORMAT
Indented
1” and
double
spaced
Period comes at
end of quote
No quotation
marks
Citation follows
the period
INTEGRATED QUOTE FORMAT
Quote
integrated
into
paragraph
Quotation
mark
precedes
citation
The governments usually use a very
complex and intricate method to set
these prevailing wages, “but because
of the large number of distinct
geographic labor markets and
numerous occupational categories,
the tendency is for wages to be set
equal or approximate to those
determined in local collective
bargaining agreements between
unions and contractors” (Vedder
1997).
Quotation
marks
needed
Period
follows
citation
FORMATTING A PARAPHRASE OR SUMMARY
The
paraphrase
or
summary is
in your own
words and
flows
smoothly
with the
paragraph.
It was during the Great
Depression that the
government of the United
States first decided to
implement prevailing wage
laws. In those times, the
national unemployment rate
was at about 14 percent and
was expected to rise even
further, while the total output,
or GDP, decreasing (Vedder &
Gallaway 1997, 77).
Period follows
citation.
WHAT MUST BE INCLUDED IN THE CITATION
Author’s name (if available)
 Year of publication
 Page number (formatted p. #)

CITING THE AUTHOR
The author may be cited within either the
sentence or in the parentheses following the
sentence.
 The year immediately follows the author’s
name.

TWO WAYS OF CITING THE AUTHOR
Look at the following examples:
 The growth was most rapid among fast-food
chains, which by 1999 were opening a new
restaurant every two hours (Schlosser, 2001).

Amanda Spake and Mary Brophy Marcus (2002)
note, “When McDonald’s opened, its original
burger, fries, and 12-ounce Coke provided 590
calories. Today, a supersize Extra Value Meal with
a Quarter Pounder With Cheese, supersize fries,
and a supersize drink is 1,550 calories” (p. 44).
WAYS TO INTRODUCE DIRECT QUOTATIONS
With an explanatory statement and a colon
 With a verb and a comma
 Spot quotation mixed with paraphrase

INTRODUCTION WITH A COLON
Amanda Spake and Mary Brophy Marcus (2002)
contend that the increase in portion sizes among
American fast food companies has contributed to
the obesity epidemic: “When McDonald’s
opened, its original burger, fries, and 12-ounce
Coke provided 590 calories. Today, a supersize
Extra Value Meal with a Quarter Pounder
WithCheese, supersize fries, and a supersize
drink is 1,550 calories” (p. 44).
INTRODUCE WITH A VERB AND A COMMA
Amanda Spake and Mary Brophy Marcus (2002)
note,“When McDonald’s opened, its original
burger, fries, and 12-ounce Coke provided 590
calories. Today, a supersize Extra Value Meal with
a Quarter Pounder WithCheese, supersize fries,
and a supersize drink is 1,550 calories” (p. 44).
SPOT QUOTATION WITH PARAPHRASE
The increase in portion sizes from McDonald’s
“original burger, fries, and 12-ounce Coke” that
supplied only “590 calories” to today’s
“Supersize Extra Value Meal” which supplies
more than 1500 calories has contributed to
obesity in children (Spake & Marcus, 2002, p.
44).
Part Four:
THE REFERENCES PAGE
REFERENCES BASICS

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Start the References page at the top of a new page.
(Use the insert Page Break icon. Do not hit enter
repeatedly until you reach the top of a new page).
Entries should be alphabetized by first word.
All entries should have a hanging indent and be double
spaced.
All entries end with a period.
Book titles and titles of periodicals should be italicized
Authors are listed by last name and first initial.
Capitalize only the first word of titles and subtitles.
BASIC BOOK ENTRY
Brownell, K. D., & Horgen, K. B. (2004). Food fight:
The inside story of the food industry,America’s
obesity crisis, and what we can do about it.
Chicago: Contemporary Publishing.
ARTICLE IN A BOOK
O'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's
gender role journeys: Metaphor for healing,
transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib
(Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp. 107123). New York, NY: Springer.
SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLE
Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The
New Criterion, 15(30), 5-13.
MAGAZINE
Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade
in today's schools. Time, 135, 28-31.
NEWSPAPER
Schultz, S. (2005, December 28). Calls made to
strengthen state energy policies. The Country
Today, pp. 1A, 2A.
ONLINE PERIODICAL (WITH DOI)
Brownlie, D. (2007). Toward effective poster
presentations: An annotated bibliography.
European Journal of Marketing, 41(11/12), 12451283. doi:10.1108/03090560710821161
ONLINE PERIODICAL WITHOUT DOI
Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the
nature of human rights. Journal of Buddhist
Ethics, 8. Retrieved from
http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html
A HELPFUL WEBSITE
The Online Writing Lab at Purdue
This website includes accurate guides to both
APA format, annotated sample papers, examples
of different types of works cited entries, and
detailed information concerning punctuation,
grammar, and other writing related topics.

EXERCISE

Create a title page for the following sources:
http://www.cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/index.ht
m
http://www.americanpopularculture.com/jo
urnal/articles/fall_2010/pandey.htm
Your textbook
Use the examples from this presentation and
examples from the OWL at Purdue APA Guide.