A workshop brought to you by the
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(and by Ms. Smukavich!)
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Use most often in social science research
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APA
( A merican P sychological A ssociation)
 Allows readers to crossreference your sources easily
 Provides consistent format within a discipline
 Gives you credibility as a writer
 Protects yourself from PLAGIARISM!
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 Cross-referencing allows readers to locate the publication information of source material. This is of great value for researchers who may want to locate your sources for their own research projects.
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 Using APA properly will allow you to communicate more effectively with other researchers who also use APA.
 When a style is used consistently, others can easily find where you’ve listed your resources.
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The proper use of APA style shows the credibility of writers; such writers show accountability to their source material.
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 Proper citation of your sources in APA style can help you avoid plagiarism, which is a serious offense.
 It may result in anything from failure of the assignment to expulsion from school.
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 Your essay should be:
 typed,



 double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11") with 1" margins on all sides.
You should use 10-12 pt. Times
New Roman font or a similar font.
Include a page header at the top of every page. To create a page header , insert page numbers flush right. Then type "TITLE OF
YOUR PAPER" in the header flush left
 page number in the upper righthand side of every page
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Point of View and Voice in an APA paper:
Use the third person point of view rather than using the first person point of view or the passive voice – do not use: I, Me, My, Us, We, You…
The study showed that…, NOT, I found out that….
Use the active voice rather than passive voice
The participants responded…, NOT, The participants have been asked….
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Language in an APA paper is:
Clear: be specific in descriptions and explanations – use quotes and examples to back up all your points
Concise: condense information when you can – watch run-on sentences, and group all like ideas/points together
Plain: use simple, descriptive adjectives and minimize the figurative
(metaphoric) language – use statistics and social science evidence to support your points
Don’t just use ‘shift F7’ as a way to make your language seem more academic – a lot of the time it doesn’t make sense
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No Extra Spacing Between Paragraphs
Bellamy wrote his novel in the late nineteenth century when class conflict dominated much of industrial society, and consequently his novel is a response to the drastic economic, social and cultural changes of his time. The
Gilded Age reinforced distinctions between the rich and the poor, as well as differences between rich and poor interests. It is therefore easy to comprehend Bellamy’s rationale for producing a society which eliminates all class distinctions.
Bellamy addresses many of the predominate problems of the nineteenth century, and via his cooperative commonwealth, offers thorough explanations of how these problems are corrected in the twenty-first century.
Bellamy wrote his novel in the late nineteenth century when class conflict dominated much of industrial society, and consequently his novel is a response to the drastic economic, social and cultural changes of his time. The Gilded
Age reinforced distinctions between the rich and the poor, as well as differences between rich and poor interests. It is therefore easy to comprehend Bellamy’s rationale for producing a society which eliminates all class distinctions.
Bellamy addresses many of the predominate problems of the nineteenth century, and via his cooperative commonwealth, offers thorough explanations of how these problems are corrected in the twenty-first century.
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Your essay should include four major sections:
 Title Page
 Abstract
 Main Body
 References
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Page header:
(use Insert Page Header) title flush left + page number flush right.
Title: - include a creative title for your report ***not just “ISU”
(in the upper half of the page, centered
) name + school

“Running
Head” appears only on title page – thereafter just
“THE
EFFECTS OF
DIVORCE ON
CHILDREN” in capitals
Running Head: THE EFFECT OF DIVORCE ON CHILDREN 1
Page number begins on title page
The Effect of Divorce on Children
Jane Smith
HSB 4MI
Ms. Smukavich
August 14, 2013
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THE EFFECT OF DIVORCE ON CHILDREN
Abstract
2
Write a concise summary of the key points of your research. (Do not indent.) Your abstract should contain at least your research topic, research questions, data collection methods and conclusions. Your abstract should be a single paragraph double-spaced. Your abstract should be between 150 and 250 words.
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 When summarizing facts and ideas from a source
 Summarizing means to take ideas from a large passage of another source and condense them, using your own words
 When paraphrasing a source
 Paraphrasing means to use the ideas from another source but change the phrasing into your own words — using a thesaurus to change a few key words does not count!
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
Author’s last name and year of publication must appear in the text
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).
Note: Commas and “p” for page
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There are many different combinations and variations within APA citation format.
If you run into something unusual, look it up!
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Note: Not Works Cited Page
 A complete list of every source that you make reference to in your essay
 Provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any sources cited in your essay.
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Most citations should contain the following basic information:

Author’s name
 Publication date
 Title
[italicized]
 Publication place
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APA Header and page #
Center the title –References-at the top of the page,
NO underline or bold
Double-space reference entries
Flush left the first line of the entry and indent all the following lines
Order entries alphabetically by the author’s surnames or article title if no author


Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work:
Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.

Bergmann, P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The new encyclopedia
britannica (Vol. 26, pp. 501-508). Chicago: Encyclopedia
Britannica.
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 Online Periodical
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication).
Title of article. Title of Online Periodical, volume
number (issue number if available). Retrieved from http://www.someaddress.com/full/url/
 Website
Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips on writing the living Web.
A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 149.
Retrieved from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving
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What other types of sources might you need to list on your
References page?
Study the basics of APA citation format. When something odd comes up, LOOK IT UP or
ASK!!!
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It is your responsibility to properly cite your sources in all the work you do for this class.
Failure to do so will result in negative consequences.
Consider yourself warned!