APA Style Exposed
Everything You Always Wanted to Know
About APA Format but Were Afraid to Ask
Why use the APA format?
• Looks Professional
• Communicates Important Information
– Is this information from a journal or a book?
• Provides clarity: Felicity of expression
• Avoids Inadvertent Plagiarism
– You want to give credit where credit is
due.
– AND you don’t want to take credit for someone
else’s mistakes
Where to Use APA Style
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Term Papers
Research Reports
Empirical Studies
Literature Review
Case Studies
Basic Formatting
• Double Spacing, No single spacing
•1 inch margins all around
•Font: 12 pt, Times New Roman
Manuscript Structure
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Title Page
Abstract (Summary of Study)
Introduction (Lit review, Purpose, Hypotheses)
Method (Participants, Materials, Procedure)
Results (Effects of IV(s) on DV(s)
Discussion or Conclusion
References
Tables and Figures
Appendices (Survey used)
Title Page
• Running head: Maximum of 50 characters
• Title, Authors and Affiliation double spaced
Abstract
• 150 words
• Do not indent
• Describe the paper’s
– Purpose (provide context)
– Method
– Results
– Conclusions
Sections of an Empirical Paper
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Introduction
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Method
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Participants: Sex and Age and….
Materials: Questionnaires, surveys, instruments
Procedure: What happened in the experiment
Results
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Review of the literature on the topic, including the independent and dependent
variables used in the study
Purpose of the current research
Statistical analysis of how the independent variable(s) affected the dependent
variable(s)
Discussion
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Recapitulation of the results without numbers
Implications for theory and practice
Limitations of the study
Suggestions for future study
Five-Heading System
Three Points to Remember
1. All headings of equal importance are given
the same heading level.
2. Use only as many heading levels as needed.
3. If a section can be divided into two or more
two or more subsections, assign each
subsection a heading.
Heading Level 1
Centered, Boldface, Upper & Lowercase Heading
Introduction
Method
Results
Discussion
References
Heading Level 2
• Flush Left, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
Method
Participants
One hundred and twenty college-aged students participated……
Materials
The Singelis Cultural Orientation scale was used……
Procedure
When the participants arrived at the lab…….
Heading Level 3
Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph
heading ending with a period.
Participants
Adult participants. Men and women
over the age of 21 were classified as…..
Child participants. For this study,
participants under the age of 14 were…
Heading Level 4
Participants
Child participants. Included all participants…..
Preschool children. Included those children who..
Use Unbiased Language
• What is meant by unbiased language?
Language that is unbiased in terms of:
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Race
Ethnicity
Age
Disability
Sexual Orientation
Gender
Ex: “he or she” or “she or he” NOT s/he
Tables
• Placed after the References.
• Referred to in the Results section of the text.
• Follow this formatting:
Table 2.
Number of Eye Movements to the Target Object and Around the Environment as a
Function of Object Type.
Eye Movement Direction
Target Object
Environment
M
(SE)
M
(SE)
Cake
11.3
(0.6)
11.1
(1.1)
Cake Pan
11.8
(0.6)
14.7
(1.1)
Object Type
Note: Means are adjusted to control for time exposed to target object.
Things to Avoid
• Direct Quotes (Paraphrase instead)
• Jargon and Colloquialisms
• Not citing sources for any and all assertions
• Passive voice
Active: The experimenter told the participants.
Passive. The participants were told by the experimenter.
Always try to stick with one verb and you should be good to
go. Instead of saying "She had noticed" write "She
noticed.”
Reference Citations in the Paper
Cite the source completely: (Smith, Jones,
Kerby, Miller & Roberson, 1998).
•The very first time you refer to the work
•Every time you refer to the source in a new
paragraph, citations can be
Smith et al, 1998)
Smith and Jones suggest….
Within a single paragraph you do not need to include
the year in subsequent references to a source, as
long as it cannot be confused with other sources you
are citing.
What if I did not actually read a study,
but it was cited in a work I did read?
Cite the Secondary Source (the source you
actually read) in the text:
Dunn, Kendrick, and MacNamee (as cited in
Harris, 1989) found that…
In this example, Harris is the author of a
textbook, which is never a primary source
References
Only include works that you have cited in the text in the
References section of your paper
Alphabetize the list of references.
If you have more than one entry by the same author list
them by year of publication with the earliest year first.
Formatting References
Journal Article:
Miller, R. L., Brickman, P., & Bolen, D. (1975). Attribution versus
persuasion as a means for modifying attitudes and
behavior. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology,
31,
430-441.
Chapter in a Book:
Miller, R. L. (2013). Multicultural identity. In K. Keith (Ed.).
Encyclopedia of cross-cultural psychology, (pp. 904-907).
New York, NY: Wiley-Blackwell.
Edited Book:
Suls, J., & Miller, R. L. (Eds.). (1977). Social comparison
processes: Theoretical and empirical perspectives.
Washington, D. C: Halsted.