ThePortableEditor
Volume 8, No. 6
Thismonth,webringyouPart2ofthereviewofbasicAPArulestofurther
testyourknowledgeandhelpyoubrushuponyourAPAskills.
Seriation
Seriesorlistsarehelpfulforpresentingmaximuminformationwithaminimum
numberofwords.Keepinmindthateachelementintheseriesshouldhaveparallel
constructionwiththeothers(e.g.,eachelementstartswithanactiveverboran
infinitive).
APAhasguidelinesfortwotypesofseries:in-lineseriesandparagraphseries.
Anin-lineseriesgivesaseriesofitems–orelements–withinasentence,without
breakingtheparagraphformat.Elementsinasimpleseriescanbeseparatedby
commas.JustMAKESUREtousetheserialcomma(hencethename),whichisa
commaprecedingtheconjunctionthatconnectsthelastelementinaseries.
SeparatethreeormoreelementsinalistorserieswithcommasIFthereareno
internalcommasorotherpunctuation.Ifoneormoreelementshaveinternal
punctuation,thenusesemicolonstoseparatetheelements.
In-lineseriation(i.e.,listinsentenceformat)useslower-caselettersinfull
parenthesestoseparateelements.
Example:ComprehensiveStandardsaddresstheabilityofworkers(a)todetermine
thenatureoftheinformationneeded,(b)toaccessinformationefficiently,and(c)to
evaluateinformation.
Paragraphseries
Foraparagraphseries,rememberthateachelementmustbeonaseparatelineand
indented.Youhavethechoiceofusingbulletpointsornumberstoseparatethe
listedelements.Note:Bulletshaveaneutralpresentationwhereasnumberscanbe
interpretedasimplyingahierarchyofimportance.
Whenusingbulletpoints,alllinesmustbeindented½inch,andeachpointispart
ofaphraseinacompletesentence.
Example:
Theprojecthasatwo-foldgoal:
• todetermineshort-termprogrameffectsonlearning,and
• toassesswhichfactorscontributetoincreasedstudentmotivation.
Inanumberedlist,thefirstlineisindented½inchandsubsequentlineswrapback
tothemargin.Eachitemisalsophrasedasacompletesentence(multiplesentences
areokay).
Example:
Allparticipantsunderwentthesamesequenceofevents:
1.Theycompletedabaselinesurvey,whichincludeddemographicinformation.
2.Theyobservedthevideotapeappropriateforthegrouptowhichtheywere
assigned.
3.Theycompletedthesurveyagain.
Commas
Usecommas:
Betweenindependentclauses:Janewenttoschool,butDickstayedhome.
Inaseriesofthreeormore:Jane,Dick,andHarryarguedaboutmoney.
Tosetoffnonessentialornonrestrictiveclauses:DirectTV,whichisavailablein
SouthFlorida,offerssomenicefeatures.
[Bonusinfo:“South”inSouthFloridaiscapitalizedbecauseitispartofthe
nameofaregion,butgeographicaldirections(east,north,west,south)arenot
capitalizedwhenusedtoindicatedirectionsuchas“Wedrovesouthfor3hours.”]
But,commasareNOTusedtoseparateacompoundpredicate(predicate=subject
doingtwothings).Janebakedacakeandworkedonherhomework.
CompoundAdjectives
Dohyphenate
Don’thyphenate
• High-anxietysituations
• Federallyfundedprojects
(Anadjective-and-nouncompound whenitprecedesthetermit
(adverbsendingin–lyarenot
modifies)
hyphenatedwhenpartofacompound
• Seventh-gradestudents
adjective)
(Acompoundwithanumberasthe
• TypeIIerror,Type2diabetes
•
(Amodifierincludingaletterornumeral
asasecondelement)
Posthoccomparisons
(Foreignphrasesusedasadjectivesor
adverbs)
•
firstelementwhenthecompound
precedesthetermitmodifies)
Allwordswithselfasaprefix
(self-image,self-esteem)
Keepinmind…
APAdefaultstoMerriam-Webster’sCollegiateDictionaryforpermanently
hyphenatedcompoundwordssuchasrole-play,time-consuming,cost-effective,or
around-the-clock.