APA Format Educational Video
Part 1: Appearance, In-Text Citations
The
APA
Manual
6th edition
Using the APA Manual (6th edition)
in the College Setting
©2010 Nebraska Methodist College – The Josie Harper Campus
APA Style
Difficult to learn—at first
 Mastery comes with repeated use
 Important to learn, for several reasons
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Credit to sources
 Connecting to professional community
 Aids in communication

Changes in the Sixth edition
(Second printing)
updated “running head” (See pp. 229; 41-59)
 different “Author” line in reference entry for
sources with more than six authors (see
p. 51; p. 198)

Ayer, C., Bye, E., Carr, T. W., Freed, R. T., Gary, I. R., Hunn,
C. E., Jay, R. T., …Zenn, R.E.
less necessary to cite Retrieval date for
Internet source (see pp. 200-201)
 use DOI when available for articles obtained
online (see 198-199; 187-192)
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Other changes—see handouts on “Help with APA”
page of NMC’s WAC Website
Two Different Uses
for the APA Manual
Manuscripts for publication of
research projects
 Student Papers

Two Sides of the Student Paper
A STUDY OF FLU IN MALE MEMBERS
1. Overall appearance
One-inch margins
 Double spacing
 APA-style title page
(see p. 41)
 ALL-CAP “Running
head” throughout
paper (see pp. 4159); the phrase
“Running head:” on
title page only
2. Reference Citations
Running head: A STUDY OF FLU IN MALE
MEMBERS
1

A Study of Flu in Male Members of the Polynesian
Population, Age 55-80, Observed in 2010
Jill Jones
Nebraska Methodist College- The Josie Harper Campus
2
Two Sides of the Student Paper
1. Overall appearance
Double spacing, one-inch margins, “Running
head”
 APA-style title page
 Listing items (“seriation”—see pp. 63-65)
 Form of sub-headings (see pp. 62-63)
 Block quotations (40 words or more—p. 171)
 Standard abbreviations (p. for “page”;
pp. for “pages”; para. for “paragraph”)
2. Citing References

Citing References: Different Rules
In-text citations (see pp. 174-179) in
the body of a paper or on
PowerPoint slides
 “The list at the end” of a paper or
presentation (see pp. 180-192;
Chap. 7, “Reference Examples”)
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Goals for In-Text Citations
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•
•
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COMPLETE:
TWO KEY COMPONENTS: Author, Year of Publication
“Specific Part”: add page(s) or paragraph numbers for direct
quotations-use p. pp. para. (see p. 179)
Fourth element: Section of Internet source (see p. 172)
ACCURATE:
Exact quotations
Accurate summaries, spelling, date, page numbers
SMOOTH TO READ
Parenthetical info short, varied

SAME AS REF. LIST: CHECK!
In-text Citations: Examples
(see pp. 174-179)
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. . . why Frawley claims that “The truth is
ugly” (1991, p. 645).
. . . why one nurse claims that “The truth
is ugly” (Frawley, 1991, p. 645).
. . . why Frawley (1991) claims, “The
truth is ugly” (p. 645).
Number of Names in
Parentheses
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See chart, p. 177
1-2 authors: Same for every citation
3,4,5 authors: All 3,4, or 5 in the first
citation, FIRST AUTHOR’s LAST NAME
et al., for subsequent citations
6 authors: FIRST AUTHOR’s LAST
NAME et al., for all citations
Form of Author in In-Text Citation
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Last Name(s) ONLY (exception: two authors with same
surname, such as P. J. Smith and A. R. Smith)
Use ampersand (&) before last author in a list of multiple
authors; separate with commas
Separate multiple sources for one reported finding with
semicolon (Johnson, 2007; Hall & Thomas, 2006)
Spell out the entire name of a corporate or institutional author,
and capitalize all content words (nouns, adjectives, etc.):
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2007)
If NO author, use shortened title in place of author: (“Study
Finds,”… (see Section 6.15, pp. 176-177)
APA Format Educational Video
Part 2: The Reference List
The
APA
Manual
6th edition
Using the APA Manual (6th edition)
in the College Setting
© 2010 Nebraska Methodist College – The Josie Harper Campus
The Reference List
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Title: References (centered, top line)
Follows all other APA dictates for margins, font size,
double-spacing, running head (see pp. 49-51 and p. 59)
Includes all sources cited in the body of a paper (but no
added ones!)
General form: Alphabetized,
“Hanging Indent”
Like these lines!
Refer to Chapter 7’s list of model reference entries
often!
..and also to the rules on pp. 180-192
Essential Info/Order
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Author (if not known, alphabetize by title)
Date
Titles(s)
Publication Information
Only two exceptions
Author Format (p. 184)

Person? or Organization?
If author is institution, association, or corporation, spell words out.
Last name(s), followed by initials of first, middle
names given, but no “titles” like MS, MD, PhD (End in
a period)
 See pp. 198-201 as well as model reference entries
on pp. 49-51 and p. 59.
 Write up to seven authors’ names; if eight or more
authors, write first six, plus comma, plus three ellipsis
points, and then the very last author listed.
No author? Start with TITLE, not Anonymous. (unless
“Anonymous”)
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Date Format
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In parentheses (and end with a period)
Example: (2010).
Few complications:
 NO DATE? (n.d.).
 monthly magazine, newspaper, meeting? ADD
MONTH (2008, June).
 Daily publication? ADD MONTH AND DAY
(2009, August 3).
 SAME AUTHOR, SAME YEAR?
(2008a).; (2008b).

(see p. 182)
Title Format
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Italics only for titles of book-length works,
titles of journals, newspapers, newsletters,
brochures, reports, theses/dissertations,
unpublished papers, poster sessions, motion
pictures, TV shows, massive websites
Capitalize first letter of only proper nouns
and the first word in a title or subtitle
(Exception: Periodicals like journals and
magazines)
Title Complications

Articles within edited books:
•
Entry requires two titles
•
“Main title” begins with a new
•
•
•

“Sentence” starting:
In
Next: Editor’s name(s); “(Ed.), “ or “(Eds.), ”;
Title and page numbers
Johnson, G.H. (2006). Lipid management. In B.
H. Simon (Ed.), The benefits of appropriate
treatment (pp. 28-34). New York, NY: Norton.
(See p. 202)
Titles of Journal Articles (see p. 198-199)

Articles within journals:

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Entry also requires two titles
Italicized Journal Title begins right after
period after article title; add comma
Next: “Volume” number (italics). + “Number”
number in parentheses (not italicized) only
if each issue begins with p.1,
+ comma + Page numbers (no “p.”)
doi if known
Ex.: Wilson, A L. (2007). Walking saves lives. Journal of
Health, 37(2), 22-27. doi:10.736/87by776
DOIs: “Direct Object Identifiers”
(see examples, pp. 198-199; discussion, pp. 188-192)
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Beginning with Sixth Edition of APA
manual
A unique identifying code for each article
published
If you know the “doi,” use it!
See database, see first page of printed
article, but also use
http://www.crossref.org/guestquery/
At end of reference entry, type “doi” in
lowercase, and then a colon before code:
doi:10.9n38878d/98m88
Publication Information
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
Required Info. depends on source
(browse through pages 198-210
especially)
Keep goal in mind: Lead reader to your
source
Publication Info: Books
(see model entries, pp. 202-205)
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Required: City and Publisher
First City listed only
State is reported with postal abbreviation:
NE
NY CA
(NO ending period)
:

Separate city & publisher with a colon

End “sentence” with a period.
Info on “editions” or on page numbers of
articles within books appears in parentheses
after title of book.
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Publication Info: Internet
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Month and day of publication, if known, in
“Date” section, OR (n.d.).
Internet sources require a Retrieved from
intro to the URL (CAN use Home Page
only if source readily accessible from this
page)
Ex: Retrieved June 28, 2009, from
http://nursingworld.org/member2.htm
Like DOI, the URL has no period at the
end!
Complicated source?
See the APA Manual
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Books in 2nd, Revised editions
Info from interviews, government documents,
other sources out of the mainstream
Expect to synthesize the rules you see from
various models and discussions! You may not
see your exact source discussed!
See resources on NMC’s WAC Website,
including lists of the changes from the 5th to the
6th editions
Editing Checklist
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Each entry complete?
Author/Date/Title(s)/Pub. Info
Each element in order?
Each entry using right form?
Patterns of Capitalizing/
Italicizing/ Abbreviating/
Indenting—Use hanging indent!
List matches in-text citations?