Very Brief APA Style Guide
APA
The American Psychological Association (APA) style is a set of rules that authors use when submitting papers for
publications in the journals of the APA. Established in 1929, the style has since been used to guide research writers
and help them achieve minimum distraction and maximum precision.
As a complete style and guideline for writing, the APA is a valuable tool for writing scientific papers, laboratory
reports, and papers covering topics in the field of psychology, education, and other social sciences. Compared to
MLA, APA relies on summary of sources rather than direct quotation and uses an abbreviate style for attribution.
Some Guidelines for Incorporating Evidence
Make sure that your evidence is introduced with a signal phrase. This is what we call “attribution.” Always
signal the author and name of the work or the origin the first time you use a quote or paraphrase/summary.
Use minimal attribution the first time you use name a source, i.e.:
-
Michael Pollan (2008) points out that …
The second (and any subsequent) time(s) you use the same name in a source, only use the author’s last name:
- Pollan (2012) later suggests…
More detailed example:
-
APA: Shapiro (2002) discusses corn’s natural fertility as well, noting that the pollen from corn “is known to
travel as far as six miles by the wind” (p. 18).
APA Style favors concise expression. Last name of author + date of source is typical of APA style. APA style
limits the use of quotation and encourages summary.
Use a variety of incorporation strategies when using quotations and summary: set some quotationss apart;
blend others into your base sentence, use quote fragments (which show that you have really integrated the ideas into
your own thinking and writing).
Examples:
Option A
APA: Robinette (2004) reports that, “Virtual reality, as its name suggests, is an unreal, alternate
reality in which anything could happen” (p. 17).
Option B
APA: “Virtual reality, as its name suggests,” concludes Robinett (2004), “is an unreal, alternate
reality in which anything could happen” (p. 17).
Option C
APA: “Virtual reality, as its name suggests, is an unreal, alternate reality in which anything could
happen,” observes Robinett (2004, p.17).
Option D
APA: Robinett (2004) provides a concise definition of this new technology: “Virtual reality, as its
name suggests, is an unreal, alternate reality in which anything could happen” (p. 17).
Option E
APA: Marcia Robinette (2004) suggests that virtual reality is “an unreal, alternate reality” where, she
claims, “anything could happen” (p. 17).
Engage the evidence in conversation. This is what we call ‘unpacking’ and it is where you showcase your
reasoning. Following the evidence, you should comment on it before moving on. Your comment may serve any
number of purposes. It might, for instance, re-state and summarize a quotation that might be hard for the reader to
digest all at once. It might draw the reader’s attention to one or two particular words in the quote to expand upon.
APA: Robinette (2004) suggests that virtual reality is “an unreal, alternate reality” where, she claims,
“anything could happen” (p. 17). Robinette’s use of the word “unreal” is significant here. Often, we gloss over the notion
that ‘virtual’ means, by definition, existing in essence but not in fact; thus, ‘virtual reality’ can never substitute for how we
participate in real communities …
Unpacking interprets the quotation for readers. It allows readers to understand what you consider interesting or
important about the material.
Do not over quote. Use ellipsis to capture the best parts of the material. No one wants to read long, extensive
quotes. As a general rule, keep quotes under five typed lines.
Indent long quotations. If your quotation is longer than four typed lines, you must indent the whole quotation
ten spaces from the left-hand margin. Do not indent on the right side, though, and keep the whole quotation
double-spaced.
More words for introducing evidence: acknowledges, admits, adds, ascertains, asks, assesses, argues, agrees,
addresses, answers, believes, categorizes, compares, critiques, considers, concurs, concludes, cites, defines,
delineates, describes, determines, demonstrates, disagrees, discovers, evaluates, explores, examines, expounds on,
emphasizes, envisions, finds, furnishes, investigates, inquires, identifies, lists, makes the case that, measures, notes,
observes, points out, postulates, presents, proposes, proves, questions, rationalizes, remarks, replies, refers to,
reviews, reports, says, shows, states, stipulates, stresses, suggests, summarizes, surveys, synthesizes, traces, views,
warns, writes
Samples of Most Common References
Book
Smith, J. (1998). Deconstructing colonialism: the discourse of the empire: 18371898. Bloomington, IL: Illinois Wesleyan University Press.
Article in Journal
Rosenberg, A. (1997). Is there a text in this universe? Studies in Teaching College
Astrology,12(4), 221-242.