Writing in APA Style
Bob Neely
University of Sioux Falls
Fall, 2003
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Abstract
An abstract should not be more than about 150 words in length. It is the most important
part of the entire paper: (1) it is read first; (2) It may be the only part of the article that is
actually read since readers use abstracts to screen articles; and (3) it is important for
locating and retrieving the article. It should be used to report rather than evaluate; it
should be precise and to the point.
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Putting Your Paper Together
Formatting the Page
Leave uniform margins of at least one inch on all sides of the paper and use a
left-justified format for the text. The text should be double-spaced and the first line of
each paragraph should be indented about ½ inches; use the tab key for consistency. The
abstract should not be indented.
Using Past Tense
Formal writing makes use of the past tense when reporting what someone has
already said. If, for example, one were to present a point of view developed by Robert
Gagne, the writer would report that “Gagne (1985) suggested that learning could be
explained by means of a hierarchy of increasingly complex sets of knowledge.”
Active Voice
Use active voice rather than passive voice to communicate in a more interesting
and dynamic style. For example, “the experiment was designed by Young,” is written in
passive voice; “Young designed the experiment” is active voice and is more
interesting!
References
If you need to attribute some factual information to another writer, include the
date in parentheses immediately after the author’s name. For example, “Young (1999)
suggested that paraphragiarism is not any more ethical than plagiarism”. Note, there is
no comma between the author’s name and the date in this situation. If information needs
to be attributed to an author who is not being referred to by name in the text, the author’s
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name and the date of the publication should both be included in parentheses (Jones,
1979). In this case you use a comma between the name and date.
References appear on a separate page and should have a hanging indent. Be sure
to include only those titles that actually appeared in the text of your manuscript (Jones,
1979; Smith, 1987). Your references, as with the rest of the paper, should be indented
about ½ inch, double-spaced, and they should be in alphabetical order. Refer to APA
Publications Manual (2001) for numerous examples of reference format. Dr. Arlys
Peterson’s Web Site also contains very helpful information about the use of APA. Go to
www.usiouxfalls.edu/~apeter , click on “APA Style Resources”, and then click on “Using
APA Format”. Another useful source that will actually build your citations for you is as
follows: http://www.stylewizard.com . Several other resources are available for you at
the EDU 598 APA Resources website.
Authors (Citations in the text)
APA journals use the author-date method of citation; that is, the surname of the
author (do not include suffixes such as Jr.) and the year of publication are inserted in the
text at the appropriate point. If the name of the author appears as part of the narrative,
[Walker (2000) compared reaction times.], cite only the year of publication in
parentheses, otherwise place both the name and the year, separated by a comma, in
parentheses. [A recent study of reaction times (Walker, 2000) found that……]
When a work has six or more authors, cite only the surname of the first author
followed by et al. (not italicized and with a period after “al”) and the year for the first and
subsequent citations. If two references with six or more authors shorten to the same
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form, cite the surnames of the first authors and as many of the subsequent authors as
necessary to distinguish the two references, followed by a comma and et al.
When a work has two authors, always cite both names every time the reference
occurs in text. When a work has three, four, or five authors, cite all authors the first time
the reference occurs; in subsequent citations, include only the surname of the first author
followed by et al. (not italicized and with a period after “al”) and the year if it is the first
citation of the reference within a paragraph:
Wasserstein, Zappulla, Rosen, Gerstman, and Rock (1994) found …..[Use as a
first citation in text.]
Wasserstein et al. (1994) found …..[Use as a subsequent first citation per
paragraph thereafter.]
Wasserstein et al. found ………[Omit year from subsequent citations after first
citation within a paragraph.]
Quotations
When you use material from someone else’s work, be sure to reference that work.
There may be times though, that you prefer to actually use another author’s words
verbatim. A quote that is less than 40 words should be included in your text and enclosed
within double quotation marks. “When quoting, always provide the author, year, and
specific page citation in the text, and include a complete reference in the reference list”
(APA, 2001, p.117). (In this example, the APA publications Manual does not have an
author listed. In this case, it’s appropriate to use the publisher.) If the quotation is more
than 40 words, format it as a separate block with the entire quote indented ½ inch and
without an indentation on the first line, and without the double quotation marks.
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Pagination
Preliminary pages usually carry lowercase roman numerals.
Throughout the manuscript, certain pages may be counted in the numbering sequence
without actually carrying a number. The position of numbers on the first pages of
chapters or on full-pages tables and figures may differ from the position of numbers
on other pages. Page numbers continue throughout the appendix (APA Manual, 2001,
p. 326).
Example. In numbering the pages of your research project use these guidelines:
a. Title page
b. Certification page
Counts as roman numeral i but it is not placed on the page.
Use roman numeral ii. Position the lowercase roman
numeral in middle of the page, one inch from the bottom.
c. Abstract
Use roman numeral iii. Position the lowercase roman
numeral in the middle of the page, one inch from the
bottom.
d. Acknowledgements
Use roman numeral iv. Position the numeral in the middle
of the page, one inch from the bottom.
e. Table of Contents
This is page v. The second page is numbered vi. Position
the roman numeral in the middle of the page, one inch from
the bottom.
f. List of Figures and Tables Use roman numeral vii. Position the lowercase roman
numeral in the middle of the page, one inch from the
bottom.
g. Chapter 1-Appendix
The first page is number 1. It is counted but not numbered.
The second page is numbered 2 and is placed in the upper
right hand corner of the page one inch from the top of the
page and one inch from the right hand margin. Continue
numbering each page consecutively throughout the
document.
Note: If you do not include an acknowledgement page, adjust the lowercase roman
numerals accordingly.
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Page Header
The University of Sioux Falls faculty has agreed to use page headers as part of
formal research papers. The rationale for this is that during the editorial process separate
manuscript pages can be easily identified if separated from the rest of the text. Typically
you should create your page header using the first two or three words from the title in the
upper right-hand corner and five spaces to the left of the page number.
Writing numbers
APA generally requires that numbers one through nine be written out, while
numbers 10 and above should be numerals. For example: [10th grade students], [103
surveys were administered], etc. Or, [the question was answered incorrectly three times],
[there were five trials], etc.
Exceptions to these rules include the following:

numbers below 10 that are grouped for comparison with numbers 10 and
above. [3 of 21 analyses], or [in the 2nd and 11th grades].

numbers that represent statistical or mathematical functions, fractions or
decimal quantities, percentages, ratios, and percentiles and quartiles.
[multiplied by 5], [a ratio of 16:1], [the 1st quartile], etc.

numbers that represent time; dates; ages; sample, sub sample or population
size; specific numbers of subjects or participants in an experiment; scores
and points on a scale; exact sums of money, etc. [ 2 weeks ago], [1 hr 34
minutes], [at 12;30 a.m.], [9-year olds], etc.
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numbers that denote a specific place in a number series, parts of books and
tables and each number in a list of four or more numbers. [ Table 3],
[Trial 4], [1, 3, 4 and 7 words, respectively], etc.
Electronic References
References taken from the internet should be used sparingly. Professional writers
acknowledge that there is little control over what is printed on the internet and
determining authenticity is often difficult. However, there are valid sites that can be
referenced. APA use of the internet is difficult to capture in a brief outline, therefore
students should refer to the appropriate section in their APA Manual for assistance in
how to cite or reference internet items.
For example, references based upon a printed source would be listed as follows:
Neely R., & Stader D. (2002). The entry plan: Preparing for the transition from teacher to
principal [Electronic Version]. The AASA Professor 25(4), 8-13. References taken from
a section in an Internet document would be listed as follows: Benton Foundation. (1998,
July 7). Barriers to closing the gap. In Losing ground bit by bit; Low-income communities
in the information age (Chap.2). Retrieved August 18, 2001, from
http://www.benton.org/Library/Low-Income/two.html . If you use internet references
please review “Electronic Sources” and “Internet” found in the index of your APA
Publication Manual. The format of electronic references can also be viewed at
www.APAstyle.org.
Conclusions
Although this description of how to write in APA style is brief and simplistic, it is
typical of the format you should use. Naturally, there are many details not included here,
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such as the various choices of heading style and how to format tables. Also, APA style
was developed so that manuscripts written for publication in journals would be
stylistically consistent. In higher education, APA is currently the most widely required
format for graduate papers. As we adapt journal writing to students’ writing in higher
education, some of the guidelines in the manual are not applicable or practical.
References
American Psychological Association (2001). Publications Manual (5th ed.).
Washington DC: American Psychological Association.
Gagne, R. M. (1985). The conditions of learning (4th ed.). New York: Holt, Winston,
Rinehart.
Jones, R. H. (1979). The art of instructional design? Journal of Instructional
Development, 5(7), 36-44.
Smith, J.Q. (1987). Developing materials for use in a distance education paradigm. The
AmericanJounral of Distance Education, 1(3), 44-49.
Young, S., & Miles, R. (1999). Who cares about APA style? Educational Research, 2(3),
86-94.
(Note: the last three citations are fictitious and included only for illustrative purposes.)