MSSW Program
Orientation, Fall 2014
APA-Style Writing Workshop
Presenter: Dr. Stan L. Bowie
The University of Tennessee
College of Social Work
Knoxville, Tennessee
Welcome to the University of
Tennessee
College of Social Work
Workshop Objectives
1.
2.
To provide instruction on the elements
of APA writing style (6th Edition) that
are most important to writing college
level term papers.
To provide instructions and examples
regarding APA rules, answer
questions, and assess the learning
outcomes of the workshop.
What is APA Style?
APA style is a style of writing used by
journals published by the American
Psychological Association. The style is
fully documented in the Publication
manual of the American Psychological
Association (6th edition, 2010).
 APA style is a widely recognized
standard for scientific writing in many
different disciplines.

Why is APA Style Needed?

APA Style is needed by writers to
maintain consistency in writing style
and formatting, especially when writing
for publication or graduate school level
term papers.
Part I: The Logic of APA and
Other “Writing Styles”
It’s fundamentally about
Avoiding Plagiarism
Plagiarism, defined:



Writing words, phrases, or
sentences from another source
without proper documentation.
Summarizing other’s ideas and
thoughts without proper
documentation.
Using facts, statistics, graphs,
or phrases without
acknowledging the source of
information.
Consequences of Plagiarism
Violates the UTK academic
code and can result in a
student being dismissed from
the University of Tennessee
(See Hilltopics, 2013-2014)
Examples of Different “Writing
Style” Manuals
MLA
Child Welfare League
Harvard Style
University of Chicago Style
Kate Turabian Manual
Key APA Concepts and
Issues
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•
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•
•
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•
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Text (body of term paper)
In-Text Citations (author-date format)
References (1-to-1 match with citations)
Quotations (direct quotes)
Block quotes (40 words or more)
Paraphrase (say it in your own words)
Margins (1 inch on all four sides)
Personal communication citations (in-text)
Key APA Concepts and Issues, cont.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Indentation
Line spacing (double space entire
paper)
Punctuation spacing
Pagination
Latin abbreviations (e.g., i.e., et al.,
etc.)
Punctuation with proper nouns
Book references
Key APA Concepts and Issues, cont.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Journal references (scholarly
journals)
Edited book references
Book chapter references
Electronic references
“Runningheader”
“Overcitation”
In-Text Citations

In the text of your paper, you must cite
any material or information that you
borrow from another source. APA style
requires you to use the “author-date”
method of in-text citation.

This means that the author’s last name
and the year of publication are inserted
in the text at the appropriate point, and
enclosed in parentheses.
In-Text Citations (Cont.)
 The
underlying principle is that the
ideas and words of other people
must be formally acknowledged.
 The reader can obtain the full
source citation from the list of
references that follows the body of
the paper.
In-Text Citations (Cont.)
When the names of the authors of a source are
part of the formal structure of the sentence,
the year of publication appears in
parentheses following the identification of
the authors. Consider the following
example:
Wirth and Mitchell (1994) found that although
there was a reduction in insulin dosage over
a period of two weeks in the treatment
condition compared to the control condition,
the difference was not statistically
significant.
In-Text Citations (Cont.)
Another example:
Reviews of research on religion and health
have concluded that at least some types of
religious behaviors are related to higher
levels of physical and mental health
(Gartner, Larson, & Allen, 1991; Koenig,
1990; Levin & Vanderpool, 1991).
In-Text Citations (Cont.)
When a source that has two authors is cited, both
authors are included every time the source is cited.
When a source that has three, four, or five authors is
cited, all authors are included the first time the
source is cited. When that source is cited again, the
first author's surname and "et al." are used.
Consider the following example: Reviews of research
on religion and health have concluded that at least
some types of religious behaviors are related to
higher levels of physical and mental health (Payne,
Bergin, Bielema, & Jenkins, 1991).
Payne et al. (1991) showed that ...
In-Text Citations (Cont.)
When a source that has six or more
authors is cited, the first author's
surname and "et al." are used
every time the source is cited
(including the first time).
In-Text Citations (Cont.)
Every effort should be made to cite only
sources that you have actually read. When
it is necessary to cite a source that you
have not read that is cited in a source that
you have read, use the following format for
the text citation and list only the source you
have read in the References list:
Grayson (as cited in Murzynski & Degelman,
1996) identified four components of body
language that were related to judgments of
vulnerability.
Other In-Text Citation Rules

When using quotations in text, you must
use the citation, and list the page
number.
Example #1: “Mary had a little lamb”
(Jones, 1989, p. 3).
Example #2: Jones (1989) found that
“Mary had a little lamb” (p. 311).
Other In-Text Citation Rules
“Block quotes”
A quotation of fewer than 40 words should be
enclosed in double quotation marks and
should be incorporated into the formal
structure of the sentence.
Example:
Patients receiving prayer had "less
congestive heart failure, required less
diuretic and antibiotic therapy, had fewer
episodes of pneumonia, and were less
frequently intubated and ventilated" (Byrd,
1988, p. 829).

Other In-Text Citation Rules

“Block quotes”
A.
A lengthier quotation of 40 or more
words should appear (without
quotation marks) apart from the
surrounding text, in block format, with
each line indented five spaces from
the left margin.
Other In-Text Citation Rules
Example of a block quote:
Bowie & Dabbs (2003) made the following
observation regarding primary care to poor
workers:
Another important barrier to accessing and
utilizing primary health care is lack of
insurance. As the numbers of uninsured
have grown, employment-related health
insurance coverage for workers continues to
decline. Only 29% of poor workers were
covered by employer-related insurance in
1993. (p. 233)
Other In-Text Citation Rules
Example of the same block quote, stated another
way:
Previous observations were made in the literature
regarding primary care to poor workers:
Another important barrier to accessing and
utilizing primary health care is lack of
insurance. As the numbers of uninsured
have grown, employment-related health
insurance coverage for workers continues to
decline. Only 29% of poor workers were
covered by employer-related insurance in
1993. (Bowie & Dabbs, 2003, p. 233)
Other In-Text Citation Rules

Reproduce a quote exactly. If there are
errors, introduce the word sic italicized and
bracketed--for example [sic]--immediately
after the error to indicate it was part of the
original source.

Use three dots with a space before, between,
and after each (ellipsis points) when omitting
material, four if the omitted material includes
the end of a sentence (with no space before
the first). Do not use dots at the beginning or
end of a quotation unless it is important to
indicate the quotation begins or ends in midsentence.
Other In-Text Citation Rules
Example of the previous block quote, using ellipsis
points to omit material:
Previous observations were made in the literature
regarding primary care to poor workers:
Another important barrier to accessing and
utilizing primary health care is lack of
insurance. As the numbers of uninsured
have grown, employment-related health
insurance coverage for workers continues to
decline. Only 29% of poor workers were
covered… [with health] insurance in 1993.
(Bowie & Dabbs, 2003, p. 233) Note: “by
employer related” was omitted and replaced with
different words in required brackets.
In a recent study of reaction times, Walker
(2000) found no interaction amongst
variables in the cross-sectional data. Walker's
research supports the work of others tudying
similar variables (James & King, 2004;
Salinger, 1999). However, interactions
among variables were identified in the
longitudinal data.
Other In-Text Citation Rules
(Cont.)
Acronyms: When spelling out the name
of an organization or group, spell it out
entirely the first time, then afterward,
use the acronym.
Example: In a government study
(National Institute of Mental Health
[NIMH], 1998), it was found that…
Thereafter: The previously cited study
(NIMH, 1998) found that…

Other In-Text Citation Rules
(Cont.)
Multiple works by the same author:
If citing multiple works by the same
author at the same time, arrange dates
in order. Use letters to distinguish
multiple publications by the same author
in the same year.
Example: Several studies reached the
same conclusion (Johnson, 1988,
1990a, 1990b, 1999) about breast self
examination among African American

Other In-Text Citation Rules
(Cont.)
Personal Communications:
For “unrecoverable data” such as emails,
conversations, and interviews, use
personal communication citations.
Example: The best strategy for parent
training is to use experienced parents
for trainers (J.B. Smith, personal
communication, November 27, 2012).
Note: Personal communication citations
DO NOT appear on the reference page.

Reference Formats
General Reference Rules:
All references cited in the text must
appear in the reference list.
 Each entry in the reference list must be
cited in the text.
 There are different reference formats
for journals, books, edited books,
newspapers, and so forth. The
differences are important!

Abbreviations used in
References








Chap.
ed.
rev. ed.
2nd ed.
Ed.
(Eds.)
Trans.
p.
period
Chapter
Edition
Revised edition
Second edition
Edited by
Multiple editors
Translated by
Page number, with space after
Abbreviations used in
References







pp.
Vol.
vols.
No.
Pt.
Suppl.
Tech. Rep.
Page numbers (plural)
A specific Volume
A work with multiple volumes
Number
Part
Supplement
Technical Report
An important note regarding
the use of “pp.” for page
numbers

Use the abbreviation "pp." for page
numbers in encyclopedia entries, multipage newspaper articles, chapters or
articles in edited books, but not in
journal or magazine article citations,
where numbers alone should be used
(see examples of reference formats).
Rules for Italics (Underlining)



Do not italicize or underline common foreign
abbreviations (vice versa, et al., vis-a-vis).
Do not italicize or underline for mere
emphasis.
Italicize or underline the titles of books and
articles, letters used as statistical symbols,
and volume numbers in reference lists.
A reference list should be
provided at the end of all
papers to assist readers in
identifying and retrieving
sources.
Only include references for
material cited in your paper.
Note that this is what
differentiates a reference
list from a bibliography.
Items in your reference list should be listed
alphabetically by the first author's surname.
The list is double spaced and formatted
using a hanging indent (i.e., the second line
of each item is indented five spaces).
There are five core elements to each listing:
Element One = author
Element Two = year
Element Three = title of article/ chapter
Element Four = name of journal/ book
(Vol/Issue # if scholarly journal)
Element Five = publisher location and name
(page #s if scholarly journal)
Other Reference
Considerations:
-Publisher’s City
-Different works by same
author
-Capitalization
-Italics versus underlining
Reference Examples:

Book:

Pope, R. L., Reynolds, A. L., & Mueller, J. A. (2004).
Multicultural
competence in student affairs. San
Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Edited Book:
Gilligan, C, Lyons, N. P., & Hammer, T. J. (Eds.). (1989).
Making connections: The relational worlds of adolescent
girls at Emma Willard School. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.


* NOTE THAT THE NAME OF THE SCHOOL RETAINS ITS
CAPITALIZATION SINCE IT IS A PROPER NOUN *
Reference Examples:

Chapter in an Edited Book:

McEwen, M. E. (2003). The nature and uses of
theory. In
S. R. Komives, D. B. Woodard, Jr.
CA: Jossey-Bass.
Reference Examples:

Journal Article:

Boatwright, K. J., & Egidio, R. K. (2003).
Psychological predictors of college
women's leadership aspirations.
Journal of College Student
Development, 44, 653-669.
Reference Examples:

Komives, S. K., Owen Casper, J., Longerbeam, S.
D.,
Mainella, F., & Osteen, L. (2004).
Leadership and dentity development. Concepts &
Connections, 72(3), 1-6. *

*NOTE issue # next to Vol #
Reference Examples:

Newspaper Article:

Coughlin, E. K. (1993, March 24).
Sociologists examine the
complexities of racial and ethnic
identity in America. The Chronicle of
Higher Education, pp. A7-A8.
Reference Examples:

Magazine Article:

Henry, W. A. (1990, April 9). Beyond the
melting pot. Time, 135, 28-31.
Reference Examples:
Websites:


Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic
leadership development: Getting to the roots of
positive forms of leadership. Leadership
Quarterly,
16, 315-338. Retrieved from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescripti
on.c ws_home/620221/description
* NOTE THAT YOU DO NOT END THIS TYPE OF
REFERENCE WITH A PERIOD.
Major Reference Formats for
Term Papers, Theses, and
Dissertations
Books, single author

Miller, G. (1981). City by contract.
Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts
Institute
of Technology.

Mulroy, E.A. (1995). The new uprooted:
Single mothers in urban life.
Westport,
CT: Auburn House.
Books, No Author or Editor Listed

Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary.
(1961). Springfield, MA: G. & C.
Merriam.
Book, Corporate Author,
Edition other than 1st:

American Psychiatric Association.
(1990). Diagnostic and statistical
manual of
mental disorders (3rd ed.).
Washington, DC: Author.
Note: “Author” is used as above when
author
and publisher are
identical.
Books, 3-5 authors

Becker, F., Bowie, S. L., Dluhy, M., &
Topinka, J. (1998). Assessing the
privatization of managing public
housing: Final report. Miami, FL: Florida
International University Institute of
Government.

Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J.
M.
(1995). The craft of research.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Book Chapter in an Edited
Book (Cont.)
Bowie, S.L., Dutton-Stepick, C., &
Stepick, A. (2000). Voices from the
welfare vortex: A descriptive profile
of urban, low-income African American
women on the eve of devolution. In
L.G. Nackerud, & M. Robinson
(Eds.),Early implications of welfare
reform in the southeast (pp. 91-111).
Huntington, NY: Nova Science
Publishers
Journal Articles

Bowie, S. L. (2001). The impact of
privatized management in urban
public housing communities: A
comparative analysis of perceived
crime, neighborhood problems, and
personal safety. Journal of Sociology
and Social Welfare, 28 (4), 67-87.
Anonymous or unknown
author
(Common in Newspapers)

Caffeine linked to mental illness. (1991,
July 13). New York Times, pp.
B13, B15.
Magazine Article

Gardner, H. (1991, December). Do
babies sing a universal song?
Psychology Today, 70-76.
Pamphlet/Brochure

Just Say No Foundation. (1992). Saving
our youth. [Brochure]. Washington,
DC: Author.
Avoid Biased and Pejorative
Language
Generally speaking, avoid writing
anything that will offend anyone
 Do not use ethnic labels (e.g.,
Hispanic), when you can use
geographical labels (e.g, Mexican
Americans)
 Don’t refer to “men” when referring to all
adults, when you can use “men and
women.”

Avoid Biased and Pejorative
Language (Cont.)
Do not use “homosexuals,” when you
can use “gay men and lesbians.”
 Do not use “depressives,” when you can
use “people with depression.”

Avoid Biased and Pejorative
Language (Cont.)
Correct use of the terms “gender” and
“sex”
 The term “gender” refers to culture and
should be used when referring to men
and women as social groups.
 The term “sex” refers to biology and
should be used when biological
distinctions are emphasized (e.g., “sex
differences in hormone production.”)
Be Sensitive to Labels
Persons in clinical studies are
“patients,” not “cases.”
 Avoid equating people with their
conditions. For instance, do not say
“schizophrenics,” say “people
diagnosed with schizophrenia.”
 Use the term, “sexual orientation,” not
sexual preference.”

Use of Ethnic Terminology in Writing

In racial references, the manual simply
recommends that we respect current
usage. Currently both the terms "Black"
and "African American" are widely
accepted, while "Negro" and "AfroAmerican" are not. These things
change, so use common sense.
Use of Ethnic Terminology in Writing

Capitalize Black and White when the
words are used as proper nouns to refer
to social groups. Do not use color words
for other ethnic groups. The manual
specifies that hyphens should not be
used in multiword names such as Asian
American or African American.
Use of Age Terminology in Writing

In referring to age, be specific about
age ranges; avoid open-ended
definitions like "under 16" or "over 65."
Avoid the term elderly. Older person is
preferred. Boy and Girl are acceptable
referring to high school and and
younger. For persons 18 and older use
men and women.
This Concludes the APA
Style Workshop
Questions?