American Psychological
Association (APA)
Formatting Guidelines
Basics (Section 8.03)

APA provides the standard guidelines for
the social sciences.
Basic paper format:
 Times New Roman, 12-point font (preferred)
 Double spaced throughout
 One-inch margins on all sides
 Flush-left alignment (not justified)
 Page header (Running head) should be a
half-inch from top
Title page (Sections 2.01 & 8.03)

Header should read “Running head:” followed
by shortened title in capitals, followed by the
page number:
Running head: PRIMARY EDUCATION
1
The running head must be no more than 50
characters (including spaces and punctuation)
 Full title (12 or fewer words) should be
centered in the upper half of the page
 Title is followed by name, professor, course and
due date

Abstracts (section 2.04)
When required, an abstract should be
placed on the page immediately following
the title page.
The abstract should
◦ Indicate the thesis and main points of
the paper
◦ Touch on the “conclusions” or
“implications” of the research
◦ Not be indented on the first line
Important aspects of an abstract

“Accurate & Comprehensive”
◦ Purpose & content

“Nonevaluative”
◦ Report only; do not respond

“Coherent & Readable”
◦ Be clear
◦ Use verbs instead of adjectives
◦ Use active voice

“Concise” (generally 150 – 250)
Introductions (section 2.05)
Introductions are meant to identify a particular problem
and inform readers about the research methodology
used to examine that problem.
Introductions should
◦ Identify why the problem is worthy of (further)
research
◦ Identify any pertinent scholarship
◦ Identify any relevant background information
◦ State the thesis (the stance of the paper)
Introductions should not be labeled as such
Short quotations—fewer than 40 words
(Section 6.03)
When using short quotations, follow the author, date, pagenumber model:
◦ Smith (2007) states that “Students often have difficulty
using APA style” (p. 123).
If the author is not named in a signal phrase, place the
author's last name, the year of publication, and the page
number in parentheses after the quotation:
◦ Some have indicated that “Students often have difficulty
using APA style” (Smith, 2007, p. 123).
Exception to the usual order:
◦ In 2007, Smith’s study indicates that "Students often
have difficulty using APA style" (p. 123), but she does not
offer an explanation as to why.
Citing non-paginated material
(Section 6.05)
If indicated, provide paragraph number in place of
page number:
◦ Smith (2007) states that “Students often have
difficulty using APA style” (para. 3).
In cases where paragraphs are not numbered,
indicate section heading followed by paragraph
number:
◦ (Smith, 2007, Conclusions section, para. 4)
If heading is long, provide a shortened version
◦ (“The Problems with Limited,” para. 3)
Long quotations—40 words or more
(Section 6.03)
Introduce the information
 Set off in a “freestanding block”
 Indent left margin 5 spaces (same as for a
new paragraph)
 Double space
 Parenthetical citation should follow the
ending punctuation

Example long quotation
Sutton-Smith and Rosenberg (2003) offer this
perspective:
On a more obvious level, younger mothers
tend to have more stamina and energy than
older ones. One speculation is that they are
also more anxious and uncertain about their
“child-rearing procedures,” and that this has
an effect of producing anxiety in their children.
(p. 138)
It seems safe to assume, then, that the third child
of a twenty-eight year old woman. . .
Plagiarism & paraphrasing
(Section 6.01)

Writers cannot claim the words OR ideas
of another as their own.

Quotation marks indicate the exact words
of the author.

Each time you paraphrase another author
(put his or her ideas in your own words or
summarize a passage), you must credit the
source in the text.
In-text citations for paraphrased
material (Section 6.04)
When paraphrasing, follow the author, date
guideline:
Smith (2007) found that children who excel in
school are less likely to experience psychological
problems later in life.
 One study (2007) indicated that there is a
correlation between academic progress in
children and psychological problems in later life
(Smith).
 Some have indicated a relationship between
psychological problems and early school
performance (Smith, 2007).

However
While paraphrased material requires only author
and year of publication in your in-text
reference, APA guidelines state that “you are
encouraged to provide a page or paragraph
number, especially when it would help an
interested reader locate the relevant passage in
a long or complex text” (p. 171).

APA style is a difficult citation format for firsttime learners (Jones, 1998, p. 199).
Multiple authors (Section 6.12 & Table 6.1)
“Precede the final name in a multiple-author citation
in running text by the word and. In parenthetical
material, in tables and captions, and in the reference
list, join the names by an ampersand (&)” (175).
Three to five authors:
 List all authors in first in-text reference
 List only first author’s name, followed by “et al.” in
subsequent in-text citations
Six or more authors:
 List only first author’s name, followed by “et al.”
for first and subsequent in-text citations.
Note: In the reference list, “give surnames and initials of
up to and including seven authors” (184—Sect. 6.27)
Notable exceptions (Section 6.16)
Two or more works in the same parenthetical, list
alphabetically and separate by a semicolon:
◦ (Adams, 2007; Barnes, 2007)
For multiple works published by the same author in
the same year, add suffixes a, b, c, etc.
◦ As Smith (2007a) says . . .
Note:These letters should correspond to the alphabetical order of
those works as listed in the reference list.
Another notable exception
(Section 6.17)
Citing an indirect source:
◦ Name the original source in your signal phrase
◦ List the secondary source in your reference list
◦ Include the secondary source in the parentheses

Johnson argued that . . . (as cited in Smith, 2003,
p. 102).
Note: According to the APA Manual (2010), indirect citations
should only be used “when the original work is out of print,
unavailable through usual sources, or not available in
English” (p. 178).
More notable exceptions
(Section 6.15)
When no author is given for the source, include a shortened
version of the title and the year. (A book’s title is italicized;
an article’s title is placed in quotation marks):
◦ The employment profiles for this time period
substantiated this trend (Federal Employment, 2001, p.
123).
◦ The studies required that all participants be over 18
(“Conducting a Test,” 1999, p. 12).
Note: In place of the author’s last name, use Anonymous when the
work’s author is listed as such (in both in-text citations and
reference lists).
When no date is given for the source, use the abbreviation
“n.d.”:
◦ (Smith, n.d., p. 199)
Reference list (Sections 6.22 ff.)
Purpose

To provide more detail so that readers may easily
find the sources cited in the paper
Page Format

New page should
◦ Be continuously paginated with the rest of the
document
◦ Be double spaced
◦ Include the running head
◦ Include the word “References” centered on the first
line
Reference entries
Individual entries

Must be alphabetized by author’s last name.
◦ If no author is provided, list the source
alphabetically by title: “Obama’s Views on
Education” would be listed by “O”; “Clinton’s
Health Care Plan” would be listed by “C.”

Must begin at the left margin and use a “hanging
indent” for all following lines of that entry. A
“hanging indent” means that each subsequent line
of the entry is indented 1 tab (5 spaces).
Note: See Section 6.29 for the specific rules for
capitalization of journal, article, and book titles.
Writing style (Section 3.05 ff.)
Avoid the following
“Wordiness”
 “Colloquial expressions”
 Biased terminology
 Avoid singular gender pronouns (he/she)

 Use plural
 Articles such as “the”
 Replace with “person,” “individual,” etc.
Use active instead of passive voice.


Active: The nursing student wrote the paper.
Passive: The paper was written by the nursing student.