APA
FORMATTING
& STYLE
El Dorado High School
Spring 2016
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed..Retrieved
from: http://www.apastyle.org
WHAT IS APA?
American Psychological Association (APA) is largely used to document sources in the
social sciences and business. It is sometimes called the author-date style because it uses the
author ‘s (s’) last name(s) and the date of the publication as a primary citation indicator.
The Purdue OWL http://owl.english.purdue.edu
.
APA regulates:
• Stylistics
• In-text citations
• References
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th
ed..Retrieved from: http://www.apastyle.org
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL
ASSOCIATION (APA)
Why is citing important?
• Citing enables the reader(s) to find the source.
• Addresses any concerns of academic dishonesty
• Helps the writer avoid problems of poor scholarship
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
(APA)
• What do I need to cite?
•
•
Direct quotations:
The word for word use of an author’s work.
•
Reproduction must include grammatical or
syntax(sentence word arrangement) errors found in
original work.
•
Additional example:
Ruiz(2014) uncovered the following
chilling revelation within the investigation:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX. (p. 123)
•
Any direct quotation that may exceed 40 words should
be included by indenting the proceeding line ½ inch
from the left margin, omitting quotation marks, and
closing the quote with your citation in parenthesis,
following the closing period for the quote.
Example:
The suspect in the case uttered the following
chilling revelation to the investigators:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
XXXXXXXX. (Ruiz, 2014, p. 123)
•
Additionally: Images (drawings/ photographs),
data, and music
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL
ASSOCIATION (APA)
What do I need to cite?
Paraphrases:
•
Do not just change the wording of the original text, also seek to change the structure of the original passage.
•
Your reader should be able to distinguish where the paraphrase text begins and ends.
•
Moreover, distinct words or phrase from the original text must be put in quotation marks
Example:
Burns, J.M & Peltason, J.W. (1963). Government by the People: The Dynamics of American National Government
( 6th ed.). New York, NY: Prentice-Hall.
From text:
Were the delegates an inspired group of men who cast aside all thoughts of self-interest? Were they motivated by
the desire to save the Union or by the desire to save themselves?
Your paraphrase:
Sample One:
Burns and Peltason (1963) highlight the conflict the delegates may have faced among themselves to focus on
altruistic goals versus the benefit to the Union or themselves (p. 54).
Sample Two:
The representatives struggled with the aims of unselfishly preserving the Union versus the idea of individual
benefit (Burns and Peltason, 1963, p.54).
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
(APA)
What do I need to cite?
Summaries:
• Wider overview of material to be referenced than when paraphrasing.
EXAMPLES OF PLAGIARISM
Copying and pasting text from a website.
Copying and pasting a graphic element from a website.
Copying materials from books or magazines.
Copying someone's spoken words.
Copying a unique or distinctive phrase.
Changing the wording of a source slightly and not citing the source.
Buying or using an paper written by someone else.
Taking another person’s ideas and acting as though they are yours.
Copying someone’s computer program.
Including artwork or music in a project without getting permission or citing the source.
Writing a paper for Mr. Serrato’s class and using it again for Mr. Ruiz’ class; known as “
self-plagiarism”,(American Psychological Association, 2010).
Remember: You can use other people’s work in your own work as long as you give
credit to the original author.
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
(APA)
You may have been told in the past that if you use information that comes
from an encyclopedia and/or a dictionary you do not have to cite this
because it is common knowledge.
MAYBE?
What is common knowledge?
Information that is easily observed: Her eyes are green, but no detailed
information as to why they are green.
Commonly reported facts: President Obama is the President of the United
States, but not the information that researchers and/or journalists have to say
about President Obama.
A common saying such as a proverb: “ Look before you leap.”
Remember: Common knowledge does not need to be cited, but be sure that
what you are using really is common knowledge. When in doubt ask.
WHAT SHOULD APA LOOK LIKE IN MY PAPER?
In accordance with the citing and referencing requirements established by the
American Psychological Association’s publication manual (2010), you must cite
a text with the author’s or authors’ last name(s) followed by the date of
publication.
-Blah blah blah blah (Ruiz & Melin, 2013).
-According to Ruiz and Melin (2013), blah blah blah…
When citing from a particular page or pages add p. or pp. with the page
number(s) (APA, 2010).
-Blah blah blah blah (Ruiz & Melin, 2013, p. 90)
-Ruiz and Melin (2013) reported that blah blah blah (pp.90-92).
AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION
(APA)
Helpful hints for lead–ins to your in-text citations:
•
Introduce your quotations and select paraphrasing with signal (word) phrases:
Some examples:
Ruiz(2014) concluded that “…”(p.34).
According to Ruiz(2014),”…”(p.34).
Ruiz(2014) argued that “…”(p.34).
•
Additional signal verbs to consider: Reported, concluded, acknowledged, maintained, responded,
etc.
•
Remember:
that APA requires you to use the past or present perfect tense of verbs in signal phrases.
WHAT SHOULD APA LOOK LIKE IN MY PAPER?
When quoting, introduce the quotation with a signal phrase. Make sure to include the
author’s name, the year of publication, the page number, but keep the citation brief—
do not repeat the information (APA, 2010).
•
Serrato (2014) states that a positive IB experience usually requires an“active, immersive desire to
challenge what one perceives as one’s academic frontiers ”(p.96).
•
A positive IB experience usually requires an “ active, immersive desire to challenge what one
perceives as one’s academic frontiers” (Serrato, 2014, p. 96).
When formatting a summary or paraphrase, include the author’s name in a signal
phrase followed by the year of publication in parenthesis (APA, 2010).
•
In recent times, the long held support for Keynesian economics has been suggestively revised by
Ruiz et al. (2014), Melin (2014), and Ledesma and Serrato (2014) to consider the negative impact
of mixed economy externalities.
WHAT SHOULD APA LOOK LIKE IN MY PAPER?
When citing a work with two authors, use “and” in between authors’name in the
signal phrase yet “&” between their names in parenthesis (APA, 2010).
According to political researchers Ruiz and Ledesma (2014), “It is no longer true to claim that significant
student political apathy leads to low voter turnout” (p. 100).
Some political researchers question that “ low voter turnout may not have roots in student political apathy, as
once believed” (Ruiz & Ledesma, 2014, p. 100).
When citing a work with three to five authors, identify all authors in the signal phrase
or in parenthesis (APA, 2010).
Ruiz, Serrato, and Melin (2014)
(Ruiz, Serrato, & Melin, 2014)
In subsequent citations, only use the first author's last name followed by "et al." in the
signal phrase or in parentheses(APA, 2010).
Ruiz et al. ( 2014)
(Ruiz et al., 2014)
WHAT SHOULD APA LOOK LIKE IN MY PAPER?
When citing a work with six and more authors, identify the first author’s name
followed by “et al.”(APA, 2010).
Ruiz et al. (2014) maintained that….
(Ruiz et al., 2014)
Recap and Review:
The Latin phrase, et al., is an abbreviated meaning for, “ and others.” It is used to shorten lists
of author names in text citations to make repeated referencing shorter and simpler (APA, 2010).
Number of authors
One or two
First text citation (either narrative or Subsequent text citations
parenthetical)
(all)
Narrative: Ruiz and Melin, 2014
Ruiz & Melin, 2014
Parenthetical: Ruiz & Melin, 2014
Three, four, or five
Ruiz, Serrato, Ledesma, & Melin, 2014 Ruiz et al., 2014
Six or more
Ruiz et al., 2014
Ruiz et al., 2014
WHAT SHOULD APA LOOK LIKE IN MY PAPER?
Government institutions and business groups frequently author their documents with
the name of their organization. Use the name of agency/corporate author as you would
any individual author (APA, 2010, pp. 176-177)
• Blah blah blah (Verizon, 2014).
• (Food and Drug Administration, 2014). Subsequent application: (FDA, 2014).
Some organizations have well-known abbreviated titles. Your first citation for this
source should be in parenthesis, then you may use only the abbreviation in later
citations.
•
•
Finding by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) revealed…
FBI experts determined…
WHAT SHOULD APA LOOK LIKE IN MY PAPER?
When no author for an article or a web page can be determined or found, you may use a
shortened version of the title in quotation marks. Additionally, if the author of a written
piece has been designated as, “ Anonymous,” you may cite your text with the same followed
by the standard citation format (APA, 2010, pp. 176-177).
Example:
Title with no authorGreat sound from the music box.(2014). Retrieved from http://www.music archives.edu
Your citation:
(“ Great sounds,” 2014)
• (Anonymous, 2014)
If an extensive search for a publication date results in negative findings, you may use n.d..
• (Ruiz, n.d.).
WHAT SHOULD APA LOOK LIKE IN MY PAPER?
When citing classical works, APA (2010) considers that any original documents and specific dates
of conception or publication may be difficult or impossible to retrieve. Since most of these works
have been translated at one time or another, cite the year of the translated version that you elected
to use. If the original publication date is known to you, include it into your citation (p. 178).
•
(Sun Zsu, trans, 1980)
•
Lincoln (1863/ 1960)
While you may cite personal communication in your text, do not include these resources in your
reference list. Consider that many of these sources cannot or are not archived: interviews (inperson or telephonic), emails, and messaging/ discussion boards (APA, 2010, p. 179).
F. Ruiz (personal communication, August 12, 2013)
(F. Ruiz, personal communication, August 12, 2013)
Note: Make efforts to provide date as accurately as possible
WHAT SHOULD APA LOOK LIKE IN MY PAPER?
Reference List
Your citations will offer a reader the opportunity to identify and verify the sources relied upon, but the
marginal biographical information found here can only be of reasonable value when coupled with a
properly formatted reference list at the conclusion of your written piece (Turabian,2010). Guided by
your in-text sources, the reference list allows the reader to pinpoint and retrieve each source (APA,
2010, p. 180).
Your reference list should be alphabetized by authors’ last names or by the first word of the title if no
author exists. Do NOT number the source entries.
There are four common elements in APA reference entries: 1.) Author(s) name, 2.) publication date, 3.)
Title, and 4.) publication information (APA, 2010).
Electronic Sources
The APA(2010) recognizes the growth in publishing models as a result of increased electronic
publishing. Uniform resource locators ((URLs) and digital object identifiers (DOIs) facilitate the
prompt retrieval of source information (pp. 188-190).
WHAT SHOULD APA LOOK LIKE IN MY PAPER?
Reference List
The Basics:
The following formats are general layouts you may use to reference your sources (APA, 2010, pp. 198-202).
General reference formats:
Books
Print version:
Author, X.X. (2013). Title of work. Location: Publisher
Electronic version:
Author, X.X. (2013). Title of work. Retrieved from http://www.xxxxxxxxx
Author, X.X. (2013). Title of work. doi: xxxxxxxx
Edited version:
Author, X.X. (Ed.). (2013). Title of work. Location: Publisher
Periodicals
Author, X.X., Author, Y.Y., & Author, Z.Z. (Year, month/date if it applies). Title of article. Title of periodical,
xx, pp.-pp. doi: xx.xxxxxxxxx
•
Remember: The examples in the following slides will serve as brief guides for you into basic referencing
arrangements for a variety of research sources. These examples are by no means all inclusive and we strongly
recommend that you make good use of your APA (6th ed.) publication manual to help you along with specific
variations.
WHAT SHOULD APA LOOK LIKE IN MY PAPER?
Reference List
The Basics:
Textbook
A quick reminder: In APA style the titles of books and journals are italicized; titles of articles are neither italicized nor put in quotation
marks.
Example:
Ruiz, F.(2014). A web of wonders: The story of a child and his pet spiders. New York, NY:
Desert Gator Publishing.
Print Text (Retrieved online)
Example:
Ruiz, F. (2014). A web of wonders: The story of a child and his pet spiders. Retrieved from
http://www.desertgatorpress.org
WHAT SHOULD APA LOOK LIKE IN MY PAPER?
Reference List
The Basics:
Journals and Magazines
Author. (Date). Title: Subtitle. Journal or magazine title, Volume number( issue number), page number(s)
Example:
Serrato, A. O.(2014). The story about a man and his foamy latte . North American Journal on Coffee
Studies, 12(5), 155-157.
Electronic online version from publisher matching printed versions (APA, 2010).
Example:
Serrato, A. O.(2014). The story about a man and his foamy latte [Electronic version]. North American
Journal on Coffee Studies, 12(5), 155-157.
WHAT SHOULD APA LOOK LIKE IN MY PAPER?
Reference List
The Basics:
Journals and Magazines (cont.)
Author. (Date). Title: Subtitle. Journal title, Volume number( issue number), page number(s)
Print journal retrieved online.
Example:
Serrato, A. O.(2014). The story about a man and his foamy latte . North American Journal on Coffee
Studies, 12(5), 155-157. Retrieved August 19, 2013, from http://www.naj.com
Online journal
Example:
Serrato, A. O.(2014). The story about a man and his foamy latte . North American Journal on Coffee
Studies, 12(5), 155-157. Retrieved August 19, 2013, from http://www.naj.com/catalog/worldfile.html
Example with DOI:
Serrato, A. O.(2014). The story about a man and his foamy latte . North American Journal on Coffee
Studies, 12(5), 155-157. doi:10.1013/naj.2013-3445.22.2.334