APA Style establishes standards of written
communication concerning:
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the organization of content
writing style
citing references
and how to prepare a manuscript for publication in
certain disciplines.
The resource I sent you, revised according to the 6th
edition of the APA manual, offers examples for the
general format of APA research papers, in-text
citations, and the reference page.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01
For best information, consult the Publication Manual
of the American Psychological Association, 6th
edition or www.apastyle.org.
The header consists of a shortened title (50
characters maximum) in all capital letters at
the left margin and the page number at the
right margin.
On the title page only, the shortened title is
preceded by the words “Running head” and
a colon.
Full title, writer’s name, and school is halfway
down the page and centered.
Author’s note lists information about the
course and can provide contact information.
On the first line, center the word “Abstract”
(no bold, italics, or underlining).
Beginning with the next line (no indent), write
a concise summary of the key points of your
paper (150-250 words).
Single paragraph double-spaced.
Exercise example did not spell out the words
Food and Drug Administration followed by
abbreviation in parentheses (FDA).
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Typeface Times New Roman 12-point font.
Double space between all text lines of paper,
references, and figure captions. Single
spacing is allowed in tables or figures.
Margins—1 in. at top, bottom, left, and right
of every page. Use flush-left style—do not
justify lines.
Indent first line of every paragraph. Use the
tab key set at five to seven spaces, or ½ in.
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Indent first paragraph.
1980s—no apostrophe
Then (indicates time); than (indicates
comparison—more, less, better, etc.)
Numbers—use numerals to express
numbers 10 and above and words to
express numbers below 10 (12 million, not
twelve million).
Avoid gendered pronouns and use of “his or
her,” “his/her”
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Body-mass index (BMI)
Beginning of paper sets up the organization
of paper by posing four questions.
Final sentence states thesis of paper.
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Section heading is centered and bolded.
Indent first paragraph
“tobacco use” (Carmona, 2004, p. 3). Note position of
period.
“underlying psychopathology” (p. 592).
Think of the citation parentheses as being part of the
sentence—that will help you remember to place closing
punctuation after the parentheses.
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Its is a possessive pronoun; it’s used only as
contraction of “it is”
1990s—no apostrophe
(Yanovski & Yanovski, 2002, p. 592). Use an
ampersand to link the names of authors in
parentheses.
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(Hoppin & Taveras, 2004, Weight-Loss
Drugs section, para. 6).
When an electronic source lacks page
numbers, you should try to include
information that will help readers find the
passage being cited. When the source has
numbered paragraphs, use the abbreviation
“para.” followed by the paragraph number.
If the document includes headings, provide
the appropriate heading and specify the
paragraph under that heading.
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Spell out entire words the first time an
abbreviated source is cited, and put abbreviation
in parentheses
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
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Citing source with 3-5 authors, list all authors
the first time you cite the source.
(McDuffie, Calis, Uwaifo, Sebring, & Yanovski, 2002, p.
642). Then use first author’s name followed by et al.
for subsequent citations (McDuffie et al., 2002).
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Two authors—name both authors in the signal
phrase or in the parentheses each time.
Six or more authors—use the first author’s name
followed by et al. in the signal phrase and
citation parentheses.
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If authors’ names used in the signal phrase,
you don’t include them in the citation
parentheses:
. . . researchers Berkowitz, Wadden, Tershakovec,
and Cronquist (2003) . . .
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Direct quotes that are 40 words or longer—
use free standing block of lines and omit
quotation marks. Start quotation on a new
line indented ½ in. from the left.
… food advertising for children as well as
a reduction in physical education classes and
after-school athletic programs, an increase in
the availability of sodas and snacks in public
schools, the growth in the number of fast-food
outlets, and the increasing number of highly
processed high-calorie and high-fat grocery
products. (p. 1)
Note that in this case, the parenthetical citation
comes after the closing punctuation mark of
the quote.
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Start on a new page.
The word References is centered, not bolded
(not Reference List).
List is alphabetized by authors’ last names.
All authors names are inverted—last name,
initials.
Hanging indent--First line of an entry is at
the left margin—subsequent lines are
indented at ½ in.
Double space throughout.
Hoppin, A. G., & Taveras, E. M. (2004, June 25).
Assessment and management of childhood
and adolescent obesity. Clinical Update.
Italicize journal title. Retrieved from
http://www.medscapte.com/article/481633
McDuffie, J. R., Calis, K. A., Uwaifo, G. I., Sebring,
N. G., & Yanovski, J. A. (2002). Three-month
tolerability of orlistat in adolescents with
obesity-related comorbid conditions. Article
title not italicized. Obesity Research, 10, 642650. Journal title and volume number
italicized.
Berkowitz, R. I., Wadden, T. A., Tershakovec, A. M., &
Cronquist, J. L. Comma after last initial, ampersand
before last author.(2003). Behavior therapy and
sibutramine for the treatment of adolescent obesity.
Journal of the American Medical Association, 289,
italicize journal volume number, 1805-1812. no pp.
Carmona, R. H. (2004, March 2). The growing epidemic
of childhood obesity. Capitalize only the first word in
the title and first word after a colon. Testimony
before the Subcommittee on Competition, Foreign
Commerce, and Infrastructure of the U.S. Senate
Committee on Commerce, Science, and
Transportation. Retrieved from
http://www.hhs.gov/asl/testify/t040302.html
Crister, G. (2003). Fat land. Boston, MA:
Houghton Mifflin. Use official U.S. Postal
Services abbreviation for states.
Duenwald, M. (2004, January 6). Slim
pickings: Looking beyond ephedra. The New
York Times, p. F1. Insert page number.
Retrieved from http://nytimes.com/
Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. (2004,
February). The role of media in childhood
obesity. Italicize title. Retrieved from
http://www.kff.org/entmedia/7030.cfm