Writing in APA Style
A Guide to Style and Citations for
the 6th Edition
Original presentation created by Laura Burrows, former Writing Center Consultant
APA 6 th Edition
• About $30
• MAJOR CHANGES
• new ethics guidance
• new journal article reporting standards
• simplified heading style
• updated guidelines for reducing bias
• new guidelines for reporting inferential
statistics
• significantly revised table of statistical
abbreviations
• new instruction on using supplemental
files
• expanded content on the electronic
presentation of data
• expanded discussion of electronic
sources emphasizing the role of the
digital object identifier (DOI)
• expanded discussion of the publication
process
“Rules of Thumb” - FORMAT
Page setup
Style
Mechanics
• 1” on every side of the document
• Double-spaced; no extra spaces between paragraphs (new Word must be adjusted!)
• 12 pt font
• TWO spaces follow punctuation
• Avoid colloquial expressions
• Avoid the use of second person “you”
• Avoid biased language (see “General Guidelines for Reducing Bias,” APA Manual 6th
edition, p. 71-76)
• Use active rather than passive voice
• Select tense carefully
• Be careful about subject-verb agreement
• See APA Manual 6th edition Chapters 3 and 4 for APA preferred standards
Empirical Reports vs.
Literature Reviews
Empirical Reports:
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Literature Reviews:
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* Indicates a new section/page and requires a level 1 heading.
Order of Pages
Title Page
Abstract
Body
References
Appendices
Footnotes
Tables
Figure Captions
Figures
Title Page
 Running head
 Now included in the header
NOTE: This means that the
Running head appears on
EVERY PAGE OF THE PAPER!
Type “Running head”
 a colon
 then an abbreviated version of the
title in all caps
 No more than 50 characters, spaces
included
 Title
 Concise statement of main topic
 Fully explanatory on its own
 Author Name(s)
 Omit titles (Dr., Professor) and
degrees (PhD, EdD, MD, etc.)
 Institutional Affiliation
 If none, list city and state of residency
 Author Note (if applicable)
The Author Note
Should appear on the first page below title, byline, institutional affiliation
 First paragraph: Complete departmental affiliation
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 Second paragraph: Changes of affiliation (if any)
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 Third paragraph: Acknowledgements
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 Fourth paragraph: Contact info
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American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
The Abstract
A good abstract should be accurate, non-evaluative, coherent and readable, and concise
Empirical Study Abstract
should describe…
Literature Review Abstract
should describe…
For more types of abstracts, see APA Manual
6th edition, p. 27.
American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Introduction
The introduction should:
 Explore importance of the problem
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 Describe relevant scholarship
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 State hypotheses and research design
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American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Methods Section
The Methods section should:
 Describe in detail how the study was conducted
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 Identify subsections
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 Describe participant characteristics
 Describe sampling procedures
 Describe sample size, power, and precision
 Describe measures and covariates
 Specify research design
 Describe experimental manipulations/interventions
American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Results Section
The Results section should:
 Give statistics and data analysis
 Give baseline data
American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Discussion Section
The Discussion section should:
 Examine, interpret, and qualify results and draw inferences and conclusions
from results
 Should take into account:
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 Consider:
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American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Header Levels
These have changed!
Level One is Centered, Bold, Uppercase and Lowercase
Level Two is Flush Left, Bold, Uppercase and Lowercase
Level Three is Indented, bold, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a
period. The paragraph follows.
Level Four is indented, bold, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a
period. The paragraph follows.
Level Five is indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. The
paragraph follows.
Good news! Now, you will follow the pattern of levels from the top down: if you have one level,
use Level 1; if you have two levels, use Levels 1 and 2; and so on.
American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association.
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association
In-Text Citations
No more
than 25
percent of
your paper
should be
direct
quotations.
Paraphrase
as much as
you can.
Use direct
quotations
when citing
a statistic
or original
theory.
Use an
author's
words if
they
capture a
point
exactly.
Avoiding Plagiarism
Plagiarism is…
…using someone else’s
words or ideas as though they
were your own.
…deliberately stealing
someone’s work.
…paying someone to write a
paper.
…a serious offense.
When to Cite
You DO need to
cite:
You DON’T need
to cite:
Common Knowledge vs.
Unique Ideas
Don’t need to cite:
 Ideas widely believed to be true.
 Folklore, stories, songs, or saying
without an author but
commonly known.
 Quotations widely known and
used.
 Information shared by most
scholars in your discipline.
 WHEN IN DOUBT…
CITE!
In-text Citation Methods
APA Citations require the following…
Author
name
Publication
Date
Page
numbers
• Surname (e.g., Smith)
• Exclude titles (PhD, M.D.) and suffixes (Jr.,
III)
• Year only
• For direct quotes only
Types of Citations
Direct Quoting
Paraphrasing
Parenthetical Citations
One
Author
Two
Authors
Three to
five
authors
Six or
more
authors
Eight or
more
authors
(Stroop,
1935)
(Strafford & Gurney,
2004)
First citation:
(Risko, Stolz, &
Besner, 2005)
(Smith et
al., 2004)*
Subsequent
citations: (Risko
et al., 2005)
* In the references page,
list up to seven authors
First six authors’
names, three ellipses,
last author’s name
Gilbert, McClernon, Rabinovich,
Sugai, Plath, Asgaard,…Botros,
(2004).
As Part of a Narrative
One author
Stroop (1935)
Two authors
Strafford and Gurney
(2004)
Three to five
authors
First citation:
Risko, Stolz,
and Besner
(2005)
Six or more
authors
Smith et al.
(2004)
Subsequent citations:
(Risko et al., 2005)*
Exceptions & Special Cases
When two
works with
three or more
authors shorten
to the same
abbreviation, use
enough authors
to distinguish
between them.
• (Smith, Jones, & Madson,
2004) and (Smith,
Johnson, & Jones, 2004)
• Shorten to: (Smith,
Jones, et al., 2004) and
(Smith, Johnson, et al.,
2004)
• DO NOT change
the order of the
authors! They must
be represented as
they are credited in
the study.
• (Smith, 2005a) and
(Smith, 2005b)
• Works will be listed
When two
as they appear in the
different works
reference pages
have the same
author and the
same year:
When two
different
authors have
the same
surname:
• (A. Smith, 2005) and
(C. D. Smith, 1995)
• Even if the date of
publication differs,
distinguish between
the two authors by
including first initials
When Page Numbers Are Not
Available
If paragraph numbers are
visible (numbered), use
them in place of page
numbers.
If the document includes
headings and neither paragraph
nor page numbers are visible,
cite the heading and the
number of the paragraph
following it.
When headings are too
unwieldy to cite in full, use a
short title enclosed in
quotation marks.
• (Anderson & Jones, 2007, para. 5)
• (Anderson & Jones, 2008, Discussion section,
para. 2)
• (Anderson & Jones, 2008, “Common
Symptoms,” para. 1)
• (Full heading is “Common Symptoms of
Ailments Such as the Stomach Flu”)
More Citation Rules
Multiple studies in one
citation
 By the same author:
•
One author cited multiple
times in one paragraph
 If there is no possibility of confusion,
only cite the year in the first citation*
 By multiple authors:
•
If one citation is more significant, it may
be listed first, with a phrase such as
“see also” inserted to separate the
others: (Zimmerman, 1993; see also
Branch, 1980; Smith, 2001)
Citation Rules, Continued
 Anonymous Authors
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 Unknown Authors
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 Group as Author
 When a group or corporation has a long name and a common or easily
understood abbreviation:
 First citation: (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2000)
 Subsequent citations: (NIMH, 2000)
Citation Rules, Continued
 Personal Communications
(i.e. letters, interviews, memos, emails, telephone conversations, etc.)
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 Writing Tip: Note that the first initials ARE used for personal
communication
 Note: do not include personal communications in the reference list
 Unknown Date
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Citing Web Pages
 In-text citation of web-based material follows the same rules :
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 Direct quotes of web-based documents:
Websites have no page numbers!
 Cite the paragraph number if possible:
 Cite the sub-section and paragraph number if possible:
 Note: when a web-based source is printed, the top of the page will include a number
for the purpose of printing, i.e. “1 of 3.” These are NOT the page numbers of the
document and should not be cited as such.
Block Quotes
 Required for quotes longer than 40
words
 Inset by two tab spaces (or one inch)
on both the right and the left.
 Double-Spaced
 When a quotation is indented in this
way, quotation marks are not needed.
 Usually, quotations longer than four
lines require block quote formatting.
(Author, date, p. #)
Reference List: Basics
 Reference lists should be alphabetized by the
last name of the first authors listed.
 Remember, you can not change the order of
authors within the study!
 Nothing precedes something:
Green, E. C. (2000).
Greene, B. A. (1994).
Harrison, M. R. (2004).
Harrison, M. R., & Blake, C. D. (2001)
NOTE:
First Initials ARE used on the Reference
page!
The DOI: Digital Object
Identifier
 The DOI is like a social security number for a source. It is meant to help
readers find the exact source you are referencing.
 All DOI numbers begin with a 10 and contain a prefix and a suffix separated
by a slash.
 If the source has a DOI, cite it after the rest of the citation is finished:
 Brownlie, D. Toward effective poster presentations: An annotated
bibliography. European Journal of Marketing, 41(11/12), 1245-1283.
doi:10.1108/03090560710821161
Reference List, Continued
Multiple works by the same author:
One author: arrange chronologically
• Blake, B. R. (1990)
• Blake, B. R. (1993)
One author, same year: order by title
• Blair, S. M. (2000a). Care and feeding…
• Blair, S. M. (2000b). Observations…
Common Reference Entries
 Book
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 Book with editor
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 Journal paginated by volume
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 Journal paginated by issue
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Journal Pagination:
Volume or Issue?
Paginated by volume
Some journals begin each issue where the
last left off:
 These journals are paginated by
volume, and do not require the issue
number in the reference citations
Paginated by issue
Journals whose issues each begin on page
one require the issue number in the
reference page to specify the issue in
which an article appears:
 [An article listed in volume 23, page
189, would not tell a reader which
issue contained the article]
Online References
 Article From an Online Periodical
Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial visual reactions [Electronic version]. Journal
of Experimental Psychology, 121(1), 15-23.
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no print version
 Article from a Database
Holliday, R. E., & Hayes, B. K. (2001, January). Dissociating automatic and intentional processes
in children’s eyewitness memory. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 75(1), 1-5.
Retrieved February 21, 2001, from Expanded Academic ASAP database (A59317927).
 Non-Periodical Web Document
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 Chovil, I. (n.d.). What is schizophrenia? Retrieved November 6, 2005, from
http://www.chovil.com/first.html
 Keep them in this order!
When no DOI is included and the URL is given, a retrieved date is needed unless the
source material may change over time (e.g., wikis)
Misc. References
 Encyclopedia Entries
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 Newspaper Articles
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193-215.
Contact Information
 Michael Frizell, Writing Center Director
 michaelfrizell@missouristate.edu
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 Writing Center
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 Supplemental Instruction
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