APA Style:
The Essentials
Mike Neal
Notes on Academic Writing
Plagiarism is using someone else’s work as your own
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Entire work (buy or download a paper)
A unique point or material
Unquoted direct quote of > 5 words even if cited
Credibility
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Academic sources (e.g., Google Scholar, no Wikipedia)
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Grammar, spelling, APA errors should be zero—yes, zero!
Interesting and well-written
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Free of grammar, spelling mistakes, correct and expansive word
choices
Paraphrasing and
Summarizing
Paraphrasing is rewriting material in your own words
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It does not change the need to give credit to the source in a
citation.
Summarizing is used to describe a point or collection of ideas
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Again, the actual words used to describe another’s work
dictate how you cite (i.e., use of quotes or not).
A common style issue is using too many quotations in a paper.
The fewer direct quotes the better. Your paper will also read
better with your own writing style paraphrasing and summarizing
other material.
Common APA Writing Errors
Use past tense to discuss any outside literature.
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Neal and Shaw (2005) observed the research was flawed.
Avoid contractions.
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Generally, in formal academic writing, contractions are not used.
Don’t, wouldn’t, and can’t should be: do not, would not, and
cannot.
Ensure that all paragraphs contain at least three sentences.
More Common Errors
Avoid anthropomorphic language where you give a living
attribute to a nonhuman.
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The paper said it was a correct conclusion.
When making a list, it is necessary to include a comma after
all items.
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Example: The students enjoyed lectures, homework, and
vacations.
Do not use semi-colons to separate items in a list unless the
items themselves contain commas.
Do not use the word this or that without identifying the
source.
 For example, “That was inappropriate.” would be better stated
as “His abusive language was inappropriate.”
Still More Common Errors
Agreement: Each pronoun must agree in number (singular or plural) and
gender (male, female, or neutral for the third-person singular) with the
noun, noun phrase, or pronoun to which it refers.
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“A college student should not worry about grades if their papers are
written according to expectations” is better written as “A college student
should not worry about grades if his or her papers are written according
to expectations.”
Numbers less than two digits must be written out unless they are before a
unit of measure.
• Three papers were submitted.
• There are 65 students in the class.
• There were 6 grams in the beaker.
Data are plural. Datum is singular.
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For example: The data show a positive correlation. The datum is an
indicator of fever.
Formatting
The abstract, paper body, and references are double-spaced.
Five levels of headings (normally use 1 or 2)
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Level One Heading is Bold, Centered, and Title Case.
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Level Two Heading is Bold, Left Justified, and Title Case.
Style guidelines for tables, figures, citations, references
Citations
A citation is a method to inform the reader of the source of an idea or
quote in your paper.
Only list the author(s) and not the titles of the work within the body of
the paper.
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There is a vast difference between beetle species (Nixon, 2006).
Use quotation marks when using three or more consecutive words from
a source. Then add the page number to the reference.
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“It is critical to consider beetle species” (Nixon, 2006, p. 6).
For parenthetical citations (i.e., inside parenthesis), use the & symbol in
lieu of the word and. Outside of parentheses, use the word and.
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The analysis was too complex (Shaw & Neal, 2010).
Shaw and Neal (2010) advocated that the analysis was complex.
Shaw and Neal then described the approach in a better way.
The second use of a citation in a single paragraph drops the date!
Citations (2)
Page or paragraph numbers must be used for direct quotes. When page
numbers do not exist (e.g., an electronic web page), then the paragraph
number should be used.
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(Shaw, 2009, p. 12) or (Shaw, 2009, pp. 2-4) or (Shaw, 2009, para. 12).
When citing three to five authors, list the last names the first time the
work is cited and then cite the first author with “et al.” in subsequent
citations.
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First use: (Shaw, Neal, & Jones, 2009)
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Subsequent uses: (Shaw et al., 2009)
When citing six or more authors, simply list the last name of the first
author and et al. every time.
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Shaw et al. (1978) described the method of citing many authors.
Citations (3)
The closing punctuation should appear after the parenthetical citation
when outside sources are paraphrased or direct quotes shorter than 40
words are used.
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A citation is needed to give others credit for their work (Shaw & Neal, 2010).
When an organization or group is listed as the author, spell out the full title
of the organization and then abbreviate subsequent citations.
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United States Department of Education (USDoE) (2005).
When citing personal communications or interviews, it is not necessary to
include in the references. A parenthetical citation in the body will suffice.
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(M.E. Shaw, personal communication, January 8, 2010).
When citing multiple sources, alphabetize those within the parentheses.
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(Shaw & Neal, 2006; Walters, 2008; Zapalta, 2001).
Citations (4)
When a quote has 40 words or more, make a block quote. You can
highlight the quote in Word to find the word count.
1. Indent from the left, no starting paragraph indent.
2. Cite source in leading sentence before quote with date (date if first time
in paragraph).
3. End lead-in sentence with a colon.
4. No quotation marks used.
5. Put page number after quote.
6. Punctuation BEFORE date in parenthesis.
7. Double space.
Citations (5)
Teacher certification is complex. However, addressing qualified teacher
shortages by accelerating certification is possible. Neal and Shaw (2012)
outlined a process:
Results demonstrated that alternative certification programs are an
effective method of recruiting teachers in hard-to-fill subject areas,
particularly those content areas with the most critical shortages.
Nontraditional teacher certification programs provide a fast-track route
into the classroom for individuals seeking a career in education and
reduce teacher shortages by recruiting a significant number of teachers
into the profession in subject shortage areas. (p. 32)
References
In addition to in-text citations, it is critical to include a
reference page(s) with a list of all cited material.
Use hanging indention in references.
Double-space all entries!
Format all hyperlinks so they appear in black font with no
underline.
Capitalize only the first word of a title, proper nouns, and a
word after a colon or terminal punctuation.
Italicize book titles and journal titles.
References (cont.)
References are listed in alphabetical order by last name of
the first author.
ALERT: A common error is to forget a comma before the &
when two authors are listed in a reference.
Be sure to include the author(s), date, title, publisher or
journal in the reference.
Use the digital object identifier (DOI) whenever available for
electronic sources.
Websites are complex…
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Refer to Purdue OWL and compose site depending on
information availability (e.g., author, date, title)
References (handout)
Book
Alessi, S. M., & Trollip, S. R. (2001). Multimedia for learning: Methods and
development. London, U.K.: Allyn & Bacon.
Book with multiple editions
Curzon, S. C. (2005). Managing change: A how-to-do-it manual for librarians
(10th ed.). New York, NY: Neal-Schuman Publishing.
An eBook (Kindle, Nook, etc.)
Shaw, M. E., & Neal, M. (2010). Essentials of APA formatting and style. [Kindle DX
Version]. Retrieved from Amazon.com.
A Journal Article
Wittkopf, B. (2003). Recreating the credit course in an online environment. Reference
&
User Services Quarterly, 43(1), 18-22.
Tables: The Basics
Tables are used when tabular data displays are best to communicate
results.
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Do not make a table if several sentences can convey the same results.
Layout is important to enhance readability.
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Tables need to be clear and concise.
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Generally, vertical lines are not used in a table. Horizontal lines are
used sparingly and primarily for column names and totals separation.
A table has its number listed above it (Table 1) with a numeric value.
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Table 1 is plain text (i.e., no bold or italics) and left justified.
A space is skipped, and the table title is shown in title case and italics.
The title should be brief but descriptive.
A note is provided below the table for clarification, statistical values for
quantitative analyses (e.g. p < .001), and citations. Abbreviations are
described in a note.
Tables: Example 1
Tables: Example 2
Figures: The Basics
Figures are used to provide clarity and additional information.
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A spatial aspect differentiates them from tables.
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A good figure can provide clarity to a complex concept or set of data.
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Types include graphs, pictures, charts, and maps.
Quality of appearance is important
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Clean lines, readable fonts
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If multiple figures are used, care should be made to ensure similar
style color usage, fonts, and sizing.
It is essential to obtain written permission if the figure (e.g., a
photograph) is from an outside source.
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As with written material, ensure you provide proper citations for
material that is not original to this paper.
Put Figure 1: in italics under the figure
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Title should be brief but descriptive. Do not use italics. Use sentence
case
Figure Example
Additional Resources
You can find a Microsoft Word template at
www.perfectpunctuation.com for free.
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Template has MS Word Paragraph Styles for headings and references with
examples for each section and layout
Site has a sample APA formatted paper
The American Psychological Association (APA) Style Website
provides excellent tutorials. This site can be found at
http://www.apastyle.org/. Facebook APA Style. Blog
at:.http://blog.apastyle.org/ for social media examples.
Purdue University has an excellent online writing lab (OWL) located at
http://www.purdueowl.edu
Table examples http://people.oregonstate.edu/~acock