APA Format
Paper Style and References
Asa H. Gordon Library
Information Literacy
2010
APA Overview
• APA: (American Psychological Association) the
guidelines from the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association
• Used in the Social Sciences, including:
– Sociology
– Business
– Economics
– Nursing
– Criminology
– Social Work
Writing The Paper
• Do not use the first person (I)
• Double-space
• 1-inch margins
• Use only one space after punctuation
Writing The Paper
• Title Page
– title of the paper, the author's name,
and the institutional affiliation.
– page header should contain:
Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER
• Pages after the title page should have
a running head that looks like this:
TITLE OF YOUR PAPER
– Page numbers start on title page
Title Page Format
1
Running head: A SAMPLE PAPER ACCORDING TO THE PUBLICATION MANUAL
A Sample Paper According to the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association,
Your Name
Your Affiliation
Writing the Paper
•
•
Place quotes of less than 40 words in the text with double quotation
marks.
For block quotations (longer than 40 words):
– Omit quotation marks
– Indent each line of the paragraph 5 spaces
– Maintain double spacing
•
If quoting more than one paragraph:
– indent the first line of each paragraph five additional spaces from the left
margin (for a total of ten spaces).
•
•
Direct quotes:
– (author last name, date, p. #-#)
– A page number always immediately follows a quotation, even when
the author and date precede it.
When it is not direct quote:
– (author last name, date)
Reference Page Overview
• Called References
– As opposed to Bibliography,
Works Cited, etc.
• Uses author-date method
– References are listed alpabetically
by author
– Date of publication is listed after
the author(s’) name(s)
Reference Page Overview
• Citations are double spaced
• Hanging indent
• Uses the last name and first
initial of the author
– Example: (Smith, J.)
• For multiple authors, use &
(ampersand), not and
– Example: Smith, J. & Brown, B.
For More Information:
• http://library.savannahstate.edu/
– LibGuide
• “Citing Sources”
– Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)
– Research and Documentation Online--Hacker