APA at a Glance
A guide to in-text and reference
citation methods
By Laura Burrows, Tutor &
Michael Frizell, Director
Empirical vs. Literature Review
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Empirical Reports:
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–
–
–
–
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*Title Page
*Abstract
*Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
*References
*Appendicies
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Literature Reviews:
– A literature review
follows APA citation
style only
– Most still use a cover
page
– Some professors may
request an abstract
– They will include a
reference page
*indicates section begins a new page. Each section listed requires a
level-one heading.
Title Page

Header: Right-hand corner, 1-3
words, capitalization rules apply
– Page number: five spaces from
text of header

Running head: Actually type the
words “Running head,” followed
by a colon, then an abbreviated
version of the title in all caps
– No more than 50 characters,
spaces included
Title
 Author
 Institution

APA Page Setup - Headers
Headers appear at the top
right-hand side of every page,
including the title page.
Example:
Biology and Personality
12
Order of Pages:
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Title Page
Abstract
Body
References
Appendixes
Footnotes
Tables
Figure Captions
Figures
Levels
LEVEL FIVE IS CENTERED AND CAPSLOCKED
Level One is Centered and Capitalized
Level Two is Centered and Capitalized
Level Three is Left-Aligned and Capitalized
Level four is tabbed once from the left and punctuated.
Order of Level Use

Despite their numbering, Levels are not used in order. Which levels
are used depends on the total number in the section. Levels appear
in this order:
–
–
–
–
For a paper with only one level, use Level 1.
For a paper with two levels, use Level 1 and Level 3.
For a paper with three levels, use Level 1, Level 3, and Level 4.
For a paper with four levels, use Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4,
respectively.
– For a paper with all five levels, Level 5 appears first, followed by Level
1, Level 2, Level 3, and Level 4.
APA Page Setup - Margins

1” on every
side of the
document.

Microsoft
Word default
is 1.25” for
left and right
margins.
– Use Page Setup under the
File menu to change
margin settings.
APA Page Setup - Spacing
Spacing is double from
the beginning of the
paper to the end,
including headings,
quotations, and the
References list.
 One space follows all
punctuation, do not space
after internal periods in
abbreviations (i.e., a.m.)
or after a colon in a
ration (i.e., 2:1)
 12 point font

As a General Rule…
 Active
voice: As
a general rule, use
the active voice
rather than the
passive voice. For
example, use "We
predicted that ..."
rather than "It was
predicted that ..."
APA Style – In-Text Citations
Ideally, 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 author's words if
they capture a point
exactly.

In-Text Citation Methods

APA citations require the following:
– Author(s) surname (excluding titles, Jr., or II)
– Year of Publications
– Page number (for direct quotes)
Types of Citations

Direct Quotes
– Participants had demonstrated
“words can be successfully
ignored if the task conditions
are right” (Strafford & Gurney,
2004, p. 977).
– Stroop (1935) noted there
commonly occurred a “sex
difference in naming colors”
(p. 21).

Paraphrasing
– Some studies have suggested
reading may not be an
automatic process (Strafford &
Gurney, 2004).
– Stroop (1935) examined
potential factors for the
different reaction times his
participants exhibited.
Number of Authors
Parenthetical Citations:

One author:
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–
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(Smith et al., 2004)*
* In the reference page, list up to six
authors, and use ‘et al.’ after the
sixth
Strafford and Gurney (2004)
Three to five authors:
–
–

Stroop (1935)
Two authors:
–
First citation: (Risko, Stolz, & Besner,
2005)
Subsequent citations: (Risko et al.,
2005)
Six or more authors:
One author:
–
(Strafford & Gurney, 2004)
Three to five authors:
–

(Stroop, 1935)
Two authors:
–
As part of narrative:
First citation: Risko, Stolz, and Besner
(2005)
Subsequent citations: (Risko et al.,
2005)**
Six or more authors:
–
Smith et al. (2004)
** It doesn’t matter if the first citation
is parenthetical or part of the narrative;
any subsequent citations, parenthetical
or otherwise, will be listed with the ‘et
al.’ abbreviation.
Exceptions and Special Cases

When two works with three or
more authors shorten to the same
abbreviation, use enough authors
to distinguish between them:

– (Smith, 2005a) and (Smith,
2005b)
– (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.
When two different works have
the same author and the same
year:
 Works will be listed as they
appear in the reference pages

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
More Citation Rules
Multiple Studies in one
Citation:
 By the same author:
– Order by year of
publication:
 (Skinner, 1966, 1981)

By multiple authors:
– Order as references appear
in Reference* page:
 (Branch, 1980; Carlson,
2001; Todd & Morris,
2005)

One author cited
multiple times in one
paragraph:
If there is no possibility of
confusion, only cite the
year in the first citation*
*Once a new paragraph
begins, the study must be
fully cited again
*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, cont’d…

Anonymous authors:
– Cite with ‘anonymous’ as
author:
 (Anonymous, 1994)

Unknown authors:
– Cite the first few words of the
title, along with the year:
 For articles or chapters, use
quotes: (“Cognitive
dissonance,” 2004)
 For titles of periodicals,
books, brochures or reports,
use italics: (Psychology,
2005)

Personal communications (i.e.
letters, interviews, memos,
emails, telephone
conversations, etc.):
– (A. F. Butan, personal
communication, October 25,
2005)
 Note: do not include personal
communications in the
reference list
Citation Rules, cont’d…

Groups as Authors:
– 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)

Unknown date:
– Cite with abbreviation
“n.d.” for works with
no known publication
date:
 (Samson, n.d.)
Citing Web Pages

The in-text citation of webbased material follows the
same rules of citation of other
materials:
– If no author, use the first few
words of title: (“Chimps,”
2005).
– If no date, use the
abbreviation “n.d.” : (Johnson,
n.d.)

Direct quotes of web-based
documents:
– Since websites do not include
page numbers, cite the
paragraph number if possible:
 (Kirby, 2004, para. 5)
– Cite the sub-section and
paragraph number if possible:
 (“Snakes,” n.d., Care and
Feeding section, para. 4)
 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.
Reference List

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)

Multiple works by 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…
Samples of Common Types of
Reference Entries:

Book:
Gravetter, F. J., & Forzano, L. B. (2005). Research methods for the
behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson.

Journal paginated by volume:
Risko, E. F., Stolz, J. A., & Besner, D. (2005). Basic processes in reading:
Is visual word recognition obligatory? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review,
12, 119-124.

Journal paginated by issue:
Schmidt, J. R., & Cheesman, J. (2005). Dissociating stimulus-stimulus and
response-response effects in the Stroop task. Canadian Journal of
Experimental Psychology, 59(2), 132-138.
Journal Pagination: Volume or
Issue?
Paginated by Volume

Periodic journals which publish
volumes per year differ in the
way they paginate the
individual issues. Some
journals begin each issue
where the last left off:
– Volume 1, issue 1: page 1-200
– Volume 1, issue 2: page 201400
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:
– Volume 23, issue 1: page 1205
– Volume 23, issue 2: page 1300
[An article listed in volume 23,
page 189, would not tell a
reader which issue contained
the article]
More common reference list
entries:

Book with an editor:
Plath, S. (2000). The unabridged journals (K. V. Kukil, Ed.). New York:
Anchor.

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.
(Note: if there is no print version available, include date of access and URL after the issue:
Retrieved July 5, 2005, from http://www... Use the exact URL of the article if possible,
unless you have retrieved an article from a newspaper’s site (i.e., www.newyorktimes.com)
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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).
Reference Entries, cont’d…

Non-periodical web document
– List as many as possible of the following, in this order:





Author’s name
Date of publication (use “n.d.” if no date is known or available)
Title of the document in italics
Date of access
URL directly to the source
Chovil, I. (n.d.). What is schizophrenia? Retrieved November 6, 2005, from
http://www.chovil.com/first.html
If there is no author, use the title as the author, followed by the date
in parenthesis.
Reference Entries, cont’d…

Encyclopedia Entries:
– Glickman, H. (1994). Occupational safety and health administration
(OSHA). In World book encyclopedia (Vol. 14, pp. 647-648). Chicago:
World Book.
– Occupational therapy. (1994). In World book encyclopedia (Vol. 14, p.
648). Chicago: World Book.

Newspaper articles:
– Schwartz, J. (1993), September 30). Obesity affects economic, social
status. The Washington Post, pp. A1, A4.
A complete list of types of sources, cross-referenced to examples, can be
found in the APA publication manual on pages 232-239.