APA Format Guidelines Crib sheets Examples
and Nuances
By Dr. Kenneth B. Hunt
I have tried to bring together a list of resources/guidelines for APA format. Although I don't expect to hold students to a very rigid standard for APA format, you do have to know the general outlines of the format and how to implement it. The following electronic sources will be useful to you. (Remember, the web pages come and go. If you click on something and it won't load, it may no longer be an active site or the problem may be as simple as someone turning off their computer because they're going home.)
The University of Phoenix has collected material on
APA and other style guidelines.
This is available at https://ecampus.phoenix.edu/formslogin.asp
The following sources were taken from some
terrific web pages.
APA
Guide to Writing Research Papers: http://webster.commnet.edu/apa/apa_index.htm
APA website devoted to APA style: http://psywww.com/resource/apacrib.htm
APA Publication Manual Crib Sheet: http://www.wooster.edu/psychology/apa-crib.html
Citing Electronic Sources in APA Style: http://www.westwords.com/guffey/apa.html
APA Format Information Page http://www.bettycjung.net/Apainfo.htm
APA Model Paper http://www.ipfw.edu/casa/WC/handouts/APA5thed.pdf
More Guidelines from my Alma Mater,
http://www.waldenu.edu/acad-rsrcs/writing-center/apaasylum.html
Ten Common APA and Walden Form and Style Nuances
1. Font: Use a 12-point serif font, such as Garamond, Times Roman, Palatino, or New Courier. Titles, headings, and table titles and copy should also appear in the same 12-point type.
2. Spacing: Double-space all copy, except the reference list and block quotes. Per APA, you should only insert one space after a period, although Walden allows a double space after a period.
3. Margins and page numbers: All margins should be 1" from the edge of the paper. Page numbers go in the upper right corner, 1" down and 1" in from the edge of the paper. The first line of text should start 1.5" down. (Note: MS Word defaults the first line of text at 1".)
4. Italics: Either italics or underlines are permitted; be consistent throughout the document. (Use underlines, not italics, for Courier type.) APA does not allow bold type except in tables and figures.
5. Punctuation: The APA nuance most commonly missed by students is that in a series of three or more nouns or noun phrases, you must insert a comma before the word and or or, as in the following examples: bacon, lettuce, and tomato; Tom, Dick, or Harry; eating lunch, going to the gym, and then going home. Use a semicolon to combine two independent clauses or to separate elements of a list that contain a comma, as in the past example. Add an apostrophe + s for possessives of names: Smith's; Jones's. Most prefixes are not hyphenated: semistructured, nondenominational, multimedia, antisocial.
6. Capitalization: Job titles are not capitalized unless immediately preceding a person's name: the superintendent, but Superintendent Williams; the president of the school board; President Agnew. Use a lowercase letter after a colon unless introducing a complete sentence.
7. Lists (Seriation): Within a paragraph, list items using (a), (b), (c), and so on. In a vertical list, use numbers and periods, as in these examples: The teachers identified three challenges: (a) teaching hungry children, (b) making do with outdated books, and (c) organizational bureaucracy. In a vertical list, the items would be listed like this:
1. Teaching hungry children.
2.
Making do with outdated books. Notice that if this one were to
continue on more than one line, you'd go back to the left margin, and double
space it, like this.
3. Organizational
bureaucracy.
8. Numbers (APA 3.42-3.45) and percentages: The rules for numbers are tricky and should be studied. In general, numbers 10 and higher appear as numerals; nine and lower are written out. There are exceptions: elements of time, distance, ratios, and percentages always appear as numerals, unless at the start of a sentence. Use a percentage sign unless at the start of a sentence: It was chosen by 6% of the respondents. But: Six percent chose Wheaties.
9. Use respectful language: Chapter 2 in the APA manual presents important information on language use with respect to gender, race, disabilities, and so forth. Avoid the generic pronouns he and she, or he/she, when possible, by using they: Wrong: When a teacher has a bad day, she feels like screaming. Better: When teachers have a bad day, they feel like screaming.
10. Tables and figures: Sections 3.62-3.86 are critical to your accurate and persuasive portrayal of data. Read through these sections when developing tables and figures in your papers and reports.
Quick Guide to Citing Sources in APA Style
While the APA manual may look overwhelming to you when you first start using it, remember that nearly everything you need to know can be found in three sections of the manual.
Formatting in-text citations can be found on pages 117-122 and 207-214.
The gist of what you need to know for references lists can be found in the examples on pages 215-268.
Instructions
and examples for citing electronic sources, especially Web sources,
can be found on pages 268-281 or at this Web site:
http://www.apastyle.org
Walden has a few preferences over strict APA style when
readability is improved: block quotes should be single-spaced, and the reference
list entries should be single-spaced with a hanging indent and a double space
between each entry.
Formatting In-text Citations
These basic rules relate to in-text citations.
1. Use the author/date system. Be careful with your punctuation. Gould's (1995) analysis was later challenged by others (Duncan, 1997; Evans, 1998).
2. Do not plagiarize. Just changing a couple of words or rearranging a sentence isn't paraphrasing. For direct quotes, you must identify the page number of the original source. For paraphrases, you are strongly encouraged to do so.
Original of Latham (1998): Luxury boxes and other amenities aimed at affluent fans are one way to attract new revenue to a stadium, but the public dollars that fund them benefit only the privileged classes, not the common good.
Plagiarism: Luxury boxes and other amenities aimed at rich fans are a way to get new revenue at a stadium. However, the public monies that fund them benefit only the wealthy--and not the common good (Latham, 1998).
Paraphrased: Latham (1998) observed that spending public dollars on comforts enjoyed solely by wealthy fans is not in the overall public interest (p. 432).
3.
When directly quoting a source of 40 or more consecutive words, format the
quote in block form. The final punctuation comes before the parenthetical
element. (APA 3.34)
If this were a direct quote, I'd indent about five spaces on the left. It's
43 words, which is why it is formatted in block form. The final period is
placed before the parenthetical element, not after it as in the Latham examples.
(Rachmaninoff, 1936, p. 3)
4. List authors in groups of different sources in alphabetical order by first listed author's surname. Separate groups with semicolons. (e.g., Hart, 1998; Iksic & Holmes, 1995; Melnick, Ek, & Fazio, 1996). (APA 3.99)
5. "Et al." should not be used the first time a work is cited unless that work has six or more authors. For works with fewer than six authors, list all authors in the first citation, then use the surname of the first author and "et al." and the year in subsequent references. Be careful with the punctuation. Usually there's no comma between the author and et al. As noted earlier, Melnick et al. (1996) suggested that. . . .
6. With two or more authors in a parenthetical citation, use "&" rather than "and" before the last author. Stein and Hernandez (1995) but other authors (Gomez & O'Hara, 1995). . . .
