Psychology Scientific Journal Article Critique

APA Format

When it comes to formatting, many of you learned to use MLA style in your English courses. Research in

psychology requires the use of APA style (American Psychological Association). It’s not easier nor harder

than MLA, it’s just different.

Watch this video over “What is APA format?”

http://video.about.com/psychology/What-Is-the-APA-Format-.htm

Watch this video over “APA formatting: The Basics”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdAfIqRt60c&list=PL8F43A67F38DE3D5D

Use this link to help you with APA format.

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

Citations in Text of Paper

In APA style, in-text citations are placed within sentences and paragraphs so that it is clear what

information is being quoted or paraphrased and whose information is being cited.

Watch this video over “How to Cite in APA Format”

http://video.about.com/psychology/How-to-Cite-in-APA-Format.htm

Sources/References

 The source MUST be an approved, original, scientific journal article.

 Additional sources (not required, but may be helpful) could be a book, another scientific journal

article, or an internet source

(note: only .org, .gov, & .edu will be accepted…NO .com and NO Wikipedia – or similar websites).

 No references/sources older than 10 years will be accepted.

Any sources listed on the reference page must have been used and cited in the paper itself and all citations in

the paper must be listed on the reference page.

Reference Page

Here are some helpful hints to get you started with APA format in the reference page.

 References are listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last name.

 Double-space the references.

 Use only one space after punctuation, not two spaces.

 The first line of each reference is flush left. Indent the second and subsequent lines for each

reference.

 Do not add extra space between references.

The reference typically includes the following (in this order):

 Author’s last name and first, middle initials. At least one of your sources must have an author

stated. If there is no author listed, begin with the title, followed by the date. You may not use

Wikipedia or a similar source (NO .com websites).

 Date of publication in parentheses (if there is no date, use n.d.).

 Title of document/article. Only the first word is capitalized in the title of the article. Of course,

proper nouns like a name are always capitalized.

 Title of the book or journal (in italics), volume (in italics), number (not in italics), and the page

numbers (not in italics). Use title case for the title of a journal; capitalize only the first word of a title

of a book.

 Date you accessed the source (for an electronic source).

 A URL that will take readers directly to the source (for an electronic source). Note that the URL is

not underlined (do not hit the “enter” key or the “space” key after the URL to prevent the

underline). Be sure URL (web addresses) are listed in black ink.

Watch the following videos for additional help…

APA Formatting: Reference List Basics

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpAOi8-WUY4&index=2&list=PL8F43A67F38DE3D5D

APA Reference Lists: A more detailed explanation

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvIe2McNbYI&list=PL8F43A67F38DE3D5D&index=3

APA Reference List: Complex Authors

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR2ze2oxww4&list=PL8F43A67F38DE3D5D&index=4

APA References: Periodicals

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJiuBJoPAgQ&list=PL8F43A67F38DE3D5D&index=5

APA References: Books

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DwiAB4pIeY&list=PL8F43A67F38DE3D5D&index=6

How to List Book Reference in APA format

http://video.about.com/psychology/How-to-List-Book-Reference-in-APA-Format.htm

How to Cite Electronic Sources in APA Format

http://video.about.com/psychology/How-to-Cite-Electronic-Sources-in-APA-Format.htm

How to Cite Journal and Periodicals in APA Format

http://video.about.com/psychology/How-to-Cite-Journal-and-Periodicals-in-APA-Format.htm

How to make a Reference Page in APA Format

http://video.about.com/psychology/How-to-Make-Reference-Pages-in-APA-Format.htm

How to Write a Title Page in APA Format

http://video.about.com/psychology/How-to-Write-a-Title-Page-in-APA.htm