APA Format
Saad Aldossary
apa_6th_edition.pdf
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UMKC Writing Studio 816.235.1146
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6411American Psychological Association
APA Style .
What is APA?
Formatting standards set up by the American Psychological Association and used within the field of psychology but also used by other disciplines (e.g., education, social sciences, business, health fields)
An approach to research and presenting research
A formatting style that mirrors the research cultures of the disciplines using it by emphasizing certain elements, such as publication dates, section headings, and summary over direct quotation
Rules for how your paper looks on the page and how to give credit for the sources used in your essay
Organizing and Formatting your Paper APA provides guidelines for how to organize and format your paper, including the following:
How numbers should look in your essay, such as when numbers should be spelled out versus written as numerals, how to write out decimal fractions, and the style to use for metric units
When to italicize, bold, and capitalize titles
How to display data in a table, graph, or chart
How to include in-text citations and how to construct a reference page
How to organize your paper into sections and by titles/subtitles
When to directly quote from a source versus when to summarize or paraphrase
Do not be afraid to reference the APA manual when formatting your paper!!
APA suggests the following standards:
12 point, Times New
Roman for
body of
paper
12 point, Arial for
figure labels
Apply one inch margins around
the entire paper
Use a 1/2 inch
indention
for each
paragraph
Double space all
lines,
including
quotations
Use two spaces after
concluding
punctuation
marks
Use left justification, not
full justification
Use only white 8
1/2 by 11
inch paper
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Main Sections of an APA Paper Common sections include: Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Method, Results, Discussion, References, and
Appendices. Ask your professor which specific sections are required for your assignment. The first page is the
Title Page and should look like this:
The second page is the Abstract and should look like this:
SHORT TITLE ALL CAPS IN HEADER 2
Abstract
A brief (150-250 words), comprehensive, summary of all the points of your essay. Should
be accurate, nonevaluative, coherent and readable. Needs to cover all your points and your
conclusion. Even if your professor does not require an abstract, it would be good practice to
write one to get your ideas organized, and doing so will save you time in the future if you
decide to submit your essay to a conference or publication.
Running head: SHORT TITLE ALL CAPS IN HEADER 1
Full Title of Paper: Sentence Case, Centered Left to Right
Name of Author
Author’s Affiliation
Author Note
Author note with more information about affiliation, research grants, conflict
of interest and how to contact. Most students will not need an author’s note.
Ask your professor or consult the APA handbook.
No more than 50 characters
Full title is centered and positioned in upper half of the page
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Methods
This study uses two types of information gathering
to conduct experiments.
First Type: Sand Collecting
The first type of method used was the sand
collecting method.
Part one of the sand collecting method. This
part included collecting sand and putting it into giant
buckets to be sorted by grain size.
Part two of the sand collecting method. This
part included…
I. Methods
a. First Type
i. Part One
ii. Part Two
b. Second Type
i. Part One
ii. Part Two
II. Results
Heading Levels Each section heading is formatted according to its level. There are five levels:
Level of Heading Formatting of Heading
1 Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
2 Flush Left, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
3 Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. Begin
body text after period (i.e., don’t push “ENTER”).
4 Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.
Begin body text after period (i.e., don’t push “ENTER”).
5 Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. Begin body
text after period (i.e., don’t push “ENTER”).
Use levels consecutively, meaning that, if your paper has three levels, use levels 1, 2, and 3. A three-level paper
might include a Method (level 1) section in which two types of methods are used (both types would be level 2),
and each type has two parts used to describe it (level 3). Think of it like an outline:
Citing Sources To “document” means to tell the reader the source of any material a writer uses in writing his or her essay.
Material needing documentation includes facts, statistical data, and ideas as well as the words used to express
such information. Writers need to document, or cite, sources whether or not they are using the exact words of
the original. If using any of the exact words (even just a phrase), writers need to put quotation marks around
those words in addition to citing the source. Failure to use quotation marks appropriately constitutes plagiarism.
APA style requires writers to place the author’s last name, year of publication, and page number in parentheses
immediately after a quotation or the author’s last name and year of publication before the quotation and the
page number afterwards. The type of source determines the formatting of the source in your paper: (see next
page)
level 1
Outline How it would look on the page
level 1
level 2
level 3
level 1
level 2
level 3
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When referring to a study As Kessler (2003) found in his study… Early onset of the disease is worse (Kessler, 2003).
When quoting directly / paraphrasing specific info Harrison (1990) argues that participation in combat units is essential for women who
wish to advance in the military (p. 114).
However, “this book does not replace the Publication Manual” (Szuchman, 1999, p. 4), and writers who are serious about their writing should own both.
When referring to two or more studies o List in parentheses alphabetically by authors’ last name
Training materials are available (Gogel, 1990; Smith, 2001).
When there are two authors for one source o Use both authors’ last names EACH time you quote
As Kurtines and Szapocznik (2003) demonstrate… (Kurtines & Szapocznik, 2003)
When there are three to five authors for one source o Cite all authors first time, first author and et al. afterwards
Kisangau, Lyaruu, Hosea, and Joseph (2007) argue… Kisangau et al. (2007) argue…
When there are six or more authors o Cite only first author and et al. first time and afterwards
Secondary source Allport’s diary (as cited in Nicholson, 2003)…
When using a group author o First time, write out name; afterwards abbreviate
According to the American Psychological Association (2009) (APA, 2009)
No author o Use double quote marks around title of article, chapter, or web page and italicize title of
periodical, book, report, or brochure
…on free care (“Study Finds,” 2007). In the book College Bound Seniors (2008)…
Websites often do not have authors or page numbers o If paragraph numbers are available
(Smith, 1999, para. 3) o If paragraph numbers are not available, use heading and the number of paragraphs following it
In their study, Verbunt, Pernot, and Smeets (2008) found that “cockroaches are gross” (Discussion section, para. 2).
Constructing a Reference Page
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Add as much info as print sources in the same order Add the “Digital Object Identifier” (DOI)
o A number assigned to every website once it’s made available online o Typically located on first page of electronic journal article, near copyright notice; also on the
database landing page for article
If DOI is available, do not need URL
Organizing your Reference Page After a writer arranges the information in the proper format, the entries are listed in alphabetical order by
author. When there is no author, alphabetize by title. The works references page should look similar to this:
Article or chapter author (publication date). Title of
article or chapter. Book editors, Book title
(page numbers). Publishing City: Publishing
Company.
Browning, E. (1997). Aurora Leigh. In P. Feldman
(Ed.), British women poets of the romantic
era (pp. 225-305). Baltimore: John Hopkins
University Press.
Author’s name. (publication year). Title (edition).
Publishing City: Publishing Company.
Fields, R. (1991). The code of the warrior. New
York: Harper.
Book with One Author
Book with Multiple Authors
Author’s name and other author’s name. (publication
year). Title (edition). Publishing City:
Publishing Company.
Mydans, C., & Mydans, S. (1968). The violent peace:
A report on wars in the postwar world (6 th
ed.).
New York: Athenaeum.
An Article in a Collection or a Chapter
Article from a Newspaper
uAuthor’s name. (publication date). Title of article.
Periodical title, page numbers.
O’Harra, D. (2003, May 11). Stranded whale struggles
to survive. Anchorage Daily News, pp. B4, B8-
B10.
Scholarly Journal
Author’s Name. (publication date). Title of article. Title
of the Journal, volume number (issue number),
page numbers.
Wolcott, W. (1987). Establishing writing center
workshops. Writing Center Journal, 7(2), 45-50.
Template
Example
Work on a Website
Author’s name. (publication date). Title of the article.
Title of the Journal, volume number (issue
number), page numbers. doi:
Herbst-Damm, K. L., & Kulik, J. A. (2005). Volunteer
support, marital status, and the survival times of
terminally ill patients. Health Psychology,
24(2), 225-229. doi:10.1037/0278-
6133.24.2.225
Author’s name. (publication date). Title of the site.
Retrieved from URL
Shotton, M. A. (1998). Computer addiction? A study of
computer dependency. Retrieved from
http://www.ebookstore.tandf.co.uk.asp
Article from Magazine
Author’s name (publication date). Title of the article.
Periodical title, volume number, page numbers.
Ryback, T. (2003, May). Hitler’s forgotten library. The
Atlantic Monthly, 300, 84-87.
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For more information
http://apastyle.org/ for more info about APA style and manuals
http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/index.htm for a tutorial about APA Style
http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/whatsnew/index.htm for a tutorial about the changes from the APA 5
th edition to the APA 6
th edition (starting July 2009)
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/ for APA explanations and examples
Consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 6 th
Edition, available at the
Writing Center and Miller Nichol’s Library
DIAGNOSIS OF SAND 12
References
Herbst-Damm, K. L., & Kulik, J. A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and the
survival times of terminally ill patients. Health Psychology, 24(2), 225-229.
doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225
Stranded whale struggles to survive (2003, May 11). Anchorage Daily News, pp. B4,
B8-B10.
