A User’s Guide to APA 5th Ed. Writing Style and Mechanics

*NOTE TO STUDENTS: USE OF THIS WRITING GUIDE DOES NOT PRECLUDE THE NEED TO REFER TO THE APA PUBLICATION MANUAL.

APA FORMATTING

Set Font:
· Click on Format, Font, then pick an acceptable type face from the list.

· APA recommends the following fonts: Times Roman or Arial..

· Next click on font size and chose your font size.

· I recommend 12 pt if you are using Times Roman, and 11 pt if you are using Arial.

Set Spacing:

· APA requires that the entire paper be double-spaced.

· Click on Format, Paragraph, Set Line Spacing for 2.

· Please do not just hit enter twice at the end of each line of type. If you add or change anything in the paper later, it could mess up all of your spacing.

· The computer will automatically wrap the sentence down to the next line for you. Let it do the work for you. It will make your paper much easier to change later if you need to.

· Only press enter at the end of a paragraph.

Set Margins:

· APA requires 1 inch margins on top, bottom, left and right.

· Click on the FILE, Page Set up. Use the section boxes to make all margins 1 inch. (They should be that way already, as this is the default setting, but check to make sure).

Save Your Paper

· Use the Menu bar (very top bar) to click on File, Save, then type in a name:

· DON’T WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE DONE TO SAVE YOUR PAPER. SAVE IT ON THE VERY FIRST PAGE.

· SAVE YOUR PAPER EVERY 2-5 minutes. It is easy to do. Once you have told the computer the name of the file and where to put it, you can save it every few minutes just by clicking on the disk icon, located on the toolbar.

Set Justification:

· Most of your paper should be left justified, which means the text starts at the left margin.

· Other types of justification you will need are right justification (used in the header) and center justification (used when you want to center a line of text).

· Use the justification buttons on the menu bar to change to different justifications.

The Body of Your Paper

Start the text of your paper on a new page, following the title page.

The title of the paper is repeated on this page, centered and typed in upper and lowercase letters at the top of the page.

The text of the paper begins on the line following the title.

Use the tab key to indent the first line of each paragraph 5 spaces.

APA Style Headings

APA style allows for five levels of headings, although short papers may only use two or three levels. Only very long papers use all five levels. Most Undergraduate student papers use level 1, 2 and 3 headings. Graduate papers will use level 5 for chapter headings, and Levels 1-4 (if needed) for headings within chapters. You will use #1 for Title and #3 for subheadings and #2 for Reference page title.

Heading Level 5                            CENTERED UPPERCASE HEADING
Heading Level 1                   Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
Heading Level 2          Centered, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
Heading Level 3 Flush Left, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Side Heading

Heading Level 4 Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.

APA In-text Citations

In general the following rules apply:

You must cite the author/s and year in the text and make a citation on the reference page if you paraphrase or refer to someone else's work.

You must cite the author/s name, year and page number if you make a direct quote from someone's work and identify the material using quotation marks. For example: "Material directly quoted from another author's work or from one's own previously published work, should be reproduced word for word. Incorporate a short quotation (fewer than 40 words), in text, and enclose the quotation with double quotation marks" (American Psychological Association, 2001, p.117).

While the page number is not required for paraphrased materials, authors are encouraged to include one when it would help an interested reader locate the relevant passage in a long or complex text (American Psychological Association, 2001, p.121).

EXAMPLES OF IN-TEXT CITATIONS

In-text citations include the author's name and date of publication. The page number is required if the cited material is a direct quotation.

Direct Quote Example: As Childs (1981) reports, "the number of people suffering Multiple Personality Disorder continues to grow" (p. 32).

If you are using a direct quote from an electronic source that does not provide pages numbers, use paragraph number. Use the paragraph symbol ( ¶ ) when citing the paragraph number. For instance: As Myers (2000, ¶ 5) stated "positive emotions are both an end ...."

To insert the paragraph symbol using MS Word, place the cursor where you want the symbol, click on insert, symbol, then select the symbol you want.

If the author's name is not given in the signal phrase before the quote or paraphrase, it must be given in the parentheses at the end of the citation.

Paraphrase Example: Mental health workers must be aware that the number of cases of Multiple Personality Disorder continues to grow (Childs, 1981).

In a work with two authors, the names of both authors should be given. (Note the use of the word 'and' in the text version while the '&' symbol is used inside a parenthetical citation.)

Direct Quote Example: According to Smith and Jones (1995), "the study of mathematics is an integral part of secondary education" (p. 11).
Or: Experts assert: "The study of mathematics is an integral part of secondary education" (Smith & Jones, 1995, p. 11).

In a work with three to five authors, use all authors’ names for the first citation. In subsequent citations, use only the first author’s name followed by "et al."

Example: According to educational psychologists, raising children is a responsibility of the entire community (Franklin, Childs, & Smith, 1965). To be successful, "communities must be willing to take this responsibility" (Franklin et al., 1965, p. 135).

When citing more than one source for the same information, a semi-colon is used to separate the references.

Example: Distance from health care providers, lack of transportation, lack of health care providers, lack of information about the disease and various treatment options, poverty and social isolation due to geography are all factors which affect treatment decisions of rural clients (Sullivan, Weinert & Fulton, 1993; Weinert & Burman, 1994).

APA Reference Page Format

General Formatting Information

Start on a new page. Center the word References at the top. As usual, the entire reference section is double space.
Any citations made in the manuscript must be presented in this section and vice versa. That is, if something is not cited in the text, then it should not appear in this section, this is not a bibliography.
In any of the previous sections, whenever you say something like 'studies have shown . . . ' you must provide a citation. This section tells the reader where they can find these citations.
This section is alphabetized by last name (of the first author involved in the study).
Normal indents (i.e., five-space indented) start each reference.
For each author, give the last name followed by a comma and the first (and middle) initials followed by periods.
For articles with more than 6 authors, give the last name and initials of the first 6 authors, followed by et al. (note the period after 'al').
Separate multiple authors with commas and the last author with the ampersand ('&') rather than the word "and".
After the author(s) comes the year (in parentheses and followed by a period).
See the reference section below. It provides several types of references, including: Single and multiple author, journal articles, book, and book chapter, web page, as well as a government document.

Examples of Common* APA Reference Styles (and some uncommon ones mostly used by nursing students)

Publication of a professional Association, no author:

American Psychological Association. (1994). Publication manual of the

      American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Journal Article, pages numbered by issue.

Birney, M. (1991). Psychoneuroimmunology: a holistic framework for the study of

       stress and illness. Holistic Nursing Practice,  5(4), 32-8.

Journal Article, pages numbered by volume.

Herberman, R., & Ortaldo, J. (1981). Natural killer cells: Their role in

     defenses against disease. Science, 14, 24-30.

Article in a special issue section of a regular journal.

Kennedy, S., Kiecolt-Glaser, J., & Glaser, R. (1988). Immunological

     consequences of acute and chronic stressors: Mediating role of interpersonal

     relationships. Special Issue: Stress and health. British Journal of Medical

     Psychology, 61(1), 77-85.

Example of article citation with more than 6 authors:

Lengacher, C., Bennett, M., Gonzales, L., Cox, C., Shons, A., Reington, D., et al. (1998).

Psychoneuroimmunology and immune system link for stress, depression, health behaviors,

and breast cancer. Alternative Health Care Practitioner, 4(2), 1-14.

Book

Janowitz, H. D. (1994). Inflammatory bowel disease: A clinical approach (2nd ed).

     New York, NY:  Oxford University Press.

Edited Book

Phipps, W. J., Cassmeyer, V. C., Sands, J. K., & Lehman, M. K. (Eds.). (1995).

       Medical surgical nursing (5th ed.). St. Louis, MO:  Mosby.

Dictionary

Anderson, K. N. (Ed.) (1994). Mosby's medical, nursing, and allied health

        dictionary (4th ed.). St. Louis, MO:  Mosby.

Published Drug Cards

Albanese, J.A. & Nutz, P. A. (1998). Nursing drug reference and review cards

       (8th ed.). St. Louis, MO:  Mosby.

Article in an edited book.

Locke, S., & Kraus, L. (1982). Modulation of natural killer cell activity

       by life stress and coping ability. In S.Levy (Ed.), Biological Mediators of Behavior

       and Disease: Neoplasia (pp. 3-28). New York: Elsevier.

Published paper from a conference.

Antoni, M., LaPerriere, A., Schneiderman, N., & Fletcher, M. (1991).

       Stress and immunity in individuals at risk for AIDS. 2nd International Society for the

       Investigation of Stress Conference: Stress, immunity and AIDS (1989, Athens, Greece).

       Stress Medicine, 7(1), 35-44.

Reference: Personal Communications: Letters, Interviews, Phone Conversations, e-mail etc.

Because this material is not recoverable (i.e., it is not possible for someone else to obtain it via a literature search or hear it), it should not be listed in the list of References. It can, however, be listed parenthetically within the text. It is extremely important that what is cited in this way be legitimate and have scholarly integrity.

(interview):
(R. Wilbur, personal communication, March 28, 1998)

(phone conversation):
According to Connie May Fowler, the sources for her novel Sugar Cane were largely autobiographical (personal communication, July 22, 1997).

Online Citations

APA has recently changed (July 2001) the way that online citations are to be done. The most current information should be located at the following site.

http ://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html

(While the manual does speak to including the full URL for articles and Web sites when possible, they make a distinction about citing material from databases. Because the URL will change depending on your search parameters; it is not static. Including it, therefore, would not enable the reader to directly locate the article. Therefore, the current recommendation is to cite only by the name of the database, and not include a URL. You can find specific information about this on pages 278-279 (Aggregated databases; example 88).

**i.e. Article is available from a database (ProQuest, EBSCOhost, InfoTrac, OneFile, Cochrane). Retrieval information: Begin with "Retrieved date, from name of database."

Kramer, M. S., McNamara, H., Platt, R., Usher, R. H., & Yang, H. (1999, March). Are all growth-restricted newborns

created equal(ly)? Pediatrics, 103, 599+. Retrieved

May 29, 2002, from EBSCOhost database.

Jacobson, J. W., Mulick, J. A., & Schwartz, A. A. (1995). A history of facilitated

communication: Science, pseudoscience, and antiscience: Science working group on

facilitated communication. American Psychologist, 50, 750-765. Retrieved January

25, 1996, from the Cochrane database.

(Note; Online citations involve citing a path or Internet address, which tell the reader how to obtain the information. This is one instance where you do not end the citation with a period. Just cite the Internet location without any additional punctuation.)

On-line Abstract

Kamei, T., Kumano, H., & Masumura, S. (1997). Changes of immunoregulatory cells

     associated with psychological stress and humor. [On-line].  Perceptual and Motor

     Skills, 84(3), 1296-1298. Abstract from INFOTRIEVE ONLINE File:

     Medline Item: 97373420

Online Journal

Santiago, C., Perez-Piqueras, J., Martinez, D., Colmenarejo, A., Saez, M.,  Vallejo, C.,

     Martos, J.,  & Moreno, M. The Prognostic Significance of Intratumoral Natural Killer Cells in

     Patients with Colorectal Carcinoma. Cancer [On-line]. 79(12).

     Available: http://journals.wiley.com/wil-bin/search

*See APA (2001) pages 215-281 for more information concerning specific styles.

*NOTE TO STUDENTS: USE OF THIS WRITING GUIDE DOES NOT PRECLUDE THE NEED TO REFER TO THE APA PUBLICATION MANUAL.

APA Writing Style and Mechanics: A User’s Guide

Eym A. Student

Cypress College

Registered Nursing Program

Course Number

Date

(Title page information in mixed upper and lower case letters, centered, double-spaced: p. 296)

***(Note that no running head is used; this is a paper... not a manuscript for publication.)

APA Writing Style and Mechanics: A User’s Guide

(Title should be centered on first page of text; text begins on next double-spaced line; p. 296)

Writing in the style prescribed by the American Psychological Association (2001), Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA 5^th), can be a daunting experience for both students and faculty members (Polly Proofreader, personal communication, January 4, 1999). (Personal communications are explained on p. 214 and should not be included on the reference page) Green and Gold (1996) suggest that an additional guide can be helpful, minimizing the need for searching through the sometimes confusing and highly detailed text of APA 5^th. (In text paraphrased citation: If the name of the author appears as part of the narrative then you need to include the year of the publication in parenthesis; p. 207) In this paper, a review of the information most often used by nursing students is presented.

Format Considerations (Level I Heading)

The most common errors students make are in the margins, running head, header, and reference page format (Green & Gold, 1996). (In-text paraphrased citation: Citations that are paraphrased should have the author, year and the punctuation should follow the citation; when a work has no author, cite in text the first words of the reference list entry; p. 207-208) Additional errors noted by faculty include in-text citations of direct quotes or paraphrased material (Maka Mistake, personal communication, September 20, 2001).

Correct Margins (Level 3 Heading)

Margins are required to be one inch equally. That is, if the top and side margins are one inch, the bottom margin must also be one inch on each page of the text. This rule does not apply to the last page of the text, which may end at any point above the one-inch margin. The rule is broken to avoid placing a lone heading on the last line of the page or a single line of text on the top of the next page.

Page Header

The header contains the first two or three words of the title and appears on the third line from the top edge of each page, above the margin, in the right-hand corner, five spaces to the left of the page number. The automatic function of a word-processing program should be used to print the headers and page numbers consecutively in the paper, with 1 appearing on the title page.

Reference Page

The hanging indentation is used for the reference page; that is, the first line of the reference, usually the author’s name, rests against the left margin, and the following lines are indented 5 or 7 spaces or ½ inch. APA (2001) recommends setting the tab key to ½ inch. The reference page is alphabetized by author and contains the date of publication in parentheses, directly after the author’s name. Next, the title, the place of publication, and the name of the publisher are listed. The proliferation of electronic materials has prompted the APA to create formats designed specifically for Internet and web-based written material. Students should frequently visit the APA website at www.apastyle.org for current formatting of references.

Only those references that have been cited in the paper are listed on the reference page. For purposes of demonstration, however, a variety of references are listed on the reference page of this paper, some of which are not cited in the text.

In-Text Citations

Direct quotations. (Level 4 Heading) Direct quotations must mirror exactly the original source, even if errors are contained in the original. To alert the reader that any errors are part of the original material, the word sic, enclosed in brackets and italicized, should follow the erroneous material. The source of information must be cited. The format of direct quotations may vary with the placement of the quoted material in the sentence. The reader is referred to page 121 in the APA 5^th edition.

Quotations of less than 40 words are enclosed in double quotation marks. “Use single quotation marks within double quotation marks to set off material that in the original source was enclosed in double quotation marks” (APA, 2001, p. 119). (In text direct quote citation: These direct quote citations should include the page number – see example on p. 118.) Quotations of 40 words or more are set in a block format without quotation marks. The block quote is started on a new line, indented 5 spaces or 1/2 inch. A sample block quote is contained in this paper.

Paraphrased material. Paraphrasing allows the writer to use the ideas of another, to represent another’s argument, and to give proper credit to the original author or authors (Lawton, Cousineau, & Hillard, 2001). Each time an author is paraphrased, the source must be cited in the text. Page or paragraph numbers are not required for paraphrased material, but APA 5^th edition encourages writers to include them (APA, 2001, p. 121).

Plagiarism. Plagiarism constitutes a serious academic concern. According to Lawton, Cousineau, and Hillard (2001), “academic communities demand that writers credit others for their work, and that the source of their material clearly be acknowledged” (¶ 6). (Electronic source, direct quote, in-text citation: If the electronic source does not have page numbers then the paragraph symbol should be used to indicate location on the electronic page - p. 213.) They further state, “a mark of strong academic writing is the practice of situating one’s claims and findings within a tradition of inquiry into the subject.” (¶ 4). No distinction is made between intentional and unintentional plagiarism. This ethical topic must be taken seriously by all students. As stated by Kant (as cited in Ruggiero, 1997), there is a duty, by all, for moral action. (Citation of work discussed in a secondary source is explained on page 247)

Other Format Issues

Although APA (2001) suggests that an abstract of an article precede the text, an abstract is not used in the short (6 to 10 pages) papers submitted by nursing students. Preferred typefaces in APA style are 12-pt Times New Roman or 12-pt Courier. Writers should avoid using any software settings that reduce spacing between words or letters.

Writing Mechanics

Correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure are essential components of professional writing (Smyth, 1996). Strunk and White (1979) emphasized the importance of being succinct:

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer make all of his sentences short…but that every word tell. (p. 23) (block quote - see page 117 and 118 in APA for example and discussion)

Grammar

“Grammar is a sine qua non of language . . .” (Gordon, 1993, p. xv). Rules of correct grammar seem to be virtually unknown to the present generation of college students (Harvey Harried, personal communication, October 20, 1999). For a thorough review, Chapter 2 in the APA manual is particularly helpful in helping students identify proper writing mechanics. A few of the rules of grammar will be addressed here.

Subject and verb agreement.

A singular noun requires a singular verb, and a plural noun requires a plural verb (Strunk & White, 1979). Words that intervene between the noun and verb do not change that basic rule.

Noun and pronoun agreement.

If a writer uses a subject that is singular, he or she must use pronouns that are singular. In order to avoid having to use he/she and his/her, writers may reword the sentence and use a plural subject, thereby eliminating the problem. For example, the sentence “A student applying for a job must carefully proofread his or her application” can be reworded to read, “Students applying for jobs must carefully proofread their applications.” Use of plurals can help writers reduce sexist bias and avoid stereotypes.

Punctuation

Correct punctuation establishes the rhythm and readability of sentences. In APA style, only one space is used after periods, commas, colons, and semicolons. When a hyphen is used, no space appears before or after the hyphen (APA, 2001). Correct use of commas and semicolons can be problematic for students. Writers are encouraged to proofread their papers to ensure proper use of commas (Purdue University Online Writing Lab, 2001). (Do not cite web addresses in text…see explanation on reference page of this document)

Capitalization

Capitalization is used to designate a proper noun or trade name, as well as major words in titles and headings. Instances where capitalization is not used include: laws, theories, models, or hypothesis, such as ethical decision-making model; names of conditions or groups in an experiment, such as experimental or control group; or nouns that designate parts of a book, such as chapter 8 (APA, 2001). A common error in capitalization is its use with the name of a specific educational degree versus the general focus of a degree program. An example is Master of Arts degree versus master’s degree in visual arts.

References

(Notes: Use a separate reference page and double space. Note that throughout the paper and reference list, titles of non-periodicals and the names of journals are set in italics rather than being underlined. See APA Manual, pages 239-281 for examples of various references. Please read pages 215 – 232 for basic reference guidelines)

American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

(Book – Corporate Author – see page 251, #33.)

Gordon, K. E. (1993). The deluxe transitive vampire: The ultimate handbook of grammar for the innocent, the eager, and the doomed. New York: Pantheon Books.

(Book – Single Author – see page 248)

Green, Q., & Gold, R. (1996). Student writers: Faculty headaches. Phoenix, AZ: Peculiar Press.

(Book – Two Authors – see page 248)

Jacobson, J. W., Mulick, J. A., & Schwartz, A. A. (1995). A history of facilitated

communication: Science, pseudoscience, and antiscience: Science working group on

facilitated communication. American Psychologist, 50, 750-765. Retrieved January

25, 1996, from the Cochrane database.

Lawton. K. A., Cousineau, L., & Hillard, V.E. (2001). Plagiarism: Its nature and consequences. Retrieved September 27, 2001, from Duke University Guide to Library Research web site: http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/plagarism.htm

(Document available on a university program or department web site – p. 274, #78)

Madigan, R., Johnson, S., & Linton, P. (1995). The language of psychology: APA style as epistemology [Electronic version]. American Psychologist, 50, 428-435.

(Internet articles based on a print source – see page 271, #71)

OWL: Online Writing Lab. (2001, November 14). Retrieved December 5, 2001, from Purdue University Online Writing Lab Web site: http://owl.english.purdue.edu

(When information is gathered from a web site, the information is cited in the text of the paper with web page title in the author’s space and the year. The site is then referenced on the reference page as shown above. See p. 269 for further explanation

Ruggiero, V.R. (1997). Thinking critically about ethical issues (Rev. ed.). Mountain View, CA: Mayfield.

(Book, revised edition – see page 249, #27)

Smyth, R. T. (1996). Writing in psychology: A student guide (2^nd ed.). New York: John Wiley & Sons.

(Book – Single Author – see page 248)

Strunk, W., & White, E. B. (1979). The elements of style (3^rd ed.). New York: Macmillan.

(Book – Two Authors – see page 248)