Writing in APA Style

1. Writing in APA Style A Guide to Style and Citations for the 6th Edition By Sarah Viehmann, Writing Center Consultant & Megan Knight, Writing Center Consultant Edited & Presented by Michael Frizell, Writing Center Director Original presentation created by Laura Burrows, former Writing Center Consultant

2. APA 6th Edition • About $30 • MAJOR CHANGES • new ethics guidance • new journal article reporting standards • simplified heading style • updated guidelines for reducing bias • new guidelines for reporting inferential statistics • significantly revised table of statistical abbreviations • new instruction on using supplemental files • expanded content on the electronic presentation of data • expanded discussion of electronic sources emphasizing the role of the digital object identifier (DOI) • expanded discussion of the publication process

3. “Rules of Thumb” - FORMAT

4. Empirical Reports vs. Literature Reviews Empirical Reports: • *Title Page • *Abstract • *Introduction • Methods • Results • Discussion • *References • *Appendices 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 a new section/page and requires a level 1 heading.

5. Order of Pages

6. Title Page • Running head • Now included in the header • NOTE: This means that the Running head appears on EVERY PAGE OF THE PAPER! • Type “Running head” • a colon • then an abbreviated version of the • title in all caps • No more than 50 characters, spaces • included • Title • Concise statement of main topic • Fully explanatory on its own • Author Name(s) • Omit titles (Dr., Professor) and degrees (PhD, EdD, MD, etc.) • Institutional Affiliation • If none, list city and state of residency • Author Note (if applicable)

7. The Author Note Should appear on the first page below title, byline, institutional affiliation • First paragraph: Complete departmental affiliation • Author name as it appears in the byline, department name, university name; next author name, department name, university name. • State names should be spelled out • Second paragraph: Changes of affiliation (if any) • Use this wording: [author’s name] is now at [affiliation]. • Include department and institution • Third paragraph: Acknowledgements • Identify grants/other financial support (and source), other colleagues who assisted. Do not acknowledge peer reviewers/editors, etc. • Explain special circumstances concerning authorship • Thanks for personal assistance • Special circumstances (see APA Manual 6th edition, p. 25) • Fourth paragraph: Contact info • Complete mailing address. End w/email address, no period. American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

8. The Abstract A good abstract should be accurate, non-evaluative, coherent and readable, and concise Empirical Study Abstract should describe… Literature Review Abstract Problem/relation(s) under investigation Study eligibility criteria Type(s) of participants included in primary studies Main results Conclusions (including limitations) Implications for theory, policy, and/or practice should describe… • Problem under investigation • Participants, specifying pertinent characteristics • Essentials of study method • Basic findings • Conclusions and implication or applications of study For more types of abstracts, see APA Manual 6th edition, p. 27. American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

9. Introduction The introduction should: • Explore importance of the problem • Why is this problem important? • How does this study relate to previous work in the area? • Describe relevant scholarship • What has been said about this problem previously? • State hypotheses and research design • What is your hypothesis/thesis? • How will you solve this problem/answer this question? American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

10. Methods Section The Methods section should: • Describe in detail how the study was conducted • Be as complete as you can; this allows readers to evaluate and replicate your method • Identify subsections • Include the following: • Describe participant characteristics • Describe sampling procedures • Describe sample size, power, and precision • Describe measures and covariates • Specify research design • Describe experimental manipulations/interventions American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

11. Results Section The Results section should: • Define sources of potential subjects, periods of recruitment and follow-up • Give statistics and data analysis • Describe intervention or manipulation fidelity • Give baseline data • Describe adverse events American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

12. Discussion Section The Discussion section should: • Open with a clear statement of support/nonsupport of original hypothesis • Examine, interpret, and qualify results and draw inferences and conclusions from results • Emphasize any theoretical/practical consequences of results • Should take into account: • Sources of potential bias • Imprecision of measures • Overlap among tests • Effect sizes observed • Other limitations/weaknesses • Consider: • What is the theoretical/clinical/practical significance of your outcomes? • What phenomena may be explained or modeled by results? • What problems arise from research or remain unsolved? American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

13. Header Levels These have changed! Level One is Centered, Bold, Uppercase and Lowercase Level Two is Flush Left, Bold, Uppercase and Lowercase Level Three is Indented, bold, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. The paragraph follows. Level Four is indented, bold, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.The paragraph follows. Level Five is indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.The paragraph follows. Good news! Now, you will follow the pattern of levels from the top down: if you have one level, use Level 1; if you have two levels, use Levels 1 and 2; and so on. American Psychological Association (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association

14. In-Text Citations

15. Avoiding Plagiarism • Plagiarism is… • …using someone else’s words or ideas as though they were your own. • …deliberately stealing someone’s work. • …paying someone to write a paper. • …a serious offense.

16. When to Cite You DO need to cite: You DON’T need to cite: Your own unique ideas Common knowledge • When using someone else’s exact words • When using someone else’s data (statistics, etc.) • When using someone else’s figures (tables, graphs, images) • When stating someone’s unique idea

17. Common Knowledge vs.Unique Ideas Don’t need to cite: • Ideas widely believed to be true. • Folklore, stories, songs, or saying without an author but commonly known. • Quotations widely known and used. • Information shared by most scholars in your discipline. • WHEN IN DOUBT… • CITE!

18. In-text Citation Methods APA Citations require the following…

19. Types of Citations Direct Quoting 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. • 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).

20. Parenthetical Citations

21. As Part of a Narrative

22. Exceptions & Special Cases

23. When Page Numbers Are Not Available

24. More Citation Rules Multiple studies in one citation 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) • 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)

25. Citation Rules, Continued • 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) • Group as Author • 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)

26. Citation Rules, Continued • Personal Communications (i.e. letters, interviews, memos, emails, telephone conversations, etc.) • (A. F. Butan, personal communication, October 25, 2005) • Writing Tip: Note that the first initials ARE used for personal communication • Note: do not include personal communications in the reference list • Unknown Date • Cite with abbreviation “n.d.” for works with no known publication date: • (Samson, n.d.)

27. Citing Web Pages • In-text citation of web-based material follows the same rules : • 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: Websites have no 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.

28. Block Quotes • Required for quotes longer than 40 words • Inset by two tab spaces (or one inch) on both the right and the left. • Double-Spaced • When a quotation is indented in this way, quotation marks are not needed. • Usually, quotations longer than four lines require block quote formatting. (Author, date, p. #)

29. Reference List: Basics • 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) • NOTE: • First Initials ARE used on the Reference page!

30. The DOI: Digital Object Identifier • The DOI is like a social security number for a source. It is meant to help readers find the exact source you are referencing. • You can type a DOI into Google and get the exact source. • All DOI numbers begin with a 10 and contain a prefix and a suffix separated by a slash. • Not all sources have DOIs. • If the source has a DOI, cite it after the rest of the citation is finished: • Brownlie, D. Toward effective poster presentations: An annotated bibliography. European Journal of Marketing, 41(11/12), 1245-1283. doi:10.1108/03090560710821161

31. Reference List, Continued

32. Common Reference Entries • Book • Gravetter, F. J., & Forzano, L. B. (2005). Research methods for the behavioral sciences (2nd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson. • Book with editor • Plath, S. (2000). The unabridged journals (K. V. Kukil, Ed.). New York: Anchor. • 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. • With DOI: Same format, but after page number: doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225 • 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.

33. Journal Pagination: Volume or Issue? Paginated by volume 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 1-205 Volume 23, issue 2: page 1-300 [An article listed in volume 23, page 189, would not tell a reader which issue contained the article] Some journals begin each issue where the last left off: • Volume 1, issue 1: page 1-200 • Volume 1, issue 2: page 201-400 • These journals are paginated by volume, and do not require the issue number in the reference citations

34. Online References • 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) • 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). • Non-Periodical Web Document • List as many as possible of the following: • 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 • Keep them in this order! • If there is no author, use the title as the author, followed by the date in parenthesis. When no DOI is included and the URL is given, a retrieved date is needed unless the source material may change over time (e.g., wikis)

35. Misc. References • 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 193-215.

36. Contact Information • Michael Frizell, Writing Center Director • michaelfrizell@missouristate.edu • Phone number 417-836-5006 • Office: Meyer Library 112 • Writing Center • First floor Meyer Library – The Bear Claw • Phone Number 417-836-6398 • http://writingcenter.missouristate.edu • Supplemental Instruction • http://si.missouristate.edu