Common APA Conundrums

1. Common APA Conundrums With Jeff Zuckerman Jzuckerm@waldenu.edu No comma per APA June 2007

2. Purpose These slides show the most common APA style errors students make in their papers. We ask that you alert your students to the patterns of their errors. You need not correct every instance—just enough to show them the kinds of APA errors they are making.

3. Topics • Documentation • Formatting and Variations • Numbers, Spelling, and Punctuation • Quirks and Odds and Ends

4. In-Text Citations: Bottom Line • Writers must supply page numbers for direct quotes from print sources or ¶ number for electronic ones. • You must use quotation marks if quoting a source directly (unless block quote). • Per APA 3.39, you are not required to provide page numbers for paraphrases, but “authors are encouraged to do so.

5. How to Cite Sources • Follow the conventions of the style manual. • In-text citations on pp. 117-122 & 207-214 • Reference lists chapter 5 (5th ed.) • www.apastyle.org • See the APA Style Asylum in the writing center for more examples.

6. APA style uses author-date citations only. The authors (or in their absence, the title of the work) appear first, followed by the year of publication, and often a page number at the end of a sentence. After first reference in a paragraph, you need not cite the year in the same paragraph. You must cite the year on first reference in subsequent paragraphs.

7. When citing multiple authors in parentheses, use an ampersand. Nuance was determined to be irrelevant (Gerstein, Morrison, & Glazer, 2000, p. 211). When not in parentheses, use the word and. Gerstein, Morrison, and Glazer (2000) found that “nuance is far overrated” (p. 211). Note where the punctuation belongs.

8. The plural of p. is pp. {space} (pp. 211-212). Space after a p. or pp.

9. WAIT I MISSED THOSE. (In parentheses, use &) Not in parentheses, use and “Place the final punctuation after the parentheses” (Tom, Dick, & Harry, 2001).

10. On Formatting Block Quotes • Block form for direct quotes 40 words or more. • Use only rarely; instead, paraphrase. • Indent the same as a paragraph tab; same margin on the right. • The final punctuation comes before the parenthetical element. . . . and unpatriotic. (p. 285)  No punctuation 

11. Steinbrink and Cook (2003) wrote that the post-September 11 discussion in the U.S. media, based on fear of additional terror, showed an overwhelming preoccupation with nationalistic images and icons. The media’s“us versus them” discourse is based on patriotic motifs (U.S. flags everywhere); human-interest stories about the 9/11 victims that reinforce nationalism; and narratives that demonize “them,” such as reports about Taliban brutality and Palestinian suicide bombers. (p. 285)  No punctuation 

12. In-text citation of Web page Show retrieval date for nonpermanent Web sources. Electronic sources: para. or ¶ or p. 2 of 6. Best Method section, ¶ 3.

13. WAIT! I ALMOST FORGOT! If you’re listing groups of authors, they go in alphabetical order: Ya di ya di ya di da (Bonds, Van Slyke, Bonilla, & Bell, 1990; Mazeroski & Groat, 1960; Stargell, Alou, & Clemente, 1970)

14. Reference Lists • As discussed on page 326 in the APA manual, single-spaced reference lists are easier to read than double-spaced ones. • Use a hanging indent. • Alphabetize the references. • If there’s no author, the article title in the author slot. • Use (n.d.) if no date is indicated.

15. STANDARD FORMAT FOR A JOURNAL REFERENCE

16. space comma + & Steinbrink, J. E., & Cook, J. W. (2003). Media literacy skills and the war on terrorism. Clearing House, 76(6), 284-288. lower case italics

17. STANDARD FORMAT FOR AN ONLINE JOURNAL REFERENCE

18. Steinbrink, J. E., & Cook, J. W. (2003). Media literacy skills and the war on terrorism. Clearing House, 76(6), 284-288. Retrieved October 21, 2006, from Academic Search Premier database. The manual is ambiguous about when you can use [Electronic version]. If a database was used, per the manual, students should cite the database.

19. STANDARD FORMAT FOR A BOOK REFERENCE

20. Space Comma + & Pesto, R. I., & Lutefisk, N. J. (2003). Lemonade, lemonade: You know you like it. New York: Longman. Lower case italics

21. Review: Key Points on Citations • You must use quotation marks if you are quoting directly. • You must indicate the page number or paragraph number of a direct quote.

22. Secondary Sources • Students cannot pretend to have read something firsthand they did not read. Some programs prohibit secondary sources. If you allow students to use a secondary source, then they show it as follows: Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar (Freud, as cited in Cohen, 1999). The year Freud wrote his piece doesn’t appear here, nor is Freud in the reference list.

23. Another Common Error It is not spelled et.al, et. al, etal, et.al, la.te, or אּתּﬠ It’s et al., followed by a comma. Yadi yada overrated (Culpepper et al., 2005) 2. Check the manual for when you can use et al.

24. Formatting and Variations Because the APA manual was written for submissions to journal articles, there may not be one standard “right way” to format a course paper. Here are some helpful guidelines.

25. My Wonderful Research ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ 1 in. from the edge of paper for top, bottom, right side margins Margins: Course Papers Left margin is 1” from the left edge of paper

26. 2 ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ ___________________ The page number goes 1” down. Margins: Page Numbers FIRST LINE OF TEXT IS 1.5” down

27. You must change Word’s default: Go to File, Page Setup, Margins.

28. Formatting Lists • Vertical lists, go 1. 2. 3. 4. • In the paragraph, use (a), (b), (c). . . .

29. tab1.tabIn a vertical list like this one, tab the 1. over, and tab again. 2. Double space. As in the last sentence, go back to the left margin.3. Use a #., not a #) or (#).

30. but O’Reilly and Hannity (2000) blamed the following for disruptive behavior among adolescents: 1. Not saying the Pledge of Allegiance at school in the morning. 2. Irresponsible parents. 3. The elimination of paddling.

31. Blah blah Clinton (2006), who said it was (a) the right thing to do, (b) a mistake,and (c) the right thing to do but a mistake. But: Blah blah Robertson (2005), who encouraged prohibiting (a) atheism; (b) pinkos, especially pinko demagogues; and (c) coed dancing.

32. Headings (APA 3.31) • Keep your reader from getting lost. • A series of road signs. • Some choices depending on how many levels you have. • All levels belong in the table of contents, which on most word processing programs can be generated automatically.

33. Here’s how you’d do three levels: Highest Level [L1] Next Level [L3] Next level. [L4]

34. Here’s how you’d do three levels: Twentieth-Century Theorists {L1} Abraham Maslow {L3} Harmony, beauty, and justice. {L4} This concept arose during the theorist’s days at a deli counter on Murray Avenue in the Squirrel Hill area of Pittsburgh.

35. Table of Contents • Twentieth-Century Theorists [L1]……………….14 • Abraham Maslow [L3]…………………… …14 • Harmony, beauty, and justice…...…….16 • Justin Timberlake [L3]………………………18 • Justin on quantum physics..……………25

36. Twentieth-Century Theorists [L1] Blah blah blah these are really swell guys that I’ll be discussing. Abraham Maslow (1954) [L3] Blah blah svelt Maslow (1954) blah blah ya da da da da da self-actualization blah blah hungry but blah blah think sex is more important. Harmony, beauty, and justice . [L4] Self-actualization blah blah papers written by graduate students blah blah but did he ever play ice hockey? Justin Timberlake [L3] Blah blah blah Timberlake (2004) blah blah ya da da da da da talented and intelligent blah blah famous performance at the Super Bowl blah blah. Justin on quantum physics. The erudite performer (2004) blah blah whose secret work at the NSF was only recently revealed blah blah. . . .

37. Tables and Figures The APA manual has excellent guidelines on tables and figures. In APA style, anything that is not a table is a figure—not a chart or graph or illustration. Note that the table title goes flush left, above the table. The figure caption goes flush left, under the figure.

38. Table 4Comparisonof Boys and Girlsby Height and Weight Note. From “Analysis of Seventh Graders’ Hormones,” by W. Steeves, 2001, Journal of Despair, 98, p. 11.Reprinted with permission.

39. Pressure from School Pressure from Work Figure 13. Causes of stress and its effects among graduate students. But is this really necessary? According to whom? By the way, number tables and figures consecutively, that is, Table 1, Table 2, Table 3; Figure 1, Figure 2. . . . Dangerous Levels of Medications

40. Spacing • Normally, double space.(See p. 326 in the APA manual.) • Insert only one space after a period or colon.

41. Numbers, Spelling, and Punctuation

42. On Numbers (APA 3.42-3.45) • Normally, numbers 10 and higher are written as numerals. Nine and lower are written out. • But there are exceptions where numbers 9 and lower appear as numerals, too—mainly (a) elements of time, (b) participants in a study, and (c) great big numbers, like 4 million.

43. All eight boys threw rocks at a carp. Meanwhile, 14 catfish nipped at Mrs. Thatcher’s arm. • Every 2 or 3 years my lovely bride and I spend a weekend in Crawford, TX, discussing the positive effects of oil profits on luxury boat sales. • There were like 4 million people at the DMB concert last night. • Exactly 60 boys and 8 girls participated.

44. Percentages (APA 3.42d) are straightforward. Use a numeral and percentage sign unless at the start of a sentence or if you’re quoting directly from a source that used a different style manual. • Sixteen percent favor death by lethal injection. • Another 12% favor Cheez-Whiz, and 2% marked “Hemlock.”

45. Commas Insert a serial comma in a series of three or more nouns or noun phrases before the words and or or: Moe, Larry, and Curly Comma

46. Wait. I missed that one. What was that again? USE A SERIAL COMMA. Cheese, mushrooms, green peppers,and onions. -Serial comma per APA

47. Spelling Check the tables in chapter 3 for rules on hyphenation. In general, words with prefixes such as non, semi, pre, post, anti, multi, and inter are not hyphenated: pretest, posttest, antibiotic, antisocial, nonprofit, semipro, multiphased, subsample. But self-esteem, self-concept. Possessives of proper nouns ending in s get ’sadded: Rogers’s, Wilks’s lambda, Jones’s bottle of rum. comma

48. On Abbreviations • Italicize statistical abbreviations • Uppercase Nmeans population; lowercase n means subsample • Use etc., e.g., and i.e. only inside parentheses (e.g., means for example) (i.e., means that is)

49. POP QUIZ • My sister has three/3 children • The plane was two/2 hours late. • I plan to eat lunch, take a nap and spend the whole evening writing a course paper. • I plan to eat lunch, take a nap, and spend the whole evening writing a course paper. • I may have turned 52/fifty-two, but I do not feel a day older than 50/fifty. • I’m/I am not old; I’m/I am a non-traditional/ nontraditional student.

50. POP QUIZ • My sister has three/3 children • The plane was two/2 hours late. • I plan to eat lunch, take a nap and spend the whole evening writing a course paper. • I plan to eat lunch, take a nap, and spend the whole evening writing a course paper. • I may have turned 52/fifty-two, but I do not feel a day older than 50/fifty. • I’m/I am not old; I’m/I am a non-traditional/ nontraditional student.