APA101

1. APA101 How to format and document a research paper using APA Guidelines

2. Agenda • Choosing and narrowing a topic • Formulating a working thesis • Planning • What do you already know? • What do you need to know? • Gathering and processing sources • Note-taking • Creating References entries • Formatting an APA paper • Internal documentation with APA

3. Step 1: Choosing & Narrowing a Topic How to know what to write…

4. Choosing a Topic • Carefully take notes as your instructor describes the writing assignment • Ideally, you’ll have a written assignment to which you can refer at various points to make sure you’re on track • Consider what type of paper it is: • Informative? Persuasive? • Consider the writing mode that will work best? • This might be a part of the assignment • Look/listen for keywords: analyze, compare, give examples, discuss cause or effect, form an argument, etc.

5. Keep on the Straight & Narrow • Slavery in the US • Addiction • US Economy • Terrorism • The “Middle Passage” and the conditions during the Slave Trade • Physical and emotional effects of alcoholism on the individual • Explore the development of the Economic Stimulus Plan of 2009 • Analyze the Patriot Act of 2001 as a response to the 9/11 terror attacks Too Broad Just Right!

6. Step 2: Formulating a Working Thesis Don’t leave home without one!

7. Tips for Writing a Thesis from Purdue University’s OWL • 1.Determine what kind of paper you are writing: • An analytical paper breaks down an issue or an idea into its component parts, evaluates the issue or idea, and presents this breakdown and evaluation to the audience. • An expository (explanatory) paper explains something to the audience. • An argumentative paper makes a claim about a topic and justifies this claim with specific evidence. The claim could be an opinion, a policy proposal, an evaluation, a cause-and-effect statement, or an interpretation. The goal of the argumentative paper is to convince the audience that the claim is true based on the evidence provided. • 2. Your thesis statement should be specific—it should cover only what you will discuss in your paper and should be supported with specific evidence. • 3. The thesis statement usually appears at the end of the first paragraph of a paper. • 4. Your topic may change as you write, so you may need to revise your thesis statement to reflect exactly what you have discussed in the paper.

8. Things to Avoid… • “In this paper, I will discuss…” • Generalities: “Baseball is a great sport.” • Personal Preferences: “Bill Clinton is my favorite American President.” • Oversimplification: “All drugs should be legalized immediately.” • Too narrow a focus: “My street has twelve potholes that the city won’t fix.”

9. What a Thesis Should Do… • Contains a Topic & the Controlling Idea • Bad: • Baseball is a great sport. • My mom is unique. • Good: • Baseball is America’s favorite pastime because of exciting players, the strategies employed, and the ballpark food. • Everyone’s mom is special, but mine is a gourmet cook, a humanitarian, and a prize-winning photographer. • A good thesis predicts the order and acts as a road map for the reader.

10. Step 3: Planning What do you already know? What do you need to know?

11. Planning • It is important to consider what you already know about the topic. • Make notes • Sketch out a rough outline of what you think you’ll need to cover • Next is finding out more. • Where are the gaps in your own knowledge? • Is this a controversial topic about which people might not agree? • If so, how can you be sure you’re getting the whole story and not just one side?

12. Part 4: Research Gathering & Processing the Information Gathered from Sources

13. Where to Start • Our impulse says, “First stop, GOOGLE!” • The internet can be useful, especially for familiarizing yourself with a topic you might not know a lot about • It is not, however, the best place to gather information for an academic research paper • All libraries, both public and those attached to a school have several better avenues for researching when you’re writing a paper for class: • Books and Databases

14. Books • Search the LSCC Library Catalog for books on your topic • When searching books, use the most general topic term first and then narrow if you have too many results: • For example: “Alcoholism” is a better first search than “Physical Effects of Alcoholism” • Many of the Library’s holdings are e-books and can be accessed from the comfort of your own home (just like the internet!)

15. Databases • For most papers that you will write in 1000-2000 level classes, the following LSCC Databases are likely to be perfect: • Academic Search Complete • General One File • Opposing Viewpoints • Encyclopedia Britannica • …just to name a few! • There are also specialized databases in many fields including Psychology, Education, Nursing, Literature, etc.

16. Searching a Database • If you search the term “alcoholism” in Academic Search Complete, even limiting yourself to a “full-text” only search, you will get more “hits” than you can handle. • When searching a database, you can start with more specific terms and then broaden if you’re not finding what you need. • Most importantly, if you are struggling to find resources, DO NOT SUFFER ALONE! Contact an LSCC Librarian, and ask for help!

17. Taking Notes • Stay organized! • Keep track of what information comes from what source. • Track the following information: • Author • Titles of Articles and Books • Editors of Anthologies • City, Publisher, and Year for Books • Journal/Magazine Title • Volume, Issue, Date info for Periodicals • Database for Any Electronic Resource • Date Accessed for Any Electronic Resource • For Web Sources, the Publisher (usually an organization)

18. Note-taking & Avoiding Plagiarism • If you are using the source’s exact words, make a point of it in your notes • If you are paraphrasing, follow these simple guidelines: • Read the passage carefully several times • Look away from the source • Write down the idea you’re wanting to capture • Check against the source to make sure not only the wording is different, but the sentence structure as well • Put quotes around key phrases or terms that you cannot paraphrase

19. Part 5: Creating Reference Entries for APA Do NOT wait until the paper is written. Doing your References first will save time in the long run.

20. Tools • Make sure you’re using up to date information • APA changes editions periodically, so you want to make sure the version you’re using is the latest • Handbooks • Ideally, you will own an updated Handbook for as long as you’re in college, but if you don’t have one, every library does! • LSCC Library • How to Cite Sources on the Library’s website contains up to date information you can access online • Websites • There are plenty of websites offering Citation Generation, and many of them are accurate; however, if you do not know how to do them yourself, you may have a false sense of security.

21. The Rules for APA • The alphabetical References list comes at the end of the paper with page #s staying consecutive • The title References is centered at the top of that page, and the font/size are consistent with the rest of the paper • The entire page is double spaced, and entries are created with a hanging indent • Title capitalization: only the first word of the title and the first word of the subtitle are capitalized (except for proper nouns) • Book, magazine, newspaper, and journal titles are in italics, but article titles are not (and there are no quotation mark titles in APA)

22. Sample References for APA • Book • Gorman, J. M. (1996). The new psychiatry: The essential guide to state-of-the-art therapy, medication and emotional health. New York: St. Martin’s Press. • Magazine article • Cowley, G. (2000, January 31). Alzheimer’s: Unlocking the mystery. Newsweek, 135, 46-54. • Journal Article (continuous page numbering) • Lindahl, K. M. & Malik, N. M. (1991). Observations of marital conflict and power: Relations with parenting in the triad. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 320-330. • Journal Article (begins each issue on page one) • Arek, K. D. & Rantz, M. J. (2000). Aging in place: A new model for long term care. Nursing Administration Quarterly, 24(3), 1-11. http://www.lscc.edu/library/Documents/apacite.pdf

23. Sample References for APA • Newspaper Article • Woodward, C. (2000, April 24). Storm surrounds raid as Elian has quiet Easter. The Daily Commercial, p. A1. • Book from database • Brockopp, D.Y. (1995). Fundamentals of nursing research [Electronic version]. Boston: Jones & Bartlett Publishers, Inc. Retrieved from netLibrary database. • Magazine Article from database • Kelly, B. (2007, August 27). The story behind the rankings. U.S. News and World Reports, 143, 4. Retrieved from General Onefile database. 3 6/1/2011 http://www.lscc.edu/library/Documents/apacite.pdf

24. Sample References for APA • Journal article from database • Brown, P. (2006). Answers to key questions about childhood leukemia--for the generalist. Contemporary Pediatrics, 23(3), 81-84. Retrieved from CINAHL Plus with Full Text database. • Newspaper article from database • Henderson, D. (2006, August 29). FDA to take a harder look at custom blending of drugs. The Boston Globe. Retrieved from America’s Newspapers database. • Citing an online book (Not from a library database) • Robinson, P. (1993). Freud and his critics [Electronic version]. Berkeley: University of California Press. Retrieved from http://escholarship.cdlib.org/ucpress/robinson.xml http://www.lscc.edu/library/Documents/apacite.pdf

25. Part 6: Formatting an APAPaper Does the format really matter? YES! 

26. Basic Rules • Plain double spacing for everything in an APA paper (including title, references, quotes, etc.) • Cover page includes author, title, class, instructor, and date • Header contains partial title on left margin (all caps) and page # on the right margin • References page comes at the end but is part of the same document • Margins are 1” all around, a “standard font in a standard size” (typically Times New Roman in 12 pt. or Arial in 11 pt.)

27. How to format an APA paper using MS Word… Video 1) How to format an APA paper: http://youtu.be/KUjhwGmhDrI

28. Part 6: Internal Citations with APA Parenthetical citations: what goes in them? Where do they go? Being open and clear about your sources.

29. Why do I have to cite things? • Academic writing involves letting the reader know where the information comes from by using a standardized system • Even non-academic writing lets the reader know, usually, when something was not the writer’s own knowledge • For example, if People magazine publishes an interview with George Clooney, they will tell you when the words spoken are Clooney’s

30. Clarity & Credibility • Even in academic writing where parenthetical citations are used to indicate the source, writers often overtly mention their sources for clarity and to add credibility to their papers • For example, you might find the following statement introducing a source to be quoted in a paper: • A recent study by Dr. Jim Johnson at Johns Hopkins University indicates… • Giving the full name and affiliation not only makes it clear where the information comes from, it highlights the fact that this is a good source

31. Mentioning Sources • This is all the more reason to do quality research • Wouldn’t you rather say, “In a recent New York Times article…” than, “According to Wikipedia…”? • Once a source is established, you can alter how you mention it to avoid repetition: • Pam Jordan’s article entitled “Dogs are Therapeutic”… • Jordan’s article in Dog Fancy… • Jordan says… • “Dogs are Therapeutic” offers…

32. Parenthetical Citations & APA • When citing a whole work, you mention the author followed immediately by the year of publication in parentheses: • Karen Marek (2000) argues that the elderly often do better in familiar surroundings. • When citing something specific, you mention the source and follow up at the end of the quoted or paraphrased material with a citation that includes author, year, and page or paragraph number: • Welty uses metaphors often when describing her early experiences (Waldron, 1998, p. 38). • The fate of MGM may rest largely on the shoulders of its new CEO, whose focus will be to reach a broader market with lower-budget films (Roberts, 2000, par. 3).

33. What Goes Inside the ()? • For multiple authors: • 2 authors • Both names appear each time you cite the source • 3-5 authors • All names appear in the first parenthetical citation, but only the first author et al in subsequent citations • 6 or more authors • Only the first author et al appears in the parenthetical citations • No author listed: • Partial title in italics for books, etc. • Partial title in “” for articles, etc. • For corporate authors • Full name with acronym in [brackets] the first time, only acronym thereafter • Example: (American Association of Retired Persons [AARP] , 2000) then (AARP, 2000)

34. Page & Paragraph Numbers • When citing a specific passage from a paginated source, you will use both the year and the page #: (Smith, 2009, p. 72). • When citing a specific part of a source, follow the year of publication with a comma, the abbreviation for the part, such as p. or chap., and the enumeration. • If the source uses paragraph numbers, as is the case with some electronic journals, use the abbreviation par. or pars., or the symbol ¶.

35. When to Cite? • Any idea or wording not your own must be cited • Whenever possible, you want to paraphrase rather than quote (with the exception of literary works), and it’s best to avoid a lot of long quotes • Note: quotations over 40 words will be in “block format”: separated from the rest of the paragraph and indented a half full inch on the left. Refer to a current handbook for samples and formatting information.

36. Clarity is Key • What is actually cited in the paragraph below? • The Pug has been around since before 400 BC. Research shows a connection to Asia and a similarity to the Pekinese. Tibeten monks kept Pugs in their temples, and Prince William II brought the popularity Pugs to England when he became King (“AKC”, 2011, par. 1). • Only the last sentence is cited • This is a problem since the previous sentences also came from the same source • This is a simple fix…

37. Clarity is Key • What is actually cited in the paragraph below? • According to the American Kennel Club’s website, the Pug has been around since before 400 BC. Research shows a connection to Asia and a similarity to the Pekinese. Tibeten monks kept Pugs in their temples, and Prince William II brought the popularity Pugs to England when he became King (“AKC”, 2011, par. 1). • Note that the source is mentioned in the first sentence • It is now clear that all 3 sentences come from this source • The information is “sandwiched” between the mention of the website and the citation

38. For More Help… • LSCC’s Library and Learning Center offer Online and Live help with paper writing and documentation • There are also a number of great websites with advice, most famously, perhaps, is the OWL (Online Writing Lab) created by Purdue University • The main thing to remember is there’s nothing wrong with asking for help!