APA Formatting and Documentation

1. APA Formatting and Documentation Academic Success Center Dickinson State University

2. The PURDUE UNIVERSITY On-Line WRITING LAB Adapted from http://owl.english.purdue.edu

3. Writing tips – Before anything else, …. When you use a source for the first time, record the following: • the author’s name or authors’ names • the title • (the journal, newspaper, or book title) • date of publication • page numbers After this first use, keep track of the last name and the page(s) every time you record information or make notes about the source.

4. APA Stylistics Language in an APA paper must be: • clear (be specific in your descriptions and explanations) • concise (condense information when you can) • plain (use simple, descriptive adjectives and minimize figurative language)

5. Writing tips – your introduction • Typically, the introduction in your APA paper should: • Identify your topic and provide an overview of your paper. • Explain or justify your topic. • Move from the general to the specific (from your overview to the statement of your thesis).

6. Writing tips – your thesis • Never underestimate the power and importance of a good thesis. • Your thesis should: • Identify, for your readers, the key content and purpose of your paper. • Limit and control what you can put in your paper. (If it can’t be clearly related to the thesis, it shouldn’t be in the paper.) • Provide structure for your entire paper. (The first part of your thesis = the first part of your paper; the second half of your thesis = the second half of your paper. • For example, take a look at this thesis and consider the paper it would lead: “Although most hospital administrators argue against a substantial increase in their nurses’ salaries, pay raises of 20% or more have in fact been shown to ...”)

7. Most writers utilize what’s called a working thesis – a temporary place-holder that is headed in the right direction, but isn’t specific enough or purposeful enough to be your final version. • You might want to brainstorm a list of three to five possible working thesis statements. • You might want to assess your working thesis (perhaps while working with a writing tutor) and look for ideas that are too general (“many people believe”) or vague (“great choice”). The WORKING thesis Writing notes to remember: ORGANIZATION

8. Writing tips -- paragraphs • Paragraph development and coherence • Write 5-7 sentences for each paragraph (typical, but … ). • Link ideas clearly from sentence to sentence. • Repeat key words. • Help your reader out by using transitions. • Internal transitions (from sentence to sentence) • External transitions (from paragraph to paragraph) BEST TIP: Use pages 50-54 and 61-66 in the seventh edition of Rules for Writers (blue cover) as a guide for your paragraphing work. (Refer to pages 40-43 and 50-57 in the older sixth edition.)

9. Writing tips -- paragraphs • Try using a topic sentence (= a thesis statement for your paragraph) • Link ideas clearly; don’t let sentences shift from subject to subject without clear signals to the reader. • Not: “Though the open-space classroom works for many students, it does not work for students with ADD or ADHD. Teachers cannot ...” • Instead: “Though the open-space classroom works for many students, it does not work for children or teens who have ADD or ADHD. These students...” • Repeat key words – with a difference. • Use different word combinations (see above). • Use variations of a key word (again, see above). • Use transitions. • Internal – from sentence to sentence • External – from paragraph to paragraph • You can find lists of transitional words and phrases just about everywhere (Rules for Writers, the Purdue OWL, Google searches ...).

10. Source use types • Quotation • Kernel quotation • Paraphrase • Block quotation

11. Writing tips – paragraphs and citation • Don’t fall into the trap of citing just once per paragraph (just at the end of a paragraph, for example). Use transitional phrases, pronouns, and repetition of key terms to make the reader aware of exactly what information comes from source material. • When in doubt, cite! Ask your professor or a writing tutor to take a look at a paragraph you feel includes too much citation. They can provide you with an important outside reader’s perspective. • Don’t write your first draft thinking you’ll bring in your sources / the proper page numbers later. “Later” usually means you’ll find yourself searching for source information and page numbers at the very last minute. This is not just a way to create a lot of error; it’s a way to lose sleep, peace of mind, and your health.

12. Use transitions, back references, and other devices to avoid too-frequent repetition of source information. • Today’s college writing teachers often object to the ways grammar and sentence structure have been taught in the past. In Writing and Rationality, Lester Faigley(2003) arguesthat college-age students do not learn grammar by old-fashioned, rote methods. Such methods can, in fact, be counterproductive. Faigley citesa 1999 Purdue University research project that demonstrated how students became less effective writers when their first-year composition teachers stopped teaching research papers in order to focus more on traditional grammar exercises. Theseexercisesfollowed a formula that had been established at Purdue in 1952. Students began their composition classes by studying nouns and verbs, Faigley notes,and then they moved on to more complex grammar issues like independent and dependent clauses, restrictive and nonrestrictive phrases, and so on. This kindof grammar instruction teaches students to be aware of “how words work,” Faigley writes, but it does not teach them how to write good research papers, good arguments, or even good paragraphs (p. 23).

13. Best resource for APA • Purdue University OWL (On-line Writing Lab) • Search “Purdue OWL APA.”

14. Title • Your name • University/affiliation • Course title • Professor’s name • Date TITLE PAGE: Undergraduate version

16. In-text citations When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text – for example, (Jones, 2012) -- and a complete reference should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/

17. In-text citations If you are directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of publication, and the page number for the reference (preceded by "p.” or “pp.”). Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses. According to Jones (2010), "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199). Russo (2011) found that "students have to be willing to learn this style" (pp. 20-21). http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/

18. In-text citations: No author in signal phrase If the author is not named in a signal phrase, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation. She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones, 2010, p. 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/

19. In-text citations: Long quotations Place direct quotations that are 40 words or longer in a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and omit quotation marks. Maintain double-spacing throughout. NOTE: The parenthetical citation should come after the closing punctuation mark. Jones's (2010) study found the following: Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time citing sources. This difficulty could be attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase a style manual or to ask their teacher for help. (p. 199) http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/

20. In-text citations: Paraphrase or summary If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you may only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference, depending on your professor’s instructions. However, you should probably use page numbers at all times to provide complete information and to help you as you draft and revise. According to Jones (2010), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners. APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 2010, p. 199). http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/02/

21. In-text citations: When your source has more than one author, … Refer to the Purdue OWL for specific rules. • 2 authors • 3-5 authors • 6 or more authors • No named author • And so on http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/03/

22. What if there are no page numbers? • Count paragraphs. According to Smith (2012), a very important study was done . . . (para. 6). According to Smith (2012), ... (Mind over Matter section, para. 6).

23. Reference page: TITLES • Capitalize all major words in journal titles. • In other titles, only the first word of the title, the first word after the colon (if the title contains a colon), and proper nouns (“Chicago,” “Domino’s Pizza”) are capitalized. • Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals.

24. Sample bibliographic reference Reference Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., & Brizee, A. (2010, May 5). APA Style. Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/

26. Reference page: The DOI For help finding an article’s digital object identifier, ask a reference librarian and/or check out this APA video: http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2009/12/how-to-find-a-doi.html