APA Style Tips

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APA Style Tips

• Doctoral Support Center (DSC)
• USC Rossier School of Education
• WPH 402, [phone]
• rsoedsc_at_usc.edu

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APA Style

• APA Publication Manual, 5th Edition
• When in doubt, check the APA Manual by searching
  the index for topics
• When APA and the Graduate School Formatting
  Guidelines conflict, follow the Graduate School
  Guidelines
• Sample papers on pages 306-320

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Reference List

• Not the same as a bibliography
• Only list references you cite in the paper
• Pay particular attention to electronic references
• Additional resources
• http//www.apastyle.org/elecref.html
• Pages 268-281 in the APA Manual

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Electronic References (Based on a Print Source)

• If an electronic source is an exact duplicate of
  the original print source, the only difference in
  the reference list entry should be the inclusion
  of Electronic version following the source
  title.
• Example
• Lee, D., Jones, R. (2005). Teacher shortages
  in America Electronic version. Journal of
• Teaching, 2, 120-134.

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Electronic References (Not From A Print Source)

• For electronic sources with no author (such as a
  website)
• Use the complete title of the source in place of
  the author in the reference list
• Use the first few words of the title references
  for the in-text citation. Use quotation marks if
  the abbreviated in-text reference is the title of
  article or chapter, but italicized if it is a
  periodical, book, brochure, or report.
• For electronic sources with no date, use the
  letters n.d. in place of the year.
• Remove hyperlinks (in Word they appear in a
  different color and are underlined). For spacing
  purposes, break URLs after a slash or before a
  period.

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Examples of Electronic References (Not From A
Print Source)

• Citation Example
• A similar study was done of students learning to
  format research papers ("Using APA," 2001).
• Reference List Example
• Using APA Style in College Writing. (n.d.).
  Retrieved August 15, 2002 from http//www.collegew
  riting/helpfultips/APA.com

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In-Text Citations

• Try to vary in-text citations to avoid repetition
  
• All in-text citations should include the
  author(s) and year
• Quotations should include the page number. Page
  numbers should be inserted after the abbreviation
  p. (see the Quotations tips for examples)

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Paraphrased Citation Examples

• According to Lee (2001), test scores are
  influenced by anxiety.
• Lee (2001) notes that anxiety affects test
  scores.
• Anxiety can also affect test scores (Lee, 2001).
• Results have shown that anxiety is related to
  test scores (Barnes, 2000 Lee, 2001 Martinez,
  1998)

Alphabetical by last name
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Quotations

• Avoid too many direct quotations in your text.
  Ask yourself if a quotation is truly necessary
  over paraphrasing or summarizing the material.
• Quotations are formatted according to the number
  of words quoted.
• Quotations under 40 words are formatted as part
  of the sentence, with quotations marks, and
  punctuation after the page number.
• Quotations over 40 words are formatted part as a
  block, with a 5-space left indent, no quotation
  marks, double-spaced, and punctuation before the
  page number.

Single-spaced for Graduate School Formatting
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Quotation Examples (Under 40 words)

• Waitley (1993) stated, Conformity is a change in
  behavior caused by a desire to follow the norms
  of a group (p. 371).
• Psychologists and researchers generally agree
  that conformity is a change in behavior caused
  by a desire to follow the norms of a group
  (Waitley, 1993, p. 371).

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Quotation Example (Over 40 words)

• According to Waitley (1993), conformity is a form
  of group
• expression
• People behave differently in groups than they do
  when they are alone or with one other person.
  One common example of this is conformity.
  Conformity is a change in behavior caused by a
  desire to follow the norms of a group. When we
  conform, we change some aspect of our real selves
  in order to gain group acceptance. For example,
  we may fail to speak up in class if most of our
  classmates have a different opinion from ours.
• Conformity is not always negative. We
  conform every time we follow common social
  conventions such as waiting patiently in line or
  staying quiet during a movie. These social
  conventions help to keep order and create an
  atmosphere of fairness and mutual respect. (p.
  371)

Indent additional paragraphs
Period before page number in block quotes
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and vs.

• and
• Non-parenthetical in-text citations
• According to Jones and Lee (2005), there

• Parenthetical in-text citations
• The number of highly qualified teachers is
  declining (Jones Lee, 2005).
• Before the final author of a source with multiple
  authors in the reference list

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Et al.
Note the period after al

• A citation with three, four, or five authors
• First in-text citation included ALL authors
• Subsequent in-text citations include the first
  author and et al.
• A citation with six or more authors
• First and subsequent citations include the first
  author and et al.
• Citations that shorten to the same author and
  year
• Cite surnames of as many of the authors as
  necessary to distinguish between the references
• Example Jones, Lee, Garcia et al. (2005) and
  Jones, Lee, Wong, et al. (2005)

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Numbers

• Guidelines for expressing numbers in figures or
  in words
• General rule Numbers above 10 expressed in
  figures
• Some exceptions

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Numbers Expressed in Figures

• Numbers 10 and above
• Numbers below 10 grouped for comparison with
  numbers 10 and above (in the same paragraph, and
  in the same categories of items)
• In 8 of the 20 studies
• Scores improved for 3 students at Site A and for
  15 students at Site B.
• Percentages, dates, ages, samples/subsamples,
  scores and points on a scale
• Of the 8 particpants, ages 2 to 4, 30 were
• A 7-point scale was used
• Numbers in a numbered series
• Grade 5 (but would be fifth grade science
  class)
• Table 6 in chapter 4

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Numbers Expressed in Words

• Any number that begins a sentence, title, or
  heading
• Fifteen students reported (vs. Results
  indicated that 15 students)
• Numbers below 10 not grouped for comparison with
  numbers above 10
• Fractions
• Results show that one-third of all respondents

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Symbols

• Percentages that include numerals stated with the
  symbol.
• The rule for beginning sentences with numbers
  also applies to percentages, so sentences
  beginning with a number must be written out (e.g.
  Fifteen percent of the students vs. In 15 of
  the studies)
• Statistical symbols appear in standard, bold, or
  italic fonts.
• See Table 3.9 (p. 141-144) for a list of various
  statistical symbols

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Reporting Statistical Results

• The specific statistical information that needs
  to be included in your results depends on the
  type of analysis done.
• ANOVA results - include degrees of freedom, F
  ratios, and mean square errors
• Regression results - include unstandardized and
  standardized coefficients (if applicable) and the
  type of analysis used (hierarchical regressions
  should include increment of change)

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Headings

• Should be consistent throughout your text.
• 5 levels, but you may not use all of them
• To see how many levels you need, make an outline
  of your document with all the headings you will
  use
• Since not all levels are needed in a text, only
  certain levels used when less than 5 levels are
  needed
• ? One Level (such as in paper or a short article)
  Level 1
• ? Two Levels Levels 1 and 3
• ? Three Levels Levels 1, 3, and 4
• Four Levels Levels 1, 2, 3, and 4
• Five levels Levels 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5

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Heading Examples

• CHAPTER 3
• Methodology
• Instrumentation
• Perfectionism
• Perfectionism was measured by a survey that
• includes 6 subscales.
• Concern over mistakes. This subscale
• contains 8 items and asks participants to rate
  the.

Level 5
Level 1
Level 3
Level 2
Level 4
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Verb Tense

• In a dissertation proposal, your methodology
  should be written in future tense
• In a dissertation, the chapters should be written
  in the following tense
• Literature review (Chapter 2) - past (e.g.
  Researchers found) or present perfect tense
  (e.g. Researchers have found)
• Methodology (Chapter 3) and Results (Chapter 4) -
  past tense
• Discussion (Chapter 5) - present tense