APA Overview

Rachel GrammerWriting Tutor

Walden University Writing Center

What to expect

• Time

• Questions/Answers

• Technical issues? Go to http://support.citrixonline.com/en_US/GoToTraining

Session Overview

APA citations

APA references

APA formatting rules

Academic writing tips

APA style

Citations

Citation Format

There are three ways to cite a source:

1. Reference citations Reference List

2. Parenthetical citation Body of the paperExample: There are not many changes between the 5th and 6th editions of

the APA Publication Manual (Rivers, 2009).

3. In-text citation Body of the paperExample: Rivers (2009) indicated that there are not many changes between

the 5th and 6th editions of the APA Publication Manual.

Not (Rivers, 2009) indicated…The 3rd citation is preferred because it demonstrates a

higher level of involvement with the literature

Citation Format

These examples are based on a table (Table 6.1, p. 177) in the 6th edition manual that demonstrates all variations of citation. You can also take a look at our website.

There are some variations on multi-author source citations if you have more than one source by the same authors. Check pp. 208-209 in the 5th edition and pp. 175-176 in the 6th edition.

Numbers of Authors Parenthetical In-text

1 (Sinatra, 2007) Sinatra (2007)

2 (Sinatra & Garland, 2007) Sinatra and Garland (2007)

3-5 (first time in the text) (Sinatra, Garland, & Fitzgerald, 2007)

Sinatra, Garland, and Fitzgerald (2007)

3-5 (second and subsequent times in the text)

(Sinatra et al., 2007) Sinatra et al. (2007)

6 + (Sinatra et al., 2007) Sinatra et al. (2007)

Citation Format

Personal communication

Parenthetical: (H. R. Marshall, personal communication, September 17, 2009)

In-text: H. R. Marshall (personal communication, September 17, 2009)

Secondary source material

Parenthetical: (Marshall, as cited in Cook, 2009)

In-Text: Marshall (as cited in Cook, 2009)

Attributing an assertion to multiple sources

Parenthetical: (Paiste, 2004; Sabian, 2005; Zildjian, 2001)

In-text: Paiste (2004), Sabian (2005), and Zildjian (2001)

Multiple sources with same author and year

Parenthetical: (Marshall, 2009a)…(Marshall, 2009b)…(Marshall, 2009c)

or (Marshall, 2009a, 2009b).

In-text: Marshall (2009a)…Marshall (2009b)…Marshall (2009c)

Note that these sources are in alphabetical order, the same order they appear on the reference list.

Citation Format

Per APA (2010), if the first citation in the paragraph is in-text, as it is here, then subsequent in-text citations within this same paragraph do not need to carry a year. However, all parenthetical citations need to include a year (APA, 2010). The rule as APA described it is a bit different if the first citation of the paragraph is a parenthetical citation, as is demonstrated on the next slide.

Citation Format

If the first citation in the paragraph is a parenthetical citation, as it is here, then the first in-text citation must carry a year (APA, 2010). APA (2010) also indicated that all parenthetical citations within a paragraph, regardless of the number of previous citations within that paragraph, must carry a year. There are no exceptions to this rule (APA, 2010). In addition, APA has provided guidelines for how often to cite a source in a paragraph, as is demonstrated on the next slide.

Citation Format

NOTE: Referents such as “the authors said” or “the same author indicated” are not sufficient ways to cite a source.

If the assertion you make does not refer to the author by name, you must provide a parenthetical citation.

Example: Marshall (2009) indicated that proper APA enhances a paper’s scholarly tone. The author also indicated that APA is easy to use if students familiarize themselves with the manual (Marshall, 2009).

Citation Format

When citing a direct quote, you need to cite the page or paragraph number for where that

quote appears in the original source.

• According to one employee of the writing center, “APA is the most fun part of academic writing”(Marshall, 2010, p. 14).

• One source claimed that “punctuation is very important when using quotation marks”(Jones, 2009, para. 6).

Citation Format

If citing two different authors with the same surname, use the authors’ first initials:

M. King (2005) and W. King (2007) discovered King is a more common

last name than typically thought.

References

Reference Format

Book

Marshall, H. (2009). Best book ever. New York, NY: Publisher House.

Chapter in an edited book

Timmerman, B. (2009). Best chapter ever. In H. Marshall (Ed.), Best book ever (pp. 14-27). New York, NY: Publisher House.

Reference Format

.

Journal Article

Marshall, H. (2009). Best article ever composed. Journal of Good Things, 6(2), 199-207. doi:10.123456789

Reference FormatIf there is no DOI:

The next preferred option is to reference the journal’s homepage:

Marshall, H. (2009). Best article ever composed. Journal of Good Things, 6(2), 199-207. Retrieved from http://www.journalofgoodthings.com

If you cannot locate the journal’s homepage, the last option is to reference the database homepage:

Marshall, H. (2009). Best article ever composed. Journal of Good Things, 6(2), 199-207. Retrieved from http://www.ebscomost.com

DOI/URL Flowchart

Reference Format

A source with seven or more authors

Include all seven if there are seven.

If there are eight or more, include six, insert ellipses, and include last:

Seven authors: Timmerman, B., Cook, A. Patterson, J., Wold, K., Marshall, H., King, M., & Walsh, L. (2009).

More than seven authors: Timmerman, B., Cook, A. Patterson, J., Wold, K., Marshall, H., King, M., … Brown, M. (2009).

Reference Format

Electronic material

Report from an organization

Cook, A. (2008). The effect of war on graduate students in the military (Report 601). Retrieved from The Organization For World Peace website: http://www...

Web article from an organization

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2009). Treating warts. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/treatingwarts.htm

Check out our website for more information on how to cite electronic sources.

Reference Format

DO NOT USE WIKIPEDIA

Per APA 6th edition, “Do not include retrieval dates unless the source material may change over time

(e.g., Wikis).”

In general, you will only need a retrieval date if you are referencing text from the web page rather than from an archived report or pdf. There are few cases, if any, in which such text would be considered a scholarly source, so reference website text sparingly.

Formatting

APA : Past Tense

• Past tense: use the past tense when discussing the literature that you read:

– Percy (1935) found…

– Mathieu (1955) argued…

– Korrapati (1975) wrote…

– Lynch (1995) discussed…

Commas• Use commas to

– Separate elements in a series of three or more (serial comma)

• Lions, tigers, and bears

– Set off nonessential information • the girl, who was a red head, ate all of my cookies

– Separate two independent clauses joined by a conjunction

• Jamie went to the grocery store, and she bought dinner.

FANBOYS (for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so)

Abbreviations

Write out the full name the first time it appears in your paper,

followed by the abbreviation in parentheses:

Example: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),

there were….The CDC went on to say…

Another common abbreviation is et al.. (Note that it is not

italicized.) The period comes after the al.

Example: Jacobs et al. (2009) studied the effect of abbreviations on audience

comprehension.

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

• All “self” compounds are hyphenated: self-esteem, self-efficacy

• Hyphenate words that work together to modify another word– evidenced-based practice, peer-reviewed research

Italics and Quotations

• Use italics for book titles, journal titles, and volume numbers in reference entries.

Grammer, R. (2012). Awesome article. Best Journal Ever, 22(2), 144-222. doi: 10.79302095

• Use quotations marks to indicate direct quotations.

According to Grammer (2012), “APA is the most fun part of academic writing” (p. 202).

Single Quotation Marks

Single quotations are ONLY used “within double quotation marks” (p. 92)—in other words, a quotation within a quotation.

Example: Harrison (2011) said, “According to Freedman’s (1987) research, ‘Time spent exercising correlates directly with stress level’” (p. 99).

Spacing

APA 6th: 4.01, 4.40

• Double space after the end of sentence

• But, use just one space after each punctuation mark in the reference list.

• Double space your entire manuscript– the cover page– the abstract– body of the paper including block quotes– the reference list

A tutorial on how to double space your paper.

• Do not capitalize:

– The names of models or theories (theory of learned behavior).

– The names of disorders or diseases (bipolar disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD], multiple sclerosis)

• Do capitalize Internet

Capitalization

• Express numbers 10 and above as numerals, numbers nine and lower as words: 10, but nine

The differences are in the exceptions• Use numerals for all:

– Statistics, population size, scores, points on a scale: 4 out of 5; 7 points

– Percentages, money: 90%; $5– Exact amounts of time, dates: 3 years old; 2 weeks

ago; 1 hour and 12 minutes; day 5; July 5• Use words for all approximations: about three years

old; about an hour; about six days ago; about three participants

Numbers

Academic Writing Tips

Paraphrasing

Paraphrasing can be tricky, but it is necessary to the art of academic writing.

Let’s take a look at what paraphrasing is and how to do it.

A successful paraphrase is your own explanation or interpretation of another person's ideas.

1. Avoid switching out or changing around of a few words in an author's sentence(s) for use in your paper.

2. Be sure to acknowledge (through an in-text citation or direct quotes) the source from which you obtained your information or ideas.

Ineffective Paraphrasing

Acknowledging the author in an in-text citation but failing to include quotation marks around any terms or phrasing that you have borrowed from the author.

Note that any of the unsuccessful elements of paraphrasing are considered plagiarism in your essay, even if these paraphrasing missteps are unintentional.

Style

Reducing Bias

APA (2010) is “committed both to science and to the fair treatment of individuals and groups, and this policy

requires that authors. . .avoid perpetuating demeaning attitudes and biased assumptions about people in their

writing” (pp. 70-71).

These include references to the following:

• Gender (APA 3.12)• Racial and Ethnic Identity (APA 3.14)• Disabilities (APA 3.15)• Age (APA 3.16)

Economy of Expression

Point of View

APA considers the use of the general we, our, or us to be informal. By

using these, you may be making assumptions that the reader is in

the same group as you. Because this is not always true, it is best to

avoid the general we, our, or us. Also be aware that we often

makes the writing sound too conversational.

Example: We coaches know it is best for lacrosse athletes to lift

weights, but we find it hard to convince high school girls of this.

Better: Lacrosse coaches know it is best for athletes to lift weights, but

some find it hard to convince high school girls of this.

Point of View

Avoid the second person (you/your)

-Almost universally discouraged in scholarly writing.

-Threatens the assumed distance between the author and the reader

-Too conversational

-Example: You know you have done a good job teaching when your students pass the test.

-Better: Teachers can assess their own performance by evaluating their students’ grades.

Use of First Person

• To avoid referring to yourself as “the researcher” or “the author”– Example: The author will describe the after-school program. → I will

describe the after-school program.

• To avoid anthropomorphism– Example: This section will explore… → In this section, I will explore…

• To avoid the passive voice

Active Voice

According to APA 3.18 (2010), “use the active rather than the passive voice” (p. 77).

But what does that mean?

•Flip your sentences around.

•Avoid linking verbs (“to be” verbs)

•Make your subject do the action directly.

Passive Voice: The apple was despised by William Tell.Active Voice: William Tell despised the apple.

Passive Voice: The survey was conducted after school.Active Voice: The researchers conducted the survey after school.

Resources

Writing Center website

Library Website

APA or writing questions?

writingsupport@waldenu.edu

Webinar questions?

wcwebinars@waldenu.edu

THE END!