EDUC 502 Elements of APA Style October 17, 2005 Class session 7

What is APA style and why use it? The APA (American Psychological Association) publishes a manual that sets forth uniform standards for writing that encompass grammar, punctuation, format, citations, etc. APA style has been gradually developed and refined since APA style provides a way for professionals to communicate with each other in a coherent manner.

Some elements of APA style: A sample manuscript Title page (see p. 1 of sample manuscript) Abstract (see p. 2) In-text citation of a work by a single author (see p. 3, yellow) Short quote drawn from another paper (p. 3, bright green) First in-text citation of a paper by several authors (p. 3, pink). Subsequent citations would be abbreviated (Putnam et al., 1992)

Some elements of APA style: A sample manuscript Lengthy quote from another paper (more than 40 words) (p. 3, red). Several references that support a single point (p. 3, dark green). Various levels/types of headings (pp & 17-21, gray). Check with me if you feel the need to go beyond three levels. Tables and figures (pp. 22, 43, turquoise)

Some elements of APA style: A sample manuscript End-of-text reference list (pp ) Reference to a book by with an organization as an author (p. 37, yellow) Article by several authors in an edited book (p. 37, bright green) Book by a single author (p. 37, turquoise) Book by two authors (p. 37, pink) Journal article by two authors (p. 37, red) Journal article by one author (p. 37, teal)

Some elements of APA style: A sample manuscript A few conventions to note about the end- of-text reference list: –Alphabetical order by lead author’s last name. –Hanging indent. –Journal and book titles italicized. –Each significant word in a journal title is capitalized. –Each significant word in a book title is NOT capitalized.

Some elements of APA style: A sample manuscript Disclaimer: This has been a very brief, cursory overview of APA style. You may encounter situations not addressed in the sample manuscript. The entire APA manual is available for purchase online or at bookstores (e.g., Barnes & Noble). Products, style updates, and refinements are available online at

APA style: Beyond references Lynn Truss’ book entitled Eats, Shoots and Leaves gives an amusing (although not exhaustive) introduction to some of the punctuation errors APA style was designed to help eliminate. In your spare time, you can play a “punctuation game” quiz.html quiz.html

Some sample apostrophe errors Sign: “Giant Kid’s Playground” (p. 41) Sign: “Good food at it’s best” (p. 44) “MP’s” and “1980’s” (p. 46). (superfluous). Sign: “Prudential – were here to help you” (p. 47). Title: “League of signwriter’s” (p. 47). Sign: “Lemon’s for sale”

Some sample comma issues “No dogs please” vs. “No dogs, please” (p. 80). Fruits are lemon, strawberry, orange and lime (no Oxford comma) (p. 83). “Jim woke up in an unfamiliar bed, he felt lousy” (p. 88). (splice) “Jim woke up in his own bed, however, he felt great” (p. 89) (period or semicolon). “The people in the queue, who managed to get tickets, were very satisfied” (p. 92). (remove commas, change meaning).

A sample of other APA-style issues “i.e.” vs. “e.g.” (i.e. is an abbreviation for the phrase “that is,” while “e.g.” is an abbreviation for the phrase “for example”) Placement of period: A period is never placed inside a set of parentheses – even for references. The reference is considered part of the sentence. Special conventions exist for reporting statistics – tables, abbreviations, etc. Check with me if calculating statistics