1. American Psychological Association
APA
American Psychological Association

2. What is APA? APA stands for the American Psychological Association
APA is used in social sciences and in other science fields
MLA is used in English and in other non-science fields
When we talk about APA in class, we’re talking about 3 things:
Citing sources in a works cited page (References)
Citing sources in-text
Formatting a paper/essay

3. Why does it matter?
APA is used for social science research. Because scientists come from around the world and are dealing with a wide variety of subject matter, it is important that they have a way to communicate with each other that everyone in the community will understand.
While Mr. Schock personally does wish that every field used one formatting (rather than the split between MLA, APA, and Chicago), students going into social science fields will likely be required to be comfortable with APA formatting
Please note that Mr. Schock is not an expert in APA formatting and received his information from OWL at Purdue. Please consult OWL’s APA website for more information/details on APA formatting.

4. Works Cited: Websites 1

5. What is a Reference LIST?
A reference list similar to what is referred to as a works cited page in MLA
A reference list is a page at the end of an APA paper that provides information on the sources you have mentioned in your paper (we’ll work on how to cite them in the paper later)
This list has a title at the top (References – not bolded or underlined) and should list the sources in alphabetical order by 1st letter in citation

6. Some rules
All lines after the first entry in your reference list should have a hanging indent (1/2 inch margin from the left)… I can explain how to do it on either Word or Google Docs, since they each have different ways to do it.
If the work has more than 7 authors, list the first 6 and then use ellipses after the 6th name

7. What about Easy Bib? Easy Bib is great… about ¾ of the time.
Thing is, it makes mistakes. All Easy Bib (and other sites like it) do is try to find the website information for you and place it into the citation. But if they “find” information, and it’s clearly wrong, it will mess up the citation.
Do your citations manually. It’s not hard. Titles and authors are usually at the top, and publisher information is usually at the bottom. That’s it. Don’t risk it by copying and pasting from Easy Bib. The citation could be wrong, and it could throw off your formatting.
Easy Bib is like a clapper– sure, the clapper is “easier,” but you’re better of not being lazy in the first place. Also, the light switch is a whole more reliable.

8. Order for citing
Last name of author, initials for first/first and middle name
Published date in parenthesis
Title of the article/page
Title of periodical (if applicable)
Volume number (if applicable)
Issue number (if applicable)
URL

9. Order in citation form
Author last name, first initial/first and middle initial (Date of publication in parenthesis). Title of article. Title of online periodical, volume number, issue number in italics. Retrieved from URL
The title of the article is not quotation marks, unlike in MLA
No period after the URL, unlike MLA
You include the words “Retrieved from” before the URL, and this time you do include (unlike MLA)
If the website does not have an author or an article/page name, leave that part blank
If you’re just citing an abstract, put abstract in brackets after the article title
Double-space the citations

10. Example web citation
Bernstein, M. (2002). 10 tips for writing the living Web. A List Apart: For People Who Make Websites, 149. Retrieved from

11. Works Cited: Non-Web 2

12. Books
Author last name, first/first and middle initials. (Year of publication in parenthesis). Title of work in italics. Location published: Publisher.
Ex.
Calfee, R.C., & Valenia, R.R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Assocation.
If the book has no author but has an editor, list the name(s) as normal and just add (Ed.) or (Eds. If more than one) and a period after the name(s)

13. Films or movies
Producer last name, first/last initials (word Producer in parenthesis), & director last name, first/last initials (word Director in parenthesis). (Date published in parenthesis). Title of motion picture italicized [Words Motion picture in brackets]. Country of origin: Studio or distributor.
Ex:
Smith, J.D. (Producer), & Smithee A.F. (Director). (2001). Really big disaster movie [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount Pictures.

14. In-text citations 3

15. When do you cite? You cite a source in-text whenever you:
Quote a source directly OR
Paraphrase something the author said
You always cite in past tense (unlike MLA) – Jones (1998) found, not finds

16. Basic in-text citation rules
There are two basic options for APA in-text citations:
Author’s last name and the published year before giving the quoted portion or paraphrase. You give the pg. number at the end (in parenthesis, before the period).
OR everything at the end in parenthesis (Author last name, published year) before the period.
Ex. According to Jones (1998), “Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time” (p. 199).
OR Ex. According to the report, “Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time” (Jones, 1998, p. 199).
If it’s a paraphrase, you don’t have to give the pg. number at the end.
Ex. APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998, p. 199).
OR Ex. APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998).

17. More on in-text citations
Two authors:
Wegener and Petty (1994)
(Wegener & Petty, 1994)
3-5 authors:
First use: (Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow, 1993)
Every use after: (Kernis et al, 1993)
6+ authors:
Harris et al. (2001)
(Harris et al., 2001)
No author = Editor, organization, or article title (whichever first in reference citation)

18. Paper formatting 4

19. Basics 12 pt. Times New Roman font Double-spaced
Top right: Last name page number (Smith 1)
Running header / page header: Top of every page, “TITLE OF YOUR PAPER” in all caps and quotation marks, on the left side of the page
An APA paper has 4 major sections:
Title Page
Abstract
Main Body
References

20. Basics 12 pt. Times New Roman font Double-spaced
Top right: Last name page number (Smith 1)
Running header / page header: Top of every page, TITLE OF YOUR PAPER in all caps on the left side of the page (make a header so it automatically adds this on the left)
An APA paper has 4 major sections:
Title Page
Abstract
Main Body
References

21. Title page
Title of the paper (if you have a running head, list that first at the top with a colon)
Author’s name (First name, middle initial, last name… No titles like Dr. or PhD)
Institutional affiliation (where you conducted your research)
Ex.
Masters Dissertation:
Example for Students in Proper Formatting
Brandon A. Schock
University of Mary
This is all centered and placed near the middle of the page.

22. abstract 2nd page is an abstract
Center the title: Abstract (no formatting)
Begin on the next line– no extra space, do not tab
Abstract should contain your research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis, conclusions, and possible implications for future research)
Single paragraph, double-spaced ( words)
Below the paragraph, tab once and type Keywords: in italics with a colon at the end… Then list your keywords, so researchers will have an easier time finding your work in databases.