1. APA Style Writing and Formatting APA Manual 6th Edition
Use this presentation as a guide when you are writing for graduate classes at Concordia University, Nebraska.

2. Writing Style
American Psychological Association (APA) formatting was developed to standardize documents.
APA formatting is required in all CUNE graduate coursework.
All page numbers in this guide refer to the APA Manual, 6th edition.

3. APA Formatting APA formatting addresses: Writing style (p. 87)
Manuscript format (p. 21)
Abstracts are used only in research papers
Manuscript format in-text citations (p. 169)
Manuscript format reference pages (p. 193)

4. APA Writing Conventions: Pronoun Usage
Do use the 3rd person.
He, she, it, him, her, his, hers
They, them, their, theirs
Do not use the 2nd person.
You, your, yours
See p. 79.

5. Pronoun Usage Cont’d Do not use the 1st person. See p. 79.
I, me, my, mine
We, us, our, ours
Except in special circumstances
Discussions
Specific assignments
See p. 79.

6. Word Choice Choose words carefully.
To communicate ideas effectively
Less is usually better
Be as specific as possible
Creditable writing depends on using language that communicates clearly
Jargon and/or slang are strictly forbidden.
See p. 65.

7. Colloquialisms Write like a professional, not as you speak. See p. 65.
“Report” versus “write-up”
“Reviewed” versus “looked at”
“7%” rather than “a few”
“Meeting” rather than “get-together”
See p. 65.

8. Expressing Numbers
The general APA style rule governing the use of numbers in a text is:
Use numerals to express numbers 10 and above
Use words to express numbers below 10
See p. 111

9. Voice Use an active voice to clarify who is doing what. Correct:
Respondents completed the questionnaire in 15 minutes.
Incorrect:
The questionnaire was completed in 15 minutes by the respondent.

10. Voice Cont’d
Use the passive voice to clarify who or what received the action, not the person or people responsible.
Example: Traditional IQ tests were administered as part of the admissions process.
The use of the tests is emphasized, not the givers of the test.

11. Biased Language Do not use emotional-extreme language.
It is of the utmost importance…
Happiness totally depends on…
Do not use biased language
Racial
Gender
Socioeconomic status
Creed (belief)
See p. 73.

12. Document Formatting
Click here to see an example of an APA-formatted title page and document
12-point, Times New Roman font
Double-spaced throughout the document
No additional spacing between paragraphs, headings, etc.
See p. 228.

13. Formatting Cont’d Paragraph indention Page numbers See pp. 229-230.
All paragraphs are indented .5 inches (5 spaces)
Page numbers
Upper right corner
Begin with the first page of the document
See pp

14. Centered, Boldface, Capitalize All Major Words
Headings
APA Headings
Level
Format 1
Centered, Boldface, Capitalize All Major Words 2
Flush left, Boldface, Capitalize All Major Words 3
Indented, boldface, lowercase, end with a period. 4
Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase, end with a period. 5
Indented, italicized, lowercase, end with a period.
See p. 62.

15. When to Use Parenthetical Citations
Use parenthetical citations when quoting any words that are not your own.
Quoting means to repeat another source word for word, using quotation marks.
See pp

16. In-Text (Parenthetical) Citations
Citing quotes within text
The author’s last name, publication year, and page number(s) of quote must appear in the text or citation.
Example: Caruth and Green (1996) state that “a traumatic response frequently entails a delayed, uncontrolled repetitive appearance of hallucinations and other intrusive phenomena” (p. 11).
See p. 174.

17. In-Text Citations Cont’d
Only last names are used.
The period comes after the citation, not inside the quotation marks.
‘Page’ is represented with a “p” followed by a period in parentheses.
(p. xx)
See p. 174.

18. In-Text Citations Work with one author Work with two authors
(Smith, 1998, p. 11)
Work with two authors
(Smith & Jones, 1998, p. 11)
Note: Both authors will always be included.
See pp

19. In-Text Citations Cont’d
Work with three to five authors
When first cited, list all of the authors.
(Smith, Jones, White, & Green, 1998, p. 11).
In subsequent citations:
(Smith et al., 1998, p. 11)
Note the punctuation of et al.
See pp

20. In-Text Citations Cont’d
Example
According to some studies “a traumatic response frequently entails a delayed, uncontrolled repetitive appearance of hallucinations and other intrusive phenomena” (Caruth & Green, 1996, p. 11).
Note: “&” is used in the citation.
Note: The period comes after the citation, not inside the quotation marks.
See pp

21. Quoting a Quote Example
You are reading an article by Elwell (2012) and on page 13 you read the following:
In a recent article Smith (2011) states “2013 will be the hottest summer this decade” (p. 6). If this is the case, the swimming pool industry should make more money than it has in recent years.

22. Quoting a Quote Cont’d In your paper, you write: See pp. 170-174.
Several experts have commented on the summer of According to Smith “2013 will be the hottest summer this decade” (as cited in Elwell, 2012, p.13). Elwell (2013) adds “ the swimming pool industry should make more money than it has in recent years” (p.13).
See pp

23. Quoting a Quote Cont’d Note the following:
“As cited” is used because you are using a direct quote made by Smith BUT you are reading it in the article by Elwell (you are not reading Smith’s 2013 article).
Reference page will only include an entry for Elwell, because that is the article you are reading.

24. Formatting References
Formatting the reference page
All references must contain the following information:
Author’s name
Title of work
Publication information
See pp

25. Formatting References Cont’d
1 inch margins
Double-spaced
No underlining or boldface
12-point, Times New Roman font
Hanging indent format: first line is flush left; subsequent lines are indented .5 inch.
See p. 37 and pp

26. References Books Journals Magazines Newspapers Encyclopedia
Print
Electronic
Journals
Magazines
Newspapers
Encyclopedia
Book chapter
YouTube
And others as needed

27. Additional References
Purdue OWL
Citation Machine
Son of Citation
APA Style
APA Citation Wizard