A Student’s Guide to the Universe of APA Style

Why Should Anyone Care About APA Style? It makes research clearer and easier to follow up on. Specific rules allow consistency among scholars and professionals across the discipline. Establishes baseline of competency in research. Helps avoid plagiarism disputes.

What Does APA Style Involve? Lists of sources cited at end of papers. Parenthetical citations in the text of papers. Format of papers. Writing style of papers.

I. APA Writing Style Formal language Objective language Clear, straightforward sentences Unbiased language Avoiding first person (“I”) Shorter sentences preferable to longer, complex sentences

What Does Style Have to Do With It? APA style is focused on science Tradition of focusing on the observed, not the observer Ideal of objectivity—the facts “speak for themselves” Communicating complex phenomena in clear way more important than self- expression or aesthetic considerations

II. Formatting Use 8.5" x 11" paper. Type double-spaced with 1" margins on all edges. Page numbers should be in the top right corner. The right margin should be ragged. Indent paragraphs five spaces. Use Times Roman 12 pt. type. Sample Paper

III. End of Paper Citations Rules are specific—don’t “wing it.” Close doesn’t count. No detail is trivial; number of spaces, kind of punctuation, indentation, order of names—it all counts. For almost any kind of source you might come up with, there’s a rule. Don’t memorize rules; learn where to find models. Rules can change in seemingly random ways; make sure you’re using most recent version of APA (6 th ed.). Yes, it’s picky and detail-oriented, but the rules are fairly clear. Learn to follow examples, and you’ll be fine.

Some Differences from MLA Style Only first words of titles and subtitles are capitalized. Date of publication comes early in the entry, not at the end. Author first and middle initials are used rather than full name. Publication date in parentheses. Webpage with comparisons

Types of Entries More than just book, magazine article, and journal formats. Don’t “force” a source into a format that doesn’t fit. There’s likely a specific format for any type of source you use. List of sample sources.List of sample sources Sample formatted page.Sample formatted page

Electronic Sources There’s more than one format for sources you get online. Format depends on type of source. Purdue OWL has a list of most common electronic sources and examples of how to cite them.has a list of most common electronic sources If you can’t find a model that is exactly like your source, use the closest match.

IV. Parenthetical Citations Idea is to tell where certain information came from or to whom a particular opinion or idea should be attributed. Not just for direct quotations. APA allows a number of ways of handling these citations to allow you to include necessary information in a way that still allows the text to flow.

When Do I Need In-Text Citation? Direct quotations Summarizing ideas from a source by condensing them into your own words Paraphrasing what a source says by putting their ideas in your own words

Handling In-Text Citations Basic information that must be included is author’s name, publication date, and page number (unless summarizing a whole work). You can work this information into a citation in a number of ways—not all information must be in parentheses. Don’t repeat information in parentheses that you’ve already provided in the text itself. Examples of in-text citations.Examples of in-text citations

Example of In-Text Citations in Context. Recently, the history of warfare has been significantly revised by Higonnet et al (1987), Marcus (1989), and Raitt and Tate (1997) to include women’s personal and cultural responses to battle and its resultant traumatic effects. Feminist researchers now concur that “It is no longer true to claim that women's responses to the war have been ignored” (Raitt & Tate, p. 2). Though these studies focus solely on women's experiences, they err by collectively perpetuating the masculine-centered impressions originating in Fussell (1975) and Bergonzi (1996). However, Tylee (1990) further criticizes Fussell, arguing that his study “treated memory and culture as if they belonged to a sphere beyond the existence of individuals or the control of institutions” (p. 6).

Direct Quotations For quotations of fewer than 40 words, you can work the quotation directly into the text: –She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style," (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why. –According to Jones (1998), "Students often had dificulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199). –Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA style" (p. 199); what implications does this have for teachers?

Longer Quotations Quotations longer than 40 words should be put into block-quotation format: –Jones (1993) found the following: Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time citing sources. This difficulty could be attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase a style manual or to ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)

Never, Ever, Let Quotations Hang On Their Own All quotations should have lead in text from you. Quotations don’t speak for themselves— they must be put in context. Without setting up quotations, you risk confusing the reader, not making it clear how the quotation supports your point, and making your paper schizophrenic.

So... NOT The use of quotations can give your writing a greater sense of credibility, but caution must be taken to work them into the text correctly. “Quotations without context are meaningless” (Remington, 2007, p. 16). BUT Quotations can give your writing a greater sense of credibility. Yet, caution must be taken to work them into the text correctly, for, as Remington (2007) notes, “quotations without context are meaningless” (p. 16).

Sources of Information on APA APA site: –APA Guide: –APA FAQ: –Tutorial: tutorial.aspxhttp://apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/basics- tutorial.aspx –What’s New in Sixth Edition:

Purdue Online Writing Lab Homepage: Basics of APA style: /560/01/ /560/01/ PowerPoint presentation on APA: /560/17/ /560/17/

Sample APA-Style Papers Sample paper from APA: experiment-paper-1.pdf experiment-paper-1.pdf Sample paper: gy/paper.pdf gy/paper.pdf MS Word Template: ogy/template.doc ogy/template.doc Reference List Only: style/samples.html style/samples.html

Nursing-Specific Information cts/guides/apa.htmlhttp:// cts/guides/apa.html g/APA.htmhttp://employees.csbsju.edu/proske/nursin g/APA.htm APA checklist: PA+Checklist,+6th+Edition PA+Checklist,+6th+Edition

Citation Creation Sites Citation Machine – Knight Cite –

Questions? Real, flesh-and-blood people you can ask about APA style: –Your instructor –Librarians –Me (Ted Remington, PJPII 319E, x8109,