Middletown High School Introduction to APA Format

General APA Guidelines Paper should be typed, double-spaced, with 1” margins on all sides. Font should be highly readable (e.g. Times New Roman). Your title page should include your title, name, class period and the date. NO word art, images or artistic flair. Always include page numbers on the upper right corner of the page (use a running header and page number) References page should list three sources in APA format--should be “formal” (professionally published)--print first page. Paper must include appropriate in-text citations.

What kind of information should be cited in my paper? You must cite:  Direct quotes  Statistics  Summaries  Paraphrased work If you intentionally re- word someone else’s ideas, you must give credit to that source by citing the original work.

What kind of information should I find for my source citations? For all sources, look for  The author (or creator) of the information  The year it was published (copyright)  What the work is called (title of book or article)  Where the work can be found  (if it’s an article, which magazine or database is it in? if it’s a chapter in a reference book, which book is it in? if it’s a page on a website, which website it is part of?)

Formatting Your Sources Option 1—Create your own citations  Handouts are provided in the Library (there is a handout on the Library page on the MHS website)  Refer to an online writing resource, such as the OWL Purdue Option 2—Use a citation tool  Online citation tools, such as Citation Machine or BibMe, can help you create citations for your reference page Option 3—With UDLibSearch, use the citation tool provided  Many of the databases include a section called “Tools” with each article—the “Citation Tool” will provide an APA formatted citation for your reference page

The Reference Page/Source Expectations (Last Page of Your Paper/First Page Print-Outs) Called “References” (not “Works Cited”) Alphabetize the list by the first letter of each entry (author’s last name or first word of the title) Should be double-spaced, and should follow the standard format for indentation. The copyright year should never be the first item in a reference page citation—it is always the second item in the citation entry. Include all sources that are cited in the paper. Must submit 1st page of each source with paper.

Basic Formats Printed Book: Author, A. A. (year). Title of book. Location: Publisher. Website: Author, A.A. (date of last update). Site title. Retrieved from URL. Newspaper Article: Author, A.A. (year, month day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper, pp-pp. Magazine Article: Author, A.A. (year, month). Title of article. Title of Magazine, vol # (issue #), pp-pp.

Example Reference Page References Electromagnetic spectrum. (2006). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from Electromagnetic spectrum. (2007). In U*X*L Encyclopedia of Science. Detroit: U*X*L. Laser. (2007, July 16). U*X*L Encyclopedia of Science. Detroit: U*X*L. Laser product and instruments. (2012, July 30). In United States Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved from EmittingProducts/RadiationEmittingProductsandProcedures/HomeBusinessandEntertainment/Lase rProductsandInstruments/default.htmhttp:// EmittingProducts/RadiationEmittingProductsandProcedures/HomeBusinessandEntertainment/Lase rProductsandInstruments/default.htm Netting, R. (2011, March 22). “Visible light waves.” In Mission: Science. Retrieved from