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APA Editorial Style—Basic Elements
Page and section numbers in parentheses refer to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.).
APA prefers Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.), for spelling and word format (p. 79)
“If the dictionary gives a choice, use the first spelling listed; for example, use aging and canceled rather than ageing and
cancelled” (p. 96). Preferred spelling of the plural forms of some words is on p. 96. “Authors are reminded that plural nouns
take plural verbs” (p. 96).
Handy links:
http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/
http://www.lexilogos.com/english/dictionary.htm
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/
http://www.grammarbook.com/
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/marks/marks.htm
Document Format (See section 8.03 “Author Responsibilities”)
Margins
Uniform margins of at least one inch on all sides.
Line Spacing
Double Space. Exception for inside tables and figures: single or one-and-a-half space as needed.
Paragraph Indent
Tab indent beginning of each paragraph.
Alignment
Flush left. Ragged right edge (justify only left margin.) Block quotes are flush left to interior margin, but always
ragged right to document margin.
Page Numbering
Number consecutively beginning with the title page, use Arabic numerals, top right hand corner, at least 1 inch
from right hand edge.
Font & Typeface (this tip sheet uses Perpetua 12 pt. except in header and examples)
Use uniform font and typeface. APA prefers serif fonts, in particular 12-pt Times New Roman; a sans serif
typeface such as Arial may be used in figures and tables, and may be as small as 10 pt.
Mechanics of Style (chapter 4)
Spacing & Punctuation
Only one space after punctuation. (sect. 4.01)
Space before … and after … periods in an ellipsis ( … ).
Ellipsis (pp. 172-173) (plural: Ellipses)
The ellipsis indicates omission within a quote. Format as described above. PC keyboard shortcut is ctrl+alt+period.
Rarely, you may use the ellipsis “at the beginning or end of any quotation … to emphasize that the quotation begins
or ends in midsentence” (p. 173).
Italics (sect. 4.21)
APA describes several specific rules, but “in general, use italics infrequently” (p. 104).
Comma in a series (serial comma, Oxford comma) (sect. 4.03)
The serial comma is used between elements in a series (including before “and” and “or”) of more than two items.
Please read through the other specific comma usage details.
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Hyphens & Dashes (www.punctuationmatters.com is a handy reference)
Hyphen, minus sign, en dash, and em dash are all a little different. Sections 4.06 and 4.13 show usage details. The
minus sign is used only in mathematical functions.
- hyphen (press hyphen key) (section 4.13)
− minus (type 2212 then press alt and x keys; PC only)
– en dash: (section 4.13) ctrl and minus keys
— em dash: (section 4.06) ctrl, alt, minus keys
Numbers (Sects. 4.31–4.38)
Use words to express a number when it begins a sentence, title, or text heading.
Use figures to express numbers 10 and above, numbers in an abstract, and numbers that immediately precede a unit
of measurement.
In general, use words to express numbers below 10. This rule has numerous exceptions. See stylebook.
For plurals of numbers, add “s” or “es”. For example, use 1960s NOT 1960’s.
Percentage sign (sect. 4.45, p. 118)
Use the percentage symbol (%) only when preceded by a numeral. Exception for table headings and figure captions.
Statistical Abbreviations & Symbols (sects. 4.45–4.46, pp. 117-123)
These sections present usage rules and a table showing the particular format of each symbol.
Use spaces between terms of mathematical copy. E.g. a + b = c not a+b=c.
Writing
Headings (sects. 3.01–3.03))
Headings represent the outline of your paper. There are five levels. Levels 1-4 are in bold. Levels 3, 4, and 5 are
paragraph headings. Levels 4 and 5 are in italics.
If a section has subsections, APA recommends there be at least two subsections.
Series (or Seriation) (sect. 3.04)
Within a paragraph or sentence, identify elements in a series by lowercase letters in parentheses.
Separate paragraphs in a series, such as itemized conclusions or steps in a procedure, are identified by an Arabic
numeral followed by a period but not enclosed in or followed by parentheses.
Items in a series can be identified by bullets when you don’t want to give unwanted ordinal importance.
Writing Style (Sects. 3.05–3.17) (write for an academic audience)
Continuity of ideas (sect. 3.05)
Smoothness (sect. 3.06). Advice on tense: when to use past, present perfect, and present tenses. “Stay within the
chosen tense” (p. 66).
Tone, Economy, and Precision and Clarity (Sects. 3.07–3.09)
Use the active voice and appropriate verb tense (sect. 3.18–3.19)
Do not use colloquial expressions (p. 68).
Reducing Bias (Sects. 3.11–3.17)
Grammar & Usage (Sects. 3.18–3.23)
Displaying Results
Tables (pp. 128-150)
Basic Components of a Table are shown in Table 5.1 on p. 129.
Table Checklist is on p. 150.
Table numbers: Consecutive, entered above table beginning at left table margin, no punctuation (Table 1, Table 2,
etc.).
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Table titles: Italicized, begin two spaces after table number and at left table margin, no end punctuation.
Use only horizontal rules (lines), and limit the number “to those that are necessary for clarity” ( p. 141).
Use a column heading for every column.
Table can be single or double spaced. (p. 141) Readability is crucial.
Tables may have three kinds of notes and are presented below the table in this order: general notes, specific notes,
and probability notes. (p.138)
Permission is required to reproduce or adapt a table from a copyrighted source. See section 6.10, and p. 38 for
copyright permission wording.
Figures (pp. 150-167)
See Figure checklist on p. 167.
Figure number and caption begin below figure, flush left.
Figure numbers: Consecutive, italicized, and end with period (Figure 1., Figure 2., etc.).
Figure caption begins on same line after figure number, is not italicized, and has period at end whether or not it is
a complete sentence. Capitalize only the first word of the caption and any proper nouns. Double space if caption is
more than one line.
You need permission to reproduce or adapt a figure from a copyrighted source. See p. 38 for copyright
permission wording.
Citations (chapters 6 & 7)
Each citation must be on the reference list; each reference list entry must be cited in the text.
Basic Citation Styles (p. 177)
Table 6.1 provides examples of both text and parenthetical citations. Make a copy of this page and refer to it as you
are writing.
For a secondary source cite only the secondary source (the source that you read). “Give the secondary source in the
reference list. In the text, name the original work and give a citation for the secondary source” (p. 178).
Personal Communication—for letters, memos, e-mails, telephone conversations, personal interviews, etc. use
initials and surname of the communicator and provide as exact date as possible. Since this type of material is not
retrievable do not include in the reference list. If the personal communication is recoverable it should be referenced
as an archival source (p. 179).
Use of Ampersand (p. 175)
Precede the final name in a multiple-author citation in running text by the word and. In parenthetical material, in
tables and captions, and in the reference list, join the names by an ampersand (&).
Examples:
as Davis and Johnson (1990) demonstrated
as has been shown (Davis & Johnson, 1990)
Use of et al. (p. 175)
Not italicized. Use a period after “al”. For example, (Rosen et al., 1999).
Direct quotations (p. 171)
Direct quotes must be reproduced word for word and page number(s) must always be included.
Quotes of fewer than 40 words are incorporated within the sentences of the text and set off by double quotation
marks.
Quotes of 40 words or more do not use quotation marks and are blocked—the quoted words begin indented one
tab space from left margin and continue following that indented margin until the end of the quote. If there is a
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paragraph break within the block quote, indent the first line of the new paragraph one tab space to the right of the
indented margin. Double space the quotation.
Compare the ending punctuation for in-text quotations and block quotations. See p. 171.
References
• Begin references on a separate page. Type the word “References” in upper and lower case.
• Use hanging indent format.
• Each citation must be listed in references; each reference list entry must be cited in the text.
• Alphabetical Order by author’s surname (p. 181).
• See p. 180 for acceptable reference list abbreviations.
Eight or more authors (p. 184)
• Give all authors’ names up to and including seven authors. When there are eight or more, include the first six
authors’ names, then insert an ellipsis and add the last author’s name.
Journal article with DOI (p. 198)
• Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (1994). Title of article. Title of Periodical, xx, pppp. doi:xx.xxxxxxxx.
Journal article without DOI (p. 199)
• Include the issue number if the journal is paginated by issue.
• If there is no DOI assigned and the reference was retrieved online, give the URL of the journal home page
• No retrieval date is needed “unless the source material may change over time” (e.g. Wikis).
Book (p. 202)
• Author, A. A. (1967). Title of work. Location: Publisher.
• Editor, A. A. (Ed.). (1986). Title of work. Location: Publisher
Chapter from a book (p. 202)
• Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (1994). Title of chapter. In A. Editor, B. Editor, & C. Editor
(Eds.), Title of book (pp. xx-xx). Location: Publisher.
Publication data
• Location within U.S.: City, State (use postal abbreviations for state): Publisher Name.
City (if publisher is university press that includes state name, you can delete state
abbreviation): Publisher Name.
Example—Albany: State University of New York Press.
• Location outside U.S.: City, Country (name of country spelled out): Publisher Name.