1. Hello and welcome. This APA Style Overview presentation will review the basics of
APA style for formatting research papers, and working with in-text and reference
citations. If you have questions after reviewing this presentation please contact your
campus librarian for assistance.
2. Let’s get started with reviewing exactly what APA style is.
3. APA, is the abbreviation for the American Psychological Association. APA style is one
of many documentation conventions used for presenting research findings and resources.
You may be familiar with other styles such as MLA, the Modern Language Association
style or CMS, the Chicago Manual of Style. Each style has its own set of guidelines for
formatting papers, presenting in-text citations, and listing references.
4. The guidelines and specifications outlined in the presentation are based on the 6th edition
of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
5. As a Herzing University student you are expected to use APA style to document sources
in your written work. Check with your instructor if you are uncertain of the requirements
in his or her course.
6. Many students ask why they must use APA style for papers and other written work.
7. Formatted papers provide consistency in presentation and create easily readable
documents. Your References page will demonstrate that you have done your research
and are able to present it well by upholding academic standards. You will avoid
plagiarism when you have cited your sources appropriately. We’ll discuss plagiarism
later in this presentation.
8. APA is most commonly used in research papers; however, APA style may also be
required for other assignments in your courses. If you are uncertain if APA is required,
check with your instructor. Remember too, that your instructor may require additional
non-APA elements to be included in a research paper or written assignment. Be sure to
read and understand your specific assignment.
9. Did you know that if you don’t cite your sources correctly you are committing
plagiarism? It is your responsibility to understand what plagiarism is and how to avoid it.
10. Most students are well aware they cannot copy another person’s paper and pass it off as
his own. However, even when you are putting the ideas of another author into your own
words you must include a citation. If you don’t acknowledge where these ideas came
from you’ll be plagiarizing. If you use a direct quote in your paper you must make sure it
is accurate. When conducting research and taking notes, be certain to accurately record
the information and your source details. Double check how you are presenting
information and source details in your assignment.
11. With so much information available in electronic format from online databases and the
Internet, it is very easy to copy and paste all types of information . You will be
plagiarizing if you do not cite the source of this material and include appropriate
quotation marks when needed. Again, remember to take careful notes when you are
conducting your research, and KEEP TRACK OF YOUR RESOURCES. Citing your
sources applies to photos, diagrams and other visual material you may find using the
Internet.
12. You should be familiar with the Herzing University Academic Dishonesty Policy, which
is included in the course information section of each online course and also the Herzing
University Catalog. If you have questions be sure to ask your instructor, campus
representative, or campus librarian. *
13. Plagiarism is considered a serious offense at Herzing University and at other academic
institutions. Students may be expelled from school if they have plagiarized. It is not
acceptable to claim you didn’t know the academic policies, it is your responsibility to
understand plagiarism and avoid it through proper in-text citations in your written work.
14. APA guidelines apply to the look of the paper as well as in-text and reference citations.
We will next review the layout or format of a research paper. We’ll review in-text
citations and documentation later in the presentation.
15. Think of the formatting rules like a blueprint for your research paper. Each section has
specifics details that contribute to the overall layout. We’ll examine the overall basics and
then element specifics.
16. These are the basics for the formatting layout and style elements of your paper.
Additionally, your instructor may have other specific requirements for a particular
assignment. By following these APA basics you will have a well organized paper that is
visually easy to read.
17. All research papers will contain at least a title page, a body of text and a References page.
An abstract is common in APA format, but may not be required for all research papers. If
you are not sure of the requirements, consult with your instructor. Listed here is the order
in which each section appears in a traditional research paper. If you require an appendix it
would follow after the References page.
18. The title page is the first page of your paper. Your page header will continue throughout
your paper. Most word processing programs include a header tool to aid in set up of this
detail.
19. Your title should represent the topic of your paper. Don’t forget to include your name on
the title page, that element is referred to as a Byline.
20. If you need further information you may refer to one of these resources, or ask your
librarian for further assistance and additional examples.
21. Here is an example of an APA style Title page. Your instructor may provide you with
other specifics to include such as the course section and course name. If you have
questions, be sure to ask your instructor.
22. An abstract is a concise summary of the main points of a research paper, usually one
paragraph in length. This element of the research paper may or may not be required by
your instructor. Check your assignment details for specifics.
23. If you are including an abstract it will be page 2 of your research paper. The basic
elements are included such as, double spacing and one inch margins.
24. The body is the main text of your research paper, the culmination of your writing and
research. If you have included an abstract the body begins on page 3. If you have not
included an abstract, the body begins on page 2.
25. The References page follows the body of the paper and should start on a new page. In
APA your References page is a list of sources cited in the body of the paper. In MLA
style, the list of sources is called the Works Cited page. At other times in your academic
career you may have referred to this as a bibliography. In APA, a bibliography serves a
different purpose. It is important to use the proper term “References” when working with
APA style.
26. Like the other parts of the paper, the References page contains a page header, one inch
margins, and double spacing. For each type of source such as a book, periodical, or
website, APA requires specific data elements to be included. You will see a few
examples in the Documentation portion of this presentation. Be sure to capture the
appropriate information on the References page for each type of resource.
27. Do not add an extra line space between your entries, continue to double space throughout.
The use of the hanging indent will create an easy to read list of sources.
28. Notice the word References is centered at the top of the page, double spacing is used
throughout, and each entry has a hanging indent.
29. Depending on the requirements of your paper, or the types of material cited in your paper
you may or may not need to include an appendix. If you include an appendix it will
follow the References page. A complex chart or table that you want to refer to in your
paper is an example of what might be included in an appendix.
30. If you have more than one appendix each should be labeled with a capital letter in
alphabetical order starting with Appendix A and moving on to Appendix B, C and D etc.
Start each appendix on a new page with the identifier title centered at the top of the page.
31. Now that we’ve covered the basic components and layout of a research paper, we will
now review in-text citations which you would include in the body of your paper, and in
other forms of written work.
32. As you write your paper you’ll be referring to the research you conducted to support your
ideas. When you refer to ideas and opinions of other authors and/or use their words you
must cite your sources. If you do not cite your sources you’ll be committing plagiarism,
which may result in serious academic consequences. There is a section on plagiarism at
the beginning of the presentation.
33. When you use a quote in your work you’ll be setting it off with either quotation marks or
with what is referred to as a block quote. Quotations will be discussed in more detail later
in the presentation.
34. Whereas in quotations you are using the exact words of an author, when you paraphrase
you are using your own words. It is not enough to change around the order of the original
author’s words. To avoid using the exact words, write your paraphrase without looking at
the original. Always double check your work to make sure you have not included key
ideas word for word. If you cannot rewrite the information, remember to use quotation
marks around the author’s original words.
35. In a summary you are capturing the essence of a large body of work, such as an entire
book or article. As we discussed in paraphrase, you’ll want to write a summary in your
own words. If you must include key phrases from the original author make sure you make
that clear by using quotation marks around those key words and phrases.
36. The way you’ll use your in-text citations will vary depending on how you’ve included
your research into the body of your text. We’ll next review the elements to include in
your citations and look at a few examples.
37. Here are the elements to include in your in-text citations. When citing an author you
should refer to him or her by last name. For instance you would not write Mark Twain
suggests but rather Twain suggests. The year refers to the year the source was published.
Let’s look at some examples on the next few slides.
38. In the first example, notice how the authors last names Dobransky and Stamford are used
followed immediately by the date in parenthesis. Since a quote is used the exact page,
page 3, is included.
In the second example, the author’s names are within the parenthetical citation. Notice
here the ampersand symbol is used between the names within the parentheses, whereas,
in the first example in the text the word “and” was used.
39. Here is a basic in-text citation format for paraphrased material. In this example the writer
includes the exact page reference to make it easier to follow up on the original passage.
40. This is a citation example of a source without a known author. Instead of an author’s
name, this in-text citation uses a shortened version of the title “Fossil.” The compete
resource title would be listed on the references page.
41. Often you will encounter sources with more than two authors. If the source you are citing
has three to five authors, list each person’s last name the first time you make a reference
to that work. After this first entry for the remainder of your paper you’ll refer to the first
author and then add the term et al, which means and others. Let’s take a look at the
examples used by Palmquist in The Bedford Researcher.
42. Notice how the authors names Petrunkevitch, Harper, Golder, & Kerner are all listed in
the first in-text citation. In the second in-text citation, Petrunkevitch is the only author
listed along with the term et al.
43. When you have more than five authors, you will list the first author’s name an add the
term et al in the first entry and continue this format for subsequent citations throughout
the remainder of your paper.
44. Now we’ll go into more detail on quotations. The number of words you are quoting will
determine the look and style of the quoted material in your paper.
45. For shorter quotations of less than 40 words you can use quotation marks around the
words you are including in your paper. When you are using a quotation, be sure to verify
that you have done so word for word; check for accuracy in spelling and punctuation. If
you have to add a word or words to clarify a point for readers, do so by putting your own
words in brackets. If the author used double quotes in the text, replace those with single
quotes.
46. Notice the use of quotations marks around Miele’s words and the use of brackets around
the words only the first group’s. The bracketed information was added for clarity and is
not part of the original author’s text.
47. If your quotation contains forty or more words, you’ll need to represent the quotation in a
block format. Double quotation marks used by the original author remain as double
quotation marks in this format. Another item of note, if there was a misspelling in the
original, do not correct the words but rather insert the term sic . This will alert the reader
of your work that you have included the words as originally published or intended by the
author.
48. In this example notice the indent of the block quotation and the double quotation marks
around placebo effect. The term sic was included after the word reel to account for the
misspelling in the original work. In this format, the page number is outside the end
punctuation of the quotation.
49. Now we will review some of the more common resources types. There are many APA
resources for you consult for examples. If you have questions feel free to contact your
campus librarian.
50. The APA Tip sheet available on the Library page in Blackboard includes additional
resource type examples. The format illustrates the parenthetical in-text citation, author
and publication year format. As we saw earlier in this presentation, how you incorporate
your research into your paper will determine the exact format of your in-text citations.
51. The examples we will review illustrate the Reference page format first, followed by the
required elements, and ending with an example of a parenthetical in-text citation format.
This is an example for a book with two authors. Note the use of the ampersand between
the two authors in place of the word “and”. Remember to use full last name and initials
for first name or names.
52. This example of a journal article contains the volume and issue number. You may not
have both elements for all journals titles. Notice that the title of the journal is in italics.
53. DOIs provide a permanent electronic address for articles. You will not need to provide a
retrieval date when listing a DOI on your references page.
54. Notice that the DOI example contains numbers and letters; there is no period following
the DOI.
55. Not all articles found in electronic format will have a DOI. In this situation, APA 6th
edition standards call for the use of the Uniform Resource Location, or URL, for the
publication. For example if there was no DOI for an article from the Journal of Foot and
Ankle Surgery, you would include the URL, http://www.jfas.org/ If the URL is
unknown, a quick Google search can help you determine the web address.
56. In this example the article is from The Architectural Review – the URL for this
publication is http://www.architectural-review.com Notice the words “Retrieved from”
are included.
57. For most other electronic sources you will include the URL. Remember to check it for
accuracy. The reader of your paper should be able to find the source you cited by using
the URL listed on your References page. Not all documents found on the Internet are
credited to a specific author. Refer to the APA Tip sheet for examples of articles without
authors. Include a date of retrieval if the material is likely to change, is updated
frequently, or does not include a publication date. If you have questions or are uncertain
about the elements contained in one of your resources feel free to contact your campus
librarian for assistance.
58. There are many print and electronic resources available that explain APA style and
provide examples for in-text citations and references.
59. These materials are available through the Herzing Library System. You may have already
found a helpful resource that you prefer to use for APA.
60. Still have questions on APA? If you would like further assistance with APA or have any
questions please contact your campus librarian or your instructor.
61. If you have any questions regarding the sources used in this presentation, please contact
your campus librarian.