Running head: ABBREVIATED TITLE (UNDER 50 CHARACTERS)
Full Title in Upper and Lower Case
Your Name
North Central Michigan College
Author Note:
In general, APA documents should…

be double-spaced with a 1” margins all around,

use one serif font such as Times New Roman, 12 point size, though some
exceptions apply for tables and figures.
Throughout this text, arrows and green typeface are used to draw attention to examples.
However, in the strictest application of APA, everything would be in black and white, and the
text would contain no graphic devices such as arrows.
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Abstract
The purpose of the abstract is to give readers a quick summary of the paper so they can decide if
reading the paper in its entirety is worthwhile. The abstract is just one-paragraph, and it begins
flush left – not indented. It should highlight the statement of purpose, key points, and
conclusion.
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Full Title in Upper and Lower Case
The title appears at the top of this page in regular type. Also, because the reader
understands this section is an introduction, in APA format there is no need to use a header that
reads, “Introduction.” This opening section should include the writer’s statement of purpose.
APA Citations
APA provides standard guidelines for the general layout of a paper, but more
importantly, it enables writers to credit sources. Whether material is in the form of a direct quote
or a paraphrase, crediting the source is done through citations and references: Citations occur in
the text, and they provide only brief information about the source—usually the author’s name,
year published, and possibly a page number. References, on the other hand, are lengthier and are
listed on a reference page at the end of the document. In effect, the citation tells the reader, this
information came from a source, and if you want to find that source yourself, flip back to my
reference page for the details.
The two styles of citations-- signal phrase and parentheticals-- are discussed below along
with special cases known as secondary and personal communication citations. Except for
personal communication citations, all citations need a matching reference at the end of the paper.
Signal Phrase and Parenthetical Citations
When the authors are mentioned in the text, the style of citation used is called a signal phrase
citation, and when no authors are mentioned a different style is used-- sometimes called a
parenthetical (Bullock and Goggin, 2013, p. 536).
a. Signal Phrase: According to authors, Bullock and Goggin (2013), “…” (p. 536).
b. Parenthetical: “… ” (Bullock & Goggin, 2013, p. 536).
Note that the quote’s final punctuation goes after the citation.
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Secondary Source Citations
Sometimes writers need to cite a source within a source. Of course the best approach is
to find the original—or primary-- work, read it, and cite the primary source. If the primary
source is not available, then identify that source in the text, but identify the secondary source in a
parenthetical after the information as follows:
E. L. Doctorow once said, “Writing a novel is like driving a car at night” (as cited
in Lamott, 1994, p. 18).
This style tells the reader that the words of Doctorow, the primary source, were found in
Lamott’s book, the secondary source. The secondary source— Lamott— is listed as a
reference at the end of the paper.
Personal Communication Citation
When a writer uses information unavailable to the general public, a personal
communication citation is used. This works for personal emails, telephone conversations,
interviews, personal letters, lectures, and other non-archived discussion sources (Bullock &
Goggin, 2013, p. 540). Examples follow:
a. During his visit, John Davis (personal communication, December 24, 2015)
described life during a major snowstorm in Petoskey back in the 1950’s.
b. Streets were closed, and neighbors hosted sledding parties (J. Davis, personal
communication, December 24, 2015).
This tells the reader that John Davis’ information was gleaned from a private
conversation. By the way, an unpublished conversation is not considered recoverable data, so
that is why there is no matching reference. (American Psychological Association, 2016).
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Other Citation Notes
APA is notorious for its many details. There are rules, for example, on how to cite
sources with more than one author, for the number of times a signal phrase citation must be used
in the same paragraph (once per source), and so on. For students who plan to do a lot of writing,
skimming through an APA book or online site may be wise.
Tips for Building a Reference
There are many different types of sources, and APA is very specific about the way
references for each should be constructed and punctuated. So, aside from attempting to memorize
every reference format, what is the easiest way for a writer to create a professional-looking
reference list?
Creating a Reference
Figure out what type of source
you have.
•Print book? Website article? General
website? Blog post? YouTube video?
Journal article? Etc.
Find an example of how a
reliable authority has built an
APA reference for the same
type of source.
If all else fails,
use a reference
generator.
•Do an online search,*
check Purdue OWL or
the APA Style Blog, or
check a guidebook.
•KnightCite or Son of
Citation--available
online**
Figure 1. Creating a Reference. *For example, to search online for a YouTube video reference,
search “youtube APA reference.” ** KnightCite sponsored by Calvin College (2015); Son of Citation
Machine created by David Warlick and published by Imagine Easy Solutions (2015).
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As Figure 1 illustrates, the starting place for creating a reference is to know the type of
source. For example is it an entire website, website article, YouTube video, journal, book?
After determining the type, either search online for an example to copy, or create a reference
using an online generator such as KnightCite sponsored by Calvin College (2015) or Son of
Citation Machine created by David Warlick and published by Imagine Easy Solutions (2015).
Be careful though. Most generators have their own quirks, so it is a good idea to at least be
aware of what an accurate reference should look like by studying examples. Once the reference
is created, it should be listed alphabetically in the reference list with a hanging indent. A shortcut
for indenting a reference in MS Word is shown in Appendix A.
Two of the most popular online resources for references are the APA Style and
Formatting guide of the Purdue OWL, sponsored by Purdue University, and the APA Style Blog,
sponsored by the American Psychological Association. There are also guide books available at
the college bookstore, and of course, the North Central Writing Center is usually a great place to
find solutions to APA questions.
Other APA Notes
Citations and references are the most important elements of APA formatting, but APA
also offers guidelines on various cosmetic features. The most common ones are listed below.
APA Headings
APA provides five levels of headings. For example the words, “Other APA Notes” are a
level 1 heading with boldface type centered over the text, whereas “APA Headings” is a level 2
heading, bolded and flush left. A heading, no matter what the level, must be used at least twice.
This is similar to outlining in that if there is a section A, there must be a B. Information about
heading levels is available online and in most APA guidebooks.
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Figures and Tables
For professional publication, APA requires all tables and figures to be rendered in black
and white and included at the back of an essay or report, but at North Central most professors
encourage students to include figures and tables in the body of the essay and use color if desired,
as they are in this paper. With either approach, be sure to refer in the text to any table or figure
used. In other words, do not just plop a table or figure into a report without explaining it.
Figures can be photographs, graphs, video links, or other visual inserts such as the chart
in Figure 1 above. At a minimum, each figure’s caption should contain a label— in this case,
Figure 1—and a title—in this case, “Creating a Reference.”
Tables, on the other hand, are created a little differently. As illustrated below, the label—
“Table 1”-- appears at the top of the table followed by the title which appears in italics. Notes go
at the bottom. No rules (lines) are used inside the table other than to set off the column headings.
Table 1
Brief Comparison of MLA and APA Formats
Characteristic
APA
MLA
Include separate title page?
Yes
No
Citations include author’s last
name and page numbers?
Yes
Yes
Citations use dates?
Yes
No
References use dates?
Yes
Yes*
Scientific disciplines
Literary disciplines
Historical use
Notes. Chicago Manual of Style, another format, is not included in this comparison since so few students use it.
*MLA reference page is titled “Works Cited.”
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Appendices (Level 2 Heading)
An appendix is useful for information that may be helpful but is too unwieldy to include
in the body. For example, this paper contains an Appendix A, as mentioned above, and also an
Appendix B which provides a step by step guide for inserting headers and page numbers. Other
examples might be a copy of a survey questionnaire or the transcript of an interview.
Some Notes on Verbs
In general, use present tense or present perfect. However, as stated in the Publication
Manual of the American Psychological Association (2010),
Use the past tense to express an action or a condition that occurred at a specific, definite
time in the past, as when discussing another researcher’s work and when reporting your
results [:]
Correct: Sanchez (2000) presented similar results.
Incorrect: Sanchez (2000) presents similar results. (p. 78)
How to Handle Long Quotes
When a direct quote of 40 or more words is used, block the quote (i.e. indent) as shown
above. No quote marks are needed. Incidentally, square brackets indicate the writer added
something for clarity—they were not part of the original quote. In addition, note that after a
block quote, the final punctuation comes before the parenthethesis.
Conclusion
Like all stylistic trends, formats for crediting sources evolve over time. Today, sharp
execution of APA format is considered a sign of professionalism and even scholarly expertise.
But at its heart, it offers writers a system for crediting the work of others. The trick is to allow
enough time in the drafting process to utilize APA. For example, depending on the complexity
of the paper and the experience of the writer, students should allow at least 2 to 5 hours to put a
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five-page paper into APA format with proper citations, references, a title page, abstract, tables,
and figures.
It is also important to remember that, while students should aim for perfection, even the
APA manual contains mistakes (Paiz et al., 2013). The point is to be patient, keep trying, and
know that help is available at the North Central Writing Center.
If you are an NCMC student, staff or faculty member and have questions about APA or, for that
matter, any word-related issues, come see us face to face or online. Also, if you notice any
mistakes in this text, please let us know!
To book an appointment: please go to www.ncmcwritingcenter.simplybook.me
Or call us Monday – Thursday at 231-439-6345.
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Appendix A
How to Indent a Reference in MS Word
Often a reference is too long to fit on one line. In that situation, leave the first line of the
reference flush left, and then indent the remaining lines. In MS Word, to indent the 2nd or 3rd line
of a reference, try this:
a. Put the cursor at the very beginning of the 2nd line.
b. Hit BACKSPACE, then ENTER, then TAB.
c. If there is a 3rd line, place the cursor at the beginning of it and hit BACKSPACE,
then ENTER.
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Appendix B
How to Create APA Headers in MS Word
1. Go to the first page of the document (title page).
2. Hit INSERT, then select HEADER, then select “Blank (Three Columns)”
3. Under “Design” select “Different First Page.”
4. In the header, click on the left hand text area and type the words,
Running head:
5. Then type the title of your paper in ALL CAPS—abbreviate the title if it’s longer than 50
characters.
6. Delete the middle text area.
7. Click on the right hand text area, and hit INSERT, then select PAGE NUMBER. Then
select “Current Position,” then “Plain Number.” The number 1 should appear.
8. Go to the second page of the paper.
9. Repeat the process outlined above, skipping #3. Also for step 4, do not type the words
“Running head:”—just re-type the paper’s title in ALL CAPS or copy/paste it from the
header on the first page.
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References
American Psychological Association. (2016). How do you cite an interview?.
Retrieved January 28, 2016, from http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/cite-interview.aspx
Bullock and Goggin (2013). The Norton field guide to writing with readings (3rd ed.). New
York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Calvin College. (2016). KnightCite. Retrieved from
http://www.calvin.edu/library/knightcite/index.php
Imagine Easy Solutions. (2015). Son of Citation Machine. Retrieved from
http://www.citationmachine.net/
Lamott, A. (1995). Bird by bird: Some instructions on writing and life. New York: Anchor
Books--A Division of Random House, Inc.
Paix, J. M., Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., … Keck, R. (2013,
March 1). General format. Retrieved from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01