APA Style 6th edition

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APA STYLE 6TH EDITION

writingcenter.txstate.edu


What is APA Style? APA Style establishes standards of written communication concerning:  the organization of content  writing style  citing references

Retrieved from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/


APA Formatting basics  Separate title page  Should contain title, author’s name, and institutional affiliation

 Abstract  Contains a running header  On the title page the header should read Running head: SHORTENED TITLE  The following pages should read SHORTENED TITLE  Each page is numbered in the upper right corner

 1” margins  Double space everything  Two spaces after periods (except in published work)  12 pt. Times New Roman  Indent paragraphs .5”



Do not indent the first line of an abstract


Center the full title of the paper

Do not label introduction. Simply begin body paragraph.


APA Headings  Level 1 Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Headings  Level 2

Left-aligned, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading

 Level 3 Indented, boldface, lowercase heading with a period. Begin

body text after the period.  Level 4 Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase heading with a period.

Begin body text after the period.  Level 5 Indented, italicized, lowercase heading with a period. Begin body text

after the period.


In-Text STYLE basics  Clear and Concise  Active Voice  Word Choice  Names of large works are italicized  books, periodicals, album titles, etc.

 Names of works within larger works are placed in quotation marks  articles, chapters, essays, poems, songs, etc.

 In titles, the first word, proper nouns, and the first word after a colon

are capitalized.


Citing Sources in the Text  Author’s name in text  The author’s first and last name should be used the first time he or she is referenced

in the text; after the first time, only the last name should be used to identify the author.  Caroline Robbins (2003) suggested that the “therapists in dropout cases may have

inadvertently validated parental negativity about the adolescent without adequately responding to the adolescent’s needs or concerns” (p. 541), contributing to an overall climate of negativity. According to Robbins (2003), students in these cases are unlikely to return to school.

 Author’s name in reference  Confusing this issues is the overlapping nature of roles in palliative care, whereby

“medical needs are met by those in the medical disciplines; nonmedical needs may be addressed by anyone on the team” (Csikai & Chaitin, 2006, p.112).


Citing Sources in the Text  Paraphrasing  Paraphrasing is the APA-preferred method of conveying information from outside

sources rather than directly quoting the text.  To paraphrase is to restate someone else’s idea in your own words without repeating

the original text. Paraphrasing should result in a condensed, reworded version of the author’s original idea.  When paraphrasing or referring to an idea that is not your own, you must provide a

page or paragraph number so that your reader may locate the material within the text.  In his aquatic research, John Robertson (2010) explained that sleeping fish do not

close their eyes (p. 136).


Basics of References  Book  Basic Form  Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location:

Publisher.  Calfee, R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal

publication. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

 Article or chapter in edited book  O'Neil, J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's gender role journeys: A metaphor

for healing, transition, and transformation. In B. R. Wainrib (Ed.), Gender issues across the life cycle (pp. 107-123). New York, NY: Springer.


Basics of References  Journal  Basic Form 

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages.

 Web database 

Smyth, A. M., Parker, A. L., & Pease, D. L. (2002). A study of enjoyment of peas. Journal of Abnormal Eating, 8(3), 120-125. Retrieved from http://www.articlehomepage.com/full/url/

 In print 

Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New Criterion, 15(30), 5-13.

 Online journal 

Kenneth, I. A. (2000). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 8. Retrieved from http://www.cac.psu.edu/jbe/twocont.html

 Online source with no author 

What causes Alzheimer’s disease. (2008). Retrieved from http://www.memorystudy.org/alzheimers_causes.htm



Online Resources  The Bedford Handbook  Writing Center website  writingcenter.txstate.edu

 Owl Purdue: owl.english.purdue.edu  www.worldcat.org  Texas State library databases  APA style guide


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