A Guideline on APA (American Psychological Association) Style

Spacing


Double-spacing is required throughout most of the manuscript. Single spacing can be used for table titles and headings, figure captions, references (but double-spacing is required between references), footnotes, and long quotations. Space once after commas, colons, semicolons, and punctuation marks at the end of sentences

Text Details


Make sure the text is left aligned and not justified. Footnotes are rarely used in APA papers. Use a 12 point font. Indent 5-7 spaces (one-half inch, 1.25 cm) within paragraphs.

Text Details


Margins should be 0.98 all around. Page numbers are required on every page (top of the page and right alignment). The page header summarizes the title in a few words. Use header top left corner; font size - 8-10. xx No spacing between the paragraphs

Headings


Level 1- Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Heading Level 2- Centered, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading Level 3 Flush left, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Level 4- Indented, Italicized, lowercase Level 5- CENTERED UPPERCASE HEADING

Headings


APA headings follow a complex hierarchy, with provision for up to five levels. These come, in descending order, as levels 5, 1, 2, 3, 4. But, if one, two, or three levels of headings are required in a paper, use levels 1, 3, and 4, in that order. If four levels are required, interleave level 2 between levels 1 and 3. If five levels are required, start with level five and work down the remaining hierarchy in order (5, 1, 2, 3, 4).

Commas


Use commas before "and" in lists. Use commas between groups of three digits, for example, 1,453. Use commas to set off a reference in a parenthetical comment (Patrick, 1993). Use commas in exact dates, for example, April 18, 1992 (but not in April 1992).

Italics (Underlining)


Do not italicize or underline common foreign abbreviations (vice versa, et al., a priori).

uotation Marks
For quotations over 40 words in length, indent and single space the whole block.

Abbreviations


Explain what an abbreviation means the first time it occurs: American Psychological Association (APA).

Numbers


Use digits to express numbers 10 and above. Use words to express numbers below 10. Use digits to represent statistical or mathematical functions, fractional or decimal quantities, percentages, ratios, and percentiles. Use digits to represent time, dates, ages, sample or population size, scores, and exact sums of money.

Tables and Figures



Type the table number and then (on the next double spaced line) type the table title flush left and italicized. Each row and column must have a heading. Use a zero before the decimal point when numbers are less than one. Add notes to explain the table contents.

Figures


Center each figure on the page. Italicize the word 'figure' and the number, for example, Figure 1. The effects of...

Reference Citations (InText)



Examples include Some fact (last name, year)., Last name (year) noted that... For two-author citations, spell out both authors on all occurrences. For example: As Smith and Sarason (1990) point out, the same argument was made by in an earlier study (Smith & Sarason, 1990). For multiple-author citations (up to five authors) name all authors the first time, then use et al., so the first time it is Smith, Jones, Pearson, and Sherwin (1990), but the second time it is Smith et al.

Reference Citations (InText)



If citing multiple works by the same author at the same time, arrange dates in order. For example: Several studies (Johnson, 1988, 1990a, 1990b). Multiple citations in parentheses are placed alphabetically and are separated by a semicolon and a space. For example, Some fact (Carlson, 1972; Moon, 1968; Partin, 1980).

Reference Formats For Back Page

 

Alphabetize the reference list by authors last names. Use a hanging indent for references (all lines after the first line of each entry in the list should be intended one-half inch from the left margin). ExampleDeutsch, F. M., Lussier, J. B., & Servusm L. J. (1993). Husbands at home: Predictors of parentalparticipation in childcare and housework. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1154-1166.

If you have more than one work by an author, order them by publications date, oldest to newest

When an author appears both as a sole author and, in another citation, as the first author of a group, list the one author entries first

Reference Formats For Back Page



If no author is given for a source, alphabetize using the title of the work, which will be listed in place of the author. Use & instead of and when listing multiple authors of a single work. Italicize titles of books and journals.

Reference Formats For Back Page



Journal Article, with Continuous Pagination by Volume Deutsch, F. M., Lussier, J. B., & Servusm L. J. (1993). Husbands at home: Predictors of parentalparticipation in childcare and housework. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1154-1166. Journal Article, Paginated by Issue Green, B. J. (2000) Picture books and teaching science. Science and Children, 38 (2), 43-45. Magazine Article Posner, M. I. (1993, October 29). Seeing the mind. Science , 262, 673-674. Newspaper Article, No Author New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death from heart failure. (1993, July 15). Washington Post, p. A12.

Reference Formats For Back Page



Edited Book

Gibbs. J. T., & Huang, L. N. (Eds.). (1991). Children of color: Psychological interventions with minority youth. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.


Book, No Author or Editor

Merriam-Websters' collegiate dictionary. (10th ed.). (1993). Springfield, Ma: Merriam-Webster.



Article or Chapter in an Edited Book

Massaro, D. (1992). Broadening the domain of the fuzzy logical model of perception. In H. L. Pick, Jr., P.van den Broek, & D. C. Knill (Eds.), Cognition: Conceptual and methodological issues (pp. 51-84). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Reference Formats For Back Page



Encyclopedia or Dictionary Sadie, S. (Ed.). (1980). The new Grove dictionary of music and musicians. (6th ed., vols. 1-20). London: Macmillan. Government Publications (Gpo) National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental illness (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Article in an Internet-only Journal Needham,C. L. (2000). Exploring the deep ocean floor. Oceanographic Journal. Retrieved from ftp://ftp.woodshole.edu/harad/Oceanographic/2000.vol ume7/ocean.00.7.011.oceanfloor.needham

Appendixes


If only one appendix then label it Appendix (centered at the top of the page). If more than one appendix then label Appendix A , Appendix B , etc. Begin each appendix on a separate page