Smith (1970) compared reaction times . . .
In a recent study of reaction times (Smith, 1970), . . .
In 1970, Smith compared reaction times . . .
APA - American Psychological Association Format
Handling Quotations In Your Text
When using APA format, follow the author-date method of citation. This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, and a complete reference should appear in the reference list.
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Smith (1970) compared reaction times . . . |
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In a recent study of reaction times (Smith, 1970), . . . |
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In 1970, Smith compared reaction times . . . |
Short Quotations
To indicate short quotations (fewer than 40 words) in your text, enclose the quotation within double quotation marks. Provide the author, year, and specific page citation in the text, and include a complete reference in the reference list. Punctuation marks such as periods, commas, and semicolons should appear after the parenthetical citation. Question marks and exclamation points should appear within the quotation marks if they are a part of the quotation but after the parenthetical citation if they are a part of your text.
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She stated, "The placebo
effect disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner" (Miele, 1993, p. 276), but she did not
clarify which behaviors were |
|
According
to Miele (1993), "the placebo effect disappeared when behaviors were |
|
Miele
(1993) found that "the placebo effect disappeared" in this case
(p. 276), but |
Long Quotations
Place quotations longer than 40 words in a free-standing block of typewritten lines, and omit quotation marks. Start the quotation on a new line, indented five spaces from the left margin. Type the entire quotation on the new margin, and indent the first line of any subsequent paragraph within the quotation five spaces from the new margin. Maintain double-spacing throughout. The parenthetical citation should come after closing punctuation mark.
Miele's 1993 study found the following:
The placebo effect disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner. Furthermore, the behaviors were never exhibited again, even when real drugs were administered. Earlier studies conducted by the same group of researchers at the hospital were clearly premature in attributing the results to a placebo effect. (p. 276)
Reference List
Your reference list should appear at the end of your essay. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the essay. Each source you cite in the essay must appear in your reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in your text.
| Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give last name and initials for all authors of a particular work. Your reference list should be alphabetized by authors' last names. If you have more than one work by a particular author, order them by publication date, oldest to newest (thus a 1991 article would appear before a 1996 article). When an author appears as a sole author and as the first author of a group, list the one-author entries first. If no author is given for a particular source, alphabetize by the title of the piece and use a shortened version of the title for parenthetical citations. |
| Use "&" instead of "and" when listing multiple authors of a single work. |
| The first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. Subsequent lines should be flush with the left margin. |
| All references should be double-spaced. |
| Capitalize only the first word of a title or subtitle of a work. Underline titles of books and journals. |
| Note that the underlining in these entries often continues beneath commas and periods. |
| Each entry is separated from the next by a double space (thus the entire reference list is double spaced, with no extra returns added). |
Forms
for Sources in Print
An article in a periodical (such as a journal, newspaper, or magazine)
| Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year of Publication, add month and day of publication for daily, weekly, or monthly publications). Title of article. Title of periodical, Volume Number, pages. |
You need list only the volume number if the periodical uses continuous pagination throughout a particular volume. If each issue begins with page 1, then you should list the issue number as well: Title of Periodical, Volume (Issue), pages.
A non periodical (such as a book, report,
brochure, or audiovisual media)
|
Author,
A. A. (Year of Publication). Title
of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. |
For "Location," you should always list the city, but you should also include the state if the city is unfamiliar or if the city could be confused with one in another state.
Part of a non-periodical (such as a book chapter
or an article in a collection)
|
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of Publication). Title of chapter. In A. Editor & B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pages of chapter). Location: Publisher. |
When you list the pages of the chapter or essay in parentheses after the book title, use "pp." before the numbers: (pp. 1-21). This abbreviation, however, does not appear before the page numbers in periodical references.
Basic Forms for Electronic Sources
A web page
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Author, A. A. (Date of Publication or Revision). Title of full work [online]. Available:full web address. (Date of access). |
"Date of access" should indicate the date you visited the website. This is important because online information is frequently altered.
An online journal or magazine
|
Author,
A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of Publication).
Title of article. In Title of full |
Because e-mail is a personal communication, not easily retrieved by the general public, no entry appears in your reference list. When you cite an email message in the body of your paper, acknowledge it in your parenthetical citation.
|
The novelist has repeated this idea recently (Salman Rushdie, email to author, May 1, 1995). |
Examples
Journal article, one author
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Harlow, H. F. (1983). Fundamentals for preparing psychology journal articles. Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55, 893-896. |
Journal article, more than one author
|
Kernis, M. H., Cornell, D. P., Sun, C. R., Berry, A., & Harlow, T. (1993). There's more to self-esteem than whether it is high or low: The importance of stability of self-esteem. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 1190-1204.' |
Work discussed in a secondary source
|
Coltheart,
M., Curtis, B., Atkins, P., & Haller, M. (1993).
Models of reading aloud: |
Give the secondary source in the references list; in the text, name the original work, and give a citation for the secondary source. For example, if Seidenberg and McClelland's work is cited in Coltheart et al. and you did not read the original work, list the Coltheart et al. reference in the References. In the text, use the following citation:
|
Seidenberg and McClelland's study (as cited in Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins, & Haller, 1993) |
Magazine article, one author
|
Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9). Making the grade in today's schools. Time, 135, 28-31. |
Book
|
Calfee,
R. C., & Valencia, R. R. (1991). APA
guide to preparing manuscripts for |
An article or chapter of a book
|
O'Neil,
J. M., & Egan, J. (1992). Men's and women's gende role journeys: |
A government publication
|
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. |
Book or article with no author or editor named
|
Merriam-Webster's
collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1993). Springfield, MA: |
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New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death from heart failure. (1993, July 15). The Washington Post, p. A12. |
For parenthetical citations of sources with no author named, use a shortened version of the title instead of an author's name. Use quotation marks and underlining as appropriate. For example, parenthetical citations of the two sources above would appear as follows: (Merriam-Webster's, 1993) and ("New Drug," 1993).
A translated work and/or a republished work
|
Laplace,
P. S. (1951). A philosophical essay on probabilities (F. W. Truscott
& F. |
A review of a book, film, television program, etc.
|
Baumeister,
R. F. (1993). Exposing the self-knowledge myth [Review of the book The |
An entry in an encyclopedia
|
Bergmann,
P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The new Encyclopedia Britannica (Vol. 26, pp. |
An online journal article
|
Kenneth,
I. (1995). A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights. [9 pars.] |
A web page
|
Daly,
B. (1997). Writing argumentative essays. [online].
Available: |
Footnotes and Endnotes
Because long explanatory notes can be distracting to readers, most academic style guidelines (including MLA and APA) recommend limited use of footnotes/endnotes. An exception is Chicago-style documentation, which relies on notes for all citations as well as explanatory notes. But even in that case, extensive discursive notes are discouraged. Proper use of notes would include:
Evaluative bibliographic comments
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1 See Blackmur (1995), especially chapters three and four, for an insightful analysis of this trend. |
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2 On the problems related to repressed memory recovery, see Wollens (1989) pp. 120-35; for a contrasting view, see Pyle (1992). |
Occasional explanatory notes or other brief additional information that would seem digressive if included in the main text but might be interesting to readers.
|
3 In a recent interview, she reiterated this point even more strongly: "I am an artist, not a politician!" (Weller, 1998, p. 124). |
Footnotes in APA format are indicated by consecutive superscript arabic numbers in the text. The notes themselves are listed by consecutive superscript arabic numbers and appear double-spaced in regular paragraph format (a new paragraph for each note) on a separate page under the word Footnotes (centered, in plain text without quotation marks).
General
Format
Your essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5 X 11 inches) with margins of 1 inch on all sides. Your final essay should include, in the order indicated below, as many of the following sections as are applicable, each of which should begin on a separate page:
| Title
page, which includes a running head for publication on the first line of the
page flush left; the manuscript page header with page number in the top
right corner, a half inch from the top of the page on this and every other
page; and the title, author's name, and institutional affiliation, centered. abstract |
| text |
| references |
| appendices |
| author identification notes |
| footnotes |
| tables |
| figure captions |
| figures |
The running head notice on the first line of the page serves to notify editors of a shortened version of your title to be used at the top of each page in the final published version of the essay. This shortened title should not exceed 50 characters, including punctuation and spaces. If the essay is for an academic course and is not intended for publication, you may omit the running head notice.
The pages of your manuscript should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page, as part of the manuscript header in the upper right corner of each page. Your references should begin on a separate page from the text of the essay under the label References (with no quotation marks, underlining, etc.), centered at the top of the page. Appendices and notes should be formatted similarly.
Keep in mind that underlining and italics are equivalent. Choose one or the other form to use throughout your essay.