General APA Style - George Fox University

Writing in APA Style6th Edition

Resources:APA manualOWL at PurdueARC writing consultantsHandout from psychology departmentAPA style blog (they’ll answerquestions!)

General APA Style 8 ½” x 11” white paper 1” margins 12 point font; black Double spaced Number all pages and include short title inheader Indent each paragraph 2 spaces after a periodSee pages 41-51 of APA manual for a samplepaper

Title Page Title Summarizes the main idea of the paper Recommended length: No more than 12 wordsAuthor’s name First name, middle initial, last name No titles or degrees earned (e.g., Dr., Ph.D., etc.)Affiliation (i.e., university or institution) Do not use abbreviationsOptional, depending on instructor: Campus Box number Semester Course Name Instructor Name

Title Page Page numberUpper right hand cornerInclude on each page of paperUse page number function in “Header” functionRunning head:An abbreviated, logical version of the titleAll capital lettersMaximum of 50 characters (including spaces andpunctuation)Left marginWrite out the words “Running head:” on title pageonly.

Running head: INCREASING MOTIVATION1Page number: top rightRunning head: flush left, abbreviatedtitle, in capsIncreasing Motivation in College Classes: A Qualitative StudyJoanne FrattaroliTitle (Upper& lowercase)George Fox UniversityYour nameCampus Box # 1234Fall, 2009Your university affiliationPsyc 311, Child DevelopmentThis all goes on the top half of the page!

Using Word to do headers1. Open a new document3. Before you type anything,4. Select “different first page”2. Click to insert header5. Now your header is labeled6. Type your first page header

Page numbers1. Type your header2. Tab to the right margin3. Select page number current position plain number

Abstract – APA Style150 - 250 words totalOn page 2 by itself (the introductionfollows on page 3)The word “Abstract” is centered at the topof the pageNo indentation of the abstract paragraphAfter the abstract, list 3-5 keywordsThis is a summary, NOT the firstparagraph of your paper

INCREASING MOTIVATIONAbstract is centered and Ais capitalizedNo indent2AbstractRunning head & page numberagain (on every page)Increasing student motivation has always been a challenge forteachers. Students may be unmotivated to perform because of homestress (citation, year), peer pressures (citation, year), or physicalhealth problems (citation, year). The present study examined atechnique designed to increase student motivation.Should be between 150 – 250 wordsKeywords: motivation, college students, educationCentered, italicized as shown

Introduction – APA StyleBegins on page 3 (after the title pageand abstract)Title of the paper (not the wordIntroduction) is centered at topDo not include your name anywhere inthe introduction (or throughout the restof the paper; your name belongs onlyon the title page)Begin paragraphs with an indentation

INCREASING MOTIVATIONTitle at the beginning of the paper,centered and same font size3Running head & page numberIncreasing Student Motivation in College Classes: A QualitativeStudyAlthough some students are apt to work very hard for thepleasure of completing a job well done, other students need someassistance to keep them motivated Body of introduction; starts immediately after title(do not skip any extra lines) - start with a statementabout human behavior (broad), then begin tonarrow in on your particular area. Summarizewhat other studies have found. End theintroduction with your research question(s) orhypothesis(es), topics, etc.

ReferencesAny citation that is in the paper must bein the reference sectionAny reference in the reference sectionmust be cited in the paperWorks Cited

References Alphabetical orderLast name, first initial. Middle initial. (year). Title ofarticle. Title of Journal, vol(issue), pages.doi:10.xxxxxxHanging indentDOI if one has been assigned, regardless ofwhether you accessed a print or an online copyIf no DOI: Homepage URL if you accessedonline copy (http://www.apa.org/monitor/); notnecessary if you accessed a print copyHomepage of the journal, not the database!

INCREASING MOTIVATIONComma in between names,even before ampersandAmpersand beforeReferenceslast author15Reference subheading:this IS on a new page!DigitalFrattaroli, J., & Dickerhoof, R. M. (2005). Assessing studentObjectmotivation: A new questionnaire. Social IndicatorsIdentifierResearch, 29(2), 254-275. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2008.12.016Year of publication inparentheses, with aperiod after it.Author’s last name, then initials(including middle name, if they haveone).Title of article; only first letter capitalizedJournal title and(and first letter after a colon, and propervolume, in italics;nouns like “California”)Put list (between issue number notreferences) inin italicsPage numbers, then a periodalphabetical order;within references,No period at the end of the DOIkeep order on paper

In-Text Citation:Giving credit where credit is dueReferences in text are to point thereader to the original source of theinformationAny time you borrow another person’swords or ideas, you must cite thatpersonCitations give credit for ideas; quotationmarks give credit for the actual words

When citing in the paper itself (outside of the reference page):You can cite in the actual body of the text: According to James (1995), children like to Use ‘and’ insteadof ampersand intext As demonstrated in a study by Smith, Jones, and Frattaroli (2001),an intervention of this sort Put year in parentheses with thename it goes withUse last names onlyYou can cite parenthetically: Children like to get recognized for their accomplishments (James,1995). An intervention of this sort can reduce absenteeism (Smith, Jones,& Frattaroli, 2001).Period goes at the end of the sentence.Use an ampersand in parenthesesThe citation is part of the sentence.

One work with one authorIn the body of the paper:Langston (1994) examined how people deal withpositive life experiences.ORIn a study about positive life experiences, peoplewere more likely (Langston, 1994).In the reference section:Langston, C. A. (1994). Capitalizing on and copingwith daily-life events: Expressive responses topositive events. Journal of Personality andSocial Psychology, 67(4), 1112-1125. doi:10.xxxx

One work with two authorsIn the body of the paper:Fredrickson and Joiner (2002) explored positiveemotions and well-being ORIn a study about positive emotions (Fredrickson& Joiner, 2002).In the reference section:Fredrickson, B. L., & Joiner, T. (2002). Positiveemotions trigger upward spirals towardemotional well-being. Psychological Science,13, 172-175. doi: 10.xxxxx

One work with 3 - 5 authorsIn the body of the paper:1st citation: Pennebaker, Barger, and Tiebout (1989)examined the health of OR1st citation: A study examining the effects of disclosure onholocaust survivors (Pennebaker, Barger, & Tiebout, 1989)2nd citation (in subsequent paragraphs): Pennebaker etal. (1989) found In the reference section:Pennebaker, J. W., Barger, S. D., & Tiebout, J. (1989).Disclosure of traumas and health among holocaustsurvivors. Psychosomatic Medicine, 51, 577-589. doi:10.xxx

One work 6 or more authorsIn the body of the paper:Petrie et al. (1993) examined the effects of atraumatic experience on ORWriting about traumas also improves immuneresponse (Petrie et al., 1993).In the reference section:Petrie, K. J., Booth, R. J., Pennebaker, J. W., Davison,K. P., Smith, L. P., & Thomas, M. G. (1993). Writingabout a trauma and immune response to a hepatitisvaccination program. Journal of Clinical Psychology,63, 387-392. doi: 10.xxx

Secondary citationsIf you read in one source (Smith, 2009)about a study from another source(Jones, 2006), you can only cite thestudy you actually read:Children tend to respond well to treatment (Jones, as cited in Smith, 2009).

QuotationsAre to be avoided whenever possibleDefinitions of psychological terms are anotable exception to thisPlaced within quotation marks if less than40 wordsCitation is then accompanied by the pagenumberSet off in a block without quotation marksif more than 40 words

When using quotations (which you should avoid completely or doonly sparingly if you must!): Always put quotes around phrases that are word-for-word fromanother source (4 words or more in a row ). Indicate the author(s) last name(s), year, AND page that the quotecame from:Note the use of page numberson direct quotes.As stated in Frattaroli (2005), “Expressive writing improvestest performance on the GRE, MCAT, or LSAT” (p. 273).OR“Expressive writing improves test performance on the GRE,MCAT, or LSAT” (Frattaroli, 2005, p. 273).

Block quotation:Piaget (1968) writes “every structure has a genesis” and“genesis emanates from a structure and culminates in astructure” (p. 149). The fact is that we must understandnew material through old and often inadequate mentalstructures. This affects what is learned and how it isunderstood. Thorson (1981) states,The important fact that a divine revelation is that real sourceof our knowledge does not eliminate the purelyepistemological problems of communication, interpretation,and comprehension, nor does it impart a special status orrational certainty to our knowledge itself. We walk by faith:the truth is divine but it held by earthen vessels, human andfallible. (p. 132)Without additional cognitive processes, assimilation would.

ParaphrasingIs more than just rewording thepassage by changing “unpredictable” to“difficult to predict”Even the cadence of the phrase mustbe changed in order to do a correctparaphraseYou still must identify the originalsource of the ideas (code, n.p.)

Abstract – APA Style 150 - 250 words total On page 2 by itself (the introduction follows on page 3) The word “Abstract” is centered at the top of the page No indentation of the abstract paragraph After the abstract, list 3-5 keywords