Library Research Guides: Cite Your Sources: APA

APA Style Guide

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association by American Psychological Association
ISBN: 9781433832161

Publication Date: 2019-10-01

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th edition, is the official source for APA Style. It's the style manual used by writers, researchers, editors, students, and educators in the social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, nursing, communications, education, business, engineering, and many other fields. Available in the Library Research Suite LB1025.

APA Style Guide Handout
This handout provides a quick reference to the basics of formatting in the APA citation style and provides examples for the most common types of sources.

Formatting Your Paper in APA

Key Ideas for Formatting Your APA Paper

The Entire Document

Use a standard font and size, such as 12-point Times New Roman or Calibri.
Double-space your entire paper
Set 1-inch margins.
Indent the first line of each paragraph.
Insert page numbers in the upper-right-hand corner.
Create title page.
Create references page(s).

Setting up your title page

Page is center-justified.
Double-spaced.
Title of your paper is bolded and starts 3 or 4 lines down from the page.
Include the following elements, each on a new line:
Your name,
Your affiliation (which is usually the department and college name),
The course number and name,
The instructor (or instructors) name(s),
Assignment due date in the month, date, and year format,
Add page numbers in the top right corner.

Setting up your Reference Page(s)

Start your reference page on a separate page at the end of your paper.
All text should be double-spaced.
Continue page numbering from the body of your paper.
Center and bold the title References at the top of the page.
Alphabetize by the first word in each entry, typically the last name of the first author.
Create a hanging indent, where the first line of each entry is all the way to the left, and each subsequent line is indented.

APA Research Paper Templates

APA Style (7th ed.) Template in docx format
Download and edit this template for a properly formatted APA style paper.
APA Style (7th ed.) Template in docm format
Download this docm file. Open in Word --> Save As --> Save as type "Word Template"

Your References Page

Resources

APA Style Website: Guide for References
Purdue Owl: References Page Basics
The Basics of APA Style
An interactive tutorial that provides an overview of seventh edition APA style, including how to incorporate in-text citations, use bias-free language, and construct a bibliography.

Official APA Style Manual (7th ed.)
ISBN: 9781433832154

Available in the Research & Instruction Suite (Room 1025) in the Library.

APA In-Text Citations

Creating your in-text citations in APA style.

Key Points: In-text Citations

Cite with a Signal Phrase

When you introduce a source by name in your sentence, you do not need to include their name in your parenthetical citation.

Lott (1998) argues that the standard explanation of Plato's views is no longer satisfactory.

Cite Parenthetically

If you don't introduce a source in the text, include the author's name and publication year in your parenthetical citation.

However, the standard view that Plato viewed the capacity of belief formation as necessarily involving the reasoning part of the soul is unsatisfactory (Lott, 1988).

Quotations

Use direct quotations sparingly and instead paraphrase or summarize the ideas and information that inspires you from other authors.

Short quotations (fewer than forty words):

Nelson (2003), however, notes that the choice of Joan of Arc as an example of a militant woman warrior “was not an isolated case of the suffragettes joining religion to the military” (p. 218).

Long quotations (forty or more words):

Display in a block of text with the quotation marks omitted. Start the quotation on a new line and indent the entire block. Double-space the quotation and cite the quoted source at the end.