APA Style

The Basics
 Why use APA?
• Allows others to • Establishes
access your sources credibility

• Helps you stay • Prevents plagiarism

organized
 Setting up your paper:
• One-inch margins
• Double-spaced
• Title page – centered text placed in top half
of page
• Page number in header (right justified)
• Title of essay in header (left justified, all
capital letters)
Breakdown of APA

• Title page

• Parenthetical citations

• Reference page
Title Page Example
Running Head: ALCOHOL USE AMONG TEENS 1

Alcohol Use Among Teens

Jane B. Smith
Tulsa Community College
First Page of Paper

ALCOHOL USE AMONG TEENS 2

Alcohol Use Among Teens

Begin typing your essay here. Remember to

left justify, indent the first line of each paragraph,
and double-space all text.
Use in-text citations when. . .

•Quoting
•Paraphrasing
•Summarizing
 Source within a source
• Don’t quote a source that your source
has also quoted.
– Instead, find the original source and quote it
directly.
– This eliminates confusion within your paper
and the reference list.
 How do citations work?

They direct your reader to your

reference page.
Include only the
necessary elements,
so I don’t become
confused.
 Necessary Info

Year of publication Page number

Author’s last name

 Example:
In fact, one technician suggests, “General
wisdom of every new technology progresses
through four phases: Disbelief, Hype,
Backlash, and finally Acceptance or
Rejection” (Feeley, 2006, p. 53).

(Author’s last name, year,

and page number)
 Another Approach:
In fact, Feeley (2006) suggests, “General
wisdom of every new technology progresses
through four phases: Disbelief, Hype,
Backlash, and finally Acceptance or
Rejection” (p. 53).

When introducing a
quote by an author, info
in parenthesis changes.
 What info would you
provide in the parenthesis?
A recent report indicates, “The Anycast Station
features a six-input 4:2:2 video switcher, and
audio mixer . . . and server” (_Mill,
_ _2006,
_ _ _p. _42_ ).
 What info would you
provide in the parenthesis?

Lester (2004) argues, “few realize the price

they pay for such extremities” (_ _ p._ 32
_ _ _ ).
 A source with no author?

However, some speculate, “35% will

adopt these new systems by next year”
(_“America’s,”
_ _ _ _ _ 2006,
_ _ _p._93_ _).

Use quotation If the source doesn’t list an

marks for titles of
articles or chapters
author or editor, provide the
and italics for titles first one or two words of the
of books. title.
 A source with multiple authors?

3 to 6 authors first reference:

(Kelly, Richer, & Switz, 2006, p.32)

3 to 6 authors subsequent references:

(Kelly et al., 2006, p.32)

7 or more authors:
(Kelly et al., 2006, p. 32)
 Misc. APA Rules
• Quotes longer than 40 words should be
indented 5 spaces.
• When summarizing, do not give a page
number (only use last name and publication
year).
 Reference Page

Author
Publication
Information
Title of the Work
Other Necessary
Information
 Book with one author:

Simmons, L. (2004). Six steps to combating

ignorance. Durham, NC: Duke University
Press.

Last name, First initial. (pub. Year). Title of

book. Publication city: Publisher.
 Book with two or more authors:

Cleve, K., & Russell, M. (2005). A nation at a

glance: America in the twentieth century.
New York: Glenhaven.

Cleve, K., Palmer N., & Russell, M. (2005). A

nation at a glance: America in the
twentieth century. New York: Glenhaven.
Article in an edited book or
anthology:
Smith, A. (2002). Editing for clarity. In R.M.
Miller (Ed.), Writing with precision (pp.
120-132). Detroit: St. Martin’s Press.

Last name, First initial. (pub. Year). Title of

article or chapter. In Editor’s name
(Ed.),Title of book (pp. ). Publication city:
Publisher.
 Article from a database:
Moser, P., & Mun, T. (2004). Supply and
demand. Business First, 32 (2), 34-37.
Retrieved from General BusinessFile
ASAP database.

Last name, First initial. (pub. Year). Title of

Article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pp.
Retrieved from database name.
 Document in a website:
U.S. Department of State. (1997). Germany:
Economic policy and trade practices, 1996.
Retrieved from
http://tradeport.org/ts/countries/germany.html

Name of organization or author. (pub. Year). Title

of document. Retrieved from website url
 Source with unknown
author or editor. . .

Start with the title—everything else is the same.

Book with unknown author:

Taking control. (1999). New York: Norton.

 Source with
Organization as Author. . .
Hawaii Department of Education. (2005).
Kauai district schools, profile 2004-05.
Honolulu, HI: U.S. Government Printing
Office.
List the name of the
organization as the author.
 For each entry. . .
• Invert each author’s name • Italicize all book and
• Put publication year in journal titles.
parenthesis after author • Do not italicize or use
info quotation marks around
• In titles of books and article titles.
articles, capitalize the first • Give the state only if the
word of the title and city is not well-known.
subtitle and any proper • Use a hanging indent .
nouns.
• In titles of journals,
capitalize first word and
all other important words.When in doubt, look it up!
 Example of a Reference Page

ALCOHOL USE AMONG TEENS 11

References
Amanae, O. (2006). The basics of troubleshooting. Technology
in a Modern Age Journal, 41, 72-79. Retrieved from
Lexis-Nexis database.
Brazil, K., & Mayes, S. (2005). Keys to aesthetics: The look of
HDV technology. Denver: Green Publishers.
Luther, L. (2005). Incorporating technology into the workplace.
Business Forum, 35, 322-326.
 Again. . .

Consult a writing
handbook when questions arise.

I don’t bite—at
least not very
hard.
 Helpful Websites
• www.apastyle.org

• owl.english.purdue.edu

• http://lrc.tulsacc.edu
 Other Resources

• FACET Center
– Writing handbooks
– Editing help

• LRC
– APA Manual
– Bibliomaker