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APA Overview• Why?• Edition• APA Seminar• vs. Thesis and Dissertation Guide

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Abbreviations

Abbreviations/AcronymsIdentify acronyms with first usage,

and then use acronym consistently throughout dissertation (consult your committee chair—some want acronyms identified with first use in each chapter).

Incorrect:The results of the studies of simple reaction time (RT) to a visual target have shown a strong negative relation between reaction time and luminance.

Correct:The results of the studies of simple reaction time (RT) to a visual target have shown a strong negative relation between RT and luminance.

(APA, 6th ed. pp. 106-111)

(APA, 6th ed. pp. 106-111)

Numbers and SymbolsCommon Problems with Numbers and

Symbols

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4.31 Numbers Expressed in Numerals• Numbers that represent time, dates, ages, scores and points on a scale, exact sums of money and numerals as numerals

• Exceptions(APA, 6th ed., pp. 111-112)

4.31 Numbers Expressed in Numerals• Numbers that denote a specific place in a numbered series, parts of books and tables, and each number in a list of four or more numbers

• Example• Chapter 5 (of your dissertation)

(APA, 6th ed., pp. 111-112)

4.34 Ordinal Numbers• No superscript (2nd)• See 4.31-4.34 for examples

(APA, 6th ed., p. 113)

4.32 Numbers expressed as words• Begins a sentence, title or text heading

• Common fractions• Universally accepted usage

(APA, 6th ed., p. 112)

Percents• Use the symbol for percent only when it is preceded by a numeral. Use the word percentage when a number is not given.

(APA, 6th ed., p. 118)

Percents(APA, 6th ed., p. 118)

Numbers(APA, 6th ed., pp.111-114)

Secondary Sources

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Secondary Sources• Incorrect

• Seidenberg and McClelland’s study (1989) indicates that . . . (Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins, & Haller, 1993).

• Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins, and Haller (1993) quote Seidenberg and McClelland’s study (1989). . .

• Correct• Seidenberg and McClelland’s

study (as cited in Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins, & Haller, 1993) . . .

• List only the Coltheart, Curtis, Atkins, & Haller, 1993 reference (the secondary source) in the reference pages.

(APA 6th ed., p. 178, #6.17)

(APA 6th ed., p. 178, #6.17)

et al.

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et al.• Latin abbreviation• et al.• Comma after et al.

• Parenthetical reference• Follow author when

there are multiple authors preceding et al. (6.12)

(APA 6th ed., p. 175)

et al.• Works of 3-5 authors

• List all with first use• Use et al. with all

usages afterward• Throughout entire

document (view as one document)

• See Table 6.1, p. 177

(APA 6th ed., p. 177)

et al.• Works of 6+ authors

• Use et al. each time – even with first use

• Throughout entire document (view as one document)

• See Table 6.1, p. 177• Reference Pages

• Up to 7 authors: list all• 7+: list first 6, followed by . . . Last author only (#2 on 198) (APA 6th ed., p. 177, 198)

(APA 6th ed., pp. 175-177, 198)

Seriation

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SeriationWithin a paragraph or sentence, identify elements in a series by lowercase letters (not italicized) in parentheses:

The participant’s three choices were (a) working with another participant, (b) working with a team, and (c) working alone.

(APA 6th ed., pp. 63-65)

SeriationSeparate paragraphs in a series, such as

itemized conclusions or steps in a procedure, are identified by an Arabic numeral followed by a period but not enclosed in or followed by parentheses:

Using the learned helplessness theory, we predicted that the depressed and nondepressed participants would make the following judgments of control:

1. Individuals who . . . 2. Nondepressed persons exposed to . . . 3. Depressed persons exposed to . . .

4. Depressed and nondepressed participants in the no-noise

groups . . .

(APA 6th ed., pp. 63-65)

Seriation• Notice that with numerical lists,

the text is aligned under the text, not under the numbers. Make sure that the numbers are aligned on the decimal (you’ll notice a problem when you go from #9 to #10 since MS Word does not align on the decimal when you go from one digit to two digit numbers).

• Bulleted lists are acceptable in the 6th edition of the APA manual .

• Refer to pp. 64-65 for rules regarding bulleted lists. (APA 6th ed., pp. 63-65)

(APA 6th ed., pp. 63-65)

Back to Back Parentheses

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Incorrect:(e.g., defensive pessimism) (Norem & Cantor, 1986)

Correct:(e.g., defensive pessimism; Norem & Cantor, 1986) (APA 6th ed., p. 94)

(APA 6th ed., p. 94)

Ellipsis Points

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Ellipsis• Use 3 spaced ellipsis points

within a sentence to indicate that you have omitted material from the original source.

CorrectAnchor text “. . . text

continues . . . text continues”

Incorrect“…text continues…text

continues”(APA 6th ed., pp. 172-173)

Ellipsis• Use 4 points to indicate omission between sentences

CorrectAnchor text “beginning text . . . . next sentence.”

Incorrect“Beginning text….next sentence.” (APA 6th ed., pp. 172-173)

(APA 6th ed., pp. 172-173)

Quotations

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Floating QuotationsFloating quotes (also called dropped quotes)

• Incorrect“The ‘placebo effect’ . . . disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner” (Miele, 1993, p. 276).

• CorrectShe stated, “The ‘placebo effect’ . . . disappeared when behaviors were studied in this manner” (Miele, 1993, p. 276).

Block Quotes

• A direct quote that contains 40 or more words are placed in a block quote (omit the quotation marks in a block quote).

• See last example in 6.03 on pg. 171 of 6th ed.

(APA 6th ed., pp. 170-179)

Tables (common problems)

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Common Problems• Aligning decimal places• Matching Table Title to text and

List of Tables• Title Case

• Spacing• Single spacing allowed, but consider

readability• Don’t single space just to condense

size of table• Table Titles: Italicized at top of

table• Continued Tables: (continued) at

bottom and top of next page (italicized); Headings are repeated on continued pages

Common Problems• Table Notes

• Bottom of table• Word Note is

italicized and followed by a .

• Acronyms are identified

• Sequence number of * according to need

(APA 6th ed., pp. 128-150)

Figures (common problems)

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Common Problems• Picture• Title (Caption) is at bottom of Figure

• Figure and Number: italicized and followed by .

• Figure 1.• Caption: sentence case. Full caption must be in list of figures.

(APA 6th ed., pp. 150-167)

Heading/Subheading Levels for Theses and Dissertations (APA 6th)

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APA and TDG• Referencing tables and figures/

placement of tables and figuresWhen incorporate tables or figures

directly after the paragraph containing the initial reference.

• Do not use sentences such asTable 5 illustrates the responses of the two sets of sixth-grade students.

• Instead use The responses of the two sets of sixth-grade students varied little (Table 5).

(UWF T&D Guide, “Illustrative Materials”)

Thesis and Dissertation Guide