Theresa Bell, Writing Centre Coordinator, RRU

Introduction to APA style

© Royal Roads University, 2013

Spacing and indentation• Double-space body text, including block quotations and

references• Indent first line of a new paragraph by one tab space• Indent entire block quotation (quotation of 40+ words)

by one tab space from left margin

Margins

• 2.5cms/1” on all sides

Page number • Must appear in the top right corner of every page except

for the title page

Formatting

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Quotations of 39 words or fewer should continue on the same line as the rest of the text, and quotation marks should appear at the beginning and end of the quoted text. The in-text citation should appear after the closing quotation mark, but before the period. For example, “I quoted this text” (Author, year, p. 4).

Inline quotations

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Quotations of 40+ words should be formatted as block quotations. Begin the quotation on a separate line, indent the entire quotation 1 tab space, do not use quotation marks, and the in-text citation follows after the closing punctuation. For example:

Please pretend this is a quotation of 40+ words, and note that the first line is not indented. (Author, year, p. 4)

Block quotations

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1. Appear in round brackets after the quoted or paraphrased text

2. Include the author’s last name, the date of publication/copyright, and the location referenceFor example: (Johnson, 2010, p. 4) or (Royal Roads University, 2010, para. 5)

In-text citations

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Provide the author's name and date of publication in the text, so only the page reference is required after the quotation.

Example:

According to the American Psychological Association (APA)(2010), “references in APA publications are cited in text with an author-date citation system” (p. 174).

In-text citations

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Make no mention of the author's name or the date of publication in the text, so all citation information is included in the citation.

Example:

Remember that, “references in APA publications are cited in text with an author-date citation system and are listed alphabetically in the text” (American Psychological Association (APA), 2010, p. 174).

In-Text Citation FormatIn-text citations

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A. (James, 2010, 4)B. (Royal Roads University, 2010, p. 4)C. (James, 2010, page 4)D. (RRU, p. 4)

Choose the Correct CitationChoose the correct citation:

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Personal communications may be private letters, memo, some electronic communications (e.g., e-mail or message from nonarchived discussion groups or electronic bulletin boards), personal interviews, telephone conversations…. Because they do not provide recoverable data…cite personal communications in text only. (APA, 2010, p. 179)

Personal CommunicationPersonal communication

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To cite the resource, "give the initials as well as the surname of the communicator, and provide as exact a date as possible" (p. 179).

• C. Hare (personal communication, March 31, 2010) stated that, “learning APA style doesn’t have to be painful.”

• In conclusion, “learning APA style doesn’t have to be painful”(C. Hare, personal communication, March 31, 2010).

Personal CommunicationPersonal communication

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Use the format for ‘personal communication to cite:

A. Materials posted on a password-protected course website

B. Internal corporate documents that will not be released to the public

C. Interviews that don’t have published transcriptsD. All of the above

Quiz: Using ‘personal communication’Quiz: Using personal communication

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• “Use secondary sources sparingly, for instance, when the original work is out of print, unavailable through usual sources, or not available in English” (p. 178).

• Cite the text where you found the information: “Souper (as cited in Green, 1999) noted that…”.

• In the reference list, list the author of the secondary text that you read. Using the example above, Green’s text would appear in the references.

Secondary source citations

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• “References cited in text must appear in the reference list, and each entry in the reference list must be cited in text” (p. 174).

• List references alphabetically by the first author’s last name

• References should have a 1.27 cm/0.5 inch hanging indent on the second and subsequent lines

• Double-space the references

The Reference ListReferences

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1. Periodical “Items published on a regular basis such as journals, magazines, newspapers, and newsletters”(p. 198).

2. NonperiodicalItems published separately: books, reports, brochures, manuals, and AV media.

Basic FormsBasic forms

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Author, A., & Author, B. (Date). Title of article. Title of

Periodical, xx(x), xxx-xxx. doi: xxxxxxxxxx

Italicize the title of the periodical and use title case

Provide page range without “p.”.

Initials only for authors’ first names

Hanging indent 0.5”

Italicize volume number (not issue number, nor the brackets around it).

Use sentence case for article title

Use ampersand, not “and”

Use the DOI as locator information.

Date format: Year, Month day

Electronic periodical article

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Godfrey, D. (2005). Adapting historical citations to

APA style. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic

Media, 49(4), 544-547. doi:

10.1207/s15506878jobem4904_15

In-text citation: (Godfrey, 2005, p. 546)

Electronic Article With DOIElectronic journal article with DOI

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Gemmell, R. (2008). Encouraging student voice in

academic writing. English Journal, 98(2), 64-68.

Retrieved from the Academic Search Premier

database.

In-text citation: (Gemmell, 2008, p. 65)

Article From Electronic DatabaseElectronic journal article without DOI

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Name specific database where resource was retrieved (e. g., not EBSCOhost, ProQuest)

Author, A. C. (Date). Title of work. Location: Publisher Name.

Author, A. (Date). Title of work. doi: xxxxxxxxxxx

Author, A. (Date). Title of work. Retrieved from Ebrary ebooks database.

In-text citation: (Lastname, year, p. 4) or (Lastname, year, para. 4). • See http://

blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2011/06/how-do-you-cite-an-e-book.html for more information on citing ebooks.

Nonperiodical: BookItalicize title of book and use sentence case.

Note city and state abbreviation unless city is outside US. Use city and country for non-American cities.

Non-periodical: book vs. e-book

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American Psychological Association. (n.d.). APA

style®. Retrieved from http://apastyle.org/

First in-text citation: (American Psychological Association (APA), n.d., Learning APA section, para. 2)

Subsequent in-text citation: (APA, n.d., Learning APA section, para. 4)

WebsiteWebsite content with no publication date

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No closing punctuation after URL and no hyperlink

Retrieval date unnecessary if working with the final version of resource.

Madigan, R, Linton, P. & Johnson, S.(June, 1996). APA Style: Quo Vadis?. American Psychologist, 51 (2), pp. 64-68. Retrieved October 2, 2012, from EBSCOhost.

What’s wrong with this reference?

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Madigan, R, Linton, P. & Johnson, S.(June, 1996). APA Style: Quo Vadis?. American psychologist, 51 (2), pp. 64-68. Retrieved October 2, 2012, from EBSCOhost.

What’s wrong with this reference

Single-spaced; no hanging indent Journal title is in sentence case and isn’t italicized

Missing period after “R” Unnecessary space between journal and issue numbers

Missing comma after “P.” Issue number isn’t italicized

Missing space after “S.” “pp.” isn’t necessary

Date is backwards; month isn’t necessary

Retrieval date not required for materials in their final form

Article title is in title case and italicized “EBSCOhost”: Missing name of the specific database where the resource was retrieved

Madigan, R., Linton, P., & Johnson, S. (1996). APA

style: Quo vadis?. American Psychologist, 51(2),

64-68. Retrieved from PsycARTICLES.

Corrected reference

APA6 section of Writing Centre website

• APA (6th edition)help guide

• Formatting overview

• “APA Exposed” tutorial

Citing Canadian statutes, cases, and legislation

• Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation, 7th ed. (print

copy on reserve in Library)

Citing Statistics Canada materials

APA ResourcesCitation resources

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• http://library.royalroads.ca/writing-centre

• Ask a question: http://writeanswers.royalroads.ca

• (250) 391-2600, ext. 4353/1-800-788-8028

Contact the Writing Centre

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