Getting Started with APA Style

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What is APA Style?
American Psychological Association (APA) style is one of several styles for academic writing. It is used in psychology and other social sciences, including sociology and anthropology.


APA style provides rules for formatting:
  • your essay as a whole: margins, indenting, etc.
  • references included in the body of your essay
  • the reference list at the end of your essay
(For a Word 2000 document formatted for APA style, try either of these sites: Site one; Site two.)

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (BF 76.7 P83 2001, available in the reference collections at Education, Koerner, MacMillan, Okanagan, Woodward, and the hospital libraries), gives examples for citing materials of virtually every type. The sources below cover the most commonly-cited materials.

Use to

  • keep track of your references/citations from the UBC Library catalogue and online article indexes and databases
  • format your citations and bibliographies automatically, in MLA or any of hundreds of formats
  • create your own reference lists on the Web and access them from anywhere.

UBC students, staff and faculty have access to this web-based service at no cost.

In addition, Diana Hacker's excellent site offers examples for more than 50 types of works cited and in-text citations.

What kinds of sources do I document?

  • direct quotations from a book, article, film, letter, email, lecture, etc.
  • single words, short phrases, sentences and longer passages quoted from books, articles etc.
  • ideas you draw from a source but present entirely in your own words
  • paraphrases and summaries of books, journal articles, pamphlets
  • single words, short phrases, sentences and longer passages quoted from books or articles used
  • statistics

How do I introduce sources in my essay?
In order to make your paper coherent and accurate, use the following tags and conventions to introduce other sources into your work:
  • Boyd argues, describes, explains, claims, asserts, refers to, cites
  • Santos contends, compares, speculates, hypothesizes, concludes, recommends

Sample Formats:

PRINT MATERIALS - BOOKS

Reference List
(Bibliography)

Citations should be double-spaced. They are single-spaced here to save space.

Citations in Text
(Direct Quote)

Citations in Text
(Paraphrase)

1-2 authors

Beck, C. A. J., & Sales, B. D. (2001). Family mediation: Facts, myths, and future prospects. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.


.

(Beck & Sales, 2001, p. 219)

(Beck & Sales, 2001)

3-5 authors

Michael, R. T., Gagnon, J. H.,Laumann, E. O., & Kolata, G. (1994). Sex in America. Boston: Little, Brown.


first citation
(Michael, Gagnon, Laumann, & Kolata, 1994, pp. 110-111)

subsequent citations
(Michael et al., 1994, pp. 110-111)

first citation
(Michael, Gagnon, Laumann, & Kolata, 1994)

subsequent citations
(Michael et al., 1994)

Edited book

Robinson, D. N. (Ed.). (1992). Social discourse and moral judgement. San Diego, CA: Academic Press.


(Robinson, 1992, p. 33)

(Robinson, 1992)

Chapter of edited book

Baker, F. M., & Lightfoot, O. B. (1993). Psychiatric care of ethnic elders. In A. C. Gaw (Ed.), Culture, ethnicity, and mental illness (pp. 517-552). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.


(Baker & Lightfoot, 1993, p. 525)

(Baker & Lightfoot, 1993)

Group author/publisher

Australian Bureau of Statistics. (1991). Estimated resident population by age and sex in statistical local areas, New South Wales, June 1990 (No. 3209.1). Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Author.


(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1991, p. 2)

(Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1991)

No author/editor

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th ed.). (1993). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.


(Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 1993, pp. 240-241)

(Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 1993)

Published conference proceedings

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1991). A motivational approach to self: Integration in personality. In R. Dienstbier (Ed.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Vol. 38. Perspectives on motivation (pp. 237-288). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

(Deci, 1991, p. 5)

(Deci, 1991)

Multi-volume work

Koch, S. (Ed.). (1959-1963). Psychology: A study of science (Vols. 1-6). New York: McGraw-Hill.

(Koch, 1959-1963, Vol. 1, pp.226-227)

(Koch, 1959-1963)

Encyclopedia entry

Bergmann, P. G. (1993). Relativity. In The new encyclopaedia Britannica (Vol. 26, pp. 501-508). Chicago: Encyclopaedia Britannica.

(Bergmann, 1993, p. 503)

(Bergmann, 1993)

Media

Reference List
(Bibliography)

Citations in Text
(Direct Quote)

Citations in Text
(Paraphrase)

CD-ROM

Eckert, C. & Gray, D. (Eds.). (2000). Nunavut Territory, Canada [CD-ROM]. Gjoa Haven, Nunavut: Central Arctic Services

(Eckert & Gray, 2000)

(Eckert & Gray, 2000)

Videotape

Young, R. (Producer/Director). (2002). Organic prophecies [Motion Picture]. Canada: National Film Board of Canada.

(Young, 2002)

(Young, 2002)

Television series

Miller, R. (Producer). (1989). The mind [Television Series]. New York: WNET.

(Miller, 1989)

(Miller, 1989)

PRINT MATERIALS - ARTICLES

Reference List
(Bibliography)

Citations in Text
(Direct Quote)

Citations in Text
(Paraphrase)

Newspaper article
No author

New drug appears to sharply cut risk of death from heart failure. (1993, July 15). The Washington Post, p. A12.


"New Drug," 1993, p. A12)

("New Drug," 1993)

Magazine article
One author

Henry, W. A., III. (1990, April 9) Beyond the melting pot. Time, 135, 28-31.


(Henry, 1990, p. 29 )

(Henry, 1990)

Journal article
1-2 authors

Buss, D. M., & Schmitt, D. P. (1993). Sexual strategies theory: An evolutionary perspective on human mating. Psychological Review, 100, 204-232.


(Buss & Schmitt, 1993, p. 207)

(Buss & Schmitt, 1993)

Journal article
3-6 authors

Saywitz, K. J. Mannarino, A. P., Berliner, L., & Cohen, J. A. (2000). Treatment for sexually abused children and adolescents. American Psychologist, 55, 1040-1049.


first citation
(Saywitz, Mannarino, Berliner, & Cohen, 2000, pp. 1048-9)

subsequent citations (Saywitz et al., 2000, pp. 1048-9)

first citation
(Saywitz, Mannarino, Berliner, & Cohen, 2000)

subsequent citations (Saywitz et al., 2000)

Journal article,
paginated by issue
(each issue begins at page 1)

Klimoski, R., & Palmer, S. (1993). The ADA and the hiring process in organizations. Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 45 (2), 10-36.


(Klimoski & Palmer, p. 21)

(Klimoski & Palmer)

On the Web

Reference List
(Bibliography)

Citations in text
(Direct Quote)

Citations in text
(Paraphrase)

Webpage

United Nations Development Program. (2002). Human development report. Retrieved September 23, 2004, from http://www.undp.org/hdr2002/

(UNDP, 2002)

(UNDP)

Ebook in a collection
e.g. STAT!Ref, Books@OVID, Oxford Reference Online

Mills, John. Infections. Medical immunology. (2001) StatRef. Retrieved 5 September 2004, from http://toby.library.ubc.ca/resources
/infopage.cfm?id=440

(Urls for articles in these collections are unique to your search session and will not work subsequently. Use the url for the UBC Library information page for the collection, available via the Indexes and Databases link on the library homepage.)

(Mills, 2001, Section iii:45)

(Mills, 2001)

Electronic book

Dasgupta, Partha. (2000) Social capital: A multifaceted perspective. Washington, D.C. World Bank. Retrieved October 31, 2002, from NetLibrary: www.netlibrary.com

(Dasgupta, 2000, p. 157)

(Dasgupta, 2000)


The example below is for articles, book chapters, conference papers and other types of materials accessed through library subscription services such as Academic Search Premier, CBCA Reference, PsycINFO, etc. UBC Library subscribes to these databases and provides access to them for UBC students, faculty and staff, either in the library or via remote access.

Begin your entry as for the print version of an article, book chapter, etc.

Complete the citation by adding

Retrieved [date: Month, date, year] from [Name of database].

Note: No URL is required for citations to articles accessed through library subscription services.

Online article, chapter, paper, etc.
from an article index database

Carothers, D. E. & Taylor, R. (2003). The use of portfolios for students with autism. Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities, 18, 121-125. Retrieved June 25, 2003, from Academic Search Premier database.

(Carothers & Taylor, 2003, p. 122)

(Carothers & Taylor,2003 )


The examples below require URL's. "Make sure the automatic hyphenation feature of your word processor is turned off. Do not insert a hyphen if you need to break a URL across lines; instead, break the URL after a slash or before a period." (http://www.apastyle.org/elecmedial.html)

Online article,
from a journal on its own website
(note url)

VandenBos, G., Knapp, S., & Doe J. (2001). Role of reference elements in the selection of resources by psychology undergraduates. Journal of Bibliographic Research, 5, 117-123. Retrieved October 13, 2004, from http://jbr.org/articles.html

(VandenBos, 2001, pp. 120-1)

(VandenBos, 2001)

Online article,
no pagination

Fredrickson, B. L. (2000, March 7). Cultivating positive emotions to optimize health and well-being. Prevention & Treatment, 3, Article 0001a. Retrieved November 20, 2003, from http://journals.apa.org/
prevention/volume3/pre0030001a.htm

(Frederickson, 2000, ¶5)
or
(Frederickson, 2000, Conclusion section, para 1)

(Frederickson, 2000 )
or
(Frederickson, 2000, Conclusion section)


Citations to ERIC documents use the following style, whether the documents are online or in the ERIC microfiche collection:

ERIC Documents

Reference List
(Bibliography)

Citations in text
(Direct Quote)

Citations in text
(Paraphrase)

Documents

Peterson, L. (1999). Transforming the daily life of the classroom: The district six laptop project. Montreal: Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED437028)

(Peterson, 1999, p. 23)

(Peterson, 1999)

ERIC Digest

Isaacson, L. (1998). Student dress policy. (ERIC Digest No. 117). Eugene, OR: ERIC Clearinghouse on Educational Management. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED415570)

(Isaacson, 1998)

(Isaacson, 1998)

Dissertation

Wear, T. D. (1997). Is EEG biofeedback efficacious as a treatment for children with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder? A review of the literature. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Biola University, California. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED415618)

(Wear, 1997, p. 51)

(Wear, 1997)


Last modified: Feb 6, 2008

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