Invert authors’ names (last name first followed by initials)
EX:“Smith, J.Q.”
Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns. Do not capitalize the first letter of the second word in a hyphenated compound word.
EX: The perfectly formatted paper: How the Purdue OWL saved my essay.
References: Basics
Capitalize all major words in journal titles
Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals
Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays in edited collections
References: Basics
APA is a complex system of citation. When compiling the reference list, the strategy below might be useful:
Identify the type of source:
Is it a book? A journal article? A webpage?
Find a sample citation for this type of source
Check a textbook or the OWL APA Guide: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
“Mirror” the sample
Make sure that the entries are listed in alphabetical order and that the subsequent lines are indented (Recall References: Basics)
Making the Reference List
In-text citations help readers locate the cited source in the References section of the paper.
Whenever you use a source, provide in parenthesis:
When citing a work with three to five authors, identify all authors in the signal phrase or in parenthesis.
(Harklau, Siegal, & Losey, 1999)
In subsequent citations, only use the first author's last name followed by "et al." in the signal phrase or in parentheses.
(Harklau et al., 1993)
In-Text Citation:
Works with 3-5 Authors
When citing a work with six and more authors, identify the first author’s name followed by “et al.”
Smith et al. (2006) maintained that….
(Smith et al., 2006)
In-Text Citation:
Works with 6+ Authors
When citing a work of unknown author:
use the source’s full title in the signal phrase
cite the first word of the title followed by the year of publication in parenthesis.
According to “Indiana Joins Federal Accountability System” (2008)
OR
(“Indiana,” 2008)
Titles:
Articles and Chapters = “ ”
Books and Reports = italicize
In-Text Citation:
Unknown Author
When citing an organization:
mention the organization the first time you cite the source in the signal phrase or the parenthetical citation.
If the organization has a well-known abbreviation, include the abbreviation in brackets the first time the source is cited and then use only the abbreviation in later citations.
In-Text Citation:
Organization
When citing authors with the same last names, use first initials with the last names.
(B. Kachru, 2005; Y. Kachru, 2008)
When citing two or more works by the same author and published in the same year, use lower-case letters (a, b, c) after the year of publication to order the references.
Smith’s (1998a) study of adolescent immigrants…
In-Text Citation:
Same Last Name/Author
When citing interviews, letters, e-mails, etc., include the communicator’s name, the fact that it was personal communication, and the date of the communication.
Do not include personal communication in the reference list.
In-Text Citation:
Personal Communication
When citing an electronic document, whenever possible, cite it in the author-date style. If electronic source lacks page numbers, locate and identify paragraph number/paragraph heading.
Indented, boldface, lowercase heading with a period.
4
Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase heading with period.
5
Indented, italicized, lowercase heading with a period.
Headings
Here is an example of the five-level heading system:
Headings
Label tables with an Arabic numeral and provide a title. The label and title appear on separate lines above the table, flush-left and single-spaced.
Cite a source in a note below the table.
Table 1
Internet users in Europe
Country
Regular Users
France
9 ml
Note: The data are adapted from “The European Union and Russia” (2007). Retrieved from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
Tables
Label figures with an Arabic numeral and provide a title. The label and the title appear on the same line below the figure, flush-left .
You might provide an additional title centered above the figure.
Cite the source below the label and the title.
Figure 1. Internet users in Europe. Adapted from The European Union and Russia: Statistical comparison by Eurostat Statistical Books, 2007, Retrieved from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu
Figures
The Purdue OWL: http://owl.english.purdue.edu
The Purdue Writing Lab @ HEAV 226
Composition textbooks
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed.
APA’s website: http://www.apastyle.org
Additional Resources
The End
APA Formatting and Style Guide
Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab
