1. A Practical Guide to APA Style

2. Running Head—
All Caps
Up to 50 characters of
the title
The Title Page
Running head: A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO APA STYLE 1
Title---Capitalize
Important Words A Practical Guide to APA Style
Byline—Use Name
Leecy A. Barnett with Middle Initial
Lynn University

3. The Abstract
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO APA STYLE The Abstract is a 2
one paragraph
summary of the
paper -------------
(< 120 words).
The Abstract is
Abstract not indented.
This is a very short paper done for the experience of learning
how to do and teach the American Psychological Association’s
writing style. Text is always double spaced.
Never use boldface.

4. A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO APA STYLE 3
Use Times New
Roman or
The Body Courier as font--
-size 12
Center the title A Practical Guide to APA Style
Indent ¶s When the APA style was first conceived eighty years ago, the main
purpose was to develop standards for the publication of articles in the fields of
anthropology and psychology (American Psychological Association, 2001).
“Although designed for those who intend to publish,” Houghton and Houghton
(2007, p. xii) point out that, “numerous colleges and universities adhere to these
stringent guidelines.” Learning to do APA style well shows you are concerned

5. Headings
•Complicated System of Multiple Levels
•Not always required by professors
• See at Purdue---
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/56
0/01 -

6. In Text Citations--Ideas
Whenever you get an idea from a source cite it using the author’s name and date
of publication in parentheses at the end of the sentence or paragraph describing
their idea. The period goes after the final parenthesis.
Example:
When the APA style was first conceived eighty years ago, the main purpose was
to develop standards for the publication of articles in the fields of anthropology
and psychology (American Psychological Association, 2001).

7. In Text Citations—Author in text
If you refer to the author(s) in the text of your paper, cite the source simply with
the date of publication in parentheses next to the author’s name.
Example:
According to Fox (2007), the internet has played a significant role in the
increase of plagiarism in academia today.

8. In Text Citations—
Short Direct Quote
When you directly quote a source you need to add quotation marks around the
words or sentence you copy. The final period, however, comes at the end of the
final parenthesis of the citation.
Example:
“Although designed for those who intend to publish, numerous colleges
and universities adhere to these stringent guidelines” (Houghton and Houghton,
2007, p. xii).

9. In Text Citations—Long Direct Quote
When your direct quotation long than longer than 40 words put it in and indented
paragraph without quotation marks. Now the final period comes before the
citation ---it seems this rule is designed just to frustrate you!
Example:
APA format. The title page has a very specific format:
Your title page should already include the page header (described above). On
the first line of the title page flush-left, add a running head. Begin the running
head with the words “Running Head” followed by a colon. Then give an
abbreviated title of your paper in 50 characters or less in all caps. (Neyhart &
When quoting from a webpage, determine the
Karper, 2007, para. 5)
paragraph # quoted and use that instead of a page #

10. Reference Page
A PRACTICAL GUIDE TO APA STYLE Tip: 3
Do the
Reference
Center References References Page 1st
American Psychological Association. (2001). Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association. Washington, DC: American Psychological
•Alphabetical by
Authors Last Name
Association.
•Use initials rather
than full 1st Name
Houghton, P. M., & Houghton, T. J. (2007). APA: The easy way. Flint, MI: Baker
•Hanging Indent
•Double Space
College.
Neyhart, D., & Karper, E. (2007, December 23). APA Formatting and Style Guide---
General Format. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from The Owl at Purdue:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

11. Books
Author---Last Name, Initials 2-6 author write them out ---use & instead
of and. After 6 write et al. Authors can also be a company or
organization
Date of Publication--- year in parenthesis
Title—italicize
Publication information---City and state (if mentioned—use postal
abbreviation) and publisher.
Example:
Houghton, P. M., & Houghton, T. J. (2007). APA: The easy way. Flint,
MI: Baker College.

12. Print Journal Articles
Author & Date of Publication--- same as book
Article Title— do not italicize
If you get you
Journal Title—italicize journal from a
database add:
Volume —italicize •Retrieved from
•Date (m/d/yr)
Page Numbers---numbers only •Name of database
Example:
Smith, G. E., & Eggleston, T. J. (2001). Comprehending APA Style Through
Manuscript Analysis. Teaching of Psychology , 28, 108-110.

13. Electronic Journal Articles
The APA style requires including the Document Object Identifier or
doi.
Author & Date of Publication--- same as book
Article Title— do not italicize
Journal Title—italicize
Volume —italicize
Page Numbers---numbers only
doi: xx.xxxxx
Example:
Herbst-Damm, K.L. & Kulik, J.A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital
status, and the survival of terminally ill patients. Health Psychology,
25, 225-229. doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225

14. Electronic Journal Articles without doi
Option 1: provide the URL of the journal homepage.
Sillick, T.J. & Schutte, N.S. (2006). Emotional intelligence and self-esteem
mediate between perceived early parental love and adult happiness. E-
Journal of Applied Psychology, 2(2), 38-48. Retrieved from
http://ojs.lib.swin.edu.au/index.php/ejap
Option 2: provide the name of the database used to access the article.
Borman, W.C. (1993). Role of early supervisory experience in supervisor
performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 78, 443-449. Retrieved
from PsycARTICLES database.
Check with your professor as to which one you should use.

15. Webpage
Author --- same as book if available---
No Author---use title of page
Add:
Date---most precise available; no date (n.d.) •Retrieved from
•Date (m/d/yr)
Title of page —italicize •Name of Website
•url
Example:
Neyhart, D., & Karper, E. (2007, December 23). APA Formatting and Style
Guide---General Format. Retrieved January 18, 2008, from The Owl
at Purdue: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

16. YouTube video
Author or Compiler name.
No Author---use title of page
Add:
Date---(showing year, month, date).
•Retrieved from
•Date (m/d/yr)
Title of video —italicize
•url
Example:
The Cobalt Agent. (2007, September 14) Ronald Reagan’s remarks on the
Challenger shuttle explosion. Retrieved April 7, 2009, from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5JKIZ7j20EA

17. Using Microsoft Word 2010
Warning:
The Reference Tab does not have the
latest version of APA!