1

INTRODUCTORY INFORMATION APA style is the style of writing used by journals published by the American Psychological Association (APA). The style is documented in the APA Publication Manual (5th ed., 2001). The APA Manual began as an article published in Psychological Bulletin in 1929. That article reported results of a 1928 meeting of representatives from anthropological and psychological journals, "to discuss the form of journal manuscripts and to write instructions for their preparation" (APA, 2001, p. xix). By 1952 the guidelines were issued as a separate document called the Publication Manual. Today the manual is in its fifth edition, and the APA format described in it is a widely recognized standard for scientific writing in psychology and education. Some of the more commonly used rules and reference formats from the manual are listed here. However, this web page is no substitute for the 440 page APA Manual itself, which should be purchased by any serious psychology student in the U.S., or by students in other countries who are writing for a journal which uses APA format. The APA Manual can be found in almost any college bookstore, as well as in many large, general-purpose bookstores, in the reference and style guide section. You may check the current price and delivery of the APA Manual by clicking on this link to amazon.com. The spiral bound edition is especially handy when formatting research papers. The APA Manual draws a distinction between "final manuscripts" such as class papers, theses, and dissertations, and "copy manuscripts" to be submitted for review and publication. The APA Crib Sheet follows the instructions given in chapter six for "Material Other Than Journal Articles" (APA, 2001, pp. 321-330). Final manuscripts differ from copy manuscripts in these ways:

Spacing. "Double-spacing is required throughout most of the manuscript. When single-spacing would improve readability, however, it is usually encouraged. Single spacing can be used for table titles and headings, figure captions, references (but double-spacing is required between references), footnotes, and long quotations" (APA, 2001, p. 326). Figures, tables, and footnotes. "In a manuscript submitted for publication, figures, tables, and footnotes are placed at the end of the manuscript; in theses and dissertations, such material is frequently incorporated at the appropriate point in text as a convenience to readers" (APA, 2001, p. 325).

The most notable additions and changes to fifth edition of the APA Manual (2001) include:

Electronic sources require new formats in references. The formats previously featured on the APA Web site have been superseded. Several formats are included in the Crib Sheet. Italics or underline? "Use the functions of your word-processing program to create italic, bold, or other special fonts or styles following the style guidelines specified in this Publication Manual" (APA, 2001, p. 286). However, underlining in place of italics is still acceptable when using a typewriter (see APA, 2001, p. 100). Always be consistent! Hanging indents. "APA publishes references in a hanging indent format. . . . If a hanging indent is difficult to accomplish with your word-processing program, it is permissible to indent your references with paragraph indents" (APA, 2001, p. 299).

RULES Following is a summary of rules and reference examples in the APA style manual. The manual itself contains all this information and more, organized and worded differently, indexed and illustrated. If in doubt about a specific rule or example, consult the manual itself. Abbreviations

Avoid abbreviations (acronyms) except for long, familiar terms (MMPI). Explain what an abbreviation means the first time it occurs: American Psychological Association (APA). If an abbreviation is commonly used as a word, it does not require explanation (IQ, LSD, REM, ESP). Do not use the old abbreviations for subject, experimenter, and observer (S, E, O). The following abbreviations should NOT be used outside parenthetical comments: o cf. [use compare] o e.g. [use for example] o etc. [use and so forth] o i.e. [use that is]

viz. [use namely] vs. [use versus] Use periods when making an abbreviation within a reference (Vol. 3, p. 6, 2nd ed.) Do not use periods within degree titles and organization titles (PhD, APA). Do not use periods within measurements (lb, ft, s) except inches (in.). Use s for second, m for meter. To form plurals of abbreviations, add s alone, without apostrophe (PhDs, IQs, vols., Eds). In using standard abbreviations for measurements, like m for meter, do not add an s to make it plural (100 seconds is 100 s); when referring to several pages in a reference or citation, use the abbreviation pp. (with a period after it and a space after the period). Do not use the abbreviation "pp." for magazine or journal citations; just give the numbers themselves. Do use "pp." for citations of encyclopedia entries, multi-page newspaper articles, chapters or articles in edited books. Use two-letter postal codes for U.S. state names (GA).
o o

Avoiding Biased and Pejorative Language In general, avoid anything that causes offense. The style manual makes the following suggestions: DO NOT use . . . when you can use . . . ethnic labels (for example, Hispanic) geographical labels (Mexican Americans) "men" (referring to all adults) "men and women" "homosexuals" "gay men and lesbians" "depressives" "people with depression" Correct use of the terms "gender" and "sex" The term "gender" refers to culture and should be used when referring to men and women as social groups, as in this example from the Publication Manual: "sexual orientation rather than gender accounted for most of the variance in the results; most gay men and lesbians were for it, most heterosexual men and women were against it" (APA, 2001, p. 63). The term "sex" refers to biology and should be used when biological distinctions are emphasized, for example, "sex differences in hormone production." Avoid gender stereotypes. For example, the manual suggests replacing "An American boy's infatuation with football" with "An American child's infatuation with football" (see APA, 2001, p. 66). Sensitivity to labels Be sensitive to labels. A person in a clinical study should be called a "patient," not a "case." Avoid equating people with their conditions, for example, do not say "schizophrenics," say "people diagnosed with schizophrenia." Use the term "sexual orientation," not "sexual preference." The phrase "gay men and lesbians" is currently preferred to the term "homosexuals." To refer to all people who are not heterosexual, the manual suggests "lesbians, gay men, and bisexual women and men" (APA, 2001, p. 67). In racial references, the manual simply recommends that we respect current usage. Currently both the terms "Black" and "African American" are widely accepted, while "Negro" and "Afro-American" are not. These things change, so use common sense. Capitalize Black and White when the words are used as proper nouns to refer to social groups. Do not use color words for other ethnic groups. The manual specifies that hyphens should not be used in multiword names such as Asian American or African American. Labels can be tricky, and the manual has a lot to say about them. For example, "American Indian" and "Native American" are both acceptable usages, but the manual notes that there are nearly 450 Native American groups, including Hawaiians and Samoans, so specific group names are far more informative. The terms Hispanic, Latino, and Chicano are preferred by different groups. The safest procedure is use geographical references. Just say "Cuban American" if referring to people from Cuba.

3
The term Asian American is preferable to Oriental, and again the manual recommends being specific about country of origin, when this is known (for example, Chinese or Vietnamese). People from northern Canada, Alaska, eastern Siberia, and Greenland often (but not always!) prefer Inuk (singular) and Inuit (plural) to "Eskimo." But some Alaska natives are non-Inuit people who prefer to be called Eskimo. This type of difficulty is avoided by using geographical references. For example, in place of "Eskimo" or "Inuit" one could use "people from northern Canada, Alaska, eastern Siberia, and Greenland." In general, call people what they want to be called, and do not contrast one group of people with another group called "normal" people. Write "we compared people with autism to people without autism" not "we contrasted autistics to normals." Do not use pejorative terms like "stroke victim" or "stroke sufferers." Use a more neutral terminology such as "people who have had a stroke." Avoid the terms "challenged" and "special" unless the population referred to prefers this terminology (for example, Special Olympics). As a rule, use the phrase "people with _______" (for example, "people with AIDS," not "AIDS sufferers"). In referring to age, be specific about age ranges; avoid open-ended definitions like "under 16" or "over 65." Avoid the term elderly. Older person is preferred. Boy and Girl are acceptable referring to high school and and younger. For persons 18 and older use men and women. Capitalization

Capitalize formal names of tests (Stroop Color-Word Interference Test). Capitalize major words and all other words of four letters or more, in headings, titles, and subtitles outside reference lists, for example, "A Study of No-Win Strategies." Capitalize names of conditions, groups, effects, and variables only when definite and specific. (Group A was the control group; an Age x Weight interaction showed lower weight with age.) Capitalize the first word after a comma or colon if, and only if, it begins a complete sentence. For example, "This is a complete sentence, so it is capitalized." As a counter example, "no capitalization here." Capitalize specific course and department titles (GSU Department of Psychology, Psych 150). Do not capitalize generic names of tests (Stroop color test). "Stroop" is a name, so it remains capitalized. Capitalize nouns before numbers, but not before variables (Trial 2, trial x). Do not capitalize names of laws, theories, and hypotheses (the law of effect). Do not capitalize when referring to generalities (any department, any introductory course).

Commas

Do not use commas to separate parts of measurement (9 lbs 5 oz). Use the metric system, as a rule. Use commas before "and" in lists, for example, height, width, and depth. Use commas between groups of three digits, for example, 1,453. Use commas to set off a reference in a parenthetical comment (Patrick, 1993). Use commas for seriation within a paragraph or sentence. For example, "three choices are (a) true, (b) false, and (c) don't know." Use semicolons for seriation if there are commas within the items. For example, (a) here, in the middle of the item, there are commas; (b) here there are not; (c) so we use semicolons throughout. Use commas in exact dates, for example, April 18, 1992 (but not in April 1992).

Hyphenation

Do not hyphenate -ly and superlative words (widely used test, best informed students). Do not hyphenate common prefixes (posttest, prewar, multiphase, nonsignificant) unless needed for clarity (preexisting). Do not hyphenate foreign, letter, numeral terms (a priori hypothesis, Type A behavior) when the meaning is clear without it (least squares solution, heart rate scores). Do not hyphenate if a noun comes first (a therapy was client centered, results of t tests). Hyphenate adjectival phrases (role-playing technique, high-anxiety group, two-way analysis). Hyphenate compound adjectives preceding nouns (client-centered therapy, t-test scores) unless the compound adjective involves a superlative (best written paper). Hyphenate if the base is an abbreviation or compounded (pre-UCS, non-college bound). Hyphenate if the base word is capitalized or a number (pre-Freudian, post-1960). Hyphenate if the words could be misunderstood without a hyphen (re-pair, un-ionized, co-worker).

If in doubt, consult a recently published dictionary. Standards change. For example, "data base" is now "database," and "life-style" is now "lifestyle."

Italics (Underlining)

Do not italicize or underline common foreign abbreviations (vice versa, et al., a priori). Do not italicize or underline for mere emphasis. Italicize or underline the titles of books and articles, species names, introduction of new terms and labels (the first time only), words and phrases used as linguistic examples, letters used as statistical symbols, and volume numbers in reference lists.

Miscellaneous: Colons, dashes, parentheses, numbering paragraphs

Do not use "and/or." Write things out. For example, "Monday, Tuesday, or both" is preferable to "Monday and/or Tuesday." Do not use a colon or other punctuation after an introduction which is not a complete sentence such as this one, or any other sentence in the body of text which flows into an extended quote. The quote "picks up where the sentence leaves off" and provides the punctuation. Use a dash (rendered on typewriters and some word processors as a double hyphen) when there is a sudden interruption like this one--zoiks!--in the flow of a sentence. Overuse "weakens the flow of the writing" (APA, 2001, p. 81). Use parentheses to introduce an abbreviation, for example, the galvanic skin response (GSR). Use appendixes (appendices) as the plural of appendix. Use datum as singular, data as plural. Use matrix as singular, matrices as plural. Phenomenon is the singular form of the plural phenomena. Use schema as singular, schemas (not schemata) as plural. When listing separate paragraphs in a series, use a number and a period, not parentheses. 1. The first paragraph goes here. 2. The second paragraph goes here.

Numbers

Spell out common fractions and common expressions (one-half, Fourth of July). Spell out large numbers beginning sentences (Thirty days hath September . . .). Spell out numbers which are inexact, or below 10 and not grouped with numbers over 10 (one-tailed t test, eight items, nine pages, three-way interaction, five trials). Use numerals for numbers 10 and above, or lower numbers grouped with numbers 10 and above (for example, from 6 to 12 hours of sleep). To make plurals out of numbers, add s only, with no apostrophe (the 1950s). Treat ordinal numbers like cardinal numbers (the first item of the 75th trial . . .). Use combinations of written and Arabic numerals for back-to-back modifiers (five 4-point scales). Use combinations of numerals and written numbers for large sums (over 3 million people). Use numerals for exact statistical references, scores, sample sizes, and sums (multiplied by 3, or 5% of the sample). Here is another example: "We used 30 subjects, all two year olds, and they spent an average of 1 hr 20 min per day crying. Use metric abbreviations with figures (4 km) but not when written out (many meters distant). Use the percent symbol (%) only with figures (5%) not with written numbers (five percent).

Quotation Marks

Use quotation marks for an odd or ironic usage the first time but not thereafter, for example, "This is the "goodoutcome" variable, but as it turns out, the good-outcome variable predicts trouble later on . . ." Use quotation marks for article and chapter titles cited in the text but not in the reference list. (In Smith's (1992) article, "APA Style and Personal Computers," computers were described as "here to stay" (p. 311).) Extended quotations

Add emphasis in a quotation with italics, immediately followed by the words [italics added] in brackets.

Brackets are not necessary when changing the first letter of a quotation to upper case. For quotations over 40 words in length, indent and single space the whole block (double space in papers for review or publication). Indent five more spaces (one-half inch, 1.25 cm) if there are paragraphs within the long quotation after the first. Always provide author, year, and page citation. Expand or clarify words or meanings in a quotation by placing the added material in quotes. For example, "They [the Irish Republican Army] initiated a cease-fire." Reproduce a quote exactly. If there are errors, introduce the word sic italicized and bracketed--for exammple [sic]--immediately after the error to indicate it was part of the original source. Use three dots with a space before, between, and after each (ellipsis points) when omitting material, four if the omitted material includes the end of a sentence (with no space before the first). Do not use dots at the beginning or end of a quotation unless it is important to indicate the quotation begins or ends in midsentence.

Do NOT use quotes to . . .

. . . cite a linguistic example; instead, underline or italicize the term (the verb gather). . . . hedge, cast doubt, or apologize (he was "cured"). Leave off the quotes. . . . identify endpoints on a scale; underline or italicize instead (poor to excellent). . . . introduce a key term (the neoquasipsychoanalytic theory).

PAGE FORMATS The APA Manual notes that "the size of the type should be one of the standard typewriter sizes (pica or elite) or, if produced from a word processing program, 12 points" (2001, p. 285). The body of the paper should be in a serif typeface (like Courier or Times Roman) with lettering on figures in a sans serif typeface (such as Helvetica or Arial).

6
Headings APA headings follow a complex hierarchy, with provision for up to five levels. These come, in descending order, as levels 5, 1, 2, 3, 4. But, if one, two, or three levels of headings are required in a paper, use levels 1, 3, and 4, in that order. If four levels are required, interleave level 2 between levels 1 and 3. If five levels are required, start with level five and work down the remaining hierarchy in order (5, 1, 2, 3, 4). Confused? Most papers will need no more than three levels. To avoid confusion these are labeled A, B, and C below (APA levels 1, 3, and 4 respectively) (see APA, 2001, pp. 114115).

Level A Headings are Centered and Set in Heading Caps Level B: Flush with Left Margin, Italicized, Set in Heading Caps Level C headings: Indented, italicized, sentence caps, end with a period. These headings are sometimes referred to as paragraph or run-in headings. Although they end with a period (or other punctuation) they need not be complete sentences or grammatically correct.

Use headings in the order presented. If you need just two levels, use Level A and Level B headings. Level A and B headings do not end with punctuation except to add emphasis with an exclamation point or question mark. Do not begin a paper with the heading Introduction. It is understood that all papers begin with an introduction. Text details

Abstracts are limited to 120 words (APA, 2001, p. 13). Double space the text, but single space within block quotes, references, and the abstract. Footnotes are rarely used in APA papers, except for author affiliation and contact information--the author note. Hyphenation should not occur at the end of lines, only between words when necessary. Indent paragraphs, block quotes, and hanging indents one-half inch (1.25 cm or five to seven spaces). Justification should be set to "off" or "left margin only" (the right margin should be uneven, a ragged right margin). Keyword emphasis requires the use of italics, but only the first time a term is used. If the intent is to indicate odd or ironic usage, use quotation marks. Margins should be at least 1" all around (about 2.5 cm). Page numbers are required on every page: Number pages consecutively. The page header summarizes the title in a few words. The header and page number go inside the margin space, double spaced above the text, next to the right margin. Word processor features--such as bold and italic fonts and hanging indents--should be used as appropriate.

7
References and tables

Table notes Number tables consecutively as they appear in your text. Use only whole numbers, no 5a, 5b, etc. See recent issues of the American Psychologist or other APA journals for more complex table layouts. "Tables are efficient, enabling the researcher to present a large amount of data in a small amount of space" (APA, 2001, p. 147).

Place tables close to where they are first mentioned in your text, but do not split a table across pages. (Tables in papers submitted for review or publication are placed on separate pages at the end of the paper.) Label each table beginning with the table number followed by a description of the contents. Horizontal rules (lines) should be typed into tables; do not draw them in by hand. Each row and column must have a heading. Abbreviations and symbols (e.g., "%" or "nos.") may be used. Do not change the number of decimal places within a column. Do not change the units of measurement within a column. "Use a zero before the decimal point when numbers are less than one" (APA, 2001, p. 128). Write "0.23" not ".23" unless the number is a statistic that cannot be larger than one, for example a correlation r = .55, or a probability p < .01. Add notes to explain the table contents. These may be general notes or footnotes. The latter are labeled "a, b, c, etc." Use asterisks to indicate statistical significance explained in the probability level note at the bottom of the table. "Assign a given alpha level the same number of asterisks from table to table within your paper, such as *p < .05 and **p < .01; the largest probability receives the fewest asterisks [the smaller probability get more asterisks]" (APA, 2001, p. 170). You may both single space and double space within a table to achieve clarity. Tables in papers submitted for review or publication (only!) must be double spaced throughout.

8
REFERENCE CITATIONS (IN-TEXT) Use the author-date format to cite references in text. For example: as Smith (1990) points out, a recent study (Smith, 1990) shows. . . . Every source cited in your text--and only those sources cited in your text--are referenced in the reference list.

For two-author citations, spell out both authors on all occurrences. For multiple-author citations (up to five authors) name all authors the first time, then use et al., so the first time it is Smith, Jones, Pearson and Sherwin (1990), but the second time it is Smith et al., with a period after "al" but no underlining. The first time an "et al." reference is used in a paragraph, give the year, thereafter (if the citation is repeated in the paragraph) omit the year. For six or more authors, use et al. the first time and give the full citation in references. Include a page reference after the year, outside quotes. For example: The author stated, "The effect disappeared within minutes" (Lopez, 1993, p. 311), but she did not say which effect; Lopez found that "the effect disappeared within minutes" (p. 311). The sentence quoted is capitalized only if it follows a comma, and is a complete sentence not merged into the flow of the text. If two or more multiple-author references which shorten to the same "et al." form, making it ambiguous, give as many author names as necessary to make them distinct, before et al. For example: (Smith, Jones, et al., 1991) to distinguish it from (Smith, Burke, et al., 1991). Join names in a multiple-author citation with and (in text) or an ampersand (&) in reference lists and parenthetical comments. For example: As Smith and Sarason (1990) point out, the same argument was made by in an earlier study (Smith & Sarason, 1990). If a group is readily identified by its initials, spell it out only the first time. For example, "As reported in a government study (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 1991), blah blah . . . " and thereafter, "The previously cited study (NIMH, 1991) found that . . . If the author is unknown or unspecified, use the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title), for example: ("Study Finds," 1992). If citing multiple works by the same author at the same time, arrange dates in order. In general, use letters after years to distinguish multiple publications by the same author in the same year. For example: Several studies (Johnson, 1988, 1990a, 1990b, 1995 in press-a, 1995 in press-b) showed the same thing. For old works cite the translation or the original and modern copyright dates if both are known, for example: (Aristotle, trans. 1931) or (James, 1890/1983). Always give page numbers for quotations, for example: (Cheek & Buss, 1981, p. 332) or (Shimamura, 1989, chap. 3, p. 5). For e-mail and other "unrecoverable data" use personal communication, for example: (V.-G. Nguyen, personal communication, September 28, 1993). These do not appear in the reference list. For quoting electronic documents without page numbers, cite paragraph numbers if given, indicated by the paragraph symbol or the abbreviation para. in the citation (e.g., Smith, 2000, 17). If there are no paragraph numbers, cite the nearest preceding section heading and count paragraphs from there (e.g., Smith, 2000, Method section, para. 4).

9
REFERENCE FORMATS Your text and the reference list must agree. "References cited in text must appear in the reference list; conversely, each entry in the reference list must be cited in text" (APA, 2001, p. 215). See the section on Reference citations for citing references in text. Abbreviating within a reference Here are approved abbreviations for use in a reference list: chap. for chapter ed. for edition rev. ed. for revised edition 2nd ed. for second edition Ed. for Edited by (Eds.) for multiple editors Trans. for Translated by

pp. for page numbers (plural) Vol. for a specific Volume vols. for a work with xx volumes No. for Number Pt. for Part Suppl. for Supplement, Tech. Rep. for Technical Report

p. for page number, with a space after the period Use the abbreviation "pp." for page numbers in encyclopedia entries, multi-page newspaper articles, chapters or articles in edited books, but not in journal or magazine article citations, where numbers alone should be used (see examples of reference formats). Alphabetizing within reference lists

Use prefixes in alphabetizing names if commonly part of the surname (De Vries). Do not use von in alphabetizing (Helmholtz, H. L. F. von), or Jr., III, or Sr. Treat Mc and Mac literally; Mac comes before Mc. Disregard apostrophes, spaces, and capitals in alphabetizing; D'Arcy comes after Daagwood, Decker comes after de Chardin. Single-author citations precede multiple-author citations of the same year (Zev, 1990 then Zev et al., 1990). Alphabetize corporate authors by first significant word. Do not use abbreviations in corporate names.

APA reference style The APA Publication Manual now instructs authors to use hanging indents for references, and to use italics for titles. The hanging indent is one-half inch (1.25 cm), just like paragraph indents. All titles in references are set in sentence caps, but titles quoted in the text are set in heading caps. No quotation marks are used around titles of articles in references, but quotes are used when citing article titles in the text. The APA Publication Manual (2001) contains 95 examples of different reference types (pp. 240-281). Here are a few examples of the most commonly used formats. Anonymous or unknown author (common in newspapers): Caffeine linked to mental illness. (1991, July 13). New York Times, pp. B13, B15. Citation: ("Caffeine Linked," 1991). Use heading caps when citing titles in text citations. Books (Group author, 35 authors, reprint/translation, edition other than first): American Psychiatric Association. (1990). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Citation: (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1990); next citation (APA, 1990). Note: "Author" is used as above when author and publisher are identical. Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (1995). The craft of research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Citation: (Booth, Colomb, & Williams, 1995); next citation (Booth et al., 1995). Ebbinghaus, H. (1913). Memory (H. A. Rueger & C. E. Bussenius, Trans.). New York: Teachers College. (Original work published 1885) Citation: (Ebbinghaus, 1885/1913). Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (1979). The elements of style (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan. Citation: (Strunk & White, 1979).

10
Chapter or section in a book (online & print): Beers, M. H., & Berkow, R. (1999). Mood disorders. In The Merck manual of diagnosis and therapy (17th ed., sec. 15, chap. 189). Retrieved January 17, 2003, from http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/section15/ chapter189/189a.htm Stephan, W. G. (1985). Intergroup relations. In G. Lindzey & E. Aronson (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (3rd ed., Vol. 2, pp. 599658). New York: Random House. Citations: (Beers & Berkow, 1999, chap. 189); (Stephan, 1985). Note: Break a URL to wrap a line only after a slash or before a period. Do not add a hyphen or any other punctuation. Conference paper (unpublished): Shrout, P. E. (Chair), Hunter, J. E., Harris, R. J., Wilkinson, L., Strouss, M. E., Applebaum, M. I., et al. (1996, August). Significance testsShould they be banned from APA journals? Symposium conducted at the 104th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, Toronto, Canada. Citation: (Shrout et al., 1996). APA references list up to the first six authors to a work. If there are more add et al. (and others) to the list of names. In text citations give just the lead author, et al. Published papers are referenced as a chapter in a book. Government report online accessed through GPO database: National Institute of Mental Health. (2002). Breaking ground, breaking through: The strategic plan for mood disorders research of the National Institute of Mental Health (Publication No. 0507-B-05). Retrieved January 19, 2003, from NIMH Web site via GPO Access: http://purl.access.gpo.gov/GPO/LPS20906 Citation: (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2002); next citation (NIMH, 2002). Journal articles (Print, electronic copy, changed source, online journal, paged by issue): Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group. (2002). Effect of Hypericum perforatum (St John's Wort) in major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 287, 18071814. Citation: (Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group, 2002). The APA Manual requires citing the full name of a corporate author like this; the acronym would not be easily recognized. However, shortening the author to "Hypericum Depression Trial" in subsequent citations would probably be acceptable to editors of APA journals. Journal article, electronic facsimile: Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group. (2002). Effect of Hypericum perforatum (St John's Wort) in major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial [Electronic version]. JAMA, 287, 18071814. Many documents are now available online as exact facsimile copies of the print original (usually in Adobe's PDF format). References to these facsimiles just add the note [Electronic version] to the reference. If the document is not an exact copy of a print version--"(e.g., the format differs from the print version or page numbers are not indicated)"-add the date you retrieved the document and the URL to the reference (APA, 2001, p. 271). Journal article, changed/doubtful source: Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group. (2002). Effect of Hypericum perforatum (St John's Wort) in major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 287, 18071814. Retrieved July 7, 2002, from http://www.jama.org/articles.html Journal article, retrieved from a database: Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group. (2002). Effect of Hypericum perforatum (St John's Wort) in major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 287, 18071814. Retrieved July 7, 2002, from MEDSYS database. Online only journal (paged by issue): Kortepeter, M. G., & Parker, G. W. (1999). Potential biological weapons threats. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 5(4). Retrieved January 20, 2003, from http://www.cdc.gov/ ncidod/EID/vol5no4/kortepeter.htm Citation: (Kortepeter & Parker, 1999). There is no period after the URL in a reference. Note: When directly quoting or citing a document, a page number or other means of identifying a specific passage is required. In the absence of page numbers, if paragraph numbers appear in an electronic document, add the paragraph symbol or the abbreviation para. and the paragraph number to the citation (e.g., Kortepeter & Parker, 1999, 17). If

11
there is no paragraph number, cite the nearest preceding section heading and count paragraphs from there (e.g., Kortepeter & Parker, 1999, Method section, para. 4). Note: Occasionally a research journal may be paged by issue, that is, page numbering in each issue begins at page one. Add the number in the volume (in parentheses in plain text) to these references immediately after the volume number, as in the example above. Letter to the editor: O'Neill, G. W. (1992, January). In support of DSM-III [Letter to the editor]. APA Monitor, 4-5. Magazine article: Gardner, H. (1991, December). Do babies sing a universal song? Psychology Today, 70-76. Newsletter/newspaper articles: Brown, L. S. (1993, Spring). My research with orangs. The Psychology Department Newsletter, 3, 2. Goleman, D. (1991, October 24). Battle of insurers vs. therapists: Cost control pitted against proper care. New York Times, pp. D1, D9. Markoff, J. (1996, June 5). Voluntary rules proposed to help insure privacy for Internet users. New York Times. Retrieved April 1, 1996, from http://www.nytimes.com/library/cyber/week/yo5dat.html The date is given as it appears on the publication. For anonymous newspaper articles, see the previous section on "Anonymous or unknown authors." Pamphlet: Just Say No Foundation. (1992). Saving our youth. (9th ed.) [Brochure]. Washington, DC: Author. Web page: Dewey, R. A. (2002). Psych Web by Russ Dewey. Retrieved January 25, 2003 from http://www .psywww.com/ Soucre: www.wooster.edu/pscyhology/apa-crib.html#index

12

APA Citation Style Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th edition Follow these color codes: Author(s) Volume Date Pages Title of Book Place of Publication Title of Article Publisher Title of Periodical Other Information

Journal or Magazine Article (use for journals that start each issue with page one) Wilcox, R. V. (1991). Shifting roles and synthetic women in Star trek: The next generation. Studies in Popular Culture, 13(2), 53-65. Journal or Magazine Article (use for journals where the page numbering continues from issue to issue) Dubeck, L. (1990). Science fiction aids science teaching. Physics Teacher, 28, 316-318. Newspaper Article Di Rado, A. (1995, March 15). Trekking through college: Classes explore modern society using the world of Star trek. Los Angeles Times, p. A3. Article from an Internet Database (for more details, see the American Psychological Association's official site) Mershon, D. H. (1998, November-December). Star trek on the brain: Alien minds, human minds. American Scientist, 86, 585. Retrieved July 29, 1999, from Expanded Academic ASAP database. Book Okuda, M., & Okuda, D. (1993). Star trek chronology: The history of the future. New York: Pocket Books. Book Article or Chapter James, N. E. (1988). Two sides of paradise: The Eden myth according to Kirk and Spock. In D. Palumbo (Ed.), Spectrum of the fantastic (pp. 219-223). Westport, CT: Greenwood. Encyclopedia Article Sturgeon, T. (1995). Science fiction. In The encyclopedia Americana (Vol. 24, pp. 390-392). Danbury, CT: Grolier. ERIC Document Fuss-Reineck, M. (1993). Sibling communication in Star trek: The next generation: Conflicts between brothers. Miami, FL: Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 364932)

13
Website (for more details, see the American Psychological Association's official site) Lynch, T. (1996). DS9 trials and tribble-ations review. Retrieved October 8, 1997, from Psi Phi: Bradley's Science Fiction Club Web site: http://www.bradley.edu/campusorg/psiphi/DS9/ep/ 503r.html

Notes

If you are using the style for Copy Manuscripts, doublespace all lines. If you are using the style for Final Manuscripts, singlespace all lines and skip a line in between each reference. Ask your professor which style to follow. Arrange the items on your reference list alphabetically by author, interfiling books, articles, etc. Indent the second and following lines 5 to 7 spaces or one half inch. Use only the initials of the authors' first (and middle) names. If no author is given, start with the title and then the date. If you are using a typewriter that cannot produce italics, then use underlining instead. Magazine articles: include the month (and day) as shown under Newspapers. Websites: if the date the page was created is not given, use (n.d.). The rules concerning a title within a title are not displayed here for purposes of clarity. See the printed version of the manual for details. For documents and situations not listed here, see the printed version of the manual.

Source:www.ldu.edu Scientific research is a public venture. Therefore, one of the essential skills of the scientist is to be able to communicate ideas and research results effectively. This hypertext guide is an attempt to make the style of writing used in the field of psychology clear to you. It summarizes a lot of the material available in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5-th edition) (2001) and is oriented toward undergraduate students. For example, it includes numerous hints to avoid common mistakes students make. Note the examples appear in a teletype font to distinguish them from the normal text. Finally, the document is organized in an outline format for at least two reasons. First, it should make it easier for students to quickly locate the information they seek. Second, it should make it easier for an instructor to grade students papers. In most cases, the student can simply be referred to the outline item that addresses the problem rather than writing the comment repeatedly on multiple papers. Note that a checklist version of this writing guide is available.

I.

General Topics A. Typing - Here is a Microsoft Word 2002 document/template that should help you with some of the basic formatting. 1. Your papers must be typed or printed on a computer. 2. Set the typewriter or word processor to double space and keep it there throughout the entire manuscript. 3. Use one inch margins on the left, right, top, and bottom of the page. These margins are wide in order to leave room for reviewer's comments. 4. Use normal paragraphs in which the first line is indented five characters for all paragraphs in the manuscript except the abstract, block quotes, titles and headings, subheadings, references, table titles, notes, and figure captions. 5. Use a 12 point font. In other words, there should be 10 typed characters per inch. 6. Single space after sentence terminators (i.e., '.', '?', '!'). 7. Capitalize the first letter following a colon if the clause following the colon is a complete sentence.

14
Make sure the text is left aligned and not justified. With left aligned text, the left margin forms a straight line and the right margin is ragged. With justified text both the left and right margins form a straight line. 9. Do not hyphenate (split) words at the end of a line. 10. Finally, just staple or clip the finished product (do not bother with fancy folders, etc.). Writing in General 1. You must use complete sentences. 2. The first sentence of a paragraph must be independent (able to stand on its own). For example consider While these studies are important, there is... This sentence would be correct in the middle of a paragraph, but as the first sentence, it should more appropriately read, While studies of the effects of whatever on whatever else are important, there is... 3. Try not to use slang (e.g., ...put a damper on...). 4. Do not use contractions. That is, instead of it's, use it is. 5. If you are doubtful about the spelling of a word, do not guess. Look up the correct spelling in an appropriate reference source (e.g., Merriam-Webster.com). 6. Proofread the copy that you submit and do correct minor typographical errors, formatting, spelling, or even the wording, with a pencil. These corrections are inevitable and will communicate that you are serious about your work. Style Details in General 1. Study this handout. When in doubt about a detail, check with the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 2. Assume you are writing the paper for submission to a scientific journal. 3. A lot of the formatting details can be learned by carefully modeling another APA journal article. It would be a good idea to acquire a few fairly recent articles, because the format was revised in 1995. Try the Psychological Record or The Bulletin of the Psychonomic Society. Both of these journals publish relatively short articles that are not too complicated. 4. Avoid excessive use of the terms I, me, and my, as well as the phrase personally speaking... 5. Avoid the use of sexist language. For example, consistently referring to a person as a him or he when it is just as likely for the person to be a she or a her, is sexist. However, using (s)he or him/her all of the time can also be awkward. If you phrase it right, you can often use the word person instead. 6. Avoid using 'empty words' or words which serve no purpose. For example, In the Smith (1990) study it was found that... should read more like Smith (1990) found that... 7. Generally speaking, use past tense in the abstract, introduction, and method. Results and discussion sections can be in the present tense. 8. Get friends to read it. If they cannot understand it, then it needs work. If you cannot get a friend to read it, then try to read it yourself making believe that you are naive. Abbreviations 1. When abbreviating any terms, spell them out the first time (in both the abstract and again in the body of the manuscript, if need be). For example, The Sexual Opinion Survey (SOS) was used to... 2. Do not use too many abbreviations. Whereas one, two, or three can be helpful, four or five can be confusing. 3. You will often see the following Latin abbreviations used: cf. compare etc. and so forth for e.g., i.e., that is example et al. and others vs. versus, against 4. Note that (except for et al.) these abbreviations are only used in parenthetic material. In non parenthetic material, use the English translation. 5. Do not use E and S as abbreviations for experimenter and subject. This was done in articles written many years ago. 6. Note the following common abbreviations and note also that you do not use periods with them. 8.

B.

C.

D.

15
cm centimeter s seconds mg milligrams min minutes g grams hr hours M mean IQ intelligence 7. For example, the bar was 2.5 cm wide and 1.0 cm high. E. Numbers 1. All measurement reporting is done in metric units. In other words, use centimeters and meters rather than inches and feet. 2. The numbers zero through nine are spelled out (except when it is a table or figure number, or a metric measurement, etc.). The numbers 10 and above are written as numbers. 3. Capitalize nouns followed by numerals or letters that denote a specific place in a numbered series. For example, As can be seen in Figure 3, during Block 4 of Session 2 such and such occurred... Note that this example demonstrates one of the exceptions to the rule noted in I.E.2. 4. In the abstract, use digits for all numbers except when they begin a sentence. Note that this example demonstrates one of the exceptions to the rule noted in I.E.2. 5. Spell out any number when it is the first thing in a sentence. For example, the sentence 34 students were used., is not appropriate and should read Thirty-four students were used. 6. Try to be consistent with number formats. That is, if you are reporting a series of related numbers, they should all be presented with the same number of decimal places. For an example, see I.D.5 above. F. Citations in the Text 1. If you use someone's words or ideas, you must give them credit with a citation. This is particularly important, since the penalties for plagiarism are severe. 2. There are numerous ways to formally cite a reference in the text. Examples include Some fact (last name, year)., Last name (year) noted that..., or In <year>, <last name> reported that... For more ideas, pay close attention to the articles you read. 3. The first time the reference is cited in the text, spell out all of the authors last names. For example, Miller, Rosellini, and Seligman (1975) suggested that... With articles that have three or more authors use the Latin abbreviation for "and others" when the reference is cited a second (or third) time. For example, Miller et al. (1975) suggested that... or ... some fact (Miller et al., 1975). 4. If the citation is in parentheses and you need to use the word "and", use the ampersand ('&') instead. For example, Some (e.g., Estes & Skinner, 1940) have suggested that..., as compared to Estes and Skinner (1940) have suggested... Note also that the opposite applies as well, that is, if the citation is not in parentheses, you must use the word "and". 5. Multiple citations in parentheses are placed alphabetically and are separated by a semicolon and a space. For example, Some fact (Carlson, 1972; Moon, 1968; Partin, 1980). 6. If you cite something second hand, you must make it clear (e.g., Some fact (Smith, as cited in Jones, Year)). Note that in this example, only the Jones reference would be placed in the reference section. G. Quotations 1. You must give page numbers for direct quotes. For example, Smith (1978) noted that "the world is round" (p. 1). 2. Three or four quotes in a 10 page paper is about the upper limit. 3. Display a quotation of more than 40 words as free-standing block of text indented 5 spaces from the left margin (doubles spaced as usual). Omit the quotation marks and include the page number in parentheses after the last period. Also, if the quotation is more than one paragraph, indent the first line of the second and any additional paragraphs 5 spaces. Research Reports The order of the sections of the manuscript are as follows: A. Title Page

II.

16 1.
2. See an example title page. The manuscript page header is the first thing that appears on the title page. It consists of the first two or three words of the title and is followed by the page number. It is used by the editors and reviewers to identify the pages of the manuscript. It is placed in the upper right hand corner of all pages of the manuscript (except for any figures). Thus, the manuscript page header should appear as the first line of the title page, right justified with the number '1' either double spaced below it or 5 spaces to the the right of it. If you are using a word processor, you can have it put this manuscript page header on all pages automatically. The running head comes next and is no more than 50 characters (including punctuation and spaces). It typically consists of a couple of key words from the title. Type this running head flush left and in all capital letters. For example, Running head: ABORTION ATTITUDES IN COLLEGE STUDENTS (note that the 'R' in running is capitalized, but the 'h' in head is not). Choosing a title. The title should summarize the main idea of the paper in 10-12 words. A good recipe to work with when reporting the results of an experiment is (Dependent Variable) as a Function of (Independent Variable) or The Effects of (Independent Variable) on (Dependent Variable). Another option is to use the main finding as the title, for example, Prenatal Alcohol Impairs Passive Avoidance Learning in Rats. With other types of research you should try to include the variables of interest in the title (and be careful not to imply causality). Also, it is a good idea to include the species if you're working with animals or some details about the type of population if you're working with humans. When typing the title, center it on the page and capitalize only the first letter of important words. On the next double spaced line is the author's name and on the next double spaced line is the institutional affiliation. For the purposes of this class, I would also like you to include something like In partial fulfillment of the requirements for PSY389, Instructor's Name, and the Date.

3.

4.

5.

6.

B.

C.

Abstract 1. The abstract page is Page 2. 2. Center the word Abstract on this page, then begin typing on the very next double-spaced line (i.e., do not insert any extra blank lines here). 3. Type this section as a single (double spaced) paragraph in block format (i.e., do not use indentation). 4. The purpose of this section is to provide a brief and comprehensive summary of the study. It is very important because it is all that many people will read. It should include a brief description of the problem being investigated, the methods used, the results, and their implications. 5. It should be accurate (do not include information here that is not in the body of the manuscript), self-contained (spell out abbreviations), concise (120 word maximum), and specific (begin this section with the most important information and limit it to the four or five most important concepts, findings, or implications of the study). 6. As part of the theme of being concise, use digits for all numbers except when they begin a sentence. 7. Avoid citing references in the abstract. 8. Paraphrase rather than quoting. 9. Use active rather than passive voice (but without personal pronouns), for example, use Researchers instructed participants to . . ., rather than, Participants were given instructions to . . . 10. Use past tense for procedures and present tense for results. 11. It is a good idea to write this section last (after all of the other sections are written). You might try taking the lead sentences from the various sections of the manuscript and integrating them. 12. Introduction 1. The introduction begins on Page 3.

17
Start this page by retyping your title (centered), then begin typing the section (on the next double spaced line) using normal (5 space indented) paragraphs. Do not type the word Introduction. 3. The main purpose of this section is to tell the reader why you performed the study. In other words, you have to inform the reader of the research question and indicate why it is important, and how it is unique when compared to previous studies. 4. It starts out broad and becomes more and more specific. For example, you might begin by defining any relevant terms. Then go on to review the relevant literature. Avoid an exhaustive and historical review. Then go on to make clear the connection between previous research and the present work. 5. You might include any hypotheses and the rationale for them. 6. The final paragraph usually contains a statement which clearly and explicitly states why the study was performed, such as The purpose of this study was to... or The present study was designed to investigate the... Be especially careful not to use a sentence of this type earlier in your introduction. 7. Thus, this section should contain an absolute minimum of four paragraphs: the general introduction, the literature review, the connection of the present study to the literature and the explicit statement of purpose. Methods 1. Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Simply center the word Method and continue typing on the very next double-spaced line (i.e., do not insert any extra blank lines here). 2. The purpose of this section is to describe in detail how you performed the study. Someone should be able to replicate your study based on the information you provide in this section. 3. Make it sound professional, that is, do not make it sound like a class project. Assume you are writing for submission to a scientific journal. 4. Avoid unnecessary details like the data were displayed on the computer screen and recorded on the data sheet(s). This is similar to the empty word problem described in I.C.6. 5. For an experiment, this section is typically divided into four subsections: subjects, apparatus, design, and procedure. The order of design followed by procedure is arbitrary. In other words, you could have the procedure come before the design. Sometimes researchers combine the design and procedure sections, however, in an experimental psychology or research methods class, a separate design section is typically required. 6. For a survey study (i.e., one in which the participants are simply asked a set of questions), the design section is not necessary (and the survey itself may be included as an appendix). Subjects/Participants 7. 8. 9. 10. This section is labeled as subjects or participants depending on whether animals or humans are used in the study. If animals are used, use the term subjects. If humans are used, use the term participants. Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Type the appropriate title for this subsection flush with the left margin and italicize it. On the next line, begin typing normal paragraphs. Indicate who participated in the study, how many, and how were they selected. With human subjects, be sure to address the issue of informed consent. Include any details which are relevant to the study. For animals, include the gender, age, strain, weight. For humans, include the gender, age, race/ethnicity, and, when appropriate, the socioeconomic status, disability status, sexual orientation, etc. If the subjects were human, what type of reward or motivation was used to encourage them to participate? Apparatus

2.

D.

11.
12.

Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Type the word Apparatus flush with the left margin and italicize it. On the next line, begin typing normal paragraphs. Describe what materials were used and how they functioned in the study.

18
13. 14. 15. If you use a piece of equipment, you must give the model number, company, and state where the company resides (as a two-letter abbreviation). You must give the dimensions (and perhaps other descriptive details) of any important items used in the study. Standard equipment such as furniture, stopwatches, pencils and paper, can usually be mentioned without providing a lot of details. In fact, you may often simply mention these items in passing as part of the procedure. Be careful not to describe procedures in this section. You should make clear what purpose the apparatus served, but do not give a lot of details on the use of the apparatus at this point. One hint in this regard is to avoid using action verbs in this section. Design

16.

17.
18. 19. 20.

Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Type the word Design flush with the left margin and italicize it. On the next line, begin typing normal paragraphs. Describe the design and clearly spell out the independent and dependent variables. Indicate what the levels of the independent variables were, and whether the factor(s) were repeated, matched, or independent. Describe how the subjects were assigned to groups. Describe any control procedures used. Procedure

21.
22. 23. 24.

25.

Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Type the word Procedure flush with the left margin and italicize it. On the next line, begin typing normal paragraphs. Carefully summarize each step in the execution of the study. Indicate what a typical test, trial, or session involved. Describe any phases that the study had or any instructions that the subjects received. When referring to groups, try to use descriptive labels. For example, instead of saying Group 1 or the experimental group, you might say the drugged group. Another technique in this regard is to use abbreviations that emphasize meaning. For example, There were three groups, including, the control group which received 0 mg/kg of morphine (M0), a low dose group receiving 1 mg/kg of morphine (M1), and a high dose group receiving 4 mg/kg of morphine (M4). Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Simply center the word Results and continue typing on the very next double-spaced line (i.e., do not insert any extra blank lines here). Look carefully at the results. That is, take a good hard look at all those numbers you collect. Think of different ways to summarize them (describe), as well as to make sense of them (analyze). You might find my Psychological Statistics Site helpful. This section will be easier to write if you make any tables and/or figures you intend to use first. Briefly state the main findings in words. That is, first give a general description, then go into the details. When presenting the results of statistical tests, give descriptive statistics before the corresponding inferential statistics. In other words, give means and/or percentages (perhaps referring to a table or figure), before talking about the results of any statistical tests you performed. When presenting means, it is reasonable to use one additional digit of accuracy than what is contained in the raw data. In other words, if the raw data consisted of whole numbers, then the means should contain one decimal place. When presenting nominal or ordinal data, give the percents rather than frequencies (since percents are independent of the sample size). The general format for presenting an inferential statistic is: Statistic(df) = value, probability = value. Note that exact p values are preferred. Also, if the computer output says the probability is .0000, then report it as .001. When possible, include some statistical estimate of effect size.

E.

Results

1. 2.

3. 4.

5. 6.

7.
8.

19
When actually presenting the results, try to emphasize the meaning of the statistics. That is, clearly describe what it is you are testing and what significance means for the variables involved. 10. See some examples of the correct way to present the results of several common statistical tests. 11. Do not discuss the implications of the results in this section. 12. Do not talk about the meaning of the alpha level or the null hypothesis, and what chance factors have to do with it. Since you are writing for the scientific community, you can assume the reader will have a working knowledge of statistics. 13. If you are presenting a lot of material here, you may wish to employ subheadings (as is done in the methods section). These subheadings should have meaning and relevance to the data and should help to organize your presentation of it. In other words, they should not be organized by the type of analysis employed. Since this is not expected by the reader, it is a good idea to precede the subheadings with a paragraph informing the reader of the logical organization of this section. 14. In cases where the reader would expect something to be significant and it is not, you should address the issue. 15. Do not provide raw data unless, for some reason, you require a single subject approach. 16. Be careful with the word "prove". Since statistical tests are based on probability and can be in error, they do not really prove anything. 17. You can only use wording that implies causality if you actually manipulated the independent variable (i.e., performed an experiment). For example, suppose you manipulated whether subjects received a drug (while employing appropriate control procedures, etc.) and found a significant difference in memory performance (with the drug users performing more poorly than nonusers). In this case, you would be able to conclude that the drug caused the difference in memory ability; it impaired it. As another example, suppose that you compared drug use (as determined from the results of a survey) with memory ability and found a correlation (greater use went along with poorer memory performance). Since correlation doesn't say much about causality, we could only conclude that there is a relationship between drug use and memory ability. Discussion 1. Do not purposely start a new page for this section. Simply center the word Discussion and continue typing on the very next double-spaced line (i.e., do not insert any extra blank lines here). 2. The purpose of this section is to evaluate and interpret the results, especially with respect to the original research question. 3. Start off with a brief, non-technical summary of the results. In other words, tell the reader about the main findings without using statistical terminology. 4. Then go on to discuss the implications of the results. In other words, whatever was found needs to be discussed. 5. It is also important to discuss how the results relate to the literature you cited in the introduction. In other words, emphasize any theoretical consequences of the results. 6. You might (or might not) also mention any limitations of the study and any suggestions for future research in this section. 7. Finally, you need an ending paragraph in which you make a final summary statement of the conclusions you have drawn. You are also encouraged, when appropriate, to comment on the importance and relevance of your findings. How are your findings related to the big picture? 8. Thus, this section should contain an absolute minimum of three paragraphs: the non-technical summary, discussion of the results and their implications, and the concluding paragraph. References 1. Start on a new page. Center the word References at the top. As usual, double space. 2. Any citations made in the manuscript must be presented in this section and vice versa. That is, if something is not cited in the text, then it should not appear in this section. In still other words, this is not a bibliography. 3. In any of the previous sections, whenever you say something like studies have shown you must provide a citation. This section tells the reader where they can find these citations. 4. This section is alphabetized by last name (of the first author involved in the study). 9.

F.

G.

20
A hanging indent is employed for each reference, that is, the first line is not indented and the rest are five-space indented. 6. For each author, give the last name followed by a comma and the first (and middle) initials followed by periods. 7. Separate multiple authors with commas and the last author with the ampersand ('&') rather than the word "and". 8. After the author(s) comes the year (in parentheses and followed by a period). 9. For a journal reference, italicize the title of the journal and the volume number. Note that issue numbers are typically not included. Also, capitalize the important words of the journal title. 10. For a book reference, just italicize the title. Only capitalize the first word of the title. Do include the city, state (as a two-letter abbreviation without periods), and the publisher's name. 11. See the example reference section. It provides several types of references, including: Single and multiple author, journal articles, book, and book chapter, web page, as well as a government document. Other Sections 1. After the above sections come any tables, the page(s) with the figure captions, and finally any figures, respectively. Each belongs on a separate page (multiple figure captions can appear on one page however). 2. Tables and the figure captions page have a manuscript page header and page number just like all the other typed pages. Note that figures are not typed, and so do not have a manuscript page header and page number. 3. Tables and figures should be able to stand alone (i.e., you should not have to read the manuscript to be able to understand a table or figure). A big help in this regard is the table title or the figure caption. Use these wisely to explain what is going on in the table or figure. In other words, do not be afraid to be a little bit verbose in your table titles and figure captions. 4. Tables and figures should not duplicate the same information. Likewise, you should not repeat the data point values in a table or figure in the text of the manuscript. 5. Tables and figures are more expensive to include in the manuscript than text. Therefore, if you include one, it should include a reasonable number of data points. In other words, if you only have a few data points to present, do it in the text of the manuscript rather than in a table or figure. 6. Tables and figures are most often used to present results, but may also be used to present other information, such as the design or a theoretical schema. 7. If you include a table or figure, you must introduce it in the text of the results section (e.g., Table 1 displays the...) and describe to the reader what should be seen in it. Tables 5.

H.

8.
9. 10. 11. 12.

See an example table. Note that APA style tables do not contain any vertical lines, so do not draw them in or use your word processor to generate them. Type the table number and then (on the next double spaced line) type the table title flush left and italicized. Note that there are no periods used after the table number or title. There are different ways to format tables. Your best bet is to set the tabs for the table or to use your word processor's table generating ability. When using columns with decimal numbers, make the decimal points line up. Figure Captions

13. 14.
15.

16.

See an example figure captions page. Start on a new page. Center the phrase Figure Captions at the top. Each figure caption is typed flush left in block format. The word 'figure' and the number are italicized, for example, Figure 1. The effects of... Figures

21
'Figures' is the technical term for graphs, charts, drawings and pictures. Figures (other than pictures) may be drawn in black and white only (using a ruler and preferably on graph paper) or they may be generated with a computer graphics program (keeping it in two dimensions). 19. Center each figure on the page vertically as well as horizontally and arrange for the figure to use the bulk of the page. 20. If the figure is a chart or graph, verbally label the axes (do not use "X" and "Y") and provide a key if necessary (e.g., explaining what open vs. filled circles are). 21. On the back of each figure (with a pencil), put the manuscript page header, the figure number, and the word TOP to indicate how the figure should appear on the page. 22. Do not put the figure caption on the figure, since that is what the figure captions page is for. Research Reviews There are a number of kinds of research reviews. You could describe a phenomenon, review an existing theory or present a new one. You could critically evaluate how one theory accounts for some data as compared to some other theory. Whatever the kind of review, the goal is to organize, integrate, and evaluate previous research in order to clarify a particular problem or issue. This type of manuscript does not follow as standard a format as a research report. Instead of the introduction, methods, results and discussion sections, there is an introduction, body and conclusions. A. Introduction 1. Begins on page 3 (after the title page and abstract). Note the abstract for a research review should include the topic and purpose, the scope of the material covered, the sources used and the conclusions. 2. Start this page by retyping your title (centered), then begin typing the section (on the next double spaced line) using normal (5 space indented) paragraphs. Do not type the word Introduction. 3. The introduction should clearly define the problem or issue. This section is not unlike the introduction for a research report. 4. It starts out broad and becomes more and more specific. 5. It is often useful to use headings (and perhaps subheadings) in the body of the research report to help communicate the outline and organization of the paper to the reader. It is a good idea to precede the headings with a paragraph informing the reader of the logical organization (i.e., other headings that will be employed). This paragraph should appear at the end of the introduction just before the actual body of the paper and is important because it lets the reader know the directions that the paper will take. 17. 18.

III.

B.

Body 1.

C.

If you use headings, the primary main heading levels should be treated like the main heading of a research report, that is, type the main heading using upper and lower case, and center it horizontally on the page. Second level headings are flush left and italicized. Third level headings (if necessary) are indented like the normal paragraphs that they start off. Thus, the words of the third level heading lead off the paragraph, are separated from it by a period, and are italicized. The rest of the paragraph follows the period. 2. This section should present the relevant literature and ideas. 3. Often the instructor will set a minimum number of references that are required. These references will be listed in the reference section and are cited using a particular style which you can see most clearly in the literature you are reading for your review. 4. A common mistake that students often make is to organize the paper around the specific references they are using (even using the reference titles as the main headings of the manuscript). The paper should be organized around the relevant phenomenon or theory and not by the specific references that one uses in the paper. 5. This section can be lengthy (depending upon how much material is presented). 6. You might try to identify relations, contradictions, gaps, and inconsistencies in the literature. 7. You might suggest possible solutions to any problem(s) identified. 8. You might suggest future directions for research to take. Conclusions 1. Finally, you need an ending section, in which, you summarize the main points you have made.

22
Appendix 1 - Example Title Page (below)

Attitudes Towards Abortion 1 Running head: ABORTION ATTITUDES IN COLLEGE STUDENTS

Attitudes Towards Abortion in Midwestern College Students Mark Plonsky University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for PSY389 Instructor's Name Date

23
Appendix 2 - Example Ways to Present Results (below)

manuscript page header page number An examination of the number of hours of television viewing and the frequency of aggressive acts for each of the 60 children revealed a positive or direct correlation between television viewing and instances of aggressive behavior. An analysis using Pearson's correlation coefficient supported this observation, r(58) = .63, p < .001. The control group (M = 14.1) remembered more words on the memory test than the drugged group (M = 12.3). This difference was tested using an independent groups t test, and was shown to be nonsignificant, t(18) = 1.23, p = .283. Thus, the data fail to support the notion of a drug effect on memory. The mean scores for the short, medium, and long retention intervals were 5.9, 10.3, and 14.2, respectively. A one way analysis of variance revealed a significant effect of retention interval, F(2, 34) = 123.07, p < .001. While 60% of the males agreed that their map reading skills were strong, only 35% of the females did. A 2 x 2 Chi Square analysis revealed that this was a significant difference, x2 (1, N = 119) = 10.51, p = .0012, suggesting that there was a relationship between gender and confidence in map reading skills.

24
Appendix 3 - Example Reference Section (below)

manuscript page header page number References Anisman, H., Remington, G., & Sklar, L. S. (1979). Effects of inescapable shock on subsequent escape performance: Catecholaminergic and cholinergic mediation of response initiation and maintenance. Psychopharmacology, 61(1), 107-124. Beck, A. T. (1967). Depression: Clinical, experimental and theoretical aspects. New York: Hoeber. Cicero, T. J. (1979). A critique of animal analogues of alcoholism. In E. Majchrowicz & E. P. Noble (Eds.), Biochemistry and pharmacology of ethanol (Volume 2, pp. 31-59). New York: Plenum Press. Dorworth, T. R., & Overmier, J. B. (1977). On "learned helplessness": The therapeutic effects of electroconvulsive shocks. Physiological Psychology, 5, 355-358. Plonsky, M. (2004). Psychology with style: A hypertext writing guide (Version 5). Retrieved from the Web January 10, 2004. http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/apa4b.htm U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. (1971). Alcohol and Health. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

25
Appendix 4 - Example Table (below)

manuscript page header page number Table 1 Average Ages Sexual Information was Acquired Compared with the Youngest and Oldest Ages Subjects Believed the Information Should be Acquired -----------------------------------------------------Age Acquired Information How babies are made How babies are born Sexual intercourse Menstruation Nocturnal emissions Masturbation Birth control Homosexuality Genital terminology Orgasm STD's Mean SD Youngest Age Mean SD Oldest Age Mean SD

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------10.1 2.9 10.0 3.1 11.6 2.6 11.6 2.2 12.5 2.6 13.0 2.6 13.9 2.4 13.4 2.8 12.4 2.9 14.0 2.3 14.1 2.3 8.5 2.8 8.4 3.1 10.4 2.6 9.9 2.1 10.8 2.6 11.4 2.8 12.0 2.2 11.3 2.8 10.4 3.3 12.5 2.7 12.0 2.4 11.9 2.7 11.6 2.8 13.1 2.6 12.6 2.1 13.4 2.7 14.0 2.6 14.3 2.4 14.1 2.5 13.1 3.3 15.0 2.6 14.7 2.4

-----------------------------------------------------STD's = Sexually transmitted diseases

26
Appendix 5 - Example Figure Captions Page (below)

manuscript page header page number Figure Captions Figure 1. Mean activity counts as a function of maternal diet and age of the rat at the time of testing. Figure 2. Number of people arrested for drunken driving as related to the day of the week.

Version 1 of this document went online 8/96. The latest version 4/05. Copyright 1996-2006 by M. Plonsky. http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/apa4b.htm since 9/1/98. Comments? mplonsky@uwsp.edu.