Writing Center

What is the APA format?

APA stands for the American Psychological Association, and the APA format is commonly used in Psychology and also in Education, Nursing, Social Work, Business, and Hotel Administration courses, as well as by many of the other social sciences. For a complete guide to the APA documentation style, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition). All quotations and page numbers below come from this manual.
For more information on the APA format, please go to the following links:

• UNLV Lied Library: http://www.library.unlv.edu/help/style.html

• The OWL at Purdue University: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ 

• The American Psychological Associations free tutorials on:
  • The Basics: http://www.apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/basics-tutorial.aspx
  • What's New:  http://www.apastyle.org/learn/tutorials/brief-guide.aspx

Why do we need to format papers?

When writing academic papers or scholarly articles, it is essential to follow the guidelines required by your department or by the journal to which you are submitting. These guidelines not only apply to the mechanics of writing (punctuation, use of italics, names and numbers, quotations), but to the general format or appearance of the paper, and to the documentation of sources, both in the list of References and in the text.

The APA Format for an Article or Research Paper

• Margins:

• one inch (1") on all sides (top, bottom, left, right)
  
  

• Indents:

• one-half inch (1/2) from the left margin for the first line of every paragraph
• the same one-half inch (1/2) from the left margin for block quotations
  
  

• Text Formatting:

• the text is left-aligned (not justified at the right margin);
• the text is double-spaced throughout, including quotations and the References section.
• Times New Roman is a good choice for typeface, and 12 points, a suggested size.
• Note: Space twice after punctuation marks at the end of a sentence (p. 88).
  
  

• Levels of Heading:

• There are 5 levels of headings.
• Headings should not have numbers or letters.
• If only one level of heading is needed, use Level 1; for a paper with two levels of heading, use levels 1 and 2; if three levels are needed, use levels 1, 2, and 3; and so forth (p. 63).
• The 5 levels of heading are as follows:
  
  
• Level 1: Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
• Level 2: Flush Left, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
• Level 3: Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.
• Level 4: Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.
• Level 5: Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.
  
  

• Manuscript Elements:
  
  The APA style generally requires the following elements: a Title Page, an Abstract, an Introduction, sections on Method and Results, a Discussion, and a list of References. Some assignments may not need to include all of these elements, so check with your instructor for what is required for each assignment.
  
  

• Title Page:
• the title should be no more than 12 words;
• the title should be centered and in the upper half of the page;
• the author's name (byline) should follow right below: first name middle initial last name;
• the institutional affiliation should be centered just below the name;
• the running head (50 characters maximum, including spaces) should be in uppercase letters and flush left.
  
  

• To add a running head and page numbers in Windows 2007: click Insert in the main toolbar. In the Header & Footer box, click Header. Select Blank and type in your running head. Press Tab until the cursor is where you want the page number to appear. In the Header and Footer box, click on Page Number and select Current Position then Plain Number. You may now click on Close Header and Footer and page numbers will automatically be added to the header.
  
  

• Here is an example of an APA title page.
  
  

• Abstract:
• This section requires a centered heading.
• An abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents (p. 25).
• The abstract explains the nature of the research conducted, the hypotheses put forth, and the methods utilized. It ends by stating the conclusions or findings of the research.
• A well-prepared abstract can be the most important single paragraph (p. 26) in your paper/article.
• The abstract needs to be dense with information (p. 26).
• Word limits for abstracts range from 150 to 250 words.
  
  

• Introduction:
• It follows the abstract and does not require a heading.
• It presents the specific problem under study and describes the research strategy (p.27).
• In your Introduction, explore [the] importance of the problemdescribe relevant scholarship state hypotheses and their correspondence to [the] research design (p. 28).
  
  

• Method:
• This section requires a centered heading.
• It describes in detail how the study was conducted, including conceptual and operational definitions of the variables used in the study (p. 29).
• Labeled subsections may be included to describe the participants and the apparatus used.
  
  

• Results:
• This section requires a centered heading and should summarize the collected data and the analysis performed on those data relevant to the discourse that is to follow (p. 32).
• Report the data in sufficient detail to justify your conclusions.
• Do not hide uncomfortable results by omission.
• In a scientific paper, tables, figures, and statistics are presented in the results section.
  
  

• Discussion:
• This section with a centered heading is sometimes combined with the Results section and called Results and Discussion.
• Here you will examine, interpret, and qualify the results and draw inferences and conclusions from them (p.35).
• Start with a clear statement of the support or nonsupport for your original hypotheses.
• Acknowledge the limitations of your research, and address alternative explanations of the results (p. 36).
• End with a reasoned and justifiable commentary on the importance of your findings.
  
  

• References:
• This section is an alphabetically arranged list of books, journals, and online sources cited in the manuscript.
• It starts on a new page, with a centered heading and all entries are double-spaced.
• APA references appear in a hanging indent format.
  
  

Examples of references are here.

• Quotation and Paraphrase:

Whether paraphrasing, quoting an author directly, or describing an idea that influenced your work, you must credit the source (p. 170).

• To quote is to use word for word any material taken from a source.
• When quoting, always provide the author, year, and specific page citation or paragraph number for nonpaginated material, as explained below in the In-Text Citations section.
• If the quotation is less than 40 words, incorporate it into text and enclose the quotation with double quotation marks.
• If the quotation is more than 40 words, display it in a freestanding block of text and omit the quotation marks (p. 171). Start on a new line, indenting about a half inch from the left margin. Double-space the entire quotation, and at the end, cite the source after the final punctuation mark.
  
  
  
• To paraphrase is to restate material from a source using different words.
• Since paraphrasing is still using ideas or information from someone else, you must always provide the author, year published, and preferably, the pages of your source, as explained below in the In-Text Citations section.
  
  

• In-Text Citations:

• In-text citations enable your readers to quickly and easily locate the information and research used in your study.
• To avoid plagiarism, care should be taken to document your sources carefully and thoroughly.
• For more on plagiarism, please go to http://writingcenter.unlv.edu/writing/plagiarism.html.
• A few of the basic rules and situations are explained below. As always, you should consult the APA manual for more detailed assistance.
  
  
• APA employs the author-date format when making in-text citations.
• The required information about author and date can be given in several ways:
  
  - Jones (1986) discovered that academic success in young children . . . OR
  - In 1986, Jones discovered that... OR
  - In a landmark study of academic success in young children (Jones, 1986), it was found that ...
  
  

• If a work has two authors, both names must be listed each time the source is cited in the text:
  
  - Sillick and Schutte (2006) found that emotional intelligence... OR
  - In 2006, Sillick and Schutte found that... OR
  - (Sillick & Schutte, 2006) established that...
  
  

• If a work has three, four, or five authors, all authors should be cited the first time the source appears in the text. Subsequent in-text citations only require the first author and the words et al.:
  
  - First time: Walker, Allen, Bradley, Ramirez, and Soo (2008) OR
  - (Walker, Allen, Bradley, Ramirez, & Soo, 2008)
  
  - Subsequent times: Walker et al. (2008) OR
  - (Walker et al., 2008)
  
  

• If a work has six or more authors, cite only the last name of the first author, followed by et al. and the year, for all citations in a text:
  
  
  - Wasserstein et al. (2005) OR
  - (Wasserstein et al., 2005)
  
  

• When you cite two or more works within the same parentheses:
• List them in alphabetical order according to the first author's last name.
•  Separate the works with semi-colons.
• Arrange different works by the same author(s) by the year of publication, the earliest first.
• For example:
  
  - Numerous studies (Garvey, 1979; Johnson & Davies, 1995; Martini, 1998) have indicated that... AND
  - Training materials are available (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2001, 2003)...
  
  

Conclusion

This brief overview of the APA formatting has covered some of the basic requirements you will need to follow in your research papers. You will find more information at http://writingcenter.unlv.edu/writing/downloads.html. Remember, the best source is always the book itself, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th edition). You will find it at the Lied Library, and the Writing Center has copies available to students coming for consultations.