Many students, researchers, and (to be honest with you, teachers!) are not exactly sure what APA style of writing is and how it differentiates from other academic formats like Harvard or MLA. By the end of this brief but thorough guide, you would have learned what is APA format and how you can master it.
What is APA format?
The APA format (American Psychological Association) is a widely accepted format for writing research papers, specifically for research in the field of social sciences, standardizing academic literature citations and reference writing methods, as well as tables, charts, footnotes, and appendices orchestration.
Officially, APA format refers to the "Guidelines for the American Psychological Association journal association" publication, which has been published to the 7th Edition (ISBN 978-1-4338-3216-1). The total number of pages is 428 pages, and this association is currently the authoritative organization of psychologists in the United States. The APA format originated in 1929 and was only seven pages, and was published in the Psychological Bulletin.
Basics of APA Citations
The APA format emphasizes the time of the publication (Time of the Publication Year) rather than the name of the original author. Citations often place the publication year before the Initial of Author's First Name. Chinese foreign language journals (mainly linguistic journals) and academic journals in natural sciences prefer to use the APA format.
Don't worry, we will give you a more in-depth explanation of how to cite a source in APA format later in this article.
What is APA Format for?
As said above, the APA format is a widely accepted format for writing research papers, especially for research in the field of social sciences, standardizing the citation of academic literature and the writing method of references, as well as the layout of tables, charts, footnotes, and appendices. The APA format is widely known because of the format quoted by Harvard University articles, and its "author and date" citation method and the "quotation method in parentheses" are quite famous.
Another well-known paper format is the MLA format (The MLA Style Manual), which is mainly used in humanities, such as literature, comparative literature, literary criticism, and cultural studies.
APA Paper Format
Although some authors are skeptical about some of the specifications of the APA format, the APA format is still highly respected. Journals use the same format to allow readers to browse and collect documents efficiently. Scholars who feel uncertain during writing find this format manual very helpful. For example, the “non-discriminatory language” chapter of the manual expressly prohibits authors from using discriminatory language against women and vulnerable groups, but academic journals that use the APA format sometimes allow authors to ignore this rule in order to make the article more organized.
APA format requirements:
At the beginning of each paragraph, you should press the Tab key on the keyboard to start writing instead of direct space Indent (the first line is indented).
Double Space
The font is preferred to be Times New Roman in APA Format.
APA Title Page
According to the APA format, the title is used to organize the article in a manner that it should have a hierarchical structure. The APA format specifies the specific format (levels 1 to 5) of the "title" within the article and the previous title format. The series and format are as follows:
Level 1: Centered, Uppercase and Lowercase Headings
Level 2: Centered, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
Level 3: Left-justified, italic, and capitalized headings (Flush Left, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Side Heading)
Level 4: Indented, italicized, lowercase headings, followed by a period (Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period)
Level 5: CENTERED UPPERCASE HEADING
There is no requirement of the title above level 6. The "Introduction" section does not require a title, and the APA format does not allow "numbers" and "single letters" to appear at the head of the title.
APA citation
What is a Citation?
Apa in-text citation is the annotation of "reference source" in the paragraph or text of an article. APA format or even Harvard format, generally speaking, contains a reference to the author's name and publication date within brackets. The in-text citation is done in or before the sentence.
Detailed citations or references are placed in the " References " or "Works Cited" section at the end of the article. The APA format clearly defines that "references" are only included in the source of the article content, so some articles will have the difference between "Reference" and "Bibliography."
What's the difference between the reference list and Bibliography
(Bibliography also contains the source of the author’s background knowledge, not necessarily directly cited documents.) whereas the reference list generally, holds only the sources you have cited in-text in your article.
Single author Citations in APA
The format should be " (Author's last name (non-initial), year of publication). If the author's name has been mentioned in the article, just mark the year (if necessary, add the number of pages), you still need to use parentheses. The same goes for multiple authors.
Example of a single-author citation in APA
A recent study found a possible genetic cause of alcoholism (Pauling, 2005), OR Pauling (2005) discovered a possible genetic cause of alcoholism.
Two authors Citations in APA
Author surnames must be sorted in the order in which their names appear in their published articles. If both authors are quoted in parentheses, then "&" symbol must be added between the names; if not, use "and."
Example of Two author citation in APA
A recent study found a possible genetic cause of alcoholism (Pauling & Liu, 2005) OR Pauling and Liu (2005) discovered a possible genetic cause of alcoholism.
3 to 5 authors Citation in APA
When citing for the first time, you need to list all the authors. If you cite the same document in the future, you only need to list the main authors, plus "et al.” However, in the reference section, all author names must be listed.
Example of 3 to 5 authors citation in APA
A recent study found a possible genetic cause of alcoholism (Pauling, Liu, & Guo, 2005). Pauling, Liu, and Guo (2005) conducted a study that discovered a possible genetic cause of alcoholism. Pauling et al. (2005) discovered a possible genetic cause of alcoholism. A recent study found a possible genetic cause of alcoholism (Pauling et al., 2005).
Citing six authors or more in APA.
Just mention the first author, the format should be “(author et al., Year) ". In the reference section, all author names must be listed.
Example
Pauling et al. (2005) discovered a possible genetic cause of alcoholism.
Citing multiple articles with the same author in APA
If an author has multiple articles you want to cite, just use a comma to distinguish the publication year of the work (in order from earliest to latest) If multiple articles are published in the same year, please add a, b, c, etc. after the year. (Press: The use of ABC needs to correspond to the reference section, and the arrangement of these documents is determined by the letters of the title name.)
Example
A recent study found a possible genetic cause of alcoholism (Pauling, 2004, 2005a, 2005b). Pauling (2004, 2005a, 2005b) conducted a study that discovered a possible genetic cause of alcoholism.
Citing multiple articles with multiple authors In APA
According to the previous rule, each author is separated by semicolons. Sorting is based on the letters of the author’s last name, followed by the year of publication.
Example
A recent study found a possible genetic cause of alcoholism (Alford, 1995; Pauling, 2004, 2005; Sirkis, 2003)
Direct quotation in APA
The format is no different from the previous one, and the same is " (Author, Year, Pages). "
Example
When asked why his behavior had changed so dramatically, Max simply said: "I think it's the reinforcement" (Pauling, 2004, p. 69).
Citing and referencing online sources in APA Format
With the in-depth development of the Internet era, more and more academic institutions and scholars have begun to use the Internet to publish academic information. The online resources are massive and efficient. International students often need to complete the assignment, including paper, essay, report, and other assignment types. When writing a thesis, you will inevitably encounter the reference format and how to write the reference . Especially how to write reference in online resource references. The editor of this article summarizes how to write references to online resource references in APA format.
For electronic documents, websites, and online articles, the APA format website has some basic rules. The first is to provide readers with detailed sources of document content, and the second is to provide their effective reference sources. When describing Internet publications in the Reference section, you must mark three points: 1) the date of retrieval of the publication (date of retrieval), 2) the author of the publication 3) the website address of the publication. If the URL needs to be broken or line-breaked, it must be after "/" or before. "", And remember that no spaces can appear in the URL. This is the specification of a complete link.
How to cite a website in APA?
Marlowe, P., Spade, S., & Chan, C. (2001). Detective work and the benefits of colour versus black and white [Electronic version]. Journal of Pointless Research, 11,123–124.
Indispensable is the author's name, publication time, article title, journal title, and preferably the journal publication number. 1. Citing and referencing Electric Journal in APA.
Blofeld, ES (1994, March 1). Expressing oneself through Persian cats and modern architecture. Felines & Felons, 4, Article 0046g. Retrieved October 3, 1999, from web address If the journal in which the article is published is only available in electronic format, be sure to include the web address. Other parts are similar to the printed version of the web article.
2. Citing Newsletter article in APA Paradise, S., Moriarty, D., Marx, C., Lee, OB, Hassel, E., et al. (1957, July). Portrayals of fictional characters in reality-based popular writing: Project update.Off the beaten path, 7 (3). Retrieved October 3, 1999, from Webpage address Note also the webpage address for electronic text messages, including the specific date and time of receipt.
3. Citing Single online document (without author and work date) What I did today. (Nd). Retrieved August 21, 2002, from Web address. There are some online articles where the author cannot be found, and the date and place of the work cannot be found. At this time, the webpage address must be marked, and the webpage address must be the original link, not the address after multiple reprints.
4. Citing Documents obtained from university courses or department websites Rogers, B. (2078). Faster-than-light travel: What we've learned in the first twenty years. Retrieved August 24, 2079, from Mars University, Institute for Martian Studies Web site: In addition to the author, date and other general information, the website address should also indicate the name of the university and the address of its official website. 5. Citing Electronic copies of journal articles searched from the database (3 to 5 authors) Costanza, G., Seinfeld, J., Benes, E., Kramer, C., & Peterman, J. (1993). Minuti & aelig; and insignificant observations from the nineteen-nineties. Journal about Nothing, 52,475–649. Retrieved October 31, 1999, from NoTHINGJournals database.
Not only the journal name but also the name of the database used. 6. Citing E-mail or other personal communication (limited text) (A. Monterey, personal communication, September 28, 2001). Annotated with personal communication, it means that it is obtained from personal communication information, and also the specific information obtained by the mail or communication information time.
Citing Books stored on CD or E-books in APA Nix, G. (2002). Lirael, Daughter of the Clayr [CD]. New York: Random House / Listening Library. Medium non-paper documents generally use [media] after the article name to indicate the medium used. Here is [CD]
APA Reference Page or Reference List
The APA Publishing Manual divides references into (1) journal articles, abstracts, (2) chapters of book manuals, (3) special or research reports, (4) conference special issues or special symposium papers, (5 ) Degree thesis, (6) Other unpublished works or publications that are not common, (7) Comments, (8) Audiovisual media materials, (9) Electronic media materials, (10) Decrees, etc. The format is different.
How to make APA Reference list
Comparing the format of APA reference literature with other writing formats, although it is relatively simple, it is also quite complicated. The following describes the order of the literature.
1. According to the alphabetical order of the author's last name, if the article title or book title is the author, and the title or book name starts with a number, the alphabetical order of the national characters is compared, such as 21st-century education vs Twenty-first-century education as a benchmark for comparison.
2. When the name of the first author is the same, if they are the same author, they are arranged in chronological order: For example: Hewlett, LS (1996) Hewlett, LS (1999)
3. An author always ranks before multiple authors For example: Razik, TA (1991) Razik, TA, & Lin, T. -Y. (1995)
4. When there are multiple authors who must compare, the second or third fourth in sequence ... the author's last name letters For example: Gosling, JR, Jerald, K., & Belfar, SF (2000) Gosling, JY, & Tevlin, DF (1996)
5. The same author and the same year, according to (after removing the articles such as A, The) the letter of the title or book title For example: Razik, TA, & Lin, T. -Y. (1990a). Fundamental concepts. Razik, TA, & Lin, T. -Y. (1990b). Human relations.
6. When the authors have the same last name, and the names are different, they are arranged in alphabetical order For example: Liu, C. -R. (1993). Liu, M. -C. (1990).
7. When the author is an institution group, the letter of the full name of the institution group is used as the basis for comparison. When the author is an affiliate group of the institution group, the full name should be presented as "primary group first, then subsidiary group". For example: State University of New York at Buffalo, Department of Educational Organization, Administration, and Policy. (1994).
8. When there is no author, compare the article title or book title (after removing the article) as the author.
9. When citing a meta-analysis document, it is not necessary to list it in appendices, but it is incorporated in the reference and the * is added in front of the document, and the asterisk is added at the beginning of the reference. Relevant literature for meta-analysis. For example: * Bretschneider, JG, & McCoy. NL (1968). Sexual interest and behavior in health 80-102-year-olds. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 14, 343-350.
Precautions
The above introduces the common English reference formats and provides examples for readers' reference.
Before writing a reference, you must check whether the journal you want to submit has a custom format if any. Then, from its provisions, otherwise, you can refer to the above format for writing. In addition, English references also involve the abbreviation regulations set in APA.
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