CategoryAPA Format

APA style guidelines require a reference list of all the sources you included in your research paper. APA references follow the author-date style of citation. You may be asked to create an annotated APA bibliography, however. This could be a separate assignment or part of the larger research project. This goes above and beyond the basic reference list with a brief discussion of each entry...

APA citation follows the author-date style of formatting in-text and reference list entries. In APA author-date style, the last name of the author and the first name initial is the first element. After that, the year of publication is added to the citation, followed by the rest of the source data. A citation is the combination of the in-text citation and the full source citation in the reference...

Although APA style is used primarily in college and post-graduate studies, it is possible that your high school instructors will ask you to use this editorial style. APA follows the author-date citation format, which makes it easy to follow sources by looking for the author and the year of publication.  Overview of APA Style APA style was developed by the American Psychological Association to...

As students enter middle school, they start learning how to research and format essays. As they progress through high school, this writing and research process becomes more complicated. This may include learning the basic format for an APA style citation. Before this, though, students must learn about the need to correctly cite the sources they use in their writing. Understanding the reasons...

APA style papers are written for social science fields such as psychology. As such, the material tends to be complex using high language. When you’re preparing your APA paper, you may find yourself using longer quotations from other researchers to strengthen your argument. Using long quotations is acceptable in APA style. These style rules require that any direct quotations that are 40 words or...

In addition to an APA research paper, your teacher may also ask you to prepare a PowerPoint slideshow presentation. Just like any other research presentation, you must include proper citations of your sources for your PowerPoint or Prezi slideshow presentation. APA In-Text Citations for PowerPoint As you prepare your slideshow presentations, you’ll need to distill your research points down...

Students may find useful sources prepared in slideshow format, like in PowerPoint or Prezi. Lectures, meeting notes and other primary sources can be found in these presentations. Just like with any other source, you must cite PowerPoint presentations correctly in your APA reference list. PowerPoint Slideshow APA Citation While citing lectures, meeting notes or other slideshow presentations...

As you conduct research on a particular topic, you will come across the same authors who publish frequently. Researchers tend to focus on a particular area and continue to publish within it. When you have multiple sources by the same author, you’ll need to distinguish between them in your APA citations. Also, it’s important you check publication dates to make sure you are following the most...

When you come across a relevant article published on a website, you may want to include it as a source for your APA paper. Unfortunately, many times online articles may not have an author byline. The way to format APA citations with no author is to use the article’s title instead. Although it is acceptable to include information from sources with no author listed, make sure it at least...

Arranging your APA reference list in the proper format is an important part of completing your research paper. As you prepare and write your paper, you should compile a preliminary reference list or bibliography that contains all the information you need for your citations. Make sure all your citations are accurate and lead your reader directly to the same source you used for your paper. APA...

Generally, using footnotes is associated with Chicago notes-biblio style. Even so, other styles do use them sometimes. With APA style, you should use footnotes only when you absolutely must. Ask your instructor for clarification. The purpose of footnotes is to add to or clarify a point. Footnotes are also used to add copyright information. Types of APA Footnotes There are two types of footnotes...

As you research for your APA school paper, you’ll likely come across sources in the form of technical and research reports. These types of reports are useful as secondary sources. They can help you find primary sources, but you shouldn’t rely on them as the basis of your thesis. However, original qualitative and quantitative research papers are considered primary sources. Basic APA Citation...

Professional organizations, government agencies, and corporations often host conferences in which researchers can present new material and ideas to their peers. Conferences tend to be large multi-day events while a symposium is a smaller gathering, usually conducted in one day. Learn how to format symposia citations correctly to add this material to your APA research paper. Using Meeting...

Many times, researchers in a particular field will write papers together. At times, multiple authors, even eight or more, will collaborate on an extensive research paper. This can be confusing while creating your APA reference list, but it doesn’t need to be. Creating Reference List Entries for Multiple Authors When a source has multiple authors, follow this format for your APA citation...

Using doctoral dissertations and master’s theses is a useful way to bolster your research for your school paper. As post graduate students are required to do original research for their theses, these sources cover current, timely topics. Follow the examples below for how to format thesis citations for your APA references list. Doctoral Dissertation and Master’s Thesis Sources Teachers prefer that...

Although reviews of books, movies, video games and other published entertainment are not primary sources, they can still be helpful in your research. As such, you’ll need to know how to cite reviews as part of writing your APA research paper. Where to Find Reviews You can find reviews in many places, including: Magazines Newspapers Websites Blogs Even your local small-town newspaper...

One frequently asked question by students is how to properly cite a reference book, such as a dictionary or encyclopedia, in APA style. Reference books are useful to supplement your research. However, you should use them primarily as a secondary sources to find more primary sources to back up your thesis. That will make for a stronger paper. Creating an APA Citation Creating a reference book...

Psychology is a popular elective course. Many students are curious about the way our minds work. We often try to “psychoanalyze” each other by looking at our behavior and coming up with armchair diagnoses of our teachers and fellow students. However, psychology is a broad field with many sub-fields, including clinical, cognitive and developmental psychology. Get top marks on your APA...

Teachers often assign research papers to students, especially literature reviews. Literature reviews may be part of a larger research paper or stand alone on their own. Since conducting original research and writing a paper about it takes considerable time, instructors often require students prepare papers such as compare and contrast, critical essays or literature reviews instead. What Is a...

In high school, your teacher typically asks you to write a critical essay or a short research paper on a current event or interesting person. Writing in MLA style and creating a works cited page for your references works well for these papers. However, if you take psychology or sociology classes in high school or college, you may be asked to write a paper using APA style. Understanding APA Style...

APA style uses an author-date reference list rather than a bibliography format to cite research sources. A reference list, unlike a bibliography, includes only those sources you cited within your school research paper. Each in-text citation matches a reference list entry. Starting the APA Annotated Bibliography Your instructor may ask you to develop an annotated bibliography in APA style. An...

While developing your APA style school research paper, follow the specific formatting guidelines to finalize your paper. This citation example focuses on writing abstracts for an APA style paper. Learning how to write abstracts is a good skill to have, as it helps you develop the ability to summarize the important points in your paper. A busy student can read abstracts to determine if it’s worth...

If you’re using legal sources in your report, you’ll need to know how to fit them into your reference list. You may feel somewhat confused, though, because, for the most part, APA follows The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation style for citing legal sources. However, in some cases, you’ll still follow standard APA guidelines. Bluebook or APA APA recommends that you should format...

Periodicals are materials that are published on a regular basis. For example, magazines, newsletters, and journals may be published daily, weekly, monthly or on other regularly scheduled dates. Periodicals follow a general format in your APA report with a few differences between them. Newspaper article citations include the year of publication as well as the day; however, journal articles use the...

You’ve finished your paper and organized your references. Now you’re ready to alphabetize the entries in your APA reference list. So, that’s as easy as ABC… or is it? Wait! Not so fast! You have three separate works written by the same author and two articles written by people with the same last name, but different first names. Maybe this isn’t as easy as it seems at first...

Creating APA citations for a print book or e-book in your reference list is simple once you understand the format. APA uses the author-date system, which means the author’s last name, first initial and the date of publication are the most important elements of the citation. Citing Print Books in APA Style The specifics of how to cite a print book in APA style is slightly different...

Writing your paper was easy-peasy. You had the perfect sources, and everything reads great. Now, it’s time to format your reference page. You’re looking at the books, web pages, PDFs, journals and magazines that you used. Formatting each one is slightly different. Break down the format that you should use by looking at a few different APA style citation examples. Citation Rules There...

Writing can be a fun and exciting time. Don’t let your head get all jumbled over styles, especially if you come across a difficult source like a blog or article with no author. Instead of losing your cool, follow these simple steps to citing sources with no author in APA. No Author, No Problem for APA Style guides let you wrap everything up in a nice neat package. They even cover those sticky...