What does an APA style paper look like?
Before you get into APA Style, take a moment and try to understand the outcome. Take a look at how students write papers using APA Style. This video demonstrates APA documentation style and paper formatting. The video provides you with a sample APA paper to help you understand what you are trying to achieve.
What are Citations?
Different academic disciplines have specific guidelines for organizing material and citing sources. These rules are published as style manuals. While each citation system is distinct, the underlying rationale is the same–to facilitate written communication among members in a scholarly community.
What is APA STYLE?
The American Psychological Society (APA) style was first created in 1929 for a uniform system of citation and formatting. The current manual, version 7, is used by a variety of disciplines, including the social and behavioral sciences, health care, natural sciences, humanities, and more.
APA style relies on parenthetical citations (author, date, page) for material that is quoted, summarized, or paraphrased in the text of a paper. The sources referenced in parenthetical citations are compiled at the end of the paper as a list of References.
Where to access APA Guides
The APA Style Home
The APA style webpage is full of information and examples as well as tutorials and is a great source. Get to know it.
The Purdue OWL APA Guide
The Purdue OWL APA Guide also provides additional information on how to format and cite your sources when preparing a paper for your professors. Make sure to spend some time getting to know this website.
What are summaries, paraphrases, and quotations?
Summaries, paraphrases, and quotations help writers support their own ideas by referring to an authority on the subject, by giving examples of different viewpoints, and/or by providing background material. Whether you summarize an article, paraphrase a section of book, or quote an author's words directly, the author of the original work must always be given credit.
How to set up your Word document or Google Doc using APA Style
When you prepare your document for a professor, they might ask you to follow specific guidelines. For example, you might be asked to set up your document using APA Style. These guidelines are used to help you format your document.
For more details, check out the APA Style Center's page(s) on formatting a paper.
APA style-setting up your WORD doc
APA style-setting up your Google doc
How to format in-text citations
In-text citations mean that you have quoted, paraphrased, or summarized someone else’s ideas in your paper, and so now you need to give them credit for those words.
Your in-text citations will direct the reader to the works cited list (at the end of the paper) to find all the information for the source. The videos below provide information on how to format your in-text citations, the references you make in your paragraphs.
How to build your Reference list
The References page is the list of sources used your paper. It should be its own page at the end of the paper.
Using the Purdue OWL citation generator
Getting Citations from online Databases
Don't forget to come see us at the Writers' Center!
We would be happy to provide you with feedback on your APA style, formatting, citations, and works cited pages. Schedule a Video Chat to speak with a Responder. Upload a paper and receive Written Comments from a Responder.
Credits:
Created with an image by Brad Neathery - "Heart on Paper"