APA Formatting and Style Guide: Purdue OWL Staff Brought To You in Cooperation With The Purdue Online Writing Lab

APA Formatting and Style Guide
Purdue OWL staff

Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab
What is APA Style?
The American Psychological Association (APA) citation style is

the most commonly used format for manuscripts in the social
sciences.
APA regulates:
• Stylistics
• In-text citations
• References
Reference Page
• Center the title (References) at

the top of the page. Do not
bold it.
• Double-space reference
entries
• Flush left the first line of the

entry and indent subsequent
lines
• Order entries alphabetically

by the surname of the first
author of each work
References: Basics
• Invert authors’ names (last name first followed by initials)
• EX:“Smith, J.Q.”
• Capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and
subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title,
and proper nouns. Do not capitalize the first letter of the
second word in a hyphenated compound word.
• EX: The perfectly formatted paper: How the Purdue

OWL saved my essay.
References: Basics
• Capitalize all major words in journal titles
• Italicize titles of longer works such as books and

journals
• Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the

titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays
in edited collections
Making the Reference List
APA is a complex system of citation. When compiling the reference

list, the strategy below might be useful:
1. Identify the type of source:

Is it a book? A journal article? A webpage?
2. Find a sample citation for this type of source

Check a textbook or the OWL APA Guide:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
3. “Mirror” the sample
4. Make sure that the entries are listed in alphabetical order and that
the subsequent lines are indented (Recall References: Basics)
In-text Citation: Basics
In-text citations help readers locate the cited source in the

References section of the paper.
Whenever you use a source, provide in parenthesis:

• the author’s name and the date of publication
• for quotations and close paraphrases, provide the

author’s name, date of publication, and a page number
In-Text Citation:
Quotations
When quoting:
•Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase
•Include the author’s name, year of publication, and page number
•Keep the citation brief—do not repeat the information

In-Text Citation:
Summary or Paraphrase
Provide the author’s last name and the year of

publication in parenthesis after a summary or a paraphrase.
In-Text Citation:
Include the author’s name in the signal phrase, followed by the

year of publication in parenthesis.
In-Text Citation:
When including the quotation in a summary/paraphrase, also

provide a page number in parenthesis after the quotation:
In-Text Citation:
Signal Words
Introduce quotations with signal phrases, e.g.:
According to Xavier (2008), “….” (p. 3).
Xavier (2008) argued that “……” (p. 3).
Use such signal verbs such as:
acknowledged, contended, maintained,

responded, reported, argued, concluded, etc.
Use the past tense or the present perfect tense of verbs in signal phrases
when they discuss past events.
In-Text Citation:
Two or More Works
When the parenthetical citation includes two or

more works, order them in the same way they appear in the reference list—
the author’s name, the year of publication—separated by a semi-colon.
In-Text Citation:
Works with Two Authors
When citing a work with two authors, use

In the signal phrase, use “and” in between the authors’
names
In parenthesis, use “&” between names

In-Text Citation:
Works with 3-5 Authors
When citing a work with three to five authors, identify all authors in the
signal phrase or in parenthesis.
(Harklau, Siegal, & Losey, 1999)
In subsequent citations, only use the first author's last name followed by "et
al." in the signal phrase or in parentheses.
(Harklau et al., 1993)

In-Text Citation:
Works with 6+ Authors
When citing a work with six and more authors, identify the first author’s
name followed by “et al.”
Smith et al. (2006) maintained that….
(Smith et al., 2006)

In-Text Citation:
Unknown Author
When citing a work of unknown author:

•use the source’s full title in the signal phrase
•cite the first word of the title followed by the year of publication in
parenthesis.
According to “Indiana Joins Federal Accountability System” (2008)

OR
(“Indiana,” 2008)
Titles:
Articles and Chapters = “ ”
Books and Reports = italicize
In-Text Citation:
Organization
When citing an organization:
•mention the organization the first time you cite the source in the signal
phrase or the parenthetical citation.
•If the organization has a well-known abbreviation, include the abbreviation

in brackets the first time the source is cited and then use only the
abbreviation in later citations.
In-Text Citation:
Same Last Name/Author
When citing authors with the same last names, use first initials with
the last names.
(B. Kachru, 2005; Y. Kachru, 2008)
When citing two or more works by the same author and published in
the same year, use lower-case letters (a, b, c) after the year of
publication to order the references.
Smith’s (1998a) study of adolescent immigrants…

In-Text Citation:
Personal Communication
When citing interviews, letters, e-mails, etc., include the communicator’s

name, the fact that it was personal communication, and the date of the
communication.
Do not include personal communication in the reference list.

In-Text Citation:
Electronic Sources
When citing an electronic document, whenever possible, cite it in the

author-date style. If electronic source lacks page numbers, locate and
identify paragraph number/paragraph heading.
Additional Resources
The Purdue OWL: http://owl.english.purdue.edu
The Purdue Writing Lab @ HEAV 226
Composition textbooks
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed.
APA’s website: http://www.apastyle.org

The End
APA Formatting and Style Guide
Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab

APA Formatting and Style Guide: Purdue OWL Staff Brought To You in Cooperation With The Purdue Online Writing Lab

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APA Formatting and Style Guide

Purdue OWL staff

The American Psychological Association (APA) citation style is

• Center the title (References) at

• Flush left the first line of the

• Order entries alphabetically

• Invert authors’ names (last name first followed by initials)

• EX: The perfectly formatted paper: How the Purdue

• Capitalize all major words in journal titles

• Italicize titles of longer works such as books and

• Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the

APA is a complex system of citation. When compiling the reference

1. Identify the type of source:

2. Find a sample citation for this type of source

3. “Mirror” the sample

In-text citations help readers locate the cited source in the

Whenever you use a source, provide in parenthesis:

• for quotations and close paraphrases, provide the

•Include the author’s name, year of publication, and page number

•Keep the citation brief—do not repeat the information

Provide the author’s last name and the year of

Include the author’s name in the signal phrase, followed by the

When including the quotation in a summary/paraphrase, also

Introduce quotations with signal phrases, e.g.:

According to Xavier (2008), “….” (p. 3).

Xavier (2008) argued that “……” (p. 3).

Use such signal verbs such as:

acknowledged, contended, maintained,

When the parenthetical citation includes two or

When citing a work with two authors, use

In parenthesis, use “&” between names

(Harklau, Siegal, & Losey, 1999)

(Harklau et al., 1993)

Smith et al. (2006) maintained that….

(Smith et al., 2006)

When citing a work of unknown author:

According to “Indiana Joins Federal Accountability System” (2008)

When citing an organization:

•If the organization has a well-known abbreviation, include the abbreviation

(B. Kachru, 2005; Y. Kachru, 2008)

Smith’s (1998a) study of adolescent immigrants…

When citing interviews, letters, e-mails, etc., include the communicator’s

Do not include personal communication in the reference list.

When citing an electronic document, whenever possible, cite it in the

The Purdue OWL: http://owl.english.purdue.edu

The Purdue Writing Lab @ HEAV 226

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed.

APA’s website: http://www.apastyle.org

APA Formatting and Style Guide

Brought to you in cooperation with the Purdue Online Writing Lab

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