Writing Research Papers

APA Writing Style Guide 1999 by William Borst

This site provides easy explanations on how to write in APA style. http://www.ldl.net/~bill/aparev.htm

The reference section from Borst’s site is reprinted below. This site is very complete and easy to use. If you cannot find what you are looking for here, consult the other web sites below.

Elements and Examples of References in APA Style
(Consult the website above for accurate indentation and spacing)

The Reference(s) page(s) begins on a new page. The references should be listed in alphabetical order. Consider author's names such as McAfee and Macwerner literally. Macwerner would come first. For two or more references with the same author, list first whichever one has the earliest publication year, and single author citations precede multiple author citations. If there is NO Author, the title moves to the author position, and the entry is alphabetized by the first significant word of the title (APA, 1994, p.180). In instances where you have two or more references that contain the same author and year, differentiate them by placing a, b, c, d, etc. after the year. For example:

National Institute of Mental Health. (1994a). Bipolar Disorder [Brochure].

Indianapolis, IN: Dista Products.

National Institute of Mental Health. (1994b). Depression [Brochure]. Indianapolis,

IN: Dista Products.

Then use the appropriate year and letter when citing in text.

All references should be double-spaced and indented. The following reference formats are given as examples, and DO NOT cover how to cite every type of reference. Consult your APA Manual for more information (APA, 1994, pp. 189-222).

Periodicals with One Author

Required Information: Author's surname and initials of first and middle name (if given).

(Year of publication). Title of article. Publication information which includes: Journal title and volume number (underlined), the inclusive page numbers. Note: If , and only if, each issue of a journal begins on page 1, give the issue number in parentheses immediately after the volume number. If no publication date is available, write "n.d." in parenthesis. (p. 184).

Teri, L. (1982). Depression in adolescence: Its relationship to assertion and various aspects of self-image. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 11(2), 101-106.

Periodicals with Two Authors

Sonne, J. L., & Pope, K. S. (1991). Treating victims of therapist-patient involvement. Psychotherapy, 28, 174-187.

Unpublished Manuscript with a University Cited

Borst, W. U. (1996). Guidelines for writing in APA style. Unpublished manuscript, Troy State University at Phenix City.

Doctoral Dissertation Abstracted in Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI) and Obtained on University Microfilm

Bower, D. L. (1993). Employee assistant programs supervisory referrals: Characteristics of referring and nonreferring supervisors. Dissertation Abstracts International, 54 (01), 534B. (University Microfilms No. AAD93-15947)

Books

Information needed: Book authors or editors, date of publication, book title, publication information.

Elkind, D. (1978). The child's reality: Three developmental themes. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Edited Book

Marshall, F. J. (Ed.). (1996). Common ground. Atlanta: Make Believe Publications.

Article in an Edited Book

Duckworth, J. C., & Levitt, E. E. (1994). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2. In D. J. Keyser & R. C. Sweetland (Eds.), Test critiques: Vol. 10 (pp. 424- 428). Austin, TX: Pro-Ed.

Groups as Authors

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Note: This is also an example of how to reference editions of books. When the publisher and author are the same, use "Author" for the publisher

Magazine Article

Arie, M. (1996, October 8). Protecting yourself from evil E-mail. PC Magazine, 15, p. 192.

Note: Use the exact date for weekly publications. Use the Month for monthly publications. (SEE LAST PAGE FOR NEWSPAPER ARTICLE EXAMPLE)

ERIC Document

Simms, H. S. (1996). The title of the article goes here (Report No. NCRTL-XX-99-1). East Lansing, MI: National Center for Research on Teacher Learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 888 096)

Abstracts on CD-Rom

Author, I. (date). Title of article [CD-ROM]. Title of Journal, xx, xx-xx. Abstract

from: Source and retrieval information.

Full-Text Article on CD-ROM

Sears, S. W. (1994, Winter). The first news blackout. <Civil War Chronicles>, pp. 16-23. (From <History 1994> [SIRS Researcher CD-ROM Spring 1996], Art. No. 35. Boca Raton, FL: SIRS, Inc. [Producer and Distributor].)

Personal Communication

Personal communications may be memos, letters, lectures, seminars, interviews, telephone conversations, e-mail, and the like. These types of sources do not provide recoverable data and are NOT included in the reference list. Cite personal communications in TEXT only. Give the initials as well as the surname of the communicator, and provide as exact a date as possible: W. U. Borst (personal communication, April 7, 1997) said that these are not included in the reference list or (W. U. Borst, personal communication, April 7, 1997)

See APA, 1994, pp. 173-174 for more information.

Other Electronic Media

Note: At the time of publication, the APA manual only gave suggestions on how to reference information off the Internet and other on-line sources.

The following are examples that are becoming the standard in APA format.

WWW page

Dewey, R. (1996). APA publication manual crib sheet. [On-Line]. Available:

http://www.GaSoU.edu/psychweb/tipsheet/apacrib.htm

For Gopher or FTP data, insert gopher or ftp in place of the http://www.

For a complete listing consult APA, 1994, pp. 189-222.

Other Useful Web Sites

A Guide for Writing Research Papers

http://webster.commnet.edu/apa/apa_index.htm

Reference: Newspaper Articles

If the article is "signed" (that is, you know the author's name), begin with that author's name. (Notice the discontinuous pages.)

Poirot, C. (1998, March 17). HIV prevention pill goes beyond 'morning after'. The

Hartford Courant, pp. F1, F6.

If the author's name is not available, begin the reference with the headline or title in the author position.

New exam for doctor of future. (1989, March 15). The New York Times, B-10.

Electronic Reference Formats Recommended by the American Psychological Association

http://www.apa.org/journals/webref.html#Databases

If you would like to order the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association visit this web site: http://www.apa.org/books/pubman.html

The West Georgia Bookstore has it, too.

© B.L. Yates 2000