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Introduction to the APA & Other Writing Tips

1. Double space throughout including after title line Use same font as body of article Other APA Rules for Abstracts Avoid abbreviations if possible but define them if used Do not use quotes if citation is necessary use brief the form author pub date Use third person he she it they but not first we or second you Works Consulted for This Section American Psychological Association 2001 Publication manual of the American Psychological Association 5 ed Washington DC Author Hacker D 2003 A writer s reference Boston Bedford St Martin s Harris M 2000 The writer s FAQs A pocket handbook Upper Saddle River NJ Prentice Hall Merriam Webster s collegiate dictionary 10 ed 2001 Springfield MA Merriam Webster Szuchman L T 2005 Writing with style APA style made easy 3 ed Belmont CA Wadsworth The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs gn nt Mary s OF MINNESOTA 46 Writing Center ret ABOUT THE WRITING CENTER SERVICES On Campus Writing Conferences A writing consultant will read your paper respond to it and discuss its strengths and weaknesses with you Please bring your instructor s guidelines for the assignment along with the style manual designated for the class Questions We will be happy to answer questions about APA AMA grammar punctuation or usage Word Processing I
2. e eeen eerrn erns 39 Troublesome WordS i 40 Verb Tense piurnia deanna Aes 37 Vocabulary Increase iii 44 Wordiness Eliminating i 42 Writing Center Services and policies eneee 46 WHAT IS APA APA is not a government agency a Swedish rock band an oil cartel a test ban treaty a sexually transmitted disease a sports drink a hair gel or a California spiritualist movement APA stands for American Psychological Association Outside the field of psychology APA is shorthand for the writing style manual published by the APA The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association What is a style manual and who needs one The New York Times has a journalistic style manual that each of its editors and writers must follow religiously so that folks who read the Times find consistency in its presentation of news Smaller newspapers adopt The New York Times style or that of another journalistic stylebook such as The Los Angeles Times or the Columbia School of Journalism Style manuals ensure that a newspaper s writers are working from the same page so to speak Just as newspapers require consistency of style so do academic disciplines English foreign language and linguistic professionals use the MLA Modern Language Association other humanities professionals use Chicago Manual of Style Medical professionals use the America
3. Research showed that taking one baby aspirin per day can reduce the risk of stroke e Never use we us or they them unless those pronouns refer to specific individuals We know that people pay attention when their money is at stake Who is the we in the sentence above The writer is including himself and some unspecified others Unspecified means vague The use of we creates another rhetorical problem by including all readers the writer ensures that somebody will disagree Using we to mean everyone challenges someone to disagree thereby creating the opposite effect intended If a work is co authored using we to refer specifically to the authors is fine We the other author and I designed the study to exclude girls between the ages of 6 and 8 years The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 42 Am allowed to use I or we in a paper Yes In fact you should The APA says this about the use of first person pronoun We Inappropriately or illogically attributing action in a effort to be objective can be misleading Examples of undesirable attribution include use of the third person and use of the editorial we Writing The experimenters instructed the participants when the experimenters refers to yourself is ambiguous and may give the impression that you did not take part in your own study Instead use a personal pronoun We instructed the participants p
4. Cite a source even if you don t quote directly from it Paraphrase with care Inadequate paraphrasing can be another form of plagiarism even with documentation provided For more tips on avoiding plagiarism go to the Writing Center Web site from Saint Mary s University home page From the home page click Resources top right and find the Twin Cities Writing Center link The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 7 QUOTING AND PARAPHRASING See the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 5 ed for details Quoting Avoid using direct quotes in your paper They are problematic because a meaning can be altered when authors words are taken out of context b another author s writing style may not fit the writing style of your paper c direct quotes give no indication that you understand the source nor does it help the reader understand the source d direct quotes can be distracting to the reader and break the flow of your paper It is not necessary to use any direct quotes in a paper If used at all quotes should be limited to the following discussing the way an author expressed his or her ideas presenting a controversial or disputed statement conveying precise technical data or directions rhetorical effect to introduce or emphasize a point Paraphrasing Perhaps paraphrasing is best defined by what it is not Changing or omitting a
5. Tables and Figures from Another Source 3 73 If you obtained a table or figure from another source you must according to the APA manual give credit in the figure caption to the original author and copyright p 200 Place the citation below the reproduced table or figure itself Do not include a citation in the text or on the reference page unless the source is mentioned in your text Do however point readers to the table or figure e g See Figure 3 Examples of wording for such citations are provided in the APA manual 3 73 The author and the copyright holder may not be the same because the publisher not the author usually holds the copyright NOTES OOPS TROUBLESHOOTING THE APA MANUAL Yes even the APA makes occasional boo boos some of these will be corrected in subsequent printings Furthermore the APA manual itself wasn t printed in APA style neither was the booklet you are reading APA style applies to academic papers not necessarily to how to manuals To keep you from getting confused the Writing Center offers this heads up bulletin Check your manual to make the necessary corrections or notations Heads Up 1 Alignment of Margins To save space most examples in the APA manual are single spaced even though the lines would be double spaced in your paper Also margins in the manual are justified or aligned at both margins but you should never align both margins in your papers only th
6. 1 Open your e mail screen and prepare your e mail message 2 Find your Attachment icon and click it to open an attachment window Web Mail s attachment window is shown in Figure 17a 34 3 Select Browse to search your file lists just as you would if you were retrieving a file from your diskette or hard drive 4 Highlight the file you want then press either Open Insert Ok or Attach or whatever term your mail pragram prompts to return to the Attachment Window 5 The file you selectedwill show in the Filename slot Now press Add File or whatever your program prompts In Web Mail the file will next appear in the Attached Files slot 6 When you are sure the file has been selected in Web Mail it will appear in the Attached Files slot press OK to retyrn to mail screen Aftehyou brawse and select file its name will first appear here After you press Add File it tnameWwill appear here Then its time to press OK to return to the mail screen Fj WebMail Add Delete Attachments Microsoft Internet Explorer q loj x Ele gdt yew Faves Tools Hep a 5 Q e ella GU Back Forward step Media History Mail Print Edit Discuss Dell Home Messenger Address hetp mal smumn edu Md EPE Links startrib Windows ckipard 2 Customize Yahoo amp ERIC B Google LLAD Customize Links Microsoft Attach Files Browse Add File Delete
7. People and places noted Zinsser are the twin pillars on which most nonfiction is built p 54 Sources Hacker D 2003 A writer s reference p 284 Boston Bedford St Martins Harris M 2000 Prentice Hall reference guide to grammar and usage 4 ed p 229 Upper Saddle River NJ Prentice Hall How should format quoted material that is not in APA format Section 3 35 p 118 of the APA manual states that direct quotations must adhere to the wording spelling and interior punctuation of the original source But what about formatting for example of bullets According to a member of the APA Style Expert staff This is a question about which there does not seem to be complete agreement in the ranks However in my opinion when quoting material keeping bullets rather than changing them to enumerated paragraphs is the way to go The author undoubtedly had a choice between bullets and enumerated paragraphs when writing the original work so it is good form to respect that choice when quoting the work if it is possible to do so Personal communication November 7 2002 To indent block quotes see section entitled Using Microsoft Word for APA Tasks in this booklet PUNCTUATION See also Transitions and Conjunctions Spacing Each mark of punctuation is followed by one space Two spaces may follow a period ending a sentence however if used the practice should be consistent throughout th
8. Punctuation Rule Use a semicolon between the independent clauses and a comma after the conjunction Transition Words Adverbial conjunctions can be used as transition words but so can many other words Examples are simple sentences one independent clause each 1 Everyone wants a new set of rules However changes are not possible until next year 2 Everyone wants a new set of rules Changes are not possible however until next year 3 Everyone wants a new set of rules Changes are not possible until next year however Punctuation Rule Punctuate the sentences and then set off the transition words with commas 39 Transitions and Their Meanings Transitional words and phrases link ideas in one clause or sentence with those in the next They help the reader see the relationships between ideas Think of them as bridges linking one idea to another or as road signs that lead the way Some of these words may be used between independent clauses that have been joined by a semicolon In that case they are called adverbial conjunctions and they are set off by a comma Note this example Lara was loud bossy and insensitive consequently people avoided her whenever possible Transitional expressions placed elsewhere within the clause are punctuated with commas Here are some frequently used transitional expressions and their most common uses Example specifically for instance for example to illustrate in particular es
9. erera ia 4 Click OK to return to document You may need to readjust spacing Aricencutori m anticipo armo emban le hile di direzione da una variet 21x Left v Outline level Body text To avoid irregular paragraph spacing learn how to copy and paste text from the Internet into your document See Figure 14 o 3 Special By o none Di Before fo pt Line spacing At After fo pt Single 2 TT Don t add space between paragraphs of the same style Preview Figure 13 Customize Check As You Type 31 The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 32 NOTES How to Avoid Irregular Spacing Pasting Text from the Internet Irregular paragraph spacing occurs when you copy electronic text and paste it into your document It s best to avoid the problem rather than remedy it because the remedy can sometimes require much time consuming reformatting of text When you copy electronic text paste it into a blank document before pasting it into your working document Do not use the Paste command to insert electronic copy Instead use Paste Special from the Edit option on the Menu Bar as shown below 1 Highlight and copy electronic text 2 Open a new document 3 In the new document window select Edit then Paste Special If you use just Paste you will bring in hidden formatting codes from the electronic text 4 When th
10. B Back Forward Stop Refresh Home Search Favorites Media History Mail Print Edit Discuss Dell Hor Address http mail smumn edujcreate Links E startrb Windows Windows Media amp APA E APA Style Blackboard Customize Yahoo ERIC Googe uaD cu da 9L Draft Send Inbox Help Address Atach Spell Create Mpssage Attachment Icon To eprentic smumn edu Urgent Click to attach a Ce I Receipt requested document to e Add Signature M ee p Message attached is a paper for GH617 in the Graduate Management program Please review my paper for the following i Archi mail Subject Paper Review ie Message Box Provide your name program and phone number and describe the help vou need 1 Pp 12 14 Is my explanation clear 2 Page numbers for APA style 3 Is my abstract appropriate 4 Reference page review a Hebring b McCallum You can reach me at 218 502 6773 Gilbert Hilbert x Discussions J Py GI J MD subscribe Discussions not available on http mail smumn eduf Figure 17 Create Web Mail Window In Webmail the Attachment icon is a diskette Other forms of e mail use different icons or they may simply display the word Attachments The icon may appear elsewhere on the screen However all e mail forms have some sort of visible cue for adding an attachment
11. Write several introductory sentences to the issue followed by the seriation Remember to cite your source 3 Briefly describe your role as a professional Provide some introductory sentences and then using complete sentences list the three most important aspects of your work EXAMPLE 4 Paragraph Seriation Blocked Quote A summary of the characteristics of research helps to clarify both its meaning and its methodology Best and Kahn 1993 summarized characteristics of research 1 Research is directed toward the solution of a problem 2 Research emphasizes the development of generalizations principles or theories that will be helpful in predicting future occurrences 3 Research is based upon observable experience or empirical evidence 4 Research demands accurate observation and description 5 Research involves gathering new data from primary or first hand sources or using existing data for a new project 6 Although research activity may at times be somewhat random and unsystematic it is more often characterized by carefully designed procedures that apply rigorous analysis 7 Research strives to be objective and logical applying every possible test to validate the procedures employed the data collected and the conclusions reached 8 Research involves the quest for answers to unsolved problems pp 20 22 The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 22 TABLES 3 62 3
12. t like the way the contest was run She let the judges know it 2 Lucy didn t like the way the contest was run and she let the judges know it The second example is a compound sentence two independent clauses joined by coordinating conjunction Punctuation Rule Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction when it joins two independent clauses Subordinating Conjunctions as after although because before if when while since until unless so that whether even though 1 The contest was unfair Many people did not applaud for the winner 2 Because the contest was unfair many people did not applaud for the winner 3 The winner could not enjoy her victory because she knew the contest was unfair The last two examples are complex sentences one independent clause and one dependent clause The dependent clause starts with a subordinating conjunction Punctuation Rule When a dependent incomplete clause begins a sentence use a comma at the end of the clause When the independent complete clause begins the sentence a comma is not necessary before the conjunction Adverbial Conjunctions consequently furthermore however in fact indeed likewise moreover otherwise therefore 1 Everyone wants a new set of rules Changes are not possible until next year 2 Everyone wants a new set of rules however changes are not possible until next year The second example is a compound sentence two independent clauses
13. 37 For clarity restrict your use of we to refer only to yourself and your coauthors use if you are the sole author of the paper p 39 see also 4th example p 52 ELIMINATING WORDINESS Wordiness refers to the habit of loading one s writing with words that don t contribute to the purpose or meaning of one s message Why do people resort to wordiness Some resort to wordiness because they ve been assigned a 500 word paper but have only 200 words worth of ideas about the topic Hence the extra words to satisfy the word count Unfortunately wordiness adds quantity but subtracts from the quality Other writers use extra words to obscure fuzzy or undeveloped thinking When they re not sure what they re talking about they try to cover their inadequacies with words Most readers however recognize the ploy Writers who rely on verbosity lose credibility with their readers Some writers are wordy without realizing it They employ stock phrases without considering whether or not they add meaning to our sentences Below are some examples Wordiness is a problem that should be corrected when revising Mark out those meaningless or repetitive phrases The Western style of academic and business writing requires you to a state ideas directly and clearly and b use as few words as possible to get the point across Don t use more words than you have to in this day and age today at this point in time now Don t say th
14. 74 AND FIGURES 3 75 3 86 Use tables and figures sparingly and only if the information contained in them is essential for understanding the text of your paper Tables and figures should supplement not duplicate what is expressed in the text Mention the table or figure at the appropriate point in the text Refer readers to the table or figure with words such as as shown in Table 2 the results were configuration of parts see Figure 1 depended upon Numbering and Placing Tables and Figures e Table or figures are numbered in order of appearance in the text and they are numbered separately from one another i e Table 1 Figure 1 e Provide a title for each table and place the title above the table after the table number see p 149 of APA manual for illustration e Provide a caption for each figure and place the caption beneath the figure after the figure number see p 180 of APA manual for illustration e For APA style place each table or figure on a separate unnumbered page after the Reference page All tables come before all figures e Ifthe table or figure appears in an appendix the appendix letter appears before the number of the table or graph e g Figure A2 e In APA style tables have horizontal lines but not vertical lines Citations for Tables and Figures No citation is needed in the text or on the Reference page only a comment to direct the reader to the table or figure e g See Table 1
15. Figure 17a Web Mail s Attachment Window 6 When you return to the mail screen search for an icon that indicates your file has actually been attached Figure 17b illustrates a Web Mail screen indicating that a document has been attached 7 Now you can send your e mail as usual NOTE You can attach more than one document to an e mail message Your e mail program will determine whether you can select them all at once or one at a time The Web Mail screen in Figure 17b indicates that the message contains an e mail attachment The indicators in other e mail programs may look different and appear elsewhere on the screen but all e mail programs show attachments F Create Message Microsoft Internet Explorer a l0 x Ele Edt vew Favorites Tools He a 3 Discuss DellHome Messenger TE e 7 di Search Favorites Media History Edi Mail Bo Links 13 startrib 2 Windows Windows Media amp APA 3 APA Style 2 Blackboard Customize Yahoo GJERIC amp Google amp LLAD Customize Links Microsoft Address Attach Spell Create Message Draft Send Inbox Help Urgent 7 W i TT Receipt requested 7 Add Signature 7 Archive 7 Send attachments to cc recipients V To cprentic smumn edu B EEE Subject Paper Review Attachments amp Creative Stretching doc Message attached is a paper for GM617 in the Gradua
16. Hide JV Always suggest corrections I Suggest from main dictionary only TT Ignore words in UPPERCASE V Ignore words with numbers selling errors in this documegt Ignore Internet and file addresses Custom Dictionaries Grammar I Check grammar as you type VV Hide grammatical errors in this document JV Check grammar with spelling I Show readability statistics Writing style Grammar amp Style v Settings Proofing Tools Recheck Document Figure 11 Customize Check As You Type 1 Select Tools from the menu bar 2 Click on Options Do not select Spelling amp Grammar which will activate the checker 3 When the Options window opens click the Spelling amp Grammar tab 4 Click to remove checks from Check spelling as you type and from Check Grammar as you type Remember that you can still use the spelling and grammar check by selecting Tools Options Spelling and Grammar when you are ready to check your document Turning off the Auto check just keeps the checker turned off as you type A Word of Caution About Grammar Check The grammar checker can be a useful tool but it cannot think the way a human does If you type something that doesn t fit one of the grammatical patterns stored in the grammar checker s memory it will give you an alert meaning it can t find a matching pattern Think of the alert as a question rather than a command It is asking s this the patte
17. Issue number follows volume number without spaces and is enclosed in parentheses as follows Language Arts Teacher 26 47 58 Book Publisher as Author American Psychological Association 1994 Publication manual of the American Psychological Association 5th ed Washington DC Author Publisher s name replaces author The word Author substitutes for the publisher s name The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 11 Ministry of Education 1992 Dancing with the pen The learner as a writer Wellington New Zealand Learning Media Book Chapter in a book APA pp 252 253 EXAMPLE 1 Unedited Book Reference List Entry Author X pub year Title of chapter In Title of book pp xxx xxx Pub location Pub name In Text Citation Cite author and pub year and page numbers if necessary EXAMPLE 2 Edited Book If the book is edited note editor s name in the reference list entry but not in the text as follows Author X pub year Title of chapter In Name amp Name Eds Title of book pp xxx xxx Pub location Pub name If the book and chapter authors are the same but the chapter doesn t have a separate title then give a regular book citation but include appropriate page numbers If the book and chapter authors are different but the book is not edited check to see if you are reading a secondary source What if cite ma
18. accounted for advised advocated affirmed agreed analyzed asserted claimed commented concurred considered contradicted countered declared defended demonstrated denied described disavowed disclaimed discovered disputed dissented emphasized established examined explained explored expressed implied indicated informed inquired investigated maintained mentioned noted observed offered posited presented probed promoted proposed questioned recognized recorded recounted refuted rejected related remarked reported repudiated revealed stated studied suggested summarized supported surveyed theorized urged Although research is reported in the past tense because the research was done in the past sometimes present tense is needed to express general truths or facts that exist in the present Consider the following example Galileo realized that the earth revolves the sun The realizing took place in the past but the earth is still revolving around the sun The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 38 APOSTROPHES NOTES To Show Ownership or Possession e Add an apostrophe and an s s to words that don t end with an s somebody s car the car belonging to somebody the men s locker room the locker room of the men a month s rent the rent of a month e Add only an apostrophe after the to words that already end in s twelve days pay that is the pay for twelve days the students tests th
19. alone position in the conflict Cole introduced the proposal as recommended and took a vote FONT TYPEFACE Use a clear plain typeface in size 12 The text your are reading is 8 pt Do not use boldface underline or all capitals unless your instructor specifies these Keep the font the same throughout the paper unless your instructor tells you otherwise Select one of the following This is Times New Roman This is Bookman Old Style This is Century This is Courier HEADINGS If your paper is lengthy and requires headings within it format them in APA style To begin determine your headings then type or write the on a sheet of scratch paper It s much easier to format them correctly if you have them all together without the text to see how they relate to one another Once you have determined how many levels of heading you need then format them in the appropriate style See separate Headings section INDENTS Indent the first sentence of each paragraph inch one tab space All other lines of the paragraph wrap to the left margin as in this paragraph Indent blocked quotes 40 words or more inch on the left side only including the first sentence The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs LINE SPACING All lines are double spaced throughout unless your instructor specifies otherwise The first line of each page except title page begins at the top margin Ma
20. in parentheses and then type the retrieval date Hastings G Wang H amp Tubo T 1999 June 12 Losing the poverty war An update Center for Social Change Newsletter Retrieved April 30 2000 from http www socialchange net subscribe newslet14 html Granite Rock County Health Services n d Evaluation of the Granite Rock County teen pregnancy target program Retrieved August 12 2001 from http www graniterock cty nm gov reports taskforce_adol html Note however that Examples 73 74 and 76 of the APA manual 272 273 do not include retrieval dates The omission of the dates is an error Each of these examples should include a retrieval date after the word retrieved and before the word from NOTES Works Consulted for This Section Adelheid N A M amp Pexman P M 1999 Presenting your findings A practical guide for creating tables Washington DC American Psychological Association American Psychological Association 2001 Publication manual of the American Psychological Association 5 ed Washington DC Author Szuchman L T 2005 Writing with style APA style made easy 3 ed Belmont CA Wadsworth USING MICROSOFT WORD FOR APA TASKS Screen shots reprinted by permission of Microsoft Corporation GENERAL TIPS Backspace and Delete The keyboard has two delete keys Backspace and Delete What s the difference Backspace deletes characters and spaces to the eft of the cursor
21. in the author s methods and reporting Comment on the author s work in terms of your own knowledge and experiences with the topic If you came away with new insights explain them If you disagree with the author say why but explain your views as they derive from knowledge and objective experience not from feelings or intuition e Describe how you can apply what you learned from the article If you reject its application explain why How could others in your profession apply this information Provide a complete reference for the article in APA style NOTE Special instructions from your instructor always take precedence over this guideline Increase Your Vocabulary Join Merriam Webster Inc s Word of the Day To join the list via e mail send a blank e mail to mw wod subscribe request listserv webster m w com FORMULATING A RESEARCH QUESTION AND THESIS Once you have selected a topic you might think you are ready to search for information but hold on a minute Ask yourself what do want to know about this topic If it s a topic you are familiar with ask yourself what is the most important point to make about this topic Such questions give you motivation and focus and they help you stay on track You ll know what you re looking for the answer to your questions An outline or overview a roadmap if you will is very helpful at this point You need to know where you are going how to get there and when
22. morale and encouragin high standards A Without a comma the sentence means that the company recognized only those branch managers who were raising morale and encouraging high standards Example secretions between the hormones The sentence above means that the interchange is a result of the close communication among the cell types Allowing refers to the phrase close communication exists among cell types that kind of communication is what allows the interchange secretions between the hormones The sentence above means that communication exists only among cell types that allow the interchange Allowing refers only to cell types Example vasoconstriction seen in preeclampsia 18 6 If rules 1 5 don t apply you probably don t need a comma Most people over use commas Exception Occasionally a comma is needed to prevent the misreading of a sentence even if one of the five rules doesn t apply Note the following example Patients who can discuss side effects with their doctors before undergoing surgery Adding a comma will prevent misreading of the sentence Patients who can discuss side effects with their doctors before undergoing surgery HEADINGS 3 31 5 10 Heading Tips Format your headings after the paper is complete because heading format is determined by how many levels of heading are needed and this you may not know until the paper is finished The best way to keep track of hea
23. none e Set font before you begin typing the text That s easier than changing it later Effects TT Strikethrough T Double strikethrough TT Superscript TT Subscript TT Shadow T Outline TT Emboss TT Engrave TT Small caps T all caps TT Hidden e If you do have to change font after typing it highlight the text you want to change then follow instructions for changing font Preview Times New Roman This is a TrueType font This font will be used on both printer and screen Default Cancel Figure2 Font Selection Window Keep font the same throughout the paper modifying only for italics when necessary MARGINS AND ALIGNMENT Margins for APA are 1 inch all around except for doctoral students who use 1 5 on left The margin default on MS Word is 1 25 so you may need to change margins as follows Make sure the cursor is at the very beginning of the paper Click File then Page Setup Click the Margin tab if not already selected to change settings Close to return to editing screen Pon Page Setup Bottom Left Right Gutter rom edge Header Footer Apply to Gutter position Left TT Mirror margins I 2 pages per sheet Top cnc Figure 3 Page Setup Window e Textis aligned at the left margin unless it needs to be indented to begin a paragraph or to offset a blocked quotation e To align text at the left margin click the Align Left
24. opinions you express in your response o your opinions and interpretations appear only in your response not in your summary of the author s work Sometimes an instructor will ask you for a gut reaction or a reaction based on your own experience In that case and only in that case you may stray from Point 4 above Still you should try to analyze your reaction so that you can state why you responded as you did Tips for Writing Good Critiques The most frequent mistake students make when asked to critique an article is to tell the instructor only what the article is about A critique requires that you articulate your opinions about the article If your instructor does not provide guidelines for writing a critique follow these Identify the author his or her affiliation and the context for the article or presentation In one to three paragraphs summarize the article Describe the focus and identify the major points of the article Do not insert your opinions in this part If the work being critiqued is a research study describe the type of research including purpose and methodology e Comment on the author s assumptions methods and conclusions What was the author trying to accomplish Did the author acknowledge and respond to other points of view How objective was he or she What new ideas were presented How do the author s ideas compare with prevailing views on the topic What strengths or weaknesses did you notice
25. primary source is not translated into English when you need to discuss reviews of the primary source material or when the primary source information is not essential to your purpose The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 14 SAMPLE REFERENCE PAGE TOP MARGIN OF PAPER References Burnham B R 2000 Program planning as technology in three adult education organizations Adult Education Quarterly 844 211 233 Cultural attractions and cultural distractions 2003 July August WorldWide Business Quarterly 4 518 523 ConsumerCenterWEB n d Six ways to protect your privacy Retrieved June 13 2002 from http www ConsumerCenterWEB org vol9 conadv html Gratke J 2003 APA style and college writing Learning to deal with frustration Journal of Graduate Studies 7 23 29 Retrieved June 12 2003 from PsychINFO database Hebring R J Jr amp Vang C 2002 Collective wisdom diverse experience Managers real stories 38 ed New York Random House Jawhar A 2003 January 12 Two communities tackle student drinking problems The Philadelphia Inquirer pp A3 A5 6 Lazear D G 2001 Multiple intelligence approaches to assessment Solving the assessment conundrum Tucson AZ Zephyr Press Mayher J S 1996 How the system is used to make meaning In Uncommon Sense Theoretical practice in language education pp 137 166 Portsmouth NH Boynton Cook
26. resources the reader needs at least an Internet address URL or database name and the date of retrieval If too much retrieval information is missing the writer must ask if the source is a reliable one e Use valid scholarly sources Aggregated databases like ERIC and ProQuest available through university libraries are efficient and reliable ways to access such sources Writers can surf the Internet but Internet sources are not screened the way university databases are and Internet documentation information can be scarce e Writers should have a 1 to 1 correspondence between sources cited in the text and sources entered in the reference list at the end of the paper The only exception is personal communication which is cited in text but does not appear in the reference list because it is not retrievable What to Include For every entry in your reference list provide the following four elements to the best of your ability in the following order a author by last name amp first initial b publication year c title information and d publisher location and name If the work is an Internet resource give the full retrieval date and the URL or database as item d Sources are Cited in Two Places 1 Cite in your text by author s last name and year in parentheses The purpose of the text citation is to lead readers to the full citation on the reference page at the end of the text 2 Cite on the reference page at
27. the topic Headings and section breaks can give a clue to main topics Italics or boldface type usually indicate an important point Paragraph or sentence numbering can indicate important points The main idea of a paragraph is often though not always expressed in the first two or last two sentences of the paragraph The first paragraph often provides an overview of the entire article The last paragraph often provides a very brief summary G O O O O e Examples illustrations and anecdotes little stories are almost never main points When you run across an example ask yourself Ok what is this an example of Use the original author s ideas but not his or her words Instead paraphrase the author Paraphrase means that you read the author s words and without referring to the text write down the author s idea in your own words Make sure you understand what you re reading If you don t talk to someone instructor classmate Writing Center consultant until you are sure you do You can t summarize what you don t understand Get help it s not only allowed it s encouraged Tips for Writing Good Responses In academic or scholarly writing o responses are based on facts that you can support facts from experts class discussions assigned reading in your text and the like not on hearsay or emotions o responses are based on the original author s purpose and audience o you must provide support for the
28. was a lot of resistance to their communication othe part of the manager It seems to me that the manager should have been ableto work out sore way to let the employees of her company be heard by her A manager who had good training would have had an idea about what to do Personally 1 don t think that the manager in this company had been trained v ry well As far as my epinion I would have to say the poor managers ar the kind of people who don t listemto what their employees are tfying to say whereas good managers try to find ways for the employees to express themselves and then try to respond to what th employees are saying Now compare the paragraph to the following one which has been revised for wordiness and redundancy The employees did not agree with the supervisor s proposed procedural changes Because they had heavy workloads they could not easily adapt to change They tried to express their dissatisfaction but the manager resisted communication The manager should have listened to her employees A well trained manager would have known what to do Poor managers don t listen whereas good managers listen and respond to their employees feedback IMPROVING SENTENCE CONSTRUCTION PARALLELISM Parallelism means that all sections are grammatically equal or balanced Consider the following example Whenever Harry has free time he enjoys sailing hiking and he plays basketball Remember that old jingle from Sesame Str
29. you have arrived If necessary or if you desire you can revise the outline and the research question as you proceed Your answer to the major research question is the thesis of your paper Have you ever read something and afterwards found yourself asking so what s the point If there is no point it s because the essay research paper or editorial didn t have a thesis or at least a clear one Sometimes you won t refine your own thesis until you ve completed your research However you ll never find the thesis without a research question WRITING AN ABSTRACT Abstracts can vary according to the purpose of the document and the instructor s or publisher s preferences The following points however are useful general guidelines For additional information including styles for empirical studies reviews or theoretical articles methodological papers or case studies see Section 1 07 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 5 edition Length An abstract is less than one page double spaced It is generally one paragraph ranging in length from 75 to 120 words Contents Write a comprehensive summary of the article including conclusions Indicate the purpose and scope of the information contained in the article Describe the kinds of sources used professional literature observation interview etc or methods or procedures depending upon type of article State conclusions implications and
30. A TASKS Auto Formatting di cen cee aii ein i d aa 29 30 Comments Using Electronic 35 36 Backspace and Delete i 25 Centering Dashes and Hyphens 25 Deleting Hyperlinks i 25 See also 30 31 E mail Attachments i 34 35 Highlighting Large Quantities of Text Preventing Racing 25 Indents Hanging Blocked quotes 27 Line Spacing iiiar Senir rA a a aaa 29 Irregular spaces between paragraphs 31 32 Margins and Alignment i 26 Page Headers and Page Numbers ereenn 28 Show Hide Formatting Codes eeen eerren 25 Spelling and Grammar Check 30 Table of Contents Dot leaders for 33 Typeface FO S cherkas tania us iianiarlen AIA 26 Undo Last Keystroke 25 OTHER WRITING TIPS Active amp Passive Voice tee eeeeeeeeeeneeteeeeeens 37 Abstract How to write 45 Apostrophes Pronoun Confusion Avoiding 41 42 Sentence Construction ParallelismM ii 43 Summary Response and Critique 43 44 Thesis and Research Question eee eeeeeeeeeee 45 Transitions and Conjunctions
31. Delete deletes characters and spaces to the right of the cursor Save yourself some time and frustration by using the correct key Two Backspaces will Two Deletes will delete delete a space and an n Cursor gt la b and an y Typing Dashes and Hyphens Hyphens are used to connect words and parts of words The hyphen key is located next to the 0 on the keyboard Type hyphens with no space before or after e g step by step instructions Dashes are intended to separate words and phrases To create a dash type two hyphens with no space before after or between them Use dashes to indicate an interruption e g Students in the third group those who received no training were least successful at accomplishing the task Highlight Text without Racing To prevent the cursor from racing when you re trying to highlight a large block of text 1 Click the cursor where you want highlighting to begin 2 Press and hold the Shift key 3 Click the cursor where you want highlighting to end and release the Shift key Delete Single Hyperlink When you type a URL Internet or e mail address and press the Enter key the URL turns blue and underlines creating a hyperlink Hyperlinks occur on your Reference page when you type URLs for electronic sources Hyperlinks must be converted to normal text Method 1 if you typed the hyperlink Click the Undo icon left curve arrow on the toolbar or
32. FA Saint Mar Ua OF MINNESOTA TWIN OMES CAMPUS INTRODUCTION TO THE APA and OTHER WRITING TIPS for GRADUATE STUDENTS Revised 08 04 Cheryl Prentice Director The Writing Center Saint Mary s University of Minnesota School of Graduate amp Special Programs Contents of this booklet are copyrighted Reproduction without permission is prohibited Screen shots reprinted by permission from Microsoft Corporation This booklet is not written in APA style Writing Center e gi About This Booklet This booklet was compiled in response to student and faculty requests for an introduction to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 5 edition better known as the APA manual The booklet is not intended to replace the APA manual but rather to help you interpret it and to call your attention to some of its most important features In addition the booklet provides information to supplement the APA such as word processing instructions and writing tips In this booklet you will find an introduction to the Saint Mary s University Writing Center on the Twin Cities campus a free service to help you develop your writing skills hope you ll take advantage of the support the Writing Center offers Please note that this booklet is not formatted in APA style have used APA style where possible but APA was designed for academic papers not how to manuals Consequently you will see many departures f
33. Heinemann Parker S 2003 Why teach graduate students to write University Writing 8 917 933 Retrieved November 18 2003 from ProQuest database Stonebrook Center for Technology Assisted Learning 1999 Guidelines for maintaining the edge on a tight budget 2 ed Roanoke VA Author NOTES OTHER EXAMPLES OF APA STYLE Numbers in brackets indicate sections of the APA manual where detailed information is available TITLES Formatting TITLES Capitalizing Three Types of Titles Capitalizing Titles on the Reference Page 4 10 to 4 13 Type 1 Work presented as part of a larger work 4 10 Examples chapter in e The only titles fully capitalized on the reference page are periodical titles which are book article from journal capitalized as explained above and are italicized Journal of Abnormal Psychology Type 2 Stand alone work 4 12 Examples book stand alone Internet Titles of books and articles are capitalized in a first word b first word after colon document brochure report unpublished dissertation and c proper nouns Type 3 Periodical 4 11 The title of the journal or other periodical From here to eternity book Cut and paste 101 Plagiarism and the net stand alone Internet article Titles on the Reference Page Manifest destiny and the settling of the American frontier chapter in a book Type 1 Do not italicize Capitalize only the following a first word b first Gow i word aftera colon c proper
34. Indents The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 28 PAGE HEADERS AND PAGE NUMBERS 5 06 and 6 03 Header Box in View Header Mode Use Align Right button to place header and number in correct position Page Headers i ModelPaperExercise Microsoft Word Page headers are not to be confused with page headings Headings are inserted throughout the text to designate important sections of the paper Headers appear in the top margin of each page and include a page number and in APA style a short form of the paper s title Some programs dispense with the header title so check with your advisor or instructor about your program s preference Page headers cannot be typed directly on the page They appear in a no type zone in the top margin of the paper So how do you get them there First view the Header box which is invisible when you are in the normal editing screen It s easiest to insert headers and page numbers at the same time so proceed to the section on page numbers If you insert page numbers by using the Insert Page Numbers command from the file menu you will not be able to insert text into the header al Programs of the student k Page Numbers e Pages are numbered consecutively beginning with the title page and continuing through the appendixes Some instructors and programs do not want the page number and header to show on the title page Check before typin
35. Method 2 if you copied the hyperlink into your document Highlight the hyperlink with the mouse click the right mouse button select hyperlink and click Remove Hyperlink You can turn off the word processor function that creates hyperlinks in the first place See the Customize Auto Formatting section The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 25 Show Hide The Show Hide function allows you to see hidden formatting codes a helpful tool when you need to correct or modify formatting To turn on Show Hide click the Show Hide icon on the menu bar If you don t find the icon customize your toolbar see the MS Word for APA section The Show Hide icon MT is a toggle switch press it on press it off It reveals the following codes Meaning Manual line feed Enter button pressed Tab space Space inserted space bar Page Break Manual page break inserted Ctrl Enter Undo The Undo icon back arrow on the toolbar allows you to cancel out your last command or your last several commands if you keep pressing it Make a mistake Just click Center Never center text by tabbing or spacing If you do any revisions will throw the text off center Use the Centering function of the word processor It will automatically adjust centering as you revise You can center text before or after it is typed If you center after typing you ll need to highlight the text then cen
36. They are single spaced below to save copying costs 4 Ifyou are creating a numbered list turn off the word processor s automatic numbering function See the Using MSWord for APA Tasks section of this booklet Alphabetized Series Within a Sentence 3 33 and 5 12 When seriated items appear within a sentence they can be but don t have to be designated by letters not numbers in parentheses Whether the items are in a single sentence or not remember the serial comma that s the comma before the last item as in the following two examples EXAMPLE 1 Unlettered Seriation in a Sentence The researchers divided participants into four groups on the basis of age gender height and weight serial comma EXAMPLE 2 Lettered Seriation in a Sentence or Paragraph In the text cite all the research sources you used to produce your text even if you don t quote the sources directly Cite each source each time you refer to it in your paper Citations serve three functions a to give credit to the persons whose ideas you used b to allow readers to find your original sources and c to establish the credibility of your presentation Most of the time you will comment on or paraphrase the ideas of others Occasionally you will provide direct or indirect quotes to emphasize or clarify a point Note however that you must cite sources regardless of whether you quote or paraphrase serial comma The Writing Center Sain
37. ame procedure as for changing font in the text 5 Close the header toolbar Once you have set your page numbers they will automatically adjust to changes in the length and pagination of any part of your paper Figure 7 Format Page Number LINE SPACING 5 03 All text in an APA paper is double spaced even indented quotes and items in the reference list Note however that most examples in the APA manual and in this booklet are single spaced to save space e Neversingle space text e Never use one and a half spacing e Most important never press the Enter key twice at the end of a line to create a double space You ll create spacing problems throughout the paper every time you revise Setting Double Space in MS Word I zx Indents and Spacing Line and Page Breaks Method One Click the Double Space icon on the toolbar General Method Two Alignment Left x Outline level Bod text 1 Click Format j 5 2 Click Paragraph x 3 Setthe Line Spacing to moian Double Left o Special By Hanging v fo s Right Double spacing begins at the point where you placed the cursor when you gave the Double Space After command Spacing Before Line spacing At fo pt I Don t add space between paragraphs of the same style Preview Semple Tout Semple Tot Semple Tot Semple To Semple Text Semple Text Semple To Semple Tou Semple Tou Semple To Semple To Sempl
38. applications Use key words used in the article that will enable database searchers a to discover your work in a keyword search and b to decide whether your article is pertinent to their needs Mention nothing in the abstract that is not included in the article Be focused Use specific nouns e g elementary science teachers not educators and active verbs Be objective Summarize but don t evaluate or editorialize Be concise every word must count The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 45 Tips for Being Concise Do not repeat the title in the abstract Avoid citing sources if possible Use numerals e g 32 rather than words thirty two Start with the most important statement about the article Include only the most important findings Do not include examples Avoid passive voice e g not similar results were reported by three researchers but three researchers reported similar results Avoid starting sentences with it is and there are e g not There were four studies that showed but Four studies showed Avoid meaningless phrases like This review was undertaken to compare x and y instead of This review compares x and y APA Formatting The abstract follows title page and is numbered as page 2 Type the word Abstract one inch from top margin centered no italics or bold only first letter capitalized Style 1 heading
39. at is tests belonging to the students e To show joint possession add an apostrophe and s to only the last word in the group e g Laurel and Hardy s last movie a movie by the team of Laurel and Hardy But to show individual possession add an apostrophe and s to each word in the group e g Fossum s and Day s opinions the opinions of Fossum and the opinions of Day To Form Contractions Show Omission of Letters with Apostrophes Could not couldn t Heis he s They are they re Cannot cant Correct an Especially Troublesome Error It s a contraction means it is e g It s not snowing now Its means belonging to it e g The school lost its funding To test for correctness ask yourself Do mean it is Avoid Misuse of apostrophes Do not use an apostrophe for simple plurals Wrong All the play r s knew this was the last chance to score Right All the players knew this was the last chance to score Do not use an apostrophe for pronouns that already indicate possession Wrong We didn t know the suitcases were het s yoar s their s otu s Right We didn t know the suitcases were hers yours theirs ours In APA style do not use apostrophes for plurals of numerals or letters The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs TRANSITIONS and CONJUNCTIONS Punctuation and Meanings Coordinating Conjunctions for and nor but or yet so 1 Lucy didn
40. colt insolitamente pesante sulla facolt per fornire il Tutti i programmi della citt Chan 2002 observed that universi Primary source citt gemellare offrono un corso di scrittura per la carta dal capstone vicino alla In Text Citation Cite both authors making clear who cited whom Using the example above you would cite this way Chan as cited in Plante 2003 reported that Such an arrangement tells the reader who is being cited Chan and where you got Chan s information in Plante If the reader wants to view the primary text Chan s he or she must go to Plante and look up Plante s citation of Chan You can see why readers prefer not to find secondary source information in your papers Reference List Entry List on the reference page only the works you read In the example above only Plante the secondary source appears on the reference page Chan the primary source receives no mention on the reference page When to Use Secondary Sources Avoid secondary sources when possible They suggest weak scholarship With the availability of sources on the Internet and through university libraries most sources are retrievable When you rely on a secondary source you raise the question of why you didn t seek the original Furthermore you are forced to rely on the interpretation of the secondary source author You will simply pass along any errors he or she made in presenting the primary source Use secondary sources when the
41. d Spacing tab if not already selected Line spacing At Double X 4 5 In the Indentation section set left indentation to 05 Alternate Method Without changing settings type the quote highlight the quote drag the ruler bar indent inch to the right see Figure 16 Figure 4 Paragraph Format Window The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs Hanging Indents for Reference List You can set hanging indents before or after typing the text If you format hanging indents after typing the text you ll need to highlight the text before formatting You will also need to remove all Tabs if you inserted any from the Reference list See Show Hide in this section Paragraph For hanging indents Indents and Spacing Line and Page Breaks General Left Ri Body text Alianment Outline level 1 Set Left Indentation to 0 Indentation 2 Click hanging in the Special box marked Special 3 Set the hanging indent margin to 05 Before fo pt si Line spacing At After fone J pree I Don t add space between paragraphs of the same style Preview Sample Tau Sample Tou Sample To Sample Text Semple Text Sample To Semple To Semple Text Semple Tou Semple Tau Semple To Semple Tau Semple To Semple Teas Semple Tau Sample Tau Semple Tet Semple To Semple Tau Sample To Figure 5 Paragraph Format Window Setting Hanging
42. dings is to list all your headings on scratch paper When you see them all at once you ll have a much better idea of the overall organization of your paper and of the headings relationships to one another Furthermore you will find that formatting APA style is much easier when you can view the headings together Once you have them all set up transfer the styles to your paper D on t forget that the section titles abstract title title of the paper reference page title are always formatted as Style 1 headings Rarely will you need more than three levels of headings and two may suffice Sections 3 31 and 5 10 of the APA manual provide details about headings but the sections must be read very carefully The style 5 heading all uppercase and centered is very rarely used so double check with your instructor or advisor if you find yourself typing it Remember that headings require no special spacing between lines They follow the double space pattern of the rest of the paper They require no special font effects except for the italicizing of style 2 3 and 4 headings What students seem to find most difficult about headings is that the sequence of styles changes according to the number of headings used What does that mean Headings A Summary e If the paper requires 2 levels of headings use style 1 and style 3 not 1 and 2 e lf the paper requires 3 levels of headings use styles 1 3 and 4 not 1 2 and 3 e lf the paper requir
43. e APA does not allow bullets The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 24 Heads Up 3 Citing Secondary Sources When you cite a source you haven t read but only read about in a secondary source use the phrase as cited in Suppose for example you read an article by Mayo who cited information from Diaz If you use Diaz information without reading her original work the in text citation would be as follows Diaz as cited in Mayo 2000 You can read more about secondary sources in Chapter 4 p 247 Example 22 of the APA manual Note however that in the model paper in the APA manual 308 the secondary source example reads as follows cited in Brown amp Milstead 1968 The word as which should appear before cited has been omitted The omission was a publishing misprint Secondary source citations should be worded as shown in Chapter 4 Example 22 See Primary and Secondary Sources in the Citing Sources section of this booklet Heads Up 4 Including Publication or Retrieval Date for Internet Documents The instructions in the APA manual Section I Electronic Media p 269 require that publication date or retrieval date be included in citations of Internet sources The following two examples illustrate the point The first has a publication and retrieval date the second has no publication date If the publication date is missing type in its place the letters n d
44. e ProQuest accessible through the Saint Mary s University library Gratke J 2000 APA style and college writing Learning to deal with frustration Journal of Graduate Studies 7 23 29 Retrieved June 12 2001 from ProQuest database ERIC Online Resources Remember that ERIC provides only abstracts and location information If you want the full document either order it from ERIC or use the location information to retrieve it yourself with help from a librarian Each ERIC entry is assigned an ERIC number These numbers are prefixed with the letters ED for ERIC Document or EJ for ERIC Journal If the ERIC resource contains an ED number a librarian will use it to help you obtain the full document and you will include the ED number in your reference list entry Itis placed in parentheses at the end of the entry as in Example 43 257 If your resource contains an EJ number a librarian will use it to help you locate the full journal article You will then cite your source as you normally cite a journal article The EJ number will not appear in the reference entry Sometimes in addition to the ED or EJ number ERIC provides a report number or document number assigned by the document s original publisher If you have that report number include it in your Reference entry Enclose it in parentheses after the document title as in example 43 257 I retrieved an ERIC article through ProQuest an aggregated database D
45. e left Note for instance Example 14 on p 244 The alignment of both margins creates irregular spacing between characters making proofreading very difficult Now turn to the model reference list Figure 5 1 on p 314 The model reference list clearly indicates that the APA did not intend for reference list entries to be aligned at both margins Heads Up 2 Numbers Lists and Seriation If you search the index for information about formatting numbered lists do not look under numbers or under lists Instead look under Seriation within a paragraph or sentence where the index refers you to pages 116 3 33 and 292 5 12 Both these sections deal with numbers lists and seriation but the example of a seriated paragraph list on page 117 3 33 is wrong because the numbered paragraphs are indented and aligned blocked on the left side Actually according to APA the left margins of these numbered paragraphs should return all the way to the normal left margin only the first line of each paragraph should be indented Another example of a numbered list appears on p 292 5 12 where the paragraphs are indented and wrapped to the left margin of the text This is a better example however even in this example the text is set in from the normal left margin To clarify some of the verbal and visual confusion look at the following examples of numbered lists both of which are formatted in APA style The first example illustrates a li
46. e paper Exceptions No space is required after e opening parenthesis Departing flights except those already noted are temporarily grounded e opening quotation mark and comma or period before a closing quotation mark The captain remarked The space is inadequate I agreed All other punctuation marks are followed by one space Apostrophe Use an apostrophe 1 to show ownership or possession Add an apostrophe and an s s to words that don t end with an s somebody s car the car belonging to somebody the men s locker room the locker room of the men amonth s rent the rent of a month Add only an apostrophe after the s to words that already end in s twelve days pay that is the pay for twelve days the students tests that is tests belonging to the students 2 to form contractions Show omission of letters with apostrophes Could not couldn t he is he s they are they re cannot can t Colon 1 Use a colon after a complete sentence that introduces a list The breakfast menu contained the clients favorite foods bran muffins bananas pancakes and maple syrup and bacon and eggs The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs If the introduction is not a complete sentence no punctuation is needed Dieters preferred low fat breakfast foods such as strawberries unbuttered whole wheat toast unsweetened cereal and applesauce 2 Use a colo
47. e Paste Special dialogue box appears select Unformatted Text Paste Special Source Microsoft Word Document G My Documents 4P4 BookletiGrad Bookle As Formatted Text RTF Unformatted Text Picture Picture Enhanced Metafile HTML Format Unformatted Unicode Text z I Display as icon Cancel Paste Paste link esult aA Inserts the contents of the Clipboard as text without any formatting Figure 14 Paste Text From the Internet This procedure allows you to paste the text without including hidden format codes You can then reformat it to fit your document If you bring in foreign format codes with pasted text you may not be able to remove the codes from your document DOT LEADERS FOR TABLE OF CONTENTS Although the APA does not call for tables of content and therefore provides no guidelines for them some instructors do require a table of contents Generally a table of contents calls for dot leaders rows of dots from entries to their page numbers like this Statement of the Problem 3 Research Questions i 4 Definition of Term Brocer epeen perae Eeri AE ri 5 History of the Charter School Movement 9 You will have trouble making your page numbers line up and you will wear yourself out typing dots if you don t set up dot leaders for your tab stops Dot leaders automatically insert dots when you press the tab key and the dots adjust automat
48. e To Semple Tex Sample Tai Semple Ta Semple Ta Semple Ta Semple Ta Semple Ta Semple Tau cc Figure 8 Paragraph Format Window NOTE If you experience irregular line spacing especially triple spacing between paragraphs see Irregular Spacing Between Paragraphs and Figure 13 The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 29 CUSTOMIZE AUTO FORMATTING for Windows XP You learned earlier in this booklet that numbered lists in APA style are wrapped to the left margin You can customize your auto formatting to comply with APA style however you may prefer just to turn off auto formatting for APA documents Customize AutoFormat for a Single Document 1 On the menu bar click Format then AutoFormat 2 When the AutoFormat window opens click on the Options button to open the AutoCorrect window see Figure 10 Click the tab titled AutoFormat As You Type Click to remove checkmarks from Automatig bulleted lists and Automatic numbered lists Rw AutoText AutoFormat AutoCorrect Replace as you type TC Straight quotes with smart quotes MW Ordinals 1st with superscript IV Fractions 1 2 with Fraction character 14 IV Hyphens with dash gt TO Bold and _italic_ with real formate V Internet and network paths with Apply as you type TT Automatic bulleted lists IT Automatic numbered lists MW Border lines MW Tables TT Built in Heading styles Automaticall
49. e caring and healthy society If the online document does not contain page or paragraph numbers but does have headings then include the heading in shortened form and count the paragraph from the heading under which it appears for example Innovations section para 3 Example 2 The current system of managed care and the current approach to defining empirically supported treatments are shortsighted Beutler 2000 Conclusion section 1 Must use page or paragraph numbers for Internet Quotations Not necessarily Writers should strive to provide page or paragraph numbers whenever possible for Internet sources however note the following from the APA manual In some cases of Internet citation it may be necessary to omit a location reference altogether such as when no page or paragraph numbers are visible and headings either are not provided or their use would prove unwieldy or confusing In documents accessed with a Web browser readers will be able to search for the quoted material p 121 sect 3 39 CITATIONS ON THE REFERENCE PAGE The examples in this booklet are set at 1 5 pace and reduced type to conserve space but the APA calls for double spacing and 12 pt throughout the text The reference list always begins on a new page It contains an entry for each source cited in the paper and only sources cited in the paper listed in alphabetical order by author s last name The only exception is an
50. e critical little words a an and the without which we can scarcely write a sentence Type 2 talicize Capitalize major words i Example Publication Manual of the American Psychological Short Prepositions not capitalized Association da Prepositions like articles are function words When paired with nouns they identify relationships of position and time like before sundown between you and me among the trees and above average There are more than 70 common prepositions Do not capitalize prepositions of three words or fewer There are 13 you should not capitalize Type 3 talicize Capitalize major words or follow capitalization of publisher Examples a New England Journal of Medicine b COMbusiness Note When the first word or two of a title is used to replace a missing author in a text citation follow the formatting for in text titles as at but by for in of off on out til to up The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 15 The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs QUOTATIONS How do l use direct quotes effectively In a word sparingly You could probably write a better paper if you didn t use any Direct quotes can be problematic e Quotations are necessarily taken from their original context and may not fit properly in the context you provide Sometimes the meaning or intent of the quote is changed by the n
51. e same thing twice in the month of November in November yellow in color yellow Don t use words that don t add meaning The fact of the matter is that I m tired I m tired WORDY CONCISE an unexpected surprise 17000000000 a surprise at that point in time then due to the fact that because eid resultin trn aaa a result Past History riitit eeo eeaeee enie eneee history He is a person who can be trusted He can be trusted inorder 0 iae ae eeen ea ee eeo eanet ig to computer science Many teens smoke the field of computer science There are many teens who smoke two different kinds two kinds refer back t0 7 00 refer to surrounded on all sides 2 2 020 0 222 surrounded There is no doubt that he lost No doubt he lost Unless you know that you are a very succinct drafter you should plan to cut your wordage by 20 in your first revision of each paper Read through your work and find places to cut repetitions and unnecessary wording The following is an excerpt from a paper written for a management course The employees were not in agreement with the change in operational procedures that the manager was wanting Owing to the fact that they had much work to do it was not easy for them to adapt to new changes What they were trying to express was that they were dissatisfied but there
52. e them and then memorize ways to keep them straight Here is a list of words that writers often confuse Learn some memory devices to help you tell them apart a lot accept except affect effect all right between among coarse course it s its knew new know no loose lose passed past personal personnel quiet quit quite suppose supposed than then their there they re though thought tough use used wear we re were weather whether who s whose you re your Helpful Hints for Troublesome Words Accept except Except always means that something someone is left out x d out Everyone is going except Sam Sam is x d out Affect effect Effect means result so try substituting result Note that both result and effect have an e in the beginning The effect of Gena s greed was that she lost her inheritance Result makes sense so effect must be correct I wonder how this powder will affect my skin Result does not make sense so affect must be correct Between is used only between two a secret between my mother and father Among is used with more than two a fad among American teens Course refers to a course of study and contains a u U you pass a course Coarse means crude rough or rude like the word arse ass which it contains Here is a place here and there Hear means listen has an earin it Loose lose Remember that loose rhymes with goose and both have double o s If you want to use lose you have to lose an o Passed is so
53. eet IAI dl Whenever Harry has free time he enjoys i a sailing One of these things is not like the others b hiking and c to play basketball What is not like the others of course is the phrase to play basketball It is grammatically unparallel The sentence would be better written as follows Harry enjoys sailing hiking and playing basketball That way each of the three elements is expressed in grammatically parallel form Parallel sentences are easier for readers to grasp and they indicate that you have thought through carefully what you intend to write Everyone would understand though maybe not appreciate the sentence about Harry even if it weren t parallel The sentences you write in your paper however are likely to be more complex and carry more sophisticated messages than Harry likes sailing and their ideas much more sophisticated causing readers to rely more on the grammatical structure Here are two examples of sophisticated sentences with parallelism problems 1 Example 1 Unparallel The course instructor helped us seethe necessity of designing meaningful curriculum meeting the required standards and to keep the human element in mind Parallel The course instructor helped us see the necessity of designing meaningful curriculum meeting the required standards and keeping the human element in mind 2 Example 2 Unparallel Johnston hypothesized that with drug X post operative recovery w
54. eference types It defines plagiarism and explains the difference between primary and secondary sources The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 3 QUICK GUIDE to the APA MANUAL Bracketed numbers and decimals refer to APA page and section numbers Listed below are parts of the manual that are essential to using the manual effectively This is not to say the manual does not contain useful information not listed here but writers new to the manual will find the sections below the best way to get started Introduction Organization of the Fifth Edition xxiv Best overview of the manual Chapter 2 Expressing Ideas and Reducing Bias in Language This rhetorical guide is the most overlooked part of the manual but the one most important to developing an effective academic writing style 2 01 Orderly Presentation of Ideas 2 02 Smoothness of Expression 2 03 Economy of Expression 2 04 Precision and Clarity 2 05 Strategies to Improve Writing Style 40 60 Grammar 61 76 Guidelines to Reduce Language Bias Chapter 3 Editorial Style Reference Guide to Grammar Punctuation and Usage 77 130 A good editorial guide for any writing In Text Citations 207 3 94 Explains how to cite sources in the body of the paper This section is an essential accompaniment to Chapter 4 but students often overlook it or find it difficult to locate when they need it Chapter 4 Refe
55. entence e Michelle took her seat at the table and much to everyone s surprise blew her nose on the tablecloth 17 The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs e I liked Brad s sense of humor His lewd jokes however deeply embarrassed his grandmother e Bill a man of much courage grabbed the burglar s hand and bit off his trigger finger 5 Use a comma to set off a phrase at the end of a sentence if that phrase refers to the beginning or middle part of the sentence or to the entire sentence These phrases will usually begin with a word ending in ed or ing e Teachers offered rewards to the students trying to improve test scores With a comma the sentence means that teachers offered rewards in an attempt to improve test scores The phrase trying to improve test scores might better be placed before or after teachers and set off with commas e Teachers offered rewards to the students trying to improve their test scores Without a comma the sentence means that teachers offered rewards only to students who were trying to improve their test scores Example high standards The sentence above containing a comma before the final phrase means that raising morale and encouraging high standards are the result of the company s recognition of every branch manager Raising refers to the entire sentence that precedes it The company recognized every branch manager raising
56. es 4 levels of heading styles 1 2 3 and 4 e If the paper requires 5 levels style 5 subordinates all others so use styles 5 1 2 3 4 in that order Style 1 is a centered b capitalized in title style Style 2 is a centered b italicized c capitalized in title style Style 3 is a placed at left margin b italicized c capitalized in title style Style 4 is a indented half inch from left margin b italicized c not capitalized except for first word and proper nouns d followed by period e placed on the same line as the text that follows it Style 5 is a centered b all caps The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 19 Sample Text with Three Levels of Heading TOP MARGIN OF SAMPLE PAPER Title of Paper in Style 1 First Major Heading in Style 3 The text for subheading number one begins here You can have as many paragraphs as you like under this heading If you are dividing the paper into sections you know you will need at least one more heading at this level because you cannot divide your paper into one Therefore continue typing your paragraphs until you are ready for the next heading Second Major Heading in Style 3 Now you have divided your paper into two subheadings the minimum number of divisions You can make more divisions as many as you like In fact you can divide the subheadings if you want to Suppose that
57. esaggio a voi se non li avete usati prima Tuttavia sono standard per scrittura academic Voi probabilmente non desidererebbe usare le intestazioni di academic stile per un opuscolo o per fare pubblicit ma servono di scrittura academic convenzionale di affari una certa e scrittura perch sono profilo basso e non distract dal testo BOTTOM MARGIN OF SAMPLE PAPER How do format appendix headings The title of the appendix is separate from any headings that may fall in the appendix Therefore every appendix will have a uniform layout Appendix centered at the top of the page and a title centered with uppercase and lowercase letters The text below the title then follows the standard headings as described in section 3 91 COMPOSING LISTS Using Bullets The APA does not allow lists marked with bullets To make a list seriation follow one of the appropriate APA styles explained and illustrated below Numbers or Letters Note The following list is not APA style 1 First off the APA uses the term seriation when discussing lists Look under the term seriation or paragraph seriation in the APA manual s index 2 Whether you use letters within a paragraph or numbers in a list of paragraphs the elements in a series must be grammatically and semantically parallel For information on parallel construction see the APA manual 2 11 60 3 Items in a numbered list are double spaced just like the rest of the text
58. eso x DOMA Aal O 4Z A S3 RBM Les Page 1 Seci 1 16 Ati ini Coll REC TRK EXT OVR English U S Works Consulted for This Section American Psychological Association 2001 Publication manual of the American Psychological Association 5 ed Washington DC Author Figure 18 Screen Showing Document with Electronic Comments P Rubin C 1999 Running Microsoft Word 2000 Redmond WA Microsoft Press WRITING TIPS ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE 2 06 Active Voice Instructors often tell students to write in the active voice What does this mean Active voice emphasizes a subject doing something as in the following sentence Captain Hawes fired the gun I made a mistake Passive Voice By contrast passive voice emphasizes something done to a subject The gun was fired A mistake was made Passive voice emphasizes a different subject in the examples above passive voice places the focus on gun and mistake while active voice places the focus on who fired the gun and who made the mistake Passive voice can also leave out important information who did the action contributing to vagueness and evasiveness Active or Passive Voice In general use the active voice because it is usually more direct provides more information and reduces wordiness Passive voice often requires more words than active voice to express an idea thus contributing to the problem of wordiness Act
59. ew context e Quoting someone directly provides no indication of how well or even if you understand the material you are quoting Overuse of quotes therefore can cause you to lose credibility with your readers e Qucting if not done very skillfully can break up the flow of your writing Suddenly encountering another person s writing style can be jarring to readers Use direct quotes only a if you intend to comment on the author s word choice or style of expression or b once for emphasis or rhetorical effect Quotation of Fewer than 40 Words Keep within paragraph text Phenix and Scott Dunn 1991 stated There is clearly a need for a new kind of spelling instruction one that raises students awareness about language and its patterns and focuses on word construction rather than word memorization p 26 Note page number outside quotation marks and period after parentheses Jones and Smith 1992 described the social construction of word families as a powerful tool in spelling instruction p 415 Quotation of More than 40 Words Place in separate indented Blocked paragraph Swicegood 1994 linked the use of portfolios with the Individual Education Plan IP when he stated the following Insight gained through informal ecological approaches gives teachers access to viable information which in turn leads to more effective interventions and practices both in schools and clinical settings The
60. ews letters e mail memos and the like are cited in text but do not appear on the Reference page Minutes of meetings appear on the Reference page only if they are retrievable Often times the minutes of informal meetings are not published and thus not retrievable in which case they should be treated the same as personal communications The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 13 PRIMARY amp SECONDARY SOURCES In the illustration below Plante is the secondary source the source you read and Chan is the primary source the source you didn t read cited by Plante Primary means the first source of information Secondary is the source in which the primary source was cited Cite as primary secondary only when the primary source is quoted or when his or her name appears in the running text Perche Insegni gli Allievi Laureati Scrivere by Victor Plante Secondary source Bisogno Dell Universit Del San Mary L universit del San Mary de Minnesota ha formato un gruppo di esperti degli istruttori e dei direttori laureati di programma per studiare l esigenza di un centro alla relativa citt universitaria delle citt gemellare il luogo di scrittura della relativa scuola dei programmi laureati e speciali Il gruppo di esperti ha notato che la diversit etnico linguistico empirico academic del corpo dell allievo alla citt universitaria delle citt gemellare ha disposto una diffi
61. few words of another author s statements in order to avoid a direct quote is not paraphrasing it is to be blunt a form of plagiarism Readers are led to believe that you are presenting your understanding of another author s words when in fact you are using that author s actual words mostly Paraphrasing requires that you express ideas in your own terms Of course you will use some of the same terminology as the original author If you are writing about corporate downsizing for example you can t avoid that term However if you simply parrot the original author s sentence structure style and diction then you are not paraphrasing Here s a strategy for paraphrasing Read a section of the text you plan to reference put the text aside and write your own interpretation in your own words If you can t do it you need to reread the text for better understanding before you try again Sometimes reading aloud is helpful Following is an example of how to and how not to paraphrase The Original Source Quincy K 1995 Hmong History of a people Cheney WA Eastern Washington University Press Vietnamese tradition wisely forbade the confiscation of land for the payment of debts but the French ignored this tradition A peasant s land was treated like any other real asset that could be seized for the payment of debts Fearing the confiscation of their land for non payment of taxes many peasants turned to wealthy Vietnamese for l
62. g the title page e Use Arabic numerals in the upper right hand corner inside the page header e Include a header with the page number The header usually consists of the first two or three words of your title and it is placed five spaces to the eft of the page number e Do not type page numbers use a word processor for automatic pagination e Donotusethe Insert Page Number function of the word processor because it will not allow you to type headers with the page numbers and nature o Counseling amp Psyche rly int Figure 6 Header Insertion Window Header Window lets you select page number options Setting Page Numbers within the Header in MS Word See Figures 6 and 7 Hold mouse over ie button E sa its acid 1 Click View then click Header and Footer 2 With the cursor inside the header align the text to the right see Figure 6 a Click the Align Right icon on the toolbar or Page Number Format b Click Format then Paragraph then change alignment to right The Format Page Number icon opens the 3 Type a header followed by five spaces window shown on the right that allows you Tin 4 On the Header window it opens when you select Header and Footer click the to set page numbering to start at any Insert Page Number icon number you wish This is helpful if your title page is in a separate file Note If necessary you can change the font of the header and page number to match the font of your text Follow the s
63. hich the ideas are summarized and expressed in a new way NOTES THE BASICS OF CITING SOURCES See the Publication Manual American Psychological Association 5 edition for details See also Special Citation Questions What Is a Scholarly Source Sources consulted for scholarly papers generally e have been reviewed by professional experts peers juries in the field of study e contain content regarded as scholarly by professionals in the field e are archived stored for availability for a significant length of time The best way to limit your research to scholarly sources is to rely on professional or university databases indexes and catalogues On the Internet for example search engines like Yahoo Google or Lycos yield a range of sources from scholarly to downright silly Aggregate databases 278 such as ProQuest Psych Info or ERIC are limited for the most part to scholarly sources that are adequately documented Ask a librarian to help you limit your searches to scholarly sources Why Do We Cite Sources Why are we asked to use and cite scholarly sources in academic writing There are three reasons and understanding these help us determine what sources to cite and how to document them Reason 1 Academic Ethics Honesty and fairness require us to let readers know whose ideas and words we have borrowed We can t pass off someone else s work as our own Simply changing a few words to avoid a direct quote doesn
64. ically to proportioned characters giving you a straight column on the right Set Dot Leaders 1 Using the Ruler Bar as a Guide decide the position where you want to dot leader tab to stop If you have a one abs TT inch right margin you will probably want Tab stop position Default tab stops to set your tab at 5 7 ol 2 On the toolbar click Format and then Tab stops to be cleared Tabs to open the Tab Formatting Window see Figure 15 sl 3 Highlight and delete any exisfifig tabs Alignment Left Center Right 4 Type desired tab stop Decimal Bar 5 Make sure alignment is set at Left Leader C 3 o N 6 Set Leader at 2 for dots o 7 Click both Set and then OK Set Clear Clear All NOTE You must click both Set and OK to engage dot leader 8 Return to table of contents type a heading and press Tab key for dots The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs Cancel Figure 15 Tab Formatting Window 233 Subheadings If your table of contents contains subheadings you cannot indent them with the Tab key which now inserts dot leaders The easiest way to indent subheadings without dot leaders is to drag them using the ruler bar see Figures 16 and 16a Statement of the Problem 3 Research Questions wid Definition of TermSs i ed His
65. icon see the instructions for Centering e Donotalign text at both margins Text aligned at both margins creates irregular spacing between words and makes proofreading difficult on the toolbar or Follow same procedure to change alignment to left INDENTS 5 08 5 13 5 18 Paragraph Indent For consistency indent paragraph either by e pressing the Tab key which is usually pre set to indent inch e or by using Format Paragraph Indent 5 to indent inch whenever you press the Enter key see Figure 1 Do not use the space bar to indent One half inch does not necessarily equal 8 or 10 spaces Check paragraph indentation against the ruler bar above your document If you don t see a ruler bar go to the menu bar click View and then click Ruler see Dot Leaders section for an illustration For hanging indents for the Reference page see Hanging Indents in this section of the booklet Blocked Quote Indent Quotations of 40 words or more should be double spaced and blocked inch from the left margin Do not do this manually by using the Enter and Tab keys Instead change the paragraph indentation for the quoted text only Paragraph 1 Highlight text to be indented 2 On the menu bar click Indents and Spacing Line and Page Breaks Format Alignment Left z Indentatigr 3 Click Paragraph pr 7 Special Outline level Body text By none X 4 Click the Indents an
66. inal presentation contained logical flaws or misinformation e whether or not the author responded to other points of view on the subject e how the author s ideas might be applied or how they might change a situation if they were or were not applied Critique A combination of summary and response Summary precedes response in a critique Tips For Writing Good Summaries e Put aside your own opinions when you begin to read the original and do not let yourself mentally argue with the author as you read Remain objective in order to hear what the author is saying Start your reading with these questions in this order o Whatis the topic o What opinion does the author most want readers to keep in mind about this topic o What arguments or information does the author use to convince or try to convince readers Summarize as you read Write a sentence in your own words at the end of each paragraph Draw from these sentences for your final summary Put the text out of view to ensure that you are summarizing in your own words Check yourself The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 44 Never insert your own ideas into a summary A summary contains only the ideas of the original author Period Your opinions are appropriate for the response or critique Formatting can give you hints about main ideas and supporting points The title can suggest a question and answer about
67. inal showing Markup Show amp Zp Vela oB _ Comment Thetitle page of an APA _ paperis always counted as page 1 The 7 fits page oftert would then be page 2or Jrkoductioli ra Eeesgosnaon i x lava amabstracd i Comment Title of your paper should Understanding donor motivation is essential to fundraising and development Kay pea eS ie section if beled should be treated as a Sprinkel Grace Beyond Fundraising 1997 enig Lavoe Dae taan re me should be same kvel as Problem Statement Comment There is never morethan ore double space in APA Comment You appear to be using the Problem Statement ae old 4 edition ofthe APA Ifso you ll RensaszasatEnninazisssesozza zznzannessesaezsesQbizconiieasiosiznzontsteneseosianze need to buy the 5 edition and kt me krow right away so that I refer you to the 3 comect pages Them is no underlining There is a need to study and understand donor motivation to become more effective in the anywhere in the S edition APA style field of fundraising and development especially in the area of hospital philanthropy Background _4 Comment No slashes mAPA Use either anand or anor I that s rot possible because the tern is a compound maybe you could lyphenute it hogital health care important to understand donor motivation due to survey trends n Pinpointing Affluence Ai ii iI iDraw gt Autoshap
68. ing Center services are free We help you become a better writer We won t fix your paper for you but we ll help you improve it and in the process help you develop yourself as a writer We don t edit The Writing Center performs an instructional service not an editing service Editing focuses attention on the paper rather than the writer Editing is often equated with proofreading that is finding and fixing all the errors in the paper At the Writing Center you will participate fully by setting your own writing objectives discussing feedback and revising your paper Making Appointments Graduate Students Cheryl Prentice 612 728 5154 cprentic smumn edu or Michelle Yener 612 728 5152 myener smumn edu Undergraduates Bachelor Completion Bro Tom Geraghty 612 728 5147 tomfsc aol com Location 1 floor of LaSalle Hall Room 106 just inside the library The Writing Center s toll free number is 1 866 437 2788 ext 154 or 152
69. intain a double space after headings and between paragraphs Use the Format Paragraph commands to set double spacing at the beginning of the paper Do not double space manually by pressing the Enter key twice MARGINS Set margin at 1 inch on all sides Many word processors set the default margin at 1 25 so you may need to adjust the margins to 1 inch See Using Microsoft Word for APA in Introduction to the APA amp Other Writing Tips PAGE NUMBERS Place page numbers at the top right corner inch from the top inside the header Never type page numbers manually The APA requires a header with the page number though some instructors may not For details about setting page numbers with headers see the Using MS Word for APA section of Introduction to the APA amp Other Writing Tips and the APA manual itself Count the title page as page 1 of the document Does APA require a page number on the title page Yes the APA indicates a page number and header title on the title page p 288 sect 5 06 pp 296 306 and 397 however students should follow instructors preferences PAPER Use 8 1 2 x 11 white paper All papers are word processed one side only TITLE PAGE The title page in the APA manual is intended for the submission of a manuscript for publication and may not serve to identify college papers If your program has not provided a model for a title page use the example on the following page May s
70. ions with the words Electronic Version included in brackets Now however many periodicals exist only online and online versions may vary from their print counterparts You may not know if your online article exists in print version or if it varies from a print version without retrieving a print version for comparison A member of the APA Style Expert staff personal communication November 7 2002 said the following The guiding principle in creating references is that they should enable readers to retrieve and use the sources referenced As long as the reference information is clear and accurate don t think that for example an APA editor would question or change an article reference that used a URL rather than an Electronic version notation even if he or she thought the two versions were identical In other words the Electronic version notation is not necessary and the writer may cite the source as other electronic sources are cited with retrieval date and URL or database name Article Retrieved from an Aggregate Database Aggregate databases gather information from many sources into one searchable database Because an aggregate database is available from a variety of sources university servers CD ROMs Web sites etc the URL may not be helpful to readers Name the database so that readers can find the source through the same database you used p 278 The example that follows is fictitious but refers to an actual databas
71. ive Captain Hawes fired the gun Passive The gun was fired by Captain Hawes Active The President made a mistake Passive A mistake was made by the President However use the passive voice when you want to emphasize the receiver rather than the doer of the action Passive Tetracycline was increased to 50 mg Active Researchers increased tetracycline to 50 mg Passive Students in Klein s 2003 study were paid 25 to participate Active Klein 2003 paid students 25 to participate in the study Use passive voice to avoid awkward and vague pronouns like the pronouns you and we when they don t refer to identified individuals Active Passive You can use fewer words but you will lose important information Fewer words can be used but important information will be lost In the last example passive voice removes the the vague subject you and places the emphasis on what can be done rather than who can do it The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 37 VERBS TENSE FOR REPORTING RESEARCH 2 06 Research is always reported in the past tense Tense is the grammatical term for time Whatever was said done written etc was done earlier and is not still being done Note the earlier examples and their past tense verbs Here are some past tense verbs used for writing about research These words have different meanings so select carefully for your context accepted
72. ment title 2 publication date or the notation n d if date not available 3 date you retrieved the document and 4 the Uniform Resource Locator URL also called an Internet address or the database name if the source came from an aggregate database like ProQuest or InfoTrac The following fictitious samples are based on the model for articles in professional journals Newsletters abstracts reports and other documents or forms of discourse are documented differently You will need to refer to the APA 5th edition for these EXAMPLES Online Journal Article Crow J Verte D amp Zinn P 2001 March 7 An older population and its housing needs What are our options Maturing amp Health 3 122 126 Retrieved February 12 2000 from http oregon agingcouncil org art 03 7 maturinghealth oac html After the title and volume number add the word retrieved the date of retrieval the word from and the URL Do not hyphenate a URL to force a break at the end of a line It is not necessary to break a URL to avoid white space However if you do break a URL do so only after a slash or before a period Do not use a period to close an entry ending with a URL When do use the notation Electronic Version in a reference list entry A few years ago nearly all Internet periodicals were replicas of print sources The APA manual says that electronic sources that are identical to their print versions should be cited as print vers
73. mes with go means although Thought refers to brain activity She thought carefully before answering Tough pronounced tuff means hardy or thick skinned Associate with rough To and too can be told apart by the fact that too means also or in excess and it has an excessive number of o s It has one and one more Wear were where 1 Wear your earrings on your ear Wear is something you do 2 Where is about a place Where is the Tootsie Roll I left here Whether weather Weather contains the letters for heat Contractions Test contractions by substitutions in the following way Its or it s The dog chased zts tail not it s it is Your you re If Brad comes along you re going to be sorry you are Were we re I don t understand why we re moving we re we are AVOIDING PRONOUN CONFUSION To avoid repetition of nouns writers use pronouns as substitutes for nouns already named Jamison told the woman that his Jamison s table was wobbly because his Jamison s son had lopped off its the table s leg with his Jamison s son s toy saw Pronouns are extremely useful as long as their antecedents the words they stand for are absolutely clear When pronouns are vague when their antecedents are not clear readers are left to guess at their meanings Such guessing irritates readers and causes misinterpretations Lawyers know a lot about pronouns e Make sure that pronouns refer to something specific and that what they refer t
74. mething done Harry passed the quiz The bus passed us by Past refers to a condition location or time The time for grief is past a condition Drive past the Dairy Queen a location Have you had car trouble in the past a time Note the difference in past and passed Glenda passed Henry in the park She did it She rode past him on her bike Where she rode a location She had done that in the past When a time Quit quite quiet 1 Quite rhymes with white substitute qu for wh 2 Quit rhymes with shit substitute qu for sh 3 Quiet has two syllables qui et Should have would have must have Some people write should of when they mean should have People do this because when pronounced should have gets run together should ve so that it sounds like should of In fact no construction called should of exists in the English language Always write should have would have must have Then than 1 Then has to do with time and it rhymes with when another time word I can t go out when it rains Then at that time I work on my school work 2 Than is used with comparisons She is taller than I am 3 Then rhymes with when Than rhymes with fan There their they re 1 There is a place like here and there 2 Their shows ownership their coats as an heir owns the family fortune 3 They re is a contraction for they are Try substituting they are to see if it makes sense in the sentence Though pronounced tho rhy
75. n Medical Association Manual of Style of course Psychologists and others in the human behavioral sciences including educators have adopted the APA as their guide Why so many guides Why can t everyone use the same one The research and writing for one academic discipline may require a style that does not meet the needs of other disciplines or professions You can understand how a professor of French literature for example might require a set of stylistic guidelines different from those of a chemist or neurosurgeon Saint Mary s University has adopted the APA as the official style manual for its School of Graduate and Professional Studies SMU medical students use the AMA Use of the APA ensures that SMU students have a solid stylistic foundation for their academic and later their professional writing What s in the APA that need to know The APA manual is a guide to clear concise writing in an academic or professional context The section entitled Linguistic Devices Chapter 2 is an excellent guide to getting ideas across effectively and objectively Strategies to Improve Writing Style also Chapter 2 lays out the rules of grammar punctuation and usage as they apply in your discipline No guesswork The manual describes a research manuscript section by section in terms of content and organization and format e The lengthy section on documentation style tells you how and when to cite dozens of r
76. n on the reference list to separate publisher location from name Hebring R J Jr amp Vang C 2002 Collective va diverse experience Managers real stories 3 4 ed New York Random House Commas Six Rules The following six comma rules will enable you to punctuate most sentences correctly 1 Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction and but or so yet nor for if it joins two sentences e Ellen thought the movie was exciting and Fred liked it more than any he had seen that year e Fred and Ellen saw a movie and went out to dinner afterwards No comma needed because and is not joining two sentences when so means therefore or as a result but not when it means so that 2 Use a comma after introductory expressions An introductory expression is a word or words that lead up to the main part of the sentence e Frankly I have had enough of this cold and rainy weather e When our bakery closed down Jan had to make her own bread e Confused by the freeway signs Ralph got hopelessly lost in Chicago 3 Use commas to separate three or more items in a series Use a comma after each item including the one before the conjunction and or or e Protestors wore black pants red shirts and green sashes e Students can study before class after school or on Saturday afternoon 4 Use commas to set off words and phrases that interrupt the sentence if those words are not essential to the purpose of the s
77. nouns Capitalizing Titles in Your Text 3 13 The general rule for capitalizing titles in the text is capitalize major words But what are major words Major words are all words except a coordinating conjunctions b articles and c short prepositions However capitalize these words as well if they appear as the first word in the title Type 2 talicize Capitalize only the following a first word b first word after a colon b proper nouns Type 3 talicize For capitalization follow the form used by the publisher e Coordinating Conjunctions not capitalized Type 1 Type 3 Coordinating conjunctions are defined as those words that connect grammatically equal elements There are seven coordinating conjunctions and they can be arranged by their first letters to form the word fanboy for and nor but or yet Predicting alcoholism College binge drinking National Journal of Addiction 12 11 19 Type 2 us Elgin G I 2003 The politics of curriculum in American education Boston Boynton Examples Forgiven but Not Forgotten The Cambridge Spelling Report Help or Hoax N z The Logic and Rhetoric of E it Titles in Your Text excluding your own title d CAROTE LIO Type 1 Place inside quotation marks Capitalize major words see below e Articles not capitalized Example The American Work Ethic article from New Psychology Articles are those thre
78. nstruction Microsoft Word 2000 for Windows XP ESL Coaching Students whose native language is not English can develop their English writing and speaking skills Courses The Writing Center offers four one credit elective writing courses For details see the SMU Course Schedule or the online Writing Center Course descriptions are also available at the Writing Center Evening Workshops Check our Class Schedule and Web site for postings Online and Telephone Responses to E mail Submissions Submit your questions by e mail You can submit a paper or selected portions as an e mail attachment along with your specific questions about the paper You will receive a response by e mail or you can call our toll free number 1 866 437 2788 ext 154 to discuss your questions Online Resources for the Fundamentals of Grammar Punctuation Usage and Spelling Includes rules explanations and test yourself exercises with answer keys To visit the online Writing Center go to the Saint Mary s University home page at www smumn edu then click on the Twin Cities link and find the link to the Twin Cities Writing Center Links to APA Information On line Links to some of the best university writing centers in the nation Links to information about various academic writing genres ESL Information Students whose native language is not English will find links to English as a Second Language resources POLICIES WHAT WE DO and DON T Writ
79. nt Only The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs IRREGULAR SPACING BETWEEN PARAGRAPHS Problem Cutting and pasting between documents can upset the line spacing of your document sometimes leaving three lines rather than two between paragraphs as shown in the example Remedy The extra line space cannot be removed by changing the line spacing stit sorthuata trans L BommentO umano npor nami rir Ein Mro to double Instead change the setting as amp Pndribn Hary amp Blecher 001 in Finizio degl uma 3O queta teoria if 000 si assocsa D leo peeagpodo pemepale art he e farcrices amp h guida sono follows huc tania Angpao deere Acia Iie capeum nggtromento Sr i tegricumaa Sette olhado le occarked Ad ke pesscnale eri zpo e 1 Highlight the text you svikepe pp 0049 want to change Comalara a Kara 2008 digerra del cptine movimento 2 On the menu bar click Aranni scientifica da dito reub ad una powocopazione per Format Paragraph Faperuzione niche ed i mowimarto mano di mgporo ha Becta lan 3 Set the Before and preocazazion per il ngpce gt la pete Le Sa conse di pevieo du bada After boxes to 0 caratterizzato la eetan dela teeta didivzioa mister sodenn te You may also ha e to piztorto fsi domirarti Metod di cunttericica titana del comportamento set Line spacing to si ierey 2001 Single and then res i to Double hevi
80. o cannot be misunderstood Managers wanted new policies immediately but this didn t happen until June What exactly does this stand for in the sentence above This managers This policies No single antecedent exists for this The sentence needs to be recast Here are some possibilities Managers wanted new policies immediately but didn t get them until June Managers wanted new policies immediately but these new policies weren t implemented until June This that these and those are pronouns frequently used carelessly leaving readers to ask This what That what e Do not use this that these or those unless the antecedent has already been named Suddenly this woman rose from her chair and stalked out Unless this woman has been introduced to readers in a previous sentence they will wonder What woman e If you have trouble with vague pronouns avoid using this that these and those all alone Edwards boundless optimism creates high expectations on a limited budget That worries his supporters What worries Edwards supporters his optimism the high expectations or the budget The word that alone doesn t tell us Use the appropriate term after that For example Edwards boundless optimism creates high expectations on a limited budget That optimism worries his supporters The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 41 e Double check your use of which
81. o la vostra carta in due sottotitoli il numero minimo di divisioni Potete rendere pi divisioni altretante mentre gradite Infatti potete dividere i sottotitoli se desiderate a Supponga che all interno del sottotitolo uno desiderate ulteriori suddivisioni Dovete usare appena uno stile di secondario sottotitolo per distinguere le suddivisioni dai pi grandi sottotitoli Second Major Division in Style 2 First Major Heading in Style 3 Il testo per il sottotitolo il numero uno comincia qui Se state dividendo la carta nelle sezioni sapete che avrete bisogno almeno di un nuova intestazione a questo livello perch non potete dividere la vostra carta in una di conseguenza continuerete a scrivere i vostri paragrafi a macchina fino a che non siate pronti per First minor subdivision in style 4 Uno stile preferito spesso suddivisione livellata di paragrafo come illustrato qui Iniziate semplicemente un nuovo paragrafo mettete l intestazione di suddivisione all inizio del paragrafo italicize l intestazione e disponete un periodo all estremit di esso per separarli dal testo di paragrafo Second minor subdivision in style 4 Gi avete imparato che se cominciate dividere una sezione dovete avere almeno due divisioni a quel livello Questo paragrafo la seconda suddivisione secondaria del sottotitolo il numero due Second Major Heading in Style 3 Le intestazioni illustrate in questo campione possono osservare poco un dispari e forse al
82. oans at interest rates that often exceeded 100 per annum to meet their tax obligation in a futile attempt to stall off the inevitable Slowly but surely Vietnam was transformed into a land of huge estates on which approximately seventy percent of the population toiled as sharecroppers French tax policy was exploitative and shortsighted Within two generations it created the social and economic conditions for revolution p 114 The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 8 Poor Paraphrase Vietnamese tradition did not allow the seizing of lafid for the payment of debts The French however ignored the tradition and treat d land like any other asset Fearing the loss of their property many peasants went to wealthy Vietnamese for loans at high interest rates Eventually Vietnam was changed into a collection of huge estates where nearly three fourths of the p eple worked as sharecroppers The tax policy of the French was unfair and misguided and it set the stage for revolution Quincy 1995 Paraphrase Second Look Take another look at the attempted paraphrase above Here the words taken from the original source are italicized Vietnamese tradition did not allow the seizing of land for the payment of debts The French however ignored the tradition and treated land like any other asset Fearing the loss of their property many peasants went to wealthy Vietnamese for loans at high interest
83. oes the reference entry follow the database model or the ERIC model The most appropriate format would be a combination of Examples 88 and 43 in the APA manual Replace the publisher name location information with the Web retrieval statement and add the ERIC document number as in the following example Author X pub year Title of document Report no if any Retrieved February 26 2002 from ProQuest database ERIC Document Reproduction Service No ED123456 If the database provides journal title year and page number include those after article title 9 e For more information about the use of the ERIC database including how to document link to the ERIC Web site at http askeric org Eric Help cite shtml For more information about documentation of electronic resources consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 5 Edition Chapter 4 and visit the APA Web page which provides interpretation and updating of the manual at the address that follows http www apastyle org elecref html How do cite a telephone interview A telephone interview is not a retrievable source so it does not get an entry on the Reference page However it must be cited in the text as follows J J Doe personal communication April 10 2002 If the name of the person being cited is written into the running text then it need not appear again in the parentheses All non retrievable personal communications intervi
84. ould be fast improved respiratory status and with better pain control than drug Y Parallel but Johnston hypothesized that with drug X post operative recovery would be fast respiratory status would improve and pain control would be better than drug Y The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 43 The sentence still has problems because the comparison is not clear and the parallel elements are awkward so let s take the sentence a step further Parallel and Improved Johnston hypothesized that in comparison to drug Y drug X would speed post operative recovery improve respiratory status and provide better pain control In the last example each element begins with a simple verb to eliminate the awkward and repetitious would be construction Also the comparison is clarified by placing the items being compared the drugs in the same part of the sentence WRITING A SUMMARY RESPONSE OR CRITIQUE Summary A condensed version of an original presentation that e identifies the original author by name e identifies the context for the original presentation and e states the original author s main idea and major points Response Describes and explains your intellectual response to the original author s presentation The response may include one or more of the following e how the original author s ideas compare to the ideas of other experts e whether or not the orig
85. pecially most importantly Addition also furthermore besides likewise moreover again finally in addition in the first second third place what is more at last next beyond that Comparison and Contrast Comparison similarly likewise at the same time in the same way in like manner Contrast however nevertheless still nonetheless conversely rather whereas on the one hand on the other hand on the contrary by contrast in contrast Repetition again in other words once again to repeat as stated Cause and Result therefore thus hence consequently as a result all in all for this that reason because Conclusion finally then thus hence therefore in conclusion to summarize in short all in all in brief on the whole Time earlier before since subsequently eventually gradually meanwhile simultaneously now immediately recently suddenly currently during then next after a while at last in the meantime until now Concession doubtless surely certainly naturally granted no doubt admittedly Place elsewhere here there The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 40 TROUBLESOME WORDS Because of the complexity of English spelling rules and pronunciation writers sometimes confuse some common words The word processor s spell check can t help with these because all are correctly spell Writers should determine which words confus
86. r McDermot et al 1996 were inconclusive 4 Zarweit 1997 responded At no time were the subjects informed p 92 5 The failures in Jordan s 2000 view were caused by 6 Czel 1979 defined sensation seeking as behavior that 7 but the results were inconclusive Hammel 2003 Avoid anthropomorphism attributing human actions to non humans nouns Not A survey by Biggs and McCoy 2001 reported But Biggs and McCoy 2001 reported Surveys research studies and reports didn t do anything Their authors did May cite page numbers for unquoted text gt e Yes The APA says the following When paraphrasing or referring to an idea contained in another work authors are not required to provide a location reference e g a page or paragraph number Nevertheless authors are encouraged to do so especially when it would help an interested reader locate the relevant passage in a long or complex text p 121 sect 3 39 Electronic Resources in Text Page and Paragraph Numbers APA 3 39 Many electronic sources do not provide page numbers unless they are PDF reproductions of printed materials If paragraph numbers are visible use them in place of page numbers Use the symbol for paragraph 4 or the abbreviation para See examples below Example 1 As Myers 2000 5 aptly phrased it positive emotions are both an end better to live fulfilled with joy and a means to a mor
87. rates Eventually Vietnam was changed into a collection of huge estates where nearly three fourths of the people worked as sharecroppers The tax policy of the French was unfair and misguided and it set the stage for revolution Quincy 1995 Most of this unacceptable paraphrase consists of identical words in the identical grammatical form of the original Even if the paraphraser were to find synonyms for the original words the passage would still be a plagiarism because the pattern of expression is the same Now compare the paragraph above to an acceptable paraphrase below in which the ideas are summarized and expressed in a new way Paraphrase one possibility Quincy 1995 described how destitute Vietnamese peasants had to sell off their small landholdings to pay for heavy taxes imposed by the French These plots of land were then consolidated into large estates on which the peasants had to work as sharecroppers It was the exploitative and shortsighted French tax policies Quincy concluded that planted the seeds of political and economic revolution in Vietnam p 114 If you believe that some of the author s key words ought to be retained in this example his words describing French tax policy then quote only those words in your paraphrase but provide a page number for the quoted words If quoted words are included the author s name should precede them the same Now compare the paragraph above to the paraphrase below in w
88. rences e Reference List Citations 215 232 Gives the basic guidelines for construction of a reference list and each element of a reference list entry author pub date titles publisher information Index to Reference List Examples 232 236 The examples are indexed by type of resource Each listing gives the number of an example Index to Variations on Basic Elements 237 239 This is an index of the same examples but arranged by the elements of a reference list entry author titles publisher and by variations on those elements Chapter 5 Sample Paper 306 320 The model paper allows one to see what the parts of an APA paper actually look like on the page Annotations lead to appropriate sections of the manual The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 5 Edition BASIC FORMATTING FOR AN APA PAPER Remember that individual programs at Saint Mary s sometimes have their own variations on APA style Check for these variations ALIGNMENT Alignment is set at the left margin only for all text except title and title page Lines should be even on the left margin but ragged on the right margin like the text on this page CHARACTER SPACING Insert one space after every mark of punctuation Two spaces are acceptable after periods that end sentences but be consistent throughout Exceptions No space inside quotation marks and parentheses Note the following examples Byer advocated a go it
89. rmat window opens click on the Options button to open the AutoCorrect window 3 Click the tab titled AutoFormat As You Type 4 Click to remove the checkmark from the automatic hyperlinks box Internet and network paths and hyperlinks Turn Off Auto Hyperlinks for ALL Documents Not for networked computers This option prevents hyperlinks in the current and all subsequent documents until you remove the option This option will not work on networked computers like Saint Mary s that do not allow access to the computer s hard drive However it works well for stand alone computers like those most people have at home Click on Tools select Autocorrect Options and then follow steps 3 4 above AutoText AutoFormt Smart Tags AutoCorrect AutoFormat As You Type Replace as you type TT Straight quotes with smart quotes Turn off MW Ordinals 1st with superscript Auto W Fractions 1 2 with fraction character 14 Hyperlinks IV Hyphens with dash I Bold and _italic_ with real formatting TT Internet and network paths with hyperlinks Apply as you type I Automatic bulleted lists I Automatic numbered lists MW Border lines MW Tables TT Built in Heading styles Automatically as you type V Format beginning of list item like the one before it TT Set left and first indent with tabs and backspaces TT Define styles based on your formatting Figure 12 Turn Off Auto Hyperlinks for Current Docume
90. rn you really want For example the grammar check usually alerts writers to use of the passive voice because passive voice is usually best avoided However it is not necessarily wrong and on occasion it may even be preferred to active voice You must decide to keep discard or modify text that sets off the grammar alert Don t change something just because the grammar check highlighted it For information about active and passive voice see the section of this booklet entitled Active and Passive Voice HYPERLINKS Delete Single Hyperlink When you type a URL Internet or e mail address and press the Enter key the URL turns blue and underlines creating a hyperlink Hyperlinks occur on your Reference page when you type URLs for electronic sources Hyperlinks must be converted to normal text Method 1 if you typed the hyperlink Click the Undo icon left curve arrow on the toolbar or Method 2 if you copied the hyperlink into your document Highlight the hyperlink with the mouse click the right mouse button select hyperlink and click Remove Hyperlink Turn Off Hyperlinks for Current Document See Figure 12 This option prevents the creation of hyperlinks in the current document only You will have to select the option again to prevent hyperlinks in subsequent documents To prevent hyperlinks from being created automatically in the current document 1 On the menu bar click Format then AutoFormat 2 When the AutoFo
91. rom APA style and formatting If you want to suggest ways to make the booklet more helpful would appreciate hearing from you You can reach the Writing Center through the contact information on the last page Cheryl Prentice Director Twin Cities Writing Center Saint Mary s University of Minnesota TABLE OF CONTENTS These symbols used throughout the booklet indicates a frequently asked question or an especially helpful tip ow Numbers in brackets indicate relevant page numbers or section numbers of the APA manual APA TIPS APA What isit 2 no Ai Aa 3 Basic Formatting of APA Paper eee eee 5 Citing Sources t i lalia iaia lag rasa oa 9 14 Basics of Citing eneoti Miani ian 9 Citing in the Text 10 Electronic Resources 10 11 12 Primary amp Secondary Sources 13 Reference Page 11 14 Sample reference page 14 Scholarly SoUrce iaia 9 Headings Lists Numbered and Lettered 21 See also 29 Paraphrasing alal ON ia Ae ee 7 8 Plagiarism See also 9 21 Punctuationi ira a AI RR 17 18 See also 39 Quick Guide to the APA Manual 3 Quotations icrree eee ovaio 16 See also 7 27 Table of Contents ara ai 33 Tables and Figures i 22 Title Page ee eee cari cea Lio oa 5 6 Titles sang ca ALe Ar AL iaia 15 USING MICROSOFT WORD _FOR AP
92. s not delete them The procedure also allows you to print the paper without comments showing Delete Comments From a Document To permanently delete any comment from a document 1 right click on the comment 2 select and click Delete Comment Print Document With or Without Comments To print with comments 1 on the menu bar click View 2 click to turn on the Markup icon 3 print as usual To print without comments 1 on the menu bar click View 2 click to turn off the Markup icon 3 print as usual Add Your Own Comments to a Documents To insert your own comment into a document 1 place the cursor at the insertion point and click or highlight a string of text 2 on the menu bar click Insert 3 click to turn on the Comment icon The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 36 NOTES Remove Strikethrough If your paper contains words with a line through them to suggest that you omit or replace those words you can remove the strikethough as follows 1 highlight the words 2 on the menu bar click Format then Font 3 click to remove check in the strikethrough box 4 click OK to return to document The strikethrough will be removed but the words will remain Figure 18 illustrates a screen showing document comments Original text Comments i Ferguson_Debra_03 10 05_Comments Microsoft Word DE a Y thesaurus M _ EG amp ravorteso ase i F
93. st you would compose yourself the second example illustrates a list quoted from another source To create numbered lists in APA style you must turn off the word processor s automatic numbering function click Undo or customize your automatic numbering function for APA style see Auto Formatting in the MS Word for APA Tasks section of this booklet Then type each item as follows Tab 1 2 inch type number and period one space type first word of item Remember TAB NUMBER SPACE WORD NOTE Text in the following examples has been single spaced to fit the page APA text in your papers is always double spaced The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 23 EXAMPLE 1 Paragraph Seriation Unquoted Text At the end of the first segment of the writing course students completed the following set of writing tasks The instructors designed the tasks to test the students abilities to apply the information acquired by reading and discussing the text and by completing exercises in the workbook that accompanied the text Students completed the following tasks 1 Paraphrase four ideas two from each of the sources provided in your own words Varying your presentation provide in text citations for each paraphrase 2 From the Marsh and Willis article explain why teachers cannot control everything in the curriculum Write several introductory sentences to the issue followed b
94. t Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 21 Numbered Paragraph Series 3 33 and 5 1 Sometimes it is not feasible to contain series within a paragraph because a either the series is lengthy as in a set of instructions or b the series itself is a direct quote that was originally listed as paragraphs If the series cannot be included within one paragraph set it down in separate paragraphs using numbers followed by periods You must turn off the auto numbering function of the word processor see the MS Word for APA section of this booklet Indent each numbered item as though it were a paragraph Begin each paragraph with a number followed by a period and a space Note that margins are different for direct quotes than for unquoted text EXAMPLE 3 Paragraph Seriation Unquoted Text At the end of the first segment of the writing course students completed the following set of writing tasks The instructors designed the tasks to test the students abilities to apply the information acquired by reading and discussing the text and by completing exercises in the workbook that accompanied the text Students completed tasks in the order presented 1 Paraphrase four ideas two from each of the sources provided in your own words Varying your presentation provide in text citations for each paraphrase 2 From the Marsh and Willis article give three short reasons why teachers cannot control everything in the curriculum
95. t a page number on it Set margins and font size and type on the title page to match the rest of paper Do not use boldface italic or underline PLAGIARISM Plagiarism is a very serious academic offence A few students plagiarize in an attempt to cut corners or to cover academic deficiencies Other students unfortunately plagiarize because they don t understand the concept of plagiarism and the methods for avoiding it In either case students are held accountable for their actions and the penalty could be as severe as dismissal from the institution Follow the rules of citation and documentation carefully and make sure you understand what is meant by paraphrasing In APA style a citation consists of author s last name and date of publication A full citation appears on the References page Plagiarism is a very serious academic and ethical issue Most universities impose penalties on students or staff who plagiarize whether the plagiarism is deliberate or inadvertent Avoiding Plagiarism Plagiarism is the presentation of someone else s work as your own If you use another author s words you must attribute the work to its original source its author composer etc If you borrow an idea from or directly quote from another person s work cite the source of that idea or quote Phrases borrowed word for word from another author must be placed in quotation marks and followed by the page number from the original source
96. t remove our obligation to identify the source of an idea No matter how it is worded someone else s idea still needs to be identified as his or hers not ours Reason 2 Scholarly Credibility Even new research needs to be founded on or related to existing scholarly work As writers we must provide context for our ideas and establish credibility with our readers indicating our familiarity with a solid body of knowledge about our topic One way to do this is to relate what we are writing to what has been written before by experts in the field Citations help identify those experts Reason 3 Source Retrieval For various reasons readers may want to view the sources we used in our writing whether we used those sources for background or quoted them directly Our responsibility as writers is to provide sufficient documentation in a systematic way so that readers can retrieve the information we used Reviewing the three reasons for documenting sources helps us decide what kinds of sources to cite when to cite them and how to provide documentation for retrieving them The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 9 Basic Guidelines Keeping in mind the purpose of citing sources ethics credibility and retrievability apply the following principles e To retrieve a source readers generally need to know the author title year of publication and date of publication For electronic
97. tart a sentence with an abbreviation Yes according to the APA Just don t use a lowercase abbreviation you must use a capital Section 3 29 p 11 states Never begin a sentence with a lowercase abbreviation e g b or a symbol that stands alone e g a Begin a sentence with a capitalized abbreviation or acronym e g U S or APA or with a symbol connected to a word e g B Endorfphins only when necessary to avoid indirect and awkward writing The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs Attachment Disorder 1 Attachment Disorder The Importance of Facial Expressions Fleemore Q Bogwart Saint Mary s University School of Graduate and Special Programs PSY690 Early Childhood Development May 16 2004 TITLE PAGE See example left The APA manual describes how to create a title page for a manuscript submitted for publication That style of title page is not necessarily appropriate for student papers If your program or your instructor give you a sample title page use that Otherwise use the model on the left The APA calls for a header and page number at the top right 1 2 inch from the top edge of the paper However some instructors prefer that the header and page number not appear on the title page The format of this booklet did not allow for a page number and header on the sample title page Always count the title page as page one even if you don t prin
98. te Management program Please review my paper for the following 1 Pp 12 14 Is my explanation clear 2 Page numbers for APA style 3 Is my abstract appropriate 4 Reference page review a Hebring b McCallum You can reach me at 218 502 6773 Gilbert Hilbert x discussions 13 Ey E E J subscribe L discussions not avaleble on http edu Figure 17b Web Mail Window Indicating Attachment The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 35 USING DOCUMENT COMMENTS When you send a paper for review the reviewer can insert comments into the margins of your text Electronic comments are standard procedure when Writing Center staff review papers online The comments can be operated a number of ways These directions will help you manage them You can also insert your own comments into your document See Figure 18 These instructions are for Microsoft Word 2000 for Windows XL Comments may appear and function differently in another version of Word Show All Comments in a Document To show all comments in your document 1 on the menu bar click View 2 click to turn on the Markup icon This procedures also allows you to print your document with comments Hide All Comments in a Document To hide all comments from your view 1 on the menu bar click View 2 click to turn off the Markup icon This procedure removes comments from view temporarily but doe
99. ter it To center text Method 1 Click the Centering icon on the toolbar then type text or Method 2 Click Format Paragraph Alignment Center see Figure 1 Paragraph Indents and Spacing Line and Pagereaks Alignment Centered 4 Qutline level fo Special none X Body text Indentation Left ra z Right o Spacing Opt Line spacing At fp single Figure 1 Paragraph Format Window Before After The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 26 TYPEFACE Fonts 5 02 Use an 11 pt or 12 pt serif black typeface font for text APA recommends Times Roman and Courier This is typed in Times New Roman This is typed in Courier This is typed in Century Serifs are the tiny lines that dangle on the ends of letters Word processors offer a variety of serif fonts Avoid those that appear decorative unusual or otherwise distracting Keep the font appropriate to the formality of an academic paper Setting Typeface in MS Word Most Word screens have the font type and size selections right on the toolbar If not e Click Format on the toolbar select Font and click choices on the font menu Font Font Character Spacing Text Effects Font style or nes New Roma Regular e Right click the mouse from inside your document to get the font menu Font color Underline style Automatic
100. terial from several chapters of the same book by the same author If all the chapters were written by the same person s then cite the book only once in the reference list without naming the separate chapters Electronic Sources on the Reference Page Instructors sometimes require variations on the APA style Always make the distinction between APA guidelines and instructor s variations Follow your instructor s preferences THE BASICS How do I cite an Internet source This is not a question with a single answer Electronic resources are now so varied that the answer must be it depends That s why APA quick guides are not very helpful and sometimes misleading But here are some general rules How you cite depends in part on a what kind of document you are citing journal article abstract report etc b how it was originally published print source on line only etc and c how you retrieved it CD ROM Web link aggregate database etc Keep in mind the following general guidelines p 269 9 The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 12 e Direct readers as closely as possible to the information being cited Whenever possible reference specific documents rather than home or menu pages e Provide addresses URLs that work Minimum Information for An Electronic Source Entry Give the author of course if available but you must provide at least 1 docu
101. that who Readers usually associate a pronoun with the noun closest to it Homeless people waited for hours in the cold rain to get into the shelter which made many of them ill How alarming to think that the shelter made them ill That s what the sentence suggests however The word which is associated with the noun closest to it shelter Recast the sentence to place which next to the noun it refers to To get into the shelter homeless people waited for hours in the cold rain which made many of them ill Perhaps it wasn t just the cold rain that made them ill To include the waiting recast the sentence again this time eliminating which Waiting in the cold rain for hours to get into the shelter made many of the homeless people ill e Avoid the Great Unnamed It was not revealed by the authors why only women were included in the trial It seems not to refer to anybody or anything in the sentence Actually it refers to the entire phrase why only women were included in the study making its use redundant Recast the sentence The authors did not reveal why they had included only women in the trial e Never use you in academic writing The study showed that you can reduce the risk of stroke by taking one baby aspirin per day The use of you suggests a specific reader who even if known should not be addressed directly Such direct forms of address are just too chummy for academic or professional writing Recast the sentence
102. the end of your document where you will provide a full citation see Sample Reference Page The citations are listed in alphabetical order by author s last name See also Primary and Secondary Sources in this booklet The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 10 CITATIONS IN THE TEXT 207 217 Purpose of In Text Citation The purpose of the in text citation is to lead readers to the correct alphabetized entry on the Reference page The samples that follow illustrate variations on the same in text citation Frazier and Paulson 1992 found that the portfolio method of assessment motivated reluctant writers The word and must be spelled out in running text but the ampersand amp is used inside parentheses In a later study Frazier amp Paulson 1992 demonstrated that the portfolio method of assessment motivated reluctant writers In a 1992 study Fazier and Paulson noted that the portfolio method of assessment motivated reluctant writers Varying the Citation Wording Technically you could write each citation the same way throughout the paper However the stylistic repetition sometimes gets monotonous for readers Try varying the approach as in these examples 1 According to Khali and Kozumi 2000 previous research failed to 2 Stieglitz amp Hernandez 2002 emphasized 3 Several earlier studies Willum 1999 Wright amp Formani 1998 Gudmund Farra
103. tory of the Charter School Movement 49 Urban Changes 10 Inner City Crises 12 gt Private Initiatives 18 Legislation css vsesstscesevsecsntecxencessesenversecocievsevececsevsvdentezceases gt 15 Ruler Bar in Print Layout view yj Document 10 Microsoft Word File Edit View Insert Format Tools Table Window Help Statement of the Problem Research Questions Figure 16 Ruler Bar The hourglass splits rag square to move both triangles To indent a block of text highlight the text and drag the square Figure 16a The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs SENDING ATTACHMENTS BY E MAIL If you want to submit a paper by e mail to the Writing Center or if you want to e mail the paper to anyone else send it as an e mail attachment If you try to insert it into the body of the e mail message the formatting will be lost In fact a lengthy message in the body of the e mail can cause problems with your e mail or the recipient s e mail The directions presented here were written for Web Mail used at Saint Mary s Perhaps you use another form of e mail However e mail attachments follow a general pattern so even if the icons and commands here appear different from yours you can still use these directions to help you negotiate your own e mail File Edit view Favorites Tools Help 0 0 4 A 0 XxX e amp
104. use of student portfolios in placement and instructional planning contexts including the design of IEP goals and objectives can add depth and breadth to the intervention process Nd i C Note that indentation of quote replaces A quotation marks and that the period is placed at end of quote rather than after the parenthesis of page citation Capitalization of Quotations Capitalize the first word of a quoted sentence p 118 Quotation 1 and p 293 Harris 2000 remarked Finding information is an art not a science p 214 According to Plotnik 1982 The licensing or copyright agreement with the author does not cover items the author borrowed from another source p 16 However if the quoted sentence completes an unfinished sentence or follows the word that do not capitalize the first word or precede it with a comma p 118 Quotation 2 and p 120 Sutter was fascinated with Lake Superior because the ore boats and foreign freighters seemed impossibly exotic p 2 Quincy acknowledged that negotiations over bride price sometimes involved more than the price of the bride p 105 Do not capitalize the first word of a quoted phrase incomplete sentence Bryson 2002 called the English language a merry confusion of quirks and irregularities that often seem willfully at odds with logic and common sense If the quote is interrupted do not capitalize the first word of the resumed quote
105. within Subheading One you want further subdivisions You just have to use a sub subheading style to distinguish the subdivisions from the larger subheadings First minor subdivision in style 4 This is the paragraph level subdivision used to create a third level of heading Put the subdivision heading at the beginning of the paragraph italicize the heading and place a period at the end of it to separate it from the paragraph text You can add additional unheaded paragraphs if necessary Second minor subdivision in style 4 You have already learned that if you start dividing a section you must have at least two divisions at that level This paragraph is the second minor subdivision of the Second Major Heading in Style 3 Third Major Heading in Style 3 The headings illustrated in this sample may look a little odd and perhaps boring to you if you haven t used them before However they are standard for academic writing You probably wouldn t want to use academic style headings for a brochure or for advertising but they serve the purpose of formal academic writing and some business writing because they are low profile and do not distract from the text BOTTOM MARGIN OF SAMPLE PAPER The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 20 Sample Text with Four Levels of Heading TOP MARGIN OF SAMPLE PAPER Title of Paper in Style 1 First Major Division in Style 2 Ora avete divis
106. y as you type V Format beginning of list item like the one before it TT Set left and first indent with tabs and backspaces TT Define styles based on your formatting Figure 10 Customize AutoFormat for a Document While the customizing window is open you can click other tabs to make the changes you want for the document you are working on For example you can remove the check from Internet and network path with hyperlinks to prevent hyperlinks on your Reference page The Writing Center Saint Mary s University School of Graduate amp Special Programs 30 Customize AutoFormat for All Documents Not for networked computers To avoid going through this customizing process for each document you can customize AutoFormat for all documents Select Tools from the menu bar After selecting Tools click AutoCorrect Options and proceed with steps 3 and 4 for Single Document Note you cannot make a permanent AutoFormat change if you are working on a networked computer Customize Spelling and Grammar Check The red lines and green lines of the auto spell check and auto grammar check can be annoying especially on the reference page You can turn off the auto spell check and auto grammar check and still check your spelling and grammar when you are ready User Information General Edit Spelling amp Grammar View Security Compatibility File Locations Print Track Changes 2x Save Spelling W
107. y personal communication of the writer which is cited in the text but not in the reference list because it is not a retrievable source Entries are double spaced within entries and between entries Each entry is formatted in hanging indent see instructions in the MS Word for APA Tasks section of this booklet You will encounter an endless variety of sources and countless variations in types of sources The only way to ensure accuracy is to refer frequently to the APA manual Chapter 4 For other excellent illustrations of APA style including a complete reference page see the model paper Figure 5 1 in the APA manual Print Sources on the Reference Page EXAMPLES Book Lazear D G 1994 Multiple intelligence approaches to assessment Solving the assessment conundrum Tucson AZ Zephyr Press Book title is italicized but not capitalized except for first word proper nouns and first word following a colon Citations always end with a period unless the last element is an Internet address Periodical Article with Two Authors O Flahaven J F amp Blassberg R 1992 Toward an embedded model of spelling instruction for emergent literates Language Arts 69 409 417 Ampersand amp before last author Article s title not italicized and not capitalized Journal title both italicized and capitalized Volume number follows title and comma no parentheses An issue number is needed only if each issue begins with page 1
108. y the seriation Remember to cite your source 3 Give four short quotations two from each source Preface two quotes with a sentence in your own words In the other two make the quotation part of a complete sentence Wrapped to left margin of the document s text EXAMPLE 2 Paragraph Seriation in a Blocked Quote A summary of the characteristics of research helps to clarify both its meaning and its methodology Best and Kahn 1993 summarized characteristics of research 1 Research is directed toward the solution of a problem 2 Research emphasizes the development of generalizations principles or theories that will be helpful in predicting future occurrences 3 Research is based upon observable experience or empirical evidence 4 Research demands accurate observation and description 5 Research involves gathering new data from primary or first hand sources or using existing data for a new project 6 Although research activity may at times be somewhat random and unsystematic it is more often characterized by carefully designed procedures that apply rigorous analysis 7 Research strives to be objective and logical applying every possible test to validate the procedures employed the data collected and the conclusions reached 8 Research involves the quest for answers to unsolved problems pp 20 22 Wrapped to left margin of the indented text Always use numbers unless your instructor specifically tells you otherwis

Introduction to the APA & Other Writing Tips

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Introduction to the APA &amp; Other Writing Tips

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Introduction to the APA & Other Writing Tips