CRMS_Media Center: APA Style Guide

This LibGuide provides the basic rules for using APA style

• 81/2 x 11 inch sheet of paper
• Margins are 1" on all sides
• EVERYTHING is double-spaced
• Two spaces after punctuation marks
• Use Times font, size 10 -12 pts
• Use a page header at the top of every page (see Page Header below)
• Use page numbers

Title Page

• A title page is required
• Centered in the middle of the page include:

1. the paper's title
2. name
3. school

• You also need to include a running header (shortened version of the title). Place the running header in the upper left hand corner of each page of the document
• You also need to p;ace the page number in the upper right hand corner of each page
• The title page is page one

Main Body

• All paragraphs are indented 1/2"

Page Header

• Upper left hand corner of each page 
• Placed 1/2" from the top of the page and one inch from the edge
  
  
  

Basics

There are two places where resources are cited:

• inside paragraphs (in-text)
• the last page of the paper (References)

In-text citations are required in every sentence that includes information from an outside source. In-text citations require:

1. author's name
   
2. copyright or publication date
3. page number ("p" and a period)

Examples:
One author: If cats scratch, they feel anxious(Thom, 2010, p. 96).
Two authors: If cats scratch, they feel anxious (Thom & Jalyne, 2010, p. 96).
Three to five authors:  If cats scratch, they feel anxious (Thom, Jalyne, Dale, Henry & Anderson, 2010, p. 96).

If this list of authors is used again, the citation can be shortened: (Thom et al., 2010, p. 123).

Unknown author: If cats scratch, they feel anxious ("A Day in the Life of a Cat." 2013).
Several studies by same authors: Several studies by Smith (2011, 2012a, b) have shown that cats are anxious when they scratch.

The "a" and "b" letters added to distingish the different studies will be explained on the Reference page.

Several studies by different authors: Several studies (Smith, 2011, Jones, 2012, Henry 2012, Bradley, 2013) have shown that cats are anxious when they scratch.

Basics
It is a requirement of every research assignment to include information on the References page (the last page) that details where the information used in the project came from. "Doi" means digital object identifier and is used to identify an electronic document. A doi may include a location such as a URL or a location where the document is stored.

Citations for the Reference page can be automated!
Bibme is an online tool that will help you create citations for the Reference page. It's free!

Reference page citations from books look like these examples:
Entire printed book: Thom, B.A. (2010). Cats Are a Girl's Best Friend. Minneapolis, MN: Bubble Gum Publishers.
Electronic version of a book: Thom, B.A. (2010). Cats Are a Girl's Best Friend. (Adobe Digital Editions version).doi:11.3212/436382910293.
ebook only: Olson, S.E. (2011). Cats Are Crazy. Retrieved from http://www.onlinecatbooks.com.
Chapter in a printed book: Smith, L.A. (2013). Caring for Cats. In Smith, L.A. and I. Jones, The World of Cats (pp. 45-76). Minneapolis, MN: Bubble Gum Publishers.
Reference printed book: Smith, L.A. (2013). Cats: The Complete Reference Guide. New York: NY: Animal Science Organization.
Several volumes in a multivolume set: Langley, F. (ed.). (2000-2008). Cat Anthology (Vols. 1-4). New York: NY: Animal Science Organization.

Reference page citations from periodicals look like these examples:
Printed journals: Bodium, L.C. (2008). Playing with cats can lower blood pressure. Journal of Cats, 24(2), 22-25.
On-line journals: Starr, A.B. & Harrison, G. H. (2009). Day in the life of a cat. Cat Psychology, 11(4), 35-56.doi:22.6543/333444555666777
Printed magazines: Howard, A. (2010, May). Creating relationships with cats. Cat Fancy, 39(5), 26-29.
Printed newspapers: Smalley, O. (2007, December 15). Cat behaviors tied to food allergies. The New York Times, pp. A1, A4.
Online newspapers: Smalley, O. (2007, December 15). Cat behaviors tied to food allergies. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://nytimes.com.
Online magazines: Carlson, V. (2010, October). Cats quickly becoming dog's best friend. Cat Fancy, 22(1), 43-44. Retrieved from http://catfancy.com.

Reference page citations from audiovisual and social media look like these examples:
Motion picture: Monroe, M. (Producer) & Olson, W. (Direction). 2010. Cats (Motion picture). United States: Warner Brothers Studio.
Non-fiction video: Monroe, M. (Producer). (2010). Cat play (DVD). Available from http://www.humanesociety.com/videos
Music recording: Lee, R. A. (2005). Call of the cat. On Animal talk (CD). St. Paul, MN: Mammal Records.
Painting: Quinn, B.B. (Artist). (1997). Cat sitting on a couch (Painting). San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Art Museum.
Painting retrieved online: Quinn, B.B. (Artist). (1997). Cat sitting on a couch (Image of painting). San Francisco, CA: San Francisco Art Museum. Retrieved from http://sanfranciscoartmuseum.org/images.html
Online image: Braski, R. T. (Photographer). (2009). Cozy cats (Photograph), Retrieved from http://www.onlineimages.com/images/cats/cats_cozy.html
Map retrieved online: Anoka Country Geographic Information Services (Cartographer). (1997). Cat density (Demographic map). Retrieved from http://www.co.anoka.mn.gov/maps/pop-dens.pdf
Podcast: Quinn, B.B. (Producer). (2001, December 8). Cat's like to scratch (Audio podcast). Retrieved from http://www.podcastradio.com/
Blog post: Quinn, B.B. (2011, July 31). 101 ways to interact with your cat (Web log post). Retrieved from http://animalplanet.com/101_interact.php
Twitter: @crazycatlady. (2013, September 6). Launched Adopt A Cat Day to help rescue 4 million stray cats: http://bit.ly/gcTX4 (Twitter post). Retrieved from http://twitter.com/crazycatlady/status/393030
Facebook: My cat doesn't like me; what should I do? (ca.2013). In Facebook (Group page). Retrieved December 8, 2013, from http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2929292929

References is the last page of the paper.
It lists all the information used to create the paper:

• Type the word "References" at the top of the last page
• Double-spaced
• All lines after the first line of each entry in the list should be indented 1/2" from the left margin
• List author's last names first, followed by their first initial