APA Guidelines

Thomas Smith

• Publisher: QuickStudy Reference Guides
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781423237228
• Topic: Sprachen & Linguistik
• Subtopic: Sprachwissenschaft

Rules of punctuation, reference citation, structure and format for these commonly used guidelines. Different guidelines will be used depending on the subject area or the professor or teacher. Having a quick reference handy can speed the writing and editing process allowing the writer to focus on the quality of the paper rather than the structure. Suggested uses:
o Students – Handy reference while writing papers, collect the set of guides you need for your classes to easily switch between styles
o Professors/Teachers – Keep handy while writing for academic journals in your subject area

The Mechanics of Style

Style refers to the guidelines and rules set by publishers to establish clear, concise writing across fields

Style manuals across fields will vary, but when there is a disagreement between the Publication Manual and another style guide, the Publication Manual is favored for APA publications

Abbreviations & Acronyms

• Avoid acronyms, except for long, familiar terms (NASA)
• Explain what an acronym means the first time it occurs
  EX: American Psychological Association (APA)
• If an abbreviation is commonly used as a word, it does not require explanation (e.g., IQ, REM, ESP)
• The following Latin abbreviations should not be used outside parenthetical comments:
  • cf. [use compare]
  • e.g. [use for example]
  • etc. [use and so forth]
  • i.e. [use that is]
  • viz. [use namely]
  • vs. [use versus]
• Use periods when making an abbreviation within a reference (e.g., Vol. 1, p. 9, 2nd ed.)
  • Do not use periods within:
    • Degree titles (e.g., PhD)
    • Organization titles (e.g., APA)
    • Measurements (e.g., lb, ft, s), except inches (in.)
  • Use s for second, m for meter
• To form plurals of abbreviations, add s without an apostrophe (e.g., PhDs, IQs, vols., eds.)
  • Use standard abbreviations for measurements; do not add an s to make it plural (e.g., 100 meters is 100 m)
  • Page is abbreviated p.; when referring to several pages in a reference or citation, use the abbreviation pp. (with a period after it and a space after the period)
    • Do not use the abbreviation pp. for magazine or journal citations; just give the numbers themselves
    • Do use pp. for citations of encyclopedia entries, multipage newspaper articles, and chapters or articles in edited books
• Use two-letter postal codes for U.S. state names (e.g., GA)
• Abbreviations often used in APA journals
  • Many abbreviations not found in the dictionary are used when writing for APA journals; such abbreviations should be explained when first used
    EX: Conditional stimulus (CS), reaction time (RT), short-term memory (STM)
  • Do not use S, E, or O for subject, experiment, and observer

Capitalization

• Capitalize words at the beginning of a sentence, major words in titles and headings, names and proper nouns, nouns that denote a specific place in a numbered series, groups or conditions in experiments, names of factors, variables and effects, and test titles
• Do not capitalize names of hypotheses, procedures, theories, models, laws, or generic test titles

Hyphenation

• Hyphenate compound words according to the Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary 11th edition, using the proper form of the word (i.e., noun, adjective, or verb)
  • Use a hyphen if compound adjectives (describing a noun) precede the term
    EX: A short-term negative impact with acute effects on wildlife is generally unlikely, but evidence of abundance of cadmium in the environment indicates the potential for chronic problems.
  • If the compound adjective comes after the term or noun, do not use a hyphen
    EX: The acute effects of cadmium on wildlife are chronic and are not short term.
  • If the meaning of a compound adjective is unclear without a hyphen, use a hyphen
    EX: The German-language students showed more interest in learning about Swedish politics than other groups. In this context, the hyphen works to show readers that this is a group of students learning German.
    EX: The German language students showed more interest in learning about Swedish politics than other groups. In this context, the lack of hyphen shows that this is a group of German students who are in a language class.
• Hyphenate temporary compounds, which are words that occur together, often in the context of the paper alone, but are not listed in the dictionary
  EX: The critical organ involved in cadmium-toxic renal failure is the kidney.
• Use hyphens if a word would be confused for another word without the hyphen
  EX: Re-sign has a different meaning than resign.
• Use hyphens with most prefixes, especially those that modify numbers, abbreviations, and proper nouns
  EX: Post-Victorian, pre-1950, pre-NASA space travel
• All nouns and adjectives that begin with self should be hyphenated
  EX: Self-employed, self-administered
• Retain hyphens in a list if the list contains two or more compound modifiers
  EX: 6-, 7-, and 8-year-old subjects
• Do not hyphenate adverbs that end with ly, fractions that are written as nouns, chemical terms, foreign adjectives, and adverbs

Italics

• Use italics for titles of books, periodicals, films, videos, television shows, microfilm publications, volume numbers in a reference list, and words that could be misread
• Use italics to introduce technical or key terms
• Do not use italics for foreign phrases and abbreviations common in English, chemical terms, nonstatistical subscripts to statistical symbols or mathematical expressions, Greek letters, mere emphasis, letters used as abbreviations, and trigonometric terms

Numbers

• Use numerals for:
  • 10 and up
  • Graphical displays
  • Units of measurement
  • Mathematical or statistical functions
  • Exact scores, ages, dates, and times
• Use words for:
  • Numbers at the beginning of sentences
  • Common fractions
  • Usage that is universal
• Combinations of words and numerals may be used in situations to increase readability
  EX: Eight 10-point scales were used.
• Use Arabic instead of Roman numerals unless Roman numerals are part of a known terminology
• Use metric units based on the International System of Units

Punctuation

• Provides direction and cadence within a sentence and is the essence of coherent writing (see also English Grammar & Punctuation QuickStudy gu...