APA and You An introduction to

citation and formatting for Medaille students

What is APA?A style guide:

APA (American Psychological Association) – Psychology, Business, Criminology, Economics, Education, and Sociology

Chicago (CMOS) – humanities and social sciences

Turabian (variation on Chicago) – humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences

MLA – literature and the humanities

CSE – biology

Benefits of Using APA

Your work will be easier to read and understand

Protects against plagiarism

Gives credit where credit is due

Gives the reader insight into your research process

APA Style is widely accepted in the business world and is commonly used in professional publications

General Format References

Main Body

Abstract(Optiona

l)Title Page

General Format

Your essay should:

be typed, double spaced

on standard-sized paper (8.5” x 11”)

in 10-12 pt. Times New Roman or a similar font

with 1” margins on all sides

include a page header (short title & page number) in the upper right-hand of every page

Page Header

Page Header

References Lists sources cited in the essay

May contain sources consulted, but not cited

APA Guides Medaille APA Guide -

http://libraryguides.medaille.edu/apa

Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) APA Guide

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition

Using the Guides Identify the source type: book, journal article,

webpage

Find an example of the source in an APA Guide

“Mirror” the example using the information from your source

References

Inman, M. (2012). How to tell if your cat is plotting to kill you. Kansas City: Andrews McMeel.

References

Adams, S. (2013). How to fail at almost everything and still win big: Kind of the story of my life. New York: Penguin Group.

References

References

Double spaced

In alphabetical order by authors’ surnames

“References” centered at top

Left-aligned with hanging indent

References1) Click and drag to

highlight a reference2) Right-click, select

“Paragraph”3) Select “Hanging” and

“0.5” under Indentation

Main Body

Header at top right-hand corner with page number

First page of main body will be page 3 with an abstract or page 2 without an abstract

Double spaced

No extra spaces between paragraphs, just indented

Title typed and centered at top

Main Body: In-Text Citations

Main Body: In-Text CitationsIn-text citations help readers locate the cited source in the References section of the paper.

Whenever you use a source, provide in parenthesis:

the author’s name and the date of publication

The page number(s) if your paraphrase is from a specific page or range of pages

The page number(s) if you are directly quoting a source

Main Body: In-Text Citations In some cases, you may choose to use a

signal phrase including the author’s name.

For example:

According to Rubin (2010), one of the reasons public libraries were built was because they were seen as a way to help the disadvantaged (p. 56).

In this case, you want to follow the author’s name with the year of publication. At the end of the sentence, specify the page number.

Direct Quotations

• Direct Quote (40 Words or Less)

– According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style,

especially when it was their first time" (p. 199).

• Direct Quote (40 Words or More)– Jones's (1998) study found the following:

Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it

was their first time citing sources. This difficulty could be

attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase a

style manual or to ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)

Abstract

Brief summary of your paper

Less than 120 words?

150-200 words?

Header

Double spaced, no indent

“Abstract” centered at top

Title Page

Centered in the upper-half of the page

Follow this order:

Essay titleWriter’s nameInstructor’s nameCourse titleDate

Double-spaced

Header at top

The Running Head

Short version of title in all caps

Aligned to left side of page

On title page, put “Running Head:”

All other pages, just short title in all caps, left-aligned

Citation Software

EndNote

Zotero

Mendeley

RefWorks

Son of Citation Machine

Citation Builder

KnightCite

Help at Medaille

Handout or APA manual

Website:− http://libraryguides.medaille.edu/rochesterapa

Ask a librarian− April Higgins: adh79@medaille.edu− Elizabeth King: eak87@medaille.edu

Medaille College, Rochester campus Writing Lab− Mon-Thu 6-8 PM; Sat 9-11 AM