An EasyGuide to APA Style

Beth M. Schwartz is the Provost and Professor of Psychology at Endicott College. Previously she served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and Professor of Psychology at Heidelberg University, in Tiffin, Ohio. Dr. Schwartz started her career on the faculty at Randolph College (founded as Randolph-Macon Woman′s College) in Lynchburg, VA, where she served for 24 years. At Randolph she was the William E. and Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ‘23 Professor of Psychology and Assistant Dean of the College. She received a BA at Colby College (Maine) and a PhD in cognitive psychology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her scholarship focuses on the scholarship of teaching and learning/pedagogical research, in particular the issues surrounding academic integrity and honor systems. In addition to numerous professional presentations at conferences, she has published many book chapters and articles in a variety of scholarly journals, including the Journal of Higher Education, Ethics and Behavior, Law and Human Behavior, and Applied Developmental Science. She has also edited and coauthored books, including Child Abuse: A Global View(Schwartz, McCauley, & Epstein, 2001), Optimizing Teaching and Learning (Gurung & Schwartz, 2012), and Evidence-Based Teaching for Higher Education (Schwartz & Gurung, 2012). She is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Psychological Society and is a Fellow of Division 2 of APA (Society for the Teaching of Psychology). She was an award-winning teacher at Randolph College, where she taught Introduction to Psychology, Research Methods, Cognitive Psychology, and the capstone course. She received the Award for Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring from the American Psych-Law Society, the Gillie A. Larew Award for Distinguished Teaching at Randolph College, the Katherine Graves Davidson Excellence in Scholarship Award from Randolph College, and the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Certificate from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.     R. Eric Landrum is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychological Science at Boise State University, receiving his PhD in cognitive psychology from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.  He is a research generalist, broadly addressing the improvement of teaching and learning, including the long-term retention of introductory psychology content, skills assessment, improving help-seeking behavior, advising innovations, understanding student career paths, the psychology workforce, successful graduate school applications, and more.  Eric has 425+ presentations, 23 books/textbooks, and published 85 peer-reviewed journal articles. He has collaborated with 300+ research assistants and taught 18,000+ students in 28 years at Boise State.  During Summer 2008, he led an American Psychological Association (APA) working group at the National Conference for Undergraduate Education in Psychology studying the desired results of an undergraduate psychology education, and at the 2014 APA Educational Leadership Conference, Eric was presented with a Presidential Citation for outstanding contributions to the teaching of psychology.  With the 2015 launch of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology journal, he served as inaugural co-editor. He is a member of APA, a fellow of Division Two (Society for the Teaching of Psychology/STP), a fellow of Division One (General Psychology), and served as STP President (2014).  He is a charter member of the Association for Psychological Science (named fellow in 2018). During 2016-2017, Eric was President of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association and was President of Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology in 2017-2018.  In August 2019, he received the American Psychological Foundation’s Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award, the highest award given to teachers of psychology in America. will serve as the 2015–2016 president of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association. REGAN A. R. GURUNG is Professor of Psychology and the Associate Vice Provost and Executive Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at Oregon State University. Born and raised in Bombay, India, Dr. Gurung received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology at Carleton College (Minnesota) and Master of Science (MS) and doctoral (PhD) degrees in social and personality psychology at the University of Washington (Washington State). He followed with 3 years at the University of California, Los Angeles, as a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) research fellow. His early work focused on social support and close relationships; he studied how perceptions of support from close others influence relationship satisfaction. His later work investigated cultural differences in coping with stressors such as HIV infection, pregnancy, and smoking cessation. He continues to explore cultural differences in health and is heavily involved in pedagogical research directed toward improving teaching and student learning. He has received numerous local, state, and national grants for his research in health psychology and social psychology regarding cultural differences in stress, social support, smoking cessation, body image, and impression formation. He has published articles in a variety of scholarly journals, including the American Psychologist, Psychological Review, and Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, and is a frequent presenter at national and international conferences. He is the author, coauthor, or editor of fifteen other books including Study Like a Champ (with John Dunlosky), the Handbook of Health Psychology (2019, with Tracey Revenson), a two-volume Multicultural Approaches to Health and Wellness in America (2014), Easyguide to APA [American Psychological Association] Style (2017, with Eric Landrum and Beth Schwartz), and Everyday Applications of Psychological Science (with Eric Landrum, Dana Dunn, Maureen McCarthy, and Susan Nolan). Dr. Gurung is also a dedicated teacher and has interests in enhancing faculty development and student understanding. In 2017 he won the American Psychological Foundation’s prestigious Charles L. Brewer Award for Distinguished Teaching in Psychology. He also has won the Carnegie Association’s Wisconsin Professor of the Year (2010), the UW System Regent’s Teaching Award (2011), the UW–Green Bay Founder’s Award for Excellence in Teaching Excellence in Scholarship, and the UW Teaching at Its Best, Creative Teaching, and Featured Faculty awards. He has organized statewide and national teaching conferences and is an active member and past president of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology (American Psychological Association [APA]-Division 2). He is an elected fellow of the American Psychological Association and Association for Psychological Science and past president of the Psi Chi International Honor Society in Psychology. When not reading, writing, or helping people stay calm, Regan enjoys culinary explorations, travel, and immersing himself in his son’s and daughter’s latest pursuits.

Section I: Overview
Chapter 1: Style Versus Format: Why It Matters to Your Audience and Why It Should Matter to You
What Is the Difference Between APA Style and APA Format?
Why APA Style Anyway? Wasn’t MLA Good Enough?
In the Long Run, Attention to Detail Matters (Including APA Style and Format)
Write for Your Specific Audience: Term Papers Versus Formal Research Papers
Chapter 2: Your Visual Table of Contents QuickFinder
The Sample Paper With Content and Page Numbers
Section II. Writing With (APA) Style: Big-Picture Items
Chapter 3: General Writing Tips Specific to APA Style: Bare-Bones Fundamentals
Clear and Succinct Writing: Using Your Scholarly Voice
Commonly Confused Words in Psychology and Beyond
Subject–Verb Agreement
Active Voice Versus Passive Voice in APA Style
Some (But Not Too Much) First-Person Usage
Avoiding Anthropomorphism
Chapter 4: A Quick Grammar Summary for APA-Style Writing
Parts of a Sentence
Parts of Speech
Common Grammar Mistakes to Avoid
Chapter 5: Plagiarism and How to Avoid It: Thou Shalt Not Steal (or Be Lazy)
But I Didn’t Know...
It Sounds Like a Bad Word
Quoting: More Than Just a Copy and Paste
Paraphrasing: In Your Own Words
An Author’s License (Yours): Modifying Source Material
But I Can Freely Use My Own Work, Right?
How About This for a Plagiarism Awareness Exercise?
Chapter 6: Avoiding Biased Language
The Fundamental Lesson: View People as Individuals First
Specific Recommendations for Reducing Bias: Nonsexist Language and Other Areas
Sexual Orientation
Racial and Ethnic Identity
Disabilities
Occupations
Gender and Pronouns: With an Indefinite Recommendation
Section III. Writing With (APA) Style: Getting Down to Business
Chapter 7: Writing Your Introduction: Tying the Story all Together
What to Include in Your Introduction
Formatting Your Introduction
Getting Your Introduction Started
Using an Outline: Organizing Your Literature Review
Common Mistakes to Avoid in your Introduction
Outline for the Sample Introduction Section Included
Sample Paper
Chapter 8: Writing Your Discussion: It’s a Wrap
Formatting Your Discussion Section
What to Include in Your Discussion Section
Getting Your Discussion Section Started
Organizing Your Discussion Section
Common Mistakes to Avoid in your Discussion Section
Outline for the Sample Discussion Section Included
Sample Paper
Chapter 9: Citing Sources in Text: Whodunit (or Said It)?
A Good Rule of Thumb
Ready, Cite, GO
In-Text Citation Basics
Some Curveballs
Chapter 10: A Step-by-Step Playbook of Your Method: How, What, When, Who, and Where?
Where in the Flow of Pages Do You Place the Method Section?
Where in the Method Section Does This Information Go?
Subjects/Participants
Materials and Apparatus
Procedure
Formatting Your Method Section
Chapter 11: Writing About Statistics and Associated Fun: How Did It All Turn Out?
Let Us Talk Statistics
Basics and Beyond
Formatting Your Results Paragraph
Including Effect Size and Power
Chapter 12: Everybody Needs References
A Helpful Note
Creating Your References Section
Using Abbreviations
The Basics
Basic References Section Formatting Rules
Some Not-So-Basic Rules You Might Need
Section IV. Presenting Your Work in APA Format
Chapter 13: The Numbers Game: How to Write Numbers (and When the Rules Change)
When You Use Numerals
When You Use Words
Using Both Numerals and Words
How to Use Decimal Points
Additional Rules for Including Numbers in Your Paper
Metrication
When Do You Use Abbreviations?
Chapter 14: Formatting: Organizing, Headings, and Making Your Work Look Good to Print
What Goes Where?
What Your Paper Should Look Like
Headings
Spelling Matters: Spelling and Capitalization Rules
Final Touches
Chapter 15: Table That Motion: The Special Challenges of Tables and Figures
What Is What
Getting the Look Down
A Note on “Notes”
Figuring It Out
Get Legendary (and Use Captions)
Where to Place Tables and Figures
But I Am Doing a Literature Review: Could I Use a Table or Figure?
Do Not Forget
Chapter 16: Make Microsoft Word 2013 Work for You: APA Formatting
Word 2013 Tabs and Drop-Down Menus
Setting the Margins
Line Spacing and Spacing Between Paragraphs
Page Headers (First Page and Subsequent Pages) and Page Numbering
Tabs, Centering, and the Ruler
References and the Hanging Indent
Preparing a Table (Rows, Columns, Lines, Centering)
Fonts and Font Variations (Italics, Bold, Superscript)
Page Breaks, Orphans, and Widows
Spell-Checker and Grammar Checker
Developing Good Habits: Autosaving, File Naming, File Storage, Frequent Backups
Section V. Some Nitty-Gritty Details
Chapter 17: Making a List, No Apps Required: Enumeration and Seriation
Why Bother?
Keeping Order at the Section Level
Order Within Paragraphs or Sentences
On a Related Note
Chapter 18: Abbreviations, Signs, Symbols, and Punctuation: The Devil Is in the Details
OMG: To Abbreviate or Not?
Blinding You With Science and Latin
Punctuation
Section VI. In Closing: Important Considerations
Chapter 19: Using Rubrics: Knowing What It Means to Write a Good Paper
Follow Rubrics When Provided
Example Rubric
Chapter 20: Proofreading the Entire Paper: Get It Right!
Sample Student Paper for Practicing Proofreading
Chapter 21: Complete Sample of an Experimental (Research) Paper: Samples, Anyone?
Sample Paper
Additional Resources on Writing
Chapter 22: How to Avoid the Most Common Mistakes: All Together Now
APA Style and Format Checklist
Be Aware of Professors’ Pet Peeves