LibGuides: APA6: Style Notes

Style notes

Author notes

In text

The author(s) name(s) should be written as: Surname (year, page number) or (Surname, year, page number) for a direct quote.

Cite the names of the authors in the order they appear.
Do not include suffixes, e.g. Dr or Jr.
For foreign names, capitalise and spell the name just as it appears in the article you're citing. If the surname starts with a lower case letter, use that form in-text and keep the author's original capitalisation even in the reference list entry.

For group authors, abbreviations are acceptable, as long as it is easily recognisable in the reference list.

For first authors with the same surname, include the first author’s initials in all in-text citations to differentiate even if the publication year is different, e.g. (E. M. Smith & Jones, 2018), (P. Smith, 2020).

If a work has no identifiable author, cite in-text the title and the year. Use double quotes around the title of an article or chapter e.g. (“Study finds, ” 2007) or if it is a book place the title in italics, e.g. (Science for Dummies, 2008).

For works where the author is “Anonymous,” use it in the in-text citation e.g. (Anonymous, 1998).

When citing 2 or more works by the same author in the one instance, arrange the in-text citation by year of publication and only write the author’s name once e.g. (Smith, 2002, 2004).

When citing 2 or more works by different authors in the one instance, arrange the in-text citation in the order as given in the reference list e.g. (Adams, 2004; Smith, 2004).
To format the subsequent citations by the same author or group of authors, consult the table below

Type of citation	First citation in text	Subsequent citations in text	Parenthetical format, first citation in text	Parenthetical format, subsequent citations in text
One work by one author	Walker (2007)	Walker (2007)	(Walker, 2007)	(Walker, 2007)
One work by two authors	Walker and Allen (2004)	Walker and Allen (2004)	(Walker & Allen, 2004)	(Walker & Allen, 2004)
One work by three authors	Bradley, Ramirez, and Soo (1999)	Bradley et al. (1999)	(Bradley, Ramirez, & Soo, 1999)	(Bradley et al., 1999)
One work by four authors	Bradley, Ramirez, Soo, and Walsh (2006)	Bradley et al. (2006)	(Bradley, Ramirez, Soo, & Walsh, 2006)	(Bradley et al., 2006)
One work by five authors	Walker, Allen, Bradley, Ramirez, and Soo (2008)	Walker et al. (2008)	(Walker, Allen, Bradley, Ramirez, & Soo, 2008)	(Walker et al., 2008)
One work by six or more authors	Wasserstein et al. (2005)	Wasserstein et al. (2005)	(Wasserstein et al., 2005)	(Wasserstein et al., 2005)
Groups (readily identified through abbreviation) as authors	National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH 2003)	NIMH (2003)	(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2003)	(NIMH, 2003)
Groups (no abbreviation) as authors	University of Pittsburgh (2005)	University of Pittsburgh (2005)	(University of Pittsburgh, 2005)	(University of Pittsburgh, 2005)

Taken from Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 2010.

Reference list

If an article has 7 or less authors include all authors in the reference list. When the authors number 8 or more, include the first 6 authors’ names, then 3 ellipisis points (…) then add the last author’s name.

If the reference list includes different authors with the same surname and first initial, the authors’ full names may be given in brackets.
- Janet, P. [Paul]. (1983) ………… in-text (Paul Janet, 1983)
- Janet, P. [Pierre] (1895)………... in-text (Pierre Janet, 1895)
For works by the same author and year, arrange them alphabetically by surname and then by title. Add the suffixes a, b, c, etc. to the publication year and refer to these in the in-text citation., e.g. Elkind (2007b) or (Elkind, 2007a), etc.

When citing multiple works by the same author and there is an in-press title, place the in-press title last.
An editor is treated like a regular author, but with (Ed.) or (Eds.) after the name(s). For 2 or more editors, only include (Eds.) once, after the last editor’s name.
When referencing materials by First Nations creators, it is important to note the Nation or Country and/or language group of the person or community who created them.

Abbreviation	Book or publication part
ed.	edition
Rev. ed.	Revised edition
2nd ed.	second edition
Ed. (Eds.)	Editor (Editors)
Trans.	Translator(s)
n.d.	no date
p. (pp.)	page (pages)
Vol.	Volume (as in Vol. 4)
Vols.	Volumes (as in Vols. 1-4)
No.	Number
Pt.	Part
Tech. Rep.	Technical Report
Suppl.	Supplement
para.	paragraph
DOI	digital object identifier

Adapted from APA publication manual 6th edition p.180

For official U S state abbreviations : https://pe.usps.com/text/pub28/28apb.htm

Formatting your document

Font

12-point type size (never use a larger point size for headings or on the title page).
Use Times or Times New Roman.

Page numbers

Place page numbers in the top right hand corner.

Margins

2.54 cm at the top, bottom, left-hand, and right-hand sides of the page.

Spacing

Double-line spacing

(Do not insert extra lines between paragraphs or the references list entries.)

Use one space after all punctuation except
- certain periods within abbreviations, quotations or parentheses (e.g., p.m.; "et al., 2014")
- colons in ratios (10:1)
- full stops in the narrative. Use two spaces between sentences.

Rules for the use of indents:

Paragraph indents

Indent the first line of each paragraph (using the tab key or paragraph tool).
Exceptions: abstract, block quotations, titles and headings, table titles and notes.

References

Apply the hanging indent for the second and subsequent lines of a reference.

Hughes, F. (2008). Leadership in mental health nursing. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health Services, 46, 8-9. Retrieved from http://www.healio.com/psychiatry/journals/jpn

Justification of text

All text, except headings, needs to be aligned to the left, not justified.

Appendices

Begin each Appendix on a separate page.
For one appendix, label it Appendix. For more than one appendix, each must be labelled with a letter (e.g. Appendix A, Appendix B etc.) according to the order it appears in the text of the paper.
Place the label and title of each appendix at the top of the page, centred, using normal capitalization. Label first, title second.
If your appendices use information from an outside source, cite it within the text of the appendix and include the reference in the main reference list for the paper.

For more information about the stylistic aspects of using APA, such as where to place page numbers and when to use italics, consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, located in the library.

Help

Please consult the manual directly for more detailed information:
APA. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) Washington, DC: APA.

The American Psychological Association website also provides useful information, including the basics of APA style: http://www.apastyle.org/learn/index.aspx

The APA style blog: http://blog.apastyle.org/

Presentations

Presentation slides

Normal APA style referencing rules apply.
If you are reproducing an Image / graph (Figure) or Table, provide a caption / copyright statement at the bottom of the slide in which the figure or table appears (in smaller font).

For more information:

La Trobe University. (2019). Presentations. Retrieved from http://latrobe.libguides.com/presentations

Lexis, L. & Julien, B (2017). Communicating scientific discoveries to peers. In How to do science: A guide to researching human physiology (pp. 125-134). Retrieved from https://library.latrobe.edu.au/ebureau/ebook.html#howtodoscience

Nicol, A. A. M. & Pexman, P. M. (2010). Visuals for presentations. In Display your findings: A practical guide for creating figures, posters and presentations (pp. 177-184). Washington, DC: American Psychological Assocation.

Posters

Normal APA style referencing rules apply however, should be followed "as much as possible" for Image / graph (Figures) and Tables (Nicol & Pexman, 2010, p. 172).

For more information:

La Trobe University. (2019). Writing: Health sciences. Retrieved from http://latrobe.libguides.com/writing/health-sciences

Lexis, L. & Julien, B. (2017). Communicating scientific discoveries to peers. In How to do science: A guide to researching human physiology (pp.125-134). Retrieved from https://library.latrobe.edu.au/ebureau/ebook.html#howtodoscience

Nicol, A. A. M. & Pexman, P. M. (2010). Posters. In Displaying your findings: A practical guide for creating figures, posters and presentations (pp. 103-176). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Publishing information

Place of Publication

Only cite the location that is listed first in the publication details.
Include city and state for Australian and U.S. publishers or city and country for international publishers.
Use a colon after the location, e.g. :

Prahran, VIC: Tilde Press.

London, England: Bloomsbury.

If the publisher is a university and the name of the state or province is included in the name of the university, do not repeat the name in the publisher location, e.g. if citing Queensland University Press or New York University Press, do not include QLD or NY after the location.
Abbreviate U.S. states using the standard two-letter format.

For official U.S. state abbreviations: https://pe.usps.com/text/pub28/28apb.htm

States are abbreviated and in capital letters and countries are spelt out in full.

Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Lifelong.

Brisbane, QLD: Australian Academic Press.

Montrouge, France: John Libbey Eurotext.

Other

Leave out unnecessary details from the publisher’s name, such as Co., Pty., Inc., or the word Publishers. Keep the words Books and Press if they are part of the publisher’s name.
If the author is also the publisher, use Author to indicate the name of the publisher.
Always place a full stop at the end of the citation, unless it ends with a DOI or URL.
The publication date is always enclosed in parentheses with the exception of archival sources where the exact date is not known; cite these sources as [ca. date] to indicate circa, using square brackets. If no date can be found write (n.d.). meaning ‘no date’. Always place a full stop after the date.
When a resource has two dates (e.g. an electronic version of a republished book) - use both dates in the in-text reference, e.g. Russell (1948/2009). In the reference list entry, use the date of the version you have viewed and add when the original work was published at the end, e.g.

Russell, B. (2009). Human knowledge: Its scope and limits. Retrieved from https://ebookcentral-proquest-com (Original work published 1948).

Quotations and paraphrasing

Direct quotations

Provide author, year and specific page.
If the quote is fewer than 40 words incorporate into text and enclose in quotation marks.
Daley and Robinton (2012, p. 295) stated, “These features influence the utility of each of these cell types for disease modelling and therapeutics, and offer predictions for the evolution of the art of reprogramming somatic cells” ……
If the quote is over 40 words, display as a free standing block. Do not use quotation marks and indent the entire quote starting on a new line.

In this Review, we describe the derivation of iPS cells, outline the functional assessments of pluripotency, and then recount how global assessments of gene expression, gene copy number variation, DNA methylation and chromatin modification provide a more nuanced comparison of iPS cells and ES cells. We detail how these features influence the utility of each of these cell types for disease modelling and therapeutics, and offer predictions for the evolution of the art of reprogramming somatic cells. (Daley & Robinton, 2012, p. 295)

For additional paragraphs of a direct quote, further indent the first line of the second paragraph.

We detail how these features influence the utility of each of these cell types for disease modelling and therapeutics, and offer predictions for the evolution of the art of reprogramming somatic cells.
The years since Takahashi and Yamanaka's breakthrough have seen a flood of papers touting advances in reprogramming technology, including alternative methods for reprogramming and the successful derivation of iPS cells from various cell types. Although the field has advanced at a breathtaking pace, investigators have recently taken a step back to more critically evaluate iPS cells relative to ES cells and have endeavoured to fully understand how these cell populations differ from one another in the hope of closing the gap between the two populations. (Daley & Robinton, 2012, p. 295)

Paraphrasing

Use past tense when citing someone else's work.
For in-text referencing use author and date.
Page numbers are encouraged for long sources but not mandatory.

Authors tend to publish their research via conference papers first, before reworking the paper for journal publication (Wainer & Valle, 2013, p. 7).

Wainer and Valle (2013, p. 7) argued that it is usual that authors publish in a conference first, then extend their article, and seek appropriate journal publication.

Reference list example

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., text rev.). doi:10.1176/appi.books.9780890423349

Australian Council for Educational Research. (2010). Doing more for learning: Enhancing engagement and outcomes. Retrieved from http://ausse.acer.edu.au/images/docs/AUSSE_2009_Student_Engagement_Report.pdf

Blackberry's PlayBook tablet makes a surprise appearance on stage. (2010, November 2). The Australian, p. 43.

De Bellis, M. D., Narasimhan, A., Thatcher, D. L., Keshavan, M. S., Soloff, P., & Clark, D. B. (2005). Prefrontal cortex, thalamus, and cerebellar volumes in adolescent and young adults with adolescent onset-alcohol use disorders and comorbid mental disorders. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 29, 1590-1600. doi:10.1097/01.alc.0000179368.87886.76

Deci, E. L. (2014). The effects of instructors' autonomy support and students' autonomous motivation on learning organic chemistry. Science Education, 84, 740-756. doi:10.1002/1098-237X

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (n.d.-a). Motivation and education. Retrieved August 12, 2014, from http://www.education.com/reference/article/motivation-and-education/

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (n.d.-b). Research information in nurses’ clinical decision-making. Retrieved August 12, 2014, from http://www.acn.edu.au/education

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (1985). Intrinsic motivation and self-determination in human behaviour. New York, NY: Plenum.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2011). Self-determination theory. In P. A. M. Van Lange, A. W. Kruglanski, & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Handbook of theories of social psychology (pp. 416-437). London, England: Sage.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (in press-a). Infusing PDA technology into nursing education. Journal of Advanced Nursing.

Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (in press-b). The path taken: Consequences of attaining intrinsic and extrinsic aspirations in post-college life. Journal of Research in Personality.

de Visser, R. O., Hart, A., Abraham, C., Memon, A., Graber, R., & Scanlon, T. (2014). Which alcohol control strategies do young people think are effective? Drug and Alcohol Review, 33, 144-151. doi:10.1111/dar.12109

Elkind, D. (2007a). The hurried child: Growing up too fast too soon. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Lifelong.

Elkind, D. (2007b). The power of play: How spontaneous, imaginative activities lead to happier, healthier children. Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Lifelong.

Focus changes for Louisiana in oil cleanup. (2010, November 3). The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/

Gregoriou, G. N. (Ed.). (2006). Advances in risk management. doi:10.1057/9780230625846

Le Messurier, M. (2010). Teaching tough kids: Simple and proven strategies for student success. Retrieved from http://0-lib.myilibrary.com.alpha2.latrobe.edu.au/home.aspx

The life of insects. (1979). Morristown, NJ: Silver Burdett.

Merrill, C., & Daugherty, J. (2010). STEM education and leadership: A mathematics and science partnership approach. Journal of Technology Education, 21(2), 21-34. Retrieved from http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JTE/

Rudd, K. [KRuddMP]. (2013, May 28). Talking to @BillGates re vaccinations & eliminating polio. Oz working with Gates Foundation on all these. [Tweet]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/MrKRudd/status/339201056472985600

Siegel, E. (2010, November 10). The physics of global warming [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/2010/11/the_physics_of_global_warming.php

Titles

Books, theses or reports

Only the first word of the title (and subtitle) should be capitalised. Proper nouns should also be capitalised. The title should be written in italics.
Any additional information goes in parentheses after the title, e.g. edition, report or volume number. This information is not written in italics.
If a volume is part of a larger, separately titled series, treat the series and volume titles as a two-part title.
Always place a full stop at the end of the title.

Journal or newspaper titles

Use the full title of the journal and capitalise all major words. If it uses a combination of cases and symbols e.g. ReCALL or Travel & Leisure keep the form used by the journal.
Always place a full stop at the end of the title.

Journal article, newspaper article or chapter titles

Only the first word of the title (and subtitle) should be capitalised. Proper nouns should also be capitalised. Do not italicise the title or place quotation marks around it.
Always place a full stop at the end of the title.