Style guidelines
what is the APA Style recommendations for ANOVA tables?
columns should include: df, F ratios - between-subject values & error are stated first, followed by within-subject values & error - mean square errors are in parentheses - general note of explanation is required - asterisks are used to indicate statistical significance - include footnote to explain p threshold
What are the Spacing and Margins for APA Style?
- 8.5 x 11" paper - each paragraph indented 1/2 inch - double-spaced - with at least 1" margins all around, margins must be consistent
APA guidelines for tables and figures -referencing them in text -style of actual tables and figures
- Any figure or table must be noted in the text of appropriate section. But only the most important points should be described in text -Do not include phrases such as: "See Table 2", or "Refer to Figure 4," etc. -Each figure or table should be functionally independent. -All figures must have clear, legible, properly formatted captions, legends, labels, etc. -Figures and tables are numbered sequentially.
what are the style guidelines for figures?
- Only essential figures should be included. Figures should be sparse, including no more detail than necessary - Text and notes should be clear, have ample contrast and be readable -Text should be consistent throughout all figures and the body of the paper. san serif font (e.g. Arial), between 8-14 point -Figures must be numbered consecutively with Arabic numbers. -All abbreviations and symbols should be noted and explained - Include all essential captions, legends and keys - Figures should be noted in the text of the paper APA Figure Size Guidelines Width: -Figures with 1 column: 2-3.25 inches (5 - 8.45 cm) -Figures with 2 columns: 4.25-6.875 inches wide (10.6 to 17.5 cm) Height -Height only constrained by document margins Figure Text
general guidelines for APA writing
- Use 1st person in place of awkward statements such as: 'the study did . . .' however, APA example papers include "This paper discusses ...", etc. - APA prefers active voice: 'experiments revealed', 'reaction demonstrated', etc. - Be clear and concise. Avoid lengthy sentences - Avoid serial clauses and ambiguous clauses - Use the term 'participants' in place of 'subjects' - Avoid metaphors and figurative language - Stress simplicity
what are Style requirements for abbreviations
- no periods in measurements- except for inch (in.) - abbreviate first and middle names of authors, editors, etc. - Churchill, W.
what are the APA recommendations for font?
-APA 7 recognizes that reading is no longer primarily from printed materials & Helvetic fonts are not required -Times New Roman 12 pt, Calibri size 11pt, Arial 11pt, Lucida Sans Unicode 10pt, and Georgia 11pt are now allowed fonts in v.7 - font must be consistent, except: for figure images, use a sans serif font between 8-14 points
in-text citations of references
-Sources listed in body of paper should be cited in your reference list -In-text citation usually includes author's last name and date in parentheses (Watson, 2018) -Complete citation must be included in reference list at end of paper -References to specific passages also require page number(s) (Watson, 2018, p. 200), must be entered manually capitalization: -titles of references: all words capitalized if >4 letters -References with long titles should be italicized -Specific articles, songs, shows are indicated by quotation marks
what is the formatting for an abstract?
-positioned on new page following title page -includes page header -abstract should be preceded by centered 'Abstract' -then 1-paragraph abstract body follows without indentation -typically 150-250 words, including research topic, questions addressed, study participants, methods- results, nature of analysis, conclusions -optional: impact of research and implications for future -optional: keywords -indented with Keywords (italicized): and list of keywords
what is APA formatting for a title page of a professional paper?
APA format title page for a professional paper includes: - paper title: title centered (not all caps) in upper half of page. no abbreviations, occupying no more than 2 lines (double-spaced) - author names: first, middle initial, last (no titles) - author affiliation(s), - author note, - running head - page number Formatting: - capitalize major words in title - superscript numbers refer to institutional affiliation (unless all authors are from same institution) -affiliation: where research conducted - author note in bottom half of page - running head: all caps in header of all pages - left-aligned- prefix term 'Running head:' is no longer used - title pages for professional papers also require a running head
what is the APA format for a title page for a student paper?
APA format title page for a student paper includes: - the title of paper in bold font and positioned ~3-4 lines from top - names of all authors: no titles for author but titles are appropriate for instructors - institutional affiliation (school), department & institution - course number, colon and title - instructor's name - due date - page number (top right) Formatting: - all centered, title & subtitle on separate ds lines - 1 double space between title & author - 'and' before name of last author - APA 7 does not limit number of words in title - no running head for student papers - uniform font for all text on page - no underlining or italicization
what are additional requirement for tables?
Additional requirements for tables: -Tables should be included only if necessary -Tables must be properly sourced if copied -All tables should have a consistent appearance and organization -Tables must be correctly formatted: consistently single- or double-spaced- including title (brief), headings (short, appropriate), and notes -Tables are numbered with Arabic numbers (number suffixes are not allowed (1a, 1b, etc.)) -Vertical lines are strongly discouraged -All abbreviations, signs, symbols, etc. must be explained - Probability (p-values) must be identified. APA allows consistent use of asterisks to indicate stat. significance
what should the alignment of APA papers be? what are exceptions to the alignment?
Alignment: - indent first line of paragraphs 0.5 inches (with tab function) -words at ragged right edge should not be manually hyphenated (unless long hyperlinks, DOI, etc) Exceptions to left alignment: -title page matter is centered- section titles such as abstract and references are centered (in bold) -first line of abstract is not indented -block quotes are indented 0.5 inches, initial line of block quote paragraphs are also indented 0.5 inches -headings: Level 1: centered (bold), Level 2 & 3: left, Level 4 & 5: indented -#s designating figures and tables: flush left -references: 0.5 inch hanging indent
proper style of writing: - CI -df -chi-square -correlation
CIs: 95% CI [2.47, 2.99], [-5.1, 1.56] - brackets, unless included w/i parentheses df: t(10) = 2.16 (parentheses) chi square: Χ2(1, N = 75) = 0.89, p = .25 - square should be superscript correlation: r(55) = .49, p < .001
what is the header-head? what the running head? how does this differ between student papers and professional papers?
Header-Head: -page header is running head on all pages - pagination begins with title page- student papers: page number only - with page numbers flush right- professional papers: page number & running head: - TITLE OF PAPER (all caps) flush left- running head is generally <50 characters with spacing Running Head: - shortened title of paper in all caps - left aligned- no more than 50 characters (with spaces & punctuation)- no abbreviations- should be uniform on all pages - "Running head:" no longer used
how should the paper's line spacing be? What are exceptions to this?
Line Spacing: consistent double-spacing for most of paper, including abstract, block quotes, figure titles, notes & references. No additional spaces between paragraphs Exceptions to double-spacing: -additional double space after title on title page -line spacing of text in cells of tables should be consistent but may be 1-, 1.5- or 2-spaced (table # & title should be double-spaced) -line spacing in image portion of figures may also be 1- or 2-spaced but figure title and notes should be double-spaced -spacing of equations may be flexible
when discussing statistical results in an APA paper, how should probability values in tables be fomatted? probability values in text?
Probability values in tables -APA utilizes notes to clarify statistical significance (alpha or other value in note) - with asterisks Probability values in text -Apart from tables, p-values are enclosed by parentheses (p = .42) -0 before decimal is not required in APA format (unless stat can be >1 -also parentheses are used for degrees of freedom t(45) = 8.4 F(3, 88) = 5.87 -brackets for limits of CIs: 89% CIs [3.45, 2.7], [-6.0, 3.89], and [-7.23, 1.89] Legibility - space after commas and most symbols - statistical formulas for routine procedures are unnecessary - round to 2 decimal places (except p values) - italicize statistical symbols only
how should short quotations and long quotations be formatted in APA?
Short Quotations -direct quotations require: author, year of publication, pg number (p. 18) -quotations may be indicated in various ways: introductory phrase (if needed), author name, date (in parentheses), "quotation" ex: According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p. 199) Long Quotations - quotations >40 words should be placed in a separate block of text without quotation marks - format: - quote begins on new line- with 1/2 inch left indentation - additional paragraphs in quotation further indented by 1/2 inch - double-spaced *In general, quotations should be avoided in academic writing. The paper represents your work, synthesis, interpretation and conclusions -- not a compilation of the work of others
what is the recommended style of series or lists?
Style of series or lists: If sequential, chronological: - indented (for each): 1. first item 2. second item 3. third item -If the list is not serial, bullets are preferred ex: "Elisabeth Kulber-Ross is widely credited with identifying five stages of grief many people go · denial; · anger; · bargaining; · acceptance (Hebert, Moore & Rooney, 2011, para. 9). - Or paragraph form: "In the study, patients were given (a) the trial drug, (b) no drug, or (c) a placebo." *Note retention of 'Oxford comma'. Parts separated by commas or semi-colons Technically, APA requires items in numbered lists to be complete sentences (initial capital and period) however, non-serial lists need not be sentences
what is the formatting of the introductory paragraph/section?
The introductory paragraph has no subheading title: - unlike other sections - No heading for Introduction - Title preceding Introduction is not formatted as level 1 heading
what words should be capitalized in titles?
Titles - capitalize both words of hyphenated compound & - first word after dash or colon
