{"id":107,"date":"2017-12-05T03:58:17","date_gmt":"2017-12-05T03:58:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-fredonia-bcresearchmethods\/chapter\/american-psychological-association-apa-style\/"},"modified":"2017-12-05T18:22:20","modified_gmt":"2017-12-05T18:22:20","slug":"american-psychological-association-apa-style","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/suny-bcresearchmethods\/chapter\/american-psychological-association-apa-style\/","title":{"raw":"American Psychological Association (APA) Style","rendered":"American Psychological Association (APA) Style"},"content":{"raw":"<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-highlight\">\r\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\r\n<ol><li>Define APA style and list several of its most important characteristics.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Identify three levels of APA style and give examples of each.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Identify multiple sources of information about APA style.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol><\/div>\r\n<h2><b>What Is APA Style?<\/b><\/h2>\r\n<b>APA\u00a0style<\/b>\u00a0is a set of guidelines for writing in psychology and related fields. These guidelines are set down in the <b>Publication\u00a0Manual\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0American\u00a0Psychological\u00a0Association<\/b> (APA, 2006)[footnote]<em>Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association<\/em> (6th ed.) (2010). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.[\/footnote]. The\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0originated in 1929 as a short journal article that provided basic standards for preparing manuscripts to be submitted for publication (Bentley et al., 1929)[footnote]Bentley, M., Peerenboom, C. A., Hodge, F. W., Passano, E. B., Warren, H. C., &amp; Washburn, M. F. (1929). Instructions in regard to preparation of manuscript.\u00a0<em>Psychological Bulletin, 26<\/em>, 57\u201363.[\/footnote]. It was later expanded and published as a book by the association and is now in its <a href=\"http:\/\/www.apastyle.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">sixth edition<\/a>. The primary purpose of APA style is to facilitate scientific communication by promoting clarity of expression and by standardizing the organization and content of research articles and book chapters. It is easier to write about research when you know what information to present, the order in which to present it, and even the style in which to present it. Likewise, it is easier to read about research when it is presented in familiar and expected ways.\r\n\r\nAPA style is best thought of as a \u201cgenre\u201d of writing that is appropriate for presenting the results of psychological research\u2014especially in academic and professional contexts. It is not synonymous with \u201cgood writing\u201d in general. You would not write a literary analysis for an English class, even if it were based on psychoanalytic concepts, in APA style. You would write it in Modern Language Association (MLA) style instead. And you would not write a newspaper article, even if it were about a new breakthrough in behavioural neuroscience, in APA style. You would write it in Associated Press (AP) style instead. At the same time, you would not write an empirical research report in MLA style, in AP style, or in the style of a romance novel, an e-mail to a friend, or a shopping list. You would write it in APA style. Part of being a good writer in general is adopting a style that is appropriate to the writing task at hand, and for writing about psychological research, this is APA style.\r\n<h2><b>The Levels of APA Style<\/b><\/h2>\r\nBecause APA style consists of a large number and variety of guidelines\u2014the <i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0is nearly 300 pages long\u2014it can be useful to think about it in terms of three basic levels. The first is the overall\u00a0<b>organization<\/b>\u00a0of an article (which is covered in\u00a0Chapter 2 \"Manuscript Structure and Content\"\u00a0of the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>). Empirical research reports, in particular, have several distinct sections that always appear in the same order:\r\n<ul><li><b>Title page.<\/b>\u00a0Presents the article title and author names and affiliations.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><b>Abstract.<\/b>\u00a0Summarizes the research.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><b>Introduction.<\/b>\u00a0Describes previous research and the rationale for the current study.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><b>Method.<\/b>\u00a0Describes how the study was conducted.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><b>Results.<\/b>\u00a0Describes the results of the study.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><b>Discussion.<\/b>\u00a0Summarizes the study and discusses its implications.<\/li>\r\n\t<li><b>References.<\/b>\u00a0Lists the references cited throughout the article.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\nThe second level of APA style can be referred to as\u00a0<b>high-level\u00a0style<\/b>\u00a0(covered in\u00a0Chapter 3 \"Writing Clearly and Concisely\"\u00a0of the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>), which includes guidelines for the clear expression of ideas. There are two important themes here. One is that APA-style writing is formal rather than informal. It adopts a tone that is appropriate for communicating with professional colleagues\u2014other researchers and practitioners\u2014who share an interest in the topic. Beyond this shared interest, however, these colleagues are not necessarily similar to the writer or to each other. A graduate student in British Columbia\u00a0might be writing an article that will be read by a young psychotherapist in Toronto\u00a0and a respected professor of psychology in Tokyo. Thus formal writing avoids slang, contractions, pop culture references, humour, and other elements that would be acceptable in talking with a friend or in writing informally.\r\n\r\nThe second theme of high-level APA style is that it is straightforward. This means that it communicates ideas as simply and clearly as possible, putting the focus on the ideas themselves and not on how they are communicated. Thus APA-style writing minimizes literary devices such as metaphor, imagery, irony, suspense, and so on. Again, humour is kept to a minimum. Sentences are short and direct. Technical terms must be used, but they are used to improve communication, not simply to make the writing sound more \u201cscientific.\u201d For example, if participants immersed their hands in a bucket of ice water, it is better just to write this than to write that they \u201cwere subjected to a pain-inducement apparatus.\u201d At the same time, however, there is no better way to communicate that a between-subjects design was used than to use the term \u201cbetween-subjects design.\u201d\r\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\r\n<h4><b>APA Style and the Values of Psychology<\/b><\/h4>\r\nRobert Madigan and his colleagues have argued that APA style has a purpose that often goes unrecognized (Madigan, Johnson, &amp; Linton, 1995)[footnote]Madigan, R., Johnson, S., &amp; Linton, P. (1995). The language of psychology: APA style as epistemology.\u00a0<em>American Psychologist, 50<\/em>, 428\u2013436.[\/footnote]. Specifically, it promotes psychologists\u2019 scientific values and assumptions. From this perspective, many features of APA style that at first seem arbitrary actually make good sense. Following are several features of APA-style writing and the scientific values or assumptions they reflect.\r\n<table><tbody><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\"><b>APA style feature<\/b><\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\"><b>Scientific value or assumption<\/b><\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">There are very few direct quotations of other researchers.<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">The phenomena and theories of psychology are objective and do not depend on the specific words a particular researcher used to describe them.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">Criticisms are directed at other researchers\u2019 work but not at them personally.<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">The focus of scientific research is on drawing general conclusions about the world, not on the personalities of particular researchers.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">There are many references and reference citations.<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">Scientific research is a large-scale collaboration among many researchers.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">Empirical research reports are organized with specific sections in a fixed order.<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">There is an ideal approach to conducting empirical research in psychology (even if this ideal is not always achieved in actual research).<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">Researchers tend to \u201chedge\u201d their conclusions, e.g., \u201cThe results\u00a0<i>suggest<\/i>\u00a0that\u2026\u201d<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">Scientific knowledge is tentative and always subject to revision based on new empirical results.<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>\r\nAnother important element of high-level APA style is the avoidance of language that is biased against particular groups. This is not only to avoid offending people\u2014why would you want to offend people who are interested in your work?\u2014but also for the sake of scientific objectivity and accuracy. For example, the term\u00a0<i>sexual orientation<\/i>\u00a0should be used instead of\u00a0<i>sexual preference<\/i>\u00a0because people do not generally experience their orientation as a \u201cpreference,\u201d nor is it as easily changeable as this term suggests (APA Committee on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns Joint Task Force on Guidelines for Psychotherapy With Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients, 2000)[footnote]American Psychological Association, Committee on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns Joint Task Force on Guidelines for Psychotherapy With Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients. (2000). <em>Guidelines for psychotherapy with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients<\/em>. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.apa.org\/pi\/lgbc\/guidelines.html[\/footnote].\r\n\r\nThe general principles for avoiding biased language are fairly simple. First, be sensitive to labels by avoiding terms that are offensive or have negative connotations. This includes terms that identify people with a disorder or other problem they happen to have. For example,\u00a0<i>patients with schizophrenia<\/i>\u00a0is better than\u00a0<i>schizophrenics<\/i>. Second, use more specific terms rather than more general ones. For example,\u00a0<i>Chinese Canadians<\/i>\u00a0is better than\u00a0<i>Asian Canadians<\/i>\u00a0if everyone in the group is, in fact, Chinese Canadian. Third, avoid objectifying research participants. Instead, acknowledge their active contribution to the research. For example, \u201cThe\u00a0<i>students completed<\/i>\u00a0the questionnaire\u201d is better than \u201cThe\u00a0<i>subjects were administered<\/i>\u00a0the questionnaire.\u201d Note that this principle also makes for clearer, more engaging writing.\u00a0Table 11.1 shows several more examples that follow these general principles.\r\n<table><caption><em>Table 11.1\u00a0Examples of Avoiding Biased Language<\/em><\/caption>\r\n<tbody><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\"><b>Instead of\u2026<\/b><\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\"><b>Use\u2026<\/b><\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">man, men<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">men and women, people<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">firemen<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">firefighters<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">homosexuals, gays, bisexuals<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">lesbians, gay men, bisexual men, bisexual women<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">minority<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">specific group label (e.g., African American)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">neurotics<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">people scoring high in neuroticism<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">special children<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">children with learning disabilities<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\r\nThe previous edition of the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0strongly discouraged the use of the term\u00a0<i>subjects<\/i>\u00a0(except for nonhumans) and strongly encouraged the use of <i>participants<\/i>\u00a0instead. The current edition, however, acknowledges that\u00a0<i>subjects <\/i>can still be appropriate in referring to human participants in areas in which it has traditionally been used (e.g., basic memory research). But it also encourages the use of more specific terms when possible:\u00a0<em>university<\/em><i>\u00a0students<\/i>,\u00a0<i>children<\/i>, <i>respondents<\/i>, and so on.\r\n\r\nThe third level of APA style can be referred to as\u00a0<b>low-level\u00a0style<\/b>\u00a0(which is covered in\u00a0Chapter 4 \"The Mechanics of Style\"\u00a0through\u00a0Chapter 7 \"Reference Examples\"\u00a0of the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>.) Low-level style includes all the specific guidelines pertaining to spelling, grammar, references and reference citations, numbers and statistics, figures and tables, and so on. There are so many low-level guidelines that even experienced professionals need to consult the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0from time to time.\u00a0Table 11.2 contains some of the most common types of APA style errors based on an analysis of manuscripts submitted to one professional journal over a 6-year period (Onwuegbuzie, Combs, Slate, &amp; Frels, 2010)[footnote]Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Combs, J. P., Slate, J. R., &amp; Frels, R. K. (2010). Editorial: Evidence-based guidelines for avoiding the most common APA errors in journal article submissions. <em>Research in the Schools, 16<\/em>, ix\u2013xxxvi.[\/footnote]. These errors were committed by professional researchers but are probably similar to those that students commit the most too. See also\u00a0Note 11.8 \"Online APA Style Resources\"\u00a0in this section and, of course, the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0itself.\r\n<table><caption><em>Table 11.2\u00a0Top 10 APA Style Errors<\/em><\/caption>\r\n<tbody><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\"><b>Error type<\/b><\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\"><b>Example<\/b><\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">1. Use of numbers<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">Failing to use numerals for 10 and above<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">2. Hyphenation<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">Failing to hyphenate compound adjectives that precede a noun (e.g., \u201crole playing technique\u201d should be \u201crole-playing technique\u201d)<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">3. Use of\u00a0<i>et al.<\/i><\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">Failing to use it after a reference is cited for the first time<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">4. Headings<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">Not capitalizing headings correctly<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">5. Use of <i>since<\/i><\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">Using\u00a0<i>since<\/i>\u00a0to mean\u00a0<i>because<\/i><\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">6. Tables and figures<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">Not formatting them in APA style; repeating information that is already given in the text<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">7. Use of commas<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">Failing to use a comma before\u00a0<i>and<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0<i>or<\/i>\u00a0in a series of three or more elements<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">8. Use of abbreviations<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">Failing to spell out a term completely before introducing an abbreviation for it<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">9. Spacing<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">Not consistently double-spacing between lines<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><tr class=\"-R\"><td class=\"-C\">10. Use of \"&amp;\"<i>\u00a0<\/i>in references<\/td>\r\n<td class=\"-C\">Using\u00a0<i>&amp;<\/i>\u00a0in the text or\u00a0<i>and<\/i>\u00a0in parentheses<\/td>\r\n<\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\r\n<h4><b>Online APA Style Resources<\/b><\/h4>\r\nThe best source of information on APA style is the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0itself. However, there are also many good websites on APA style, which do an excellent job of presenting the basics for beginning researchers. Here are a few of them.\r\n\r\n<em>APA Style<\/em>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.apastyle.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.apastyle.org<\/a>\r\n\r\n<em>Purdue Online Writing Lab<\/em>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/owl.english.purdue.edu\/owl\/resource\/560\/01\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/owl.english.purdue.edu\/owl\/resource\/560\/01<\/a>\r\n\r\n<em>Douglas Degelman\u2019s APA Style Essentials<\/em>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vanguard.edu\/psychology\/faculty\/douglas-degelman\/apa-style\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.vanguard.edu\/psychology\/faculty\/douglas-degelman\/apa-style\/<\/a>\r\n\r\n<em>Doc Scribe\u2019s APA Style Lite<\/em>\r\n\r\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.docstyles.com\/apaguide.html\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.docstyles.com\/apaguide.html<\/a>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<h2><b>APA-Style References and Citations<\/b><\/h2>\r\nBecause science is a large-scale collaboration among researchers, references to the work of other researchers are extremely important. Their importance is reflected in the extensive and detailed set of rules for formatting and using them.\r\n<h3><b>References<\/b><\/h3>\r\nAt the end of an APA-style article or book chapter is a list that contains <b>references<\/b>\u00a0to all the works cited in the text (and\u00a0<i>only<\/i>\u00a0the works cited in the text). The reference list begins on its own page, with the heading \u201cReferences,\u201d centred in upper and lower case. The references themselves are then listed alphabetically according to the last names of the first named author for each citation. (As in the rest of an APA-style manuscript,\u00a0<i>everything<\/i>\u00a0is double-spaced.) Many different kinds of works might be cited in APA-style articles and book chapters, including magazine articles, websites, government documents, and even television shows. Of course, you should consult the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0or Online APA Style Resources for details on how to format them. Here we will focus on formatting references for the three most common kinds of works cited in APA style: journal articles, books, and book chapters.\r\n<h4><b>Journal Articles<\/b><\/h4>\r\nFor journal articles, the generic format for a reference is as follows:\r\n<p class=\"bcc-box bcc-info hanging-indent\">Author, A. A., Author, B. B., &amp; Author, C. C. (year). Title of article.\u00a0<i>Title of Journal, xx<\/i>(yy), pp\u2013pp. doi:xx.xxxxxxxxxx<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"hanging-indent\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">Here is a concrete example:<\/span><\/p>\r\n<p class=\"bcc-box bcc-info hanging-indent\">Adair, J. G., &amp; Vohra, N. (2003). The explosion of knowledge, references, and citations: Psychology\u2019s unique response to a crisis.\u00a0<i>American Psychologist, 58<\/i>(1), 15\u201323. doi: 10.1037\/0003-066X.58.1.15<\/p>\r\nThere are several things to notice here. The reference includes a hanging indent. That is, the first line of the reference is not indented but all subsequent lines are. The authors\u2019 names appear in the same order as on the article, which reflects the authors\u2019 relative contributions to the research. Only the authors\u2019 last names and initials appear, and the names are separated by commas with an ampersand (&amp;) between the last two. This is true even when there are only two authors. Only the first word of the article title is capitalized. The only exceptions are for words that are proper nouns or adjectives (e.g., \u201cFreudian\u201d) or if there is a subtitle, in which case the first word of the subtitle is also capitalized. In the journal title, however, all the important words are capitalized. The journal title and volume number are italicized; however, the issue number (listed within parentheses) is not. At the very end of the reference is the digital object identifier (DOI), which provides a permanent link to the location of the article on the Internet. Include this if it is available. It can generally be found in the record for the item on an electronic database (e.g., PsycINFO) and is usually displayed on the first page of the published article.\r\n<h4><b>Books<\/b><\/h4>\r\nFor a book, the generic format and a concrete example are as follows:\r\n<p class=\"bcc-box bcc-info hanging-indent\">Author, A. A. (year).\u00a0<i>Title of book<\/i>. Location: Publisher.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"bcc-box bcc-info hanging-indent\">Kashdan, T., &amp; Biswas-Diener, R. (2014). <em>The upside of your dark side.<\/em> New York, NY: Hudson Street Press.<\/p>\r\n\r\n<h4><b>Book Chapters<\/b><\/h4>\r\nFor a chapter in an edited book, the generic format and a concrete example are as follows:\r\n<p class=\"bcc-box bcc-info hanging-indent\">Author, A. A., Author, B. B., &amp; Author, C. C. (year). Title of chapter. In A. A. Editor, B. B. Editor, &amp; C. C. Editor (Eds.),\u00a0<i>Title of book<\/i>\u00a0(pp. xxx\u2013xxx). Location: Publisher.<\/p>\r\n<p class=\"bcc-box bcc-info hanging-indent\">Lilienfeld, S. O., &amp; Lynn, S. J. (2003). Dissociative identity disorder: Multiple personalities, multiple controversies. In S. O. Lilienfeld, S. J. Lynn, &amp; J. M. Lohr (Eds.),\u00a0<i>Science and pseudoscience in clinical psychology<\/i>\u00a0(pp. 109\u2013142). New York, NY: Guilford Press.<\/p>\r\nNotice that references for books and book chapters are similar to those for journal articles, but there are several differences too. For an edited book, the names of the editors appear with their first and middle initials followed by their last names (not the other way around)\u2014with the abbreviation \u201cEds.\u201d (or \u201cEd.,\u201d if there is only one) appearing in parentheses immediately after the final editor\u2019s name. Only the first word of a book title is capitalized (with the exceptions noted for article titles), and the entire title is italicized. For a chapter in an edited book, the page numbers of the chapter appear in parentheses after the book title with the abbreviation \u201cpp.\u201d Finally, both formats end with the location of publication and the publisher, separated by a colon.\r\n<h3><b>Reference Citations<\/b><\/h3>\r\nWhen you refer to another researcher\u2019s idea, you must include a <b>reference\u00a0citation<\/b>\u00a0(in the text) to the work in which that idea originally appeared and a full reference to that work in the reference list. What counts as an idea that must be cited? In general, this includes phenomena discovered by other researchers, theories they have developed, hypotheses they have derived, and specific methods they have used (e.g., specific questionnaires or stimulus materials). Citations should also appear for factual information that is not common knowledge so that other researchers can check that information for themselves. For example, in an article on the effect of cell phone usage on driving ability, the writer might cite official statistics on the number of cell phone\u2013related accidents that occur each year. Among the ideas that do not need citations are widely shared methodological and statistical concepts (e.g., between-subjects design,\u00a0<i>t<\/i>\u00a0test) and statements that are so broad that they would be difficult for anyone to argue with (e.g., \u201cWorking memory plays a role in many daily activities.\u201d). Be careful, though, because \u201ccommon knowledge\u201d about human behaviour is often incorrect. Therefore, when in doubt, find an appropriate reference to cite or remove the questionable assertion.\r\n\r\nWhen you cite a work in the text of your manuscript, there are two ways to do it. Both include only the last names of the authors and the year of publication. The first method is to use the authors\u2019 last names in the sentence (with no first names or initials) followed immediately by the year of publication in parentheses. Here are some examples:\r\n\r\nBurger (2008) conducted a replication of Milgram\u2019s (1963) original obedience study.\r\n\r\nAlthough many people believe that women are more talkative than men, Mehl, Vazire, Ramirez-Esparza, Slatcher, and Pennebaker (2007) found essentially no difference in the number of words spoken by male and female college students.\r\n\r\nNotice several things. First, the authors\u2019 names are treated grammatically as names of people, not as things. It is better to write \u201ca replication of Milgram\u2019s (1963) study\u201d than \u201ca replication of Milgram (1963).\u201d Second, when there are two authors the names are not separated by commas, but when there are three or more authors they are. Third, the word\u00a0<i>and<\/i>\u00a0(rather than an ampersand) is used to join the authors\u2019 names. Fourth, the year follows immediately after the final author\u2019s name. An additional point, which is not illustrated in these examples but is illustrated in the sample paper in\u00a0Section 11.2 \"Writing a Research Report in American Psychological Association (APA) Style\", is that the year only needs to be included the first time a particular work is cited in the same paragraph.\r\n\r\nThe second way to cite an article or a book chapter is parenthetically\u2014including the authors\u2019 last names and the year of publication in parentheses following the idea that is being credited. Here are some examples:\r\n\r\nPeople can be surprisingly obedient to authority figures (Burger, 2008; Milgram, 1963).\r\n\r\nRecent evidence suggests that men and women are similarly talkative (Mehl, Vazire, Ramirez-Esparza, Slatcher, &amp; Pennebaker, 2007).\r\n\r\nOne thing to notice about such parenthetical citations is that they are often placed at the end of the sentence, which minimizes their disruption to the flow of that sentence. In contrast to the first way of citing a work, this way always includes the year\u2014even when the citation is given multiple times in the same paragraph. Notice also that when there are multiple citations in the same set of parentheses, they are organized alphabetically by the name of the first author and separated by semicolons.\r\n\r\nThere are no strict rules for deciding which of the two citation styles to use. Most articles and book chapters contain a mixture of the two. In general, however, the first approach works well when you want to emphasize the person who conducted the research\u2014for example, if you were comparing the theories of two prominent researchers. It also works well when you are describing a particular study in detail. The second approach works well when you are discussing a general idea and especially when you want to include multiple citations for the same idea.\r\n\r\nThe third most common error in\u00a0Table 11.2 has to do with the use of\u00a0<i>et al.<\/i>\u00a0This is an abbreviation for the Latin term\u00a0<i>et alia<\/i>, which means \u201cand others.\u201d In APA style, if an article or a book chapter has <em>more than two authors<\/em>, you should include all their names when you first cite that work. After that, however, you should use the first author\u2019s name followed by \u201cet al.\u201d Here are some examples:\r\n\r\nRecall that Mehl et al. (2007) found that women and men spoke about the same number of words per day on average.\r\n\r\nThere is a strong positive correlation between the number of daily hassles and the number of symptoms people experience (Kanner et al., 1981).\r\n\r\nNotice that there is no comma between the first author\u2019s name and \u201cet al.\u201d Notice also that there is no period after \u201cet\u201d but there is one after \u201cal.\u201d This is because \u201cet\u201d is a complete word and \u201cal.\u201d is an abbreviation for the word\u00a0<i>alia<\/i>.\r\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-success\">\r\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\r\n<ul><li>APA style is a set of guidelines for writing in psychology. It is the genre of writing that psychologists use to communicate about their research with other researchers and practitioners.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>APA style can be seen as having three levels. There is the organization of a research article, the high-level style that includes writing in a formal and straightforward way, and the low-level style that consists of many specific rules of grammar, spelling, formatting of references, and so on.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>References and reference citations are an important part of APA style. There are specific rules for formatting references and for citing them in the text of an article.<\/li>\r\n<\/ul><\/div>\r\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\r\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\r\n<ol><li>Practice: Find a description of a research study in a popular magazine, newspaper, blog, or website. Then identify five specific differences between how that description is written and how it would be written in APA style.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Practice: Find and correct the errors in the following fictional APA-style references and citations.\r\n<ul><li>Walters, F. T., and DeLeon, M. (2010). Relationship Between Intrinsic Motivation and Accuracy of Academic Self-Evaluations Among High School Students.\u00a0Educational Psychology Quarterly, 23, 234\u2013256.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Moore, Lilia S. (2007). Ethics in survey research. In M. Williams &amp; P. L. Lee (eds.), Ethical Issues in Psychology (pp. 120\u2013156), Boston, Psychological Research Press.<\/li>\r\n\t<li>Vang, C., Dumont, L. S., and Prescott, M. P. found that left-handed people have a stronger preference for abstract art than right-handed people (2006).<\/li>\r\n\t<li>This result has been replicated several times (Williamson, 1998; Pentecost &amp; Garcia, 2006; Armbruster, 2011)<\/li>\r\n<\/ul><\/li>\r\n<\/ol><\/div>","rendered":"<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-highlight\">\n<h3>Learning Objectives<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Define APA style and list several of its most important characteristics.<\/li>\n<li>Identify three levels of APA style and give examples of each.<\/li>\n<li>Identify multiple sources of information about APA style.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n<h2><b>What Is APA Style?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><b>APA\u00a0style<\/b>\u00a0is a set of guidelines for writing in psychology and related fields. These guidelines are set down in the <b>Publication\u00a0Manual\u00a0of\u00a0the\u00a0American\u00a0Psychological\u00a0Association<\/b> (APA, 2006)<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) (2010). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.\" id=\"return-footnote-107-1\" href=\"#footnote-107-1\" aria-label=\"Footnote 1\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[1]<\/sup><\/a>. The\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0originated in 1929 as a short journal article that provided basic standards for preparing manuscripts to be submitted for publication (Bentley et al., 1929)<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Bentley, M., Peerenboom, C. A., Hodge, F. W., Passano, E. B., Warren, H. C., &amp; Washburn, M. F. (1929). Instructions in regard to preparation of manuscript.\u00a0Psychological Bulletin, 26, 57\u201363.\" id=\"return-footnote-107-2\" href=\"#footnote-107-2\" aria-label=\"Footnote 2\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[2]<\/sup><\/a>. It was later expanded and published as a book by the association and is now in its <a href=\"http:\/\/www.apastyle.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">sixth edition<\/a>. The primary purpose of APA style is to facilitate scientific communication by promoting clarity of expression and by standardizing the organization and content of research articles and book chapters. It is easier to write about research when you know what information to present, the order in which to present it, and even the style in which to present it. Likewise, it is easier to read about research when it is presented in familiar and expected ways.<\/p>\n<p>APA style is best thought of as a \u201cgenre\u201d of writing that is appropriate for presenting the results of psychological research\u2014especially in academic and professional contexts. It is not synonymous with \u201cgood writing\u201d in general. You would not write a literary analysis for an English class, even if it were based on psychoanalytic concepts, in APA style. You would write it in Modern Language Association (MLA) style instead. And you would not write a newspaper article, even if it were about a new breakthrough in behavioural neuroscience, in APA style. You would write it in Associated Press (AP) style instead. At the same time, you would not write an empirical research report in MLA style, in AP style, or in the style of a romance novel, an e-mail to a friend, or a shopping list. You would write it in APA style. Part of being a good writer in general is adopting a style that is appropriate to the writing task at hand, and for writing about psychological research, this is APA style.<\/p>\n<h2><b>The Levels of APA Style<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Because APA style consists of a large number and variety of guidelines\u2014the <i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0is nearly 300 pages long\u2014it can be useful to think about it in terms of three basic levels. The first is the overall\u00a0<b>organization<\/b>\u00a0of an article (which is covered in\u00a0Chapter 2 &#8220;Manuscript Structure and Content&#8221;\u00a0of the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>). Empirical research reports, in particular, have several distinct sections that always appear in the same order:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Title page.<\/b>\u00a0Presents the article title and author names and affiliations.<\/li>\n<li><b>Abstract.<\/b>\u00a0Summarizes the research.<\/li>\n<li><b>Introduction.<\/b>\u00a0Describes previous research and the rationale for the current study.<\/li>\n<li><b>Method.<\/b>\u00a0Describes how the study was conducted.<\/li>\n<li><b>Results.<\/b>\u00a0Describes the results of the study.<\/li>\n<li><b>Discussion.<\/b>\u00a0Summarizes the study and discusses its implications.<\/li>\n<li><b>References.<\/b>\u00a0Lists the references cited throughout the article.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The second level of APA style can be referred to as\u00a0<b>high-level\u00a0style<\/b>\u00a0(covered in\u00a0Chapter 3 &#8220;Writing Clearly and Concisely&#8221;\u00a0of the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>), which includes guidelines for the clear expression of ideas. There are two important themes here. One is that APA-style writing is formal rather than informal. It adopts a tone that is appropriate for communicating with professional colleagues\u2014other researchers and practitioners\u2014who share an interest in the topic. Beyond this shared interest, however, these colleagues are not necessarily similar to the writer or to each other. A graduate student in British Columbia\u00a0might be writing an article that will be read by a young psychotherapist in Toronto\u00a0and a respected professor of psychology in Tokyo. Thus formal writing avoids slang, contractions, pop culture references, humour, and other elements that would be acceptable in talking with a friend or in writing informally.<\/p>\n<p>The second theme of high-level APA style is that it is straightforward. This means that it communicates ideas as simply and clearly as possible, putting the focus on the ideas themselves and not on how they are communicated. Thus APA-style writing minimizes literary devices such as metaphor, imagery, irony, suspense, and so on. Again, humour is kept to a minimum. Sentences are short and direct. Technical terms must be used, but they are used to improve communication, not simply to make the writing sound more \u201cscientific.\u201d For example, if participants immersed their hands in a bucket of ice water, it is better just to write this than to write that they \u201cwere subjected to a pain-inducement apparatus.\u201d At the same time, however, there is no better way to communicate that a between-subjects design was used than to use the term \u201cbetween-subjects design.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\n<h4><b>APA Style and the Values of Psychology<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>Robert Madigan and his colleagues have argued that APA style has a purpose that often goes unrecognized (Madigan, Johnson, &amp; Linton, 1995)<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Madigan, R., Johnson, S., &amp; Linton, P. (1995). The language of psychology: APA style as epistemology.\u00a0American Psychologist, 50, 428\u2013436.\" id=\"return-footnote-107-3\" href=\"#footnote-107-3\" aria-label=\"Footnote 3\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[3]<\/sup><\/a>. Specifically, it promotes psychologists\u2019 scientific values and assumptions. From this perspective, many features of APA style that at first seem arbitrary actually make good sense. Following are several features of APA-style writing and the scientific values or assumptions they reflect.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\"><b>APA style feature<\/b><\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\"><b>Scientific value or assumption<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">There are very few direct quotations of other researchers.<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">The phenomena and theories of psychology are objective and do not depend on the specific words a particular researcher used to describe them.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">Criticisms are directed at other researchers\u2019 work but not at them personally.<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">The focus of scientific research is on drawing general conclusions about the world, not on the personalities of particular researchers.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">There are many references and reference citations.<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">Scientific research is a large-scale collaboration among many researchers.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">Empirical research reports are organized with specific sections in a fixed order.<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">There is an ideal approach to conducting empirical research in psychology (even if this ideal is not always achieved in actual research).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">Researchers tend to \u201chedge\u201d their conclusions, e.g., \u201cThe results\u00a0<i>suggest<\/i>\u00a0that\u2026\u201d<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">Scientific knowledge is tentative and always subject to revision based on new empirical results.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<p>Another important element of high-level APA style is the avoidance of language that is biased against particular groups. This is not only to avoid offending people\u2014why would you want to offend people who are interested in your work?\u2014but also for the sake of scientific objectivity and accuracy. For example, the term\u00a0<i>sexual orientation<\/i>\u00a0should be used instead of\u00a0<i>sexual preference<\/i>\u00a0because people do not generally experience their orientation as a \u201cpreference,\u201d nor is it as easily changeable as this term suggests (APA Committee on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns Joint Task Force on Guidelines for Psychotherapy With Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients, 2000)<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"American Psychological Association, Committee on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns Joint Task Force on Guidelines for Psychotherapy With Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients. (2000). Guidelines for psychotherapy with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.apa.org\/pi\/lgbc\/guidelines.html\" id=\"return-footnote-107-4\" href=\"#footnote-107-4\" aria-label=\"Footnote 4\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[4]<\/sup><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The general principles for avoiding biased language are fairly simple. First, be sensitive to labels by avoiding terms that are offensive or have negative connotations. This includes terms that identify people with a disorder or other problem they happen to have. For example,\u00a0<i>patients with schizophrenia<\/i>\u00a0is better than\u00a0<i>schizophrenics<\/i>. Second, use more specific terms rather than more general ones. For example,\u00a0<i>Chinese Canadians<\/i>\u00a0is better than\u00a0<i>Asian Canadians<\/i>\u00a0if everyone in the group is, in fact, Chinese Canadian. Third, avoid objectifying research participants. Instead, acknowledge their active contribution to the research. For example, \u201cThe\u00a0<i>students completed<\/i>\u00a0the questionnaire\u201d is better than \u201cThe\u00a0<i>subjects were administered<\/i>\u00a0the questionnaire.\u201d Note that this principle also makes for clearer, more engaging writing.\u00a0Table 11.1 shows several more examples that follow these general principles.<\/p>\n<table>\n<caption><em>Table 11.1\u00a0Examples of Avoiding Biased Language<\/em><\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\"><b>Instead of\u2026<\/b><\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\"><b>Use\u2026<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">man, men<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">men and women, people<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">firemen<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">firefighters<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">homosexuals, gays, bisexuals<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">lesbians, gay men, bisexual men, bisexual women<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">minority<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">specific group label (e.g., African American)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">neurotics<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">people scoring high in neuroticism<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">special children<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">children with learning disabilities<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The previous edition of the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0strongly discouraged the use of the term\u00a0<i>subjects<\/i>\u00a0(except for nonhumans) and strongly encouraged the use of <i>participants<\/i>\u00a0instead. The current edition, however, acknowledges that\u00a0<i>subjects <\/i>can still be appropriate in referring to human participants in areas in which it has traditionally been used (e.g., basic memory research). But it also encourages the use of more specific terms when possible:\u00a0<em>university<\/em><i>\u00a0students<\/i>,\u00a0<i>children<\/i>, <i>respondents<\/i>, and so on.<\/p>\n<p>The third level of APA style can be referred to as\u00a0<b>low-level\u00a0style<\/b>\u00a0(which is covered in\u00a0Chapter 4 &#8220;The Mechanics of Style&#8221;\u00a0through\u00a0Chapter 7 &#8220;Reference Examples&#8221;\u00a0of the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>.) Low-level style includes all the specific guidelines pertaining to spelling, grammar, references and reference citations, numbers and statistics, figures and tables, and so on. There are so many low-level guidelines that even experienced professionals need to consult the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0from time to time.\u00a0Table 11.2 contains some of the most common types of APA style errors based on an analysis of manuscripts submitted to one professional journal over a 6-year period (Onwuegbuzie, Combs, Slate, &amp; Frels, 2010)<a class=\"footnote\" title=\"Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Combs, J. P., Slate, J. R., &amp; Frels, R. K. (2010). Editorial: Evidence-based guidelines for avoiding the most common APA errors in journal article submissions. Research in the Schools, 16, ix\u2013xxxvi.\" id=\"return-footnote-107-5\" href=\"#footnote-107-5\" aria-label=\"Footnote 5\"><sup class=\"footnote\">[5]<\/sup><\/a>. These errors were committed by professional researchers but are probably similar to those that students commit the most too. See also\u00a0Note 11.8 &#8220;Online APA Style Resources&#8221;\u00a0in this section and, of course, the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0itself.<\/p>\n<table>\n<caption><em>Table 11.2\u00a0Top 10 APA Style Errors<\/em><\/caption>\n<tbody>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\"><b>Error type<\/b><\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\"><b>Example<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">1. Use of numbers<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">Failing to use numerals for 10 and above<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">2. Hyphenation<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">Failing to hyphenate compound adjectives that precede a noun (e.g., \u201crole playing technique\u201d should be \u201crole-playing technique\u201d)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">3. Use of\u00a0<i>et al.<\/i><\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">Failing to use it after a reference is cited for the first time<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">4. Headings<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">Not capitalizing headings correctly<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">5. Use of <i>since<\/i><\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">Using\u00a0<i>since<\/i>\u00a0to mean\u00a0<i>because<\/i><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">6. Tables and figures<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">Not formatting them in APA style; repeating information that is already given in the text<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">7. Use of commas<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">Failing to use a comma before\u00a0<i>and<\/i>\u00a0or\u00a0<i>or<\/i>\u00a0in a series of three or more elements<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">8. Use of abbreviations<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">Failing to spell out a term completely before introducing an abbreviation for it<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">9. Spacing<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">Not consistently double-spacing between lines<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr class=\"-R\">\n<td class=\"-C\">10. Use of &#8220;&amp;&#8221;<i>\u00a0<\/i>in references<\/td>\n<td class=\"-C\">Using\u00a0<i>&amp;<\/i>\u00a0in the text or\u00a0<i>and<\/i>\u00a0in parentheses<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\n<h4><b>Online APA Style Resources<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>The best source of information on APA style is the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0itself. However, there are also many good websites on APA style, which do an excellent job of presenting the basics for beginning researchers. Here are a few of them.<\/p>\n<p><em>APA Style<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.apastyle.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.apastyle.org<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Purdue Online Writing Lab<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/owl.english.purdue.edu\/owl\/resource\/560\/01\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/owl.english.purdue.edu\/owl\/resource\/560\/01<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Douglas Degelman\u2019s APA Style Essentials<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.vanguard.edu\/psychology\/faculty\/douglas-degelman\/apa-style\/\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.vanguard.edu\/psychology\/faculty\/douglas-degelman\/apa-style\/<\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>Doc Scribe\u2019s APA Style Lite<\/em><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.docstyles.com\/apaguide.html\" target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/www.docstyles.com\/apaguide.html<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h2><b>APA-Style References and Citations<\/b><\/h2>\n<p>Because science is a large-scale collaboration among researchers, references to the work of other researchers are extremely important. Their importance is reflected in the extensive and detailed set of rules for formatting and using them.<\/p>\n<h3><b>References<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>At the end of an APA-style article or book chapter is a list that contains <b>references<\/b>\u00a0to all the works cited in the text (and\u00a0<i>only<\/i>\u00a0the works cited in the text). The reference list begins on its own page, with the heading \u201cReferences,\u201d centred in upper and lower case. The references themselves are then listed alphabetically according to the last names of the first named author for each citation. (As in the rest of an APA-style manuscript,\u00a0<i>everything<\/i>\u00a0is double-spaced.) Many different kinds of works might be cited in APA-style articles and book chapters, including magazine articles, websites, government documents, and even television shows. Of course, you should consult the\u00a0<i>Publication Manual<\/i>\u00a0or Online APA Style Resources for details on how to format them. Here we will focus on formatting references for the three most common kinds of works cited in APA style: journal articles, books, and book chapters.<\/p>\n<h4><b>Journal Articles<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>For journal articles, the generic format for a reference is as follows:<\/p>\n<p class=\"bcc-box bcc-info hanging-indent\">Author, A. A., Author, B. B., &amp; Author, C. C. (year). Title of article.\u00a0<i>Title of Journal, xx<\/i>(yy), pp\u2013pp. doi:xx.xxxxxxxxxx<\/p>\n<p class=\"hanging-indent\"><span style=\"line-height: 1.5\">Here is a concrete example:<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"bcc-box bcc-info hanging-indent\">Adair, J. G., &amp; Vohra, N. (2003). The explosion of knowledge, references, and citations: Psychology\u2019s unique response to a crisis.\u00a0<i>American Psychologist, 58<\/i>(1), 15\u201323. doi: 10.1037\/0003-066X.58.1.15<\/p>\n<p>There are several things to notice here. The reference includes a hanging indent. That is, the first line of the reference is not indented but all subsequent lines are. The authors\u2019 names appear in the same order as on the article, which reflects the authors\u2019 relative contributions to the research. Only the authors\u2019 last names and initials appear, and the names are separated by commas with an ampersand (&amp;) between the last two. This is true even when there are only two authors. Only the first word of the article title is capitalized. The only exceptions are for words that are proper nouns or adjectives (e.g., \u201cFreudian\u201d) or if there is a subtitle, in which case the first word of the subtitle is also capitalized. In the journal title, however, all the important words are capitalized. The journal title and volume number are italicized; however, the issue number (listed within parentheses) is not. At the very end of the reference is the digital object identifier (DOI), which provides a permanent link to the location of the article on the Internet. Include this if it is available. It can generally be found in the record for the item on an electronic database (e.g., PsycINFO) and is usually displayed on the first page of the published article.<\/p>\n<h4><b>Books<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>For a book, the generic format and a concrete example are as follows:<\/p>\n<p class=\"bcc-box bcc-info hanging-indent\">Author, A. A. (year).\u00a0<i>Title of book<\/i>. Location: Publisher.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bcc-box bcc-info hanging-indent\">Kashdan, T., &amp; Biswas-Diener, R. (2014). <em>The upside of your dark side.<\/em> New York, NY: Hudson Street Press.<\/p>\n<h4><b>Book Chapters<\/b><\/h4>\n<p>For a chapter in an edited book, the generic format and a concrete example are as follows:<\/p>\n<p class=\"bcc-box bcc-info hanging-indent\">Author, A. A., Author, B. B., &amp; Author, C. C. (year). Title of chapter. In A. A. Editor, B. B. Editor, &amp; C. C. Editor (Eds.),\u00a0<i>Title of book<\/i>\u00a0(pp. xxx\u2013xxx). Location: Publisher.<\/p>\n<p class=\"bcc-box bcc-info hanging-indent\">Lilienfeld, S. O., &amp; Lynn, S. J. (2003). Dissociative identity disorder: Multiple personalities, multiple controversies. In S. O. Lilienfeld, S. J. Lynn, &amp; J. M. Lohr (Eds.),\u00a0<i>Science and pseudoscience in clinical psychology<\/i>\u00a0(pp. 109\u2013142). New York, NY: Guilford Press.<\/p>\n<p>Notice that references for books and book chapters are similar to those for journal articles, but there are several differences too. For an edited book, the names of the editors appear with their first and middle initials followed by their last names (not the other way around)\u2014with the abbreviation \u201cEds.\u201d (or \u201cEd.,\u201d if there is only one) appearing in parentheses immediately after the final editor\u2019s name. Only the first word of a book title is capitalized (with the exceptions noted for article titles), and the entire title is italicized. For a chapter in an edited book, the page numbers of the chapter appear in parentheses after the book title with the abbreviation \u201cpp.\u201d Finally, both formats end with the location of publication and the publisher, separated by a colon.<\/p>\n<h3><b>Reference Citations<\/b><\/h3>\n<p>When you refer to another researcher\u2019s idea, you must include a <b>reference\u00a0citation<\/b>\u00a0(in the text) to the work in which that idea originally appeared and a full reference to that work in the reference list. What counts as an idea that must be cited? In general, this includes phenomena discovered by other researchers, theories they have developed, hypotheses they have derived, and specific methods they have used (e.g., specific questionnaires or stimulus materials). Citations should also appear for factual information that is not common knowledge so that other researchers can check that information for themselves. For example, in an article on the effect of cell phone usage on driving ability, the writer might cite official statistics on the number of cell phone\u2013related accidents that occur each year. Among the ideas that do not need citations are widely shared methodological and statistical concepts (e.g., between-subjects design,\u00a0<i>t<\/i>\u00a0test) and statements that are so broad that they would be difficult for anyone to argue with (e.g., \u201cWorking memory plays a role in many daily activities.\u201d). Be careful, though, because \u201ccommon knowledge\u201d about human behaviour is often incorrect. Therefore, when in doubt, find an appropriate reference to cite or remove the questionable assertion.<\/p>\n<p>When you cite a work in the text of your manuscript, there are two ways to do it. Both include only the last names of the authors and the year of publication. The first method is to use the authors\u2019 last names in the sentence (with no first names or initials) followed immediately by the year of publication in parentheses. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n<p>Burger (2008) conducted a replication of Milgram\u2019s (1963) original obedience study.<\/p>\n<p>Although many people believe that women are more talkative than men, Mehl, Vazire, Ramirez-Esparza, Slatcher, and Pennebaker (2007) found essentially no difference in the number of words spoken by male and female college students.<\/p>\n<p>Notice several things. First, the authors\u2019 names are treated grammatically as names of people, not as things. It is better to write \u201ca replication of Milgram\u2019s (1963) study\u201d than \u201ca replication of Milgram (1963).\u201d Second, when there are two authors the names are not separated by commas, but when there are three or more authors they are. Third, the word\u00a0<i>and<\/i>\u00a0(rather than an ampersand) is used to join the authors\u2019 names. Fourth, the year follows immediately after the final author\u2019s name. An additional point, which is not illustrated in these examples but is illustrated in the sample paper in\u00a0Section 11.2 &#8220;Writing a Research Report in American Psychological Association (APA) Style&#8221;, is that the year only needs to be included the first time a particular work is cited in the same paragraph.<\/p>\n<p>The second way to cite an article or a book chapter is parenthetically\u2014including the authors\u2019 last names and the year of publication in parentheses following the idea that is being credited. Here are some examples:<\/p>\n<p>People can be surprisingly obedient to authority figures (Burger, 2008; Milgram, 1963).<\/p>\n<p>Recent evidence suggests that men and women are similarly talkative (Mehl, Vazire, Ramirez-Esparza, Slatcher, &amp; Pennebaker, 2007).<\/p>\n<p>One thing to notice about such parenthetical citations is that they are often placed at the end of the sentence, which minimizes their disruption to the flow of that sentence. In contrast to the first way of citing a work, this way always includes the year\u2014even when the citation is given multiple times in the same paragraph. Notice also that when there are multiple citations in the same set of parentheses, they are organized alphabetically by the name of the first author and separated by semicolons.<\/p>\n<p>There are no strict rules for deciding which of the two citation styles to use. Most articles and book chapters contain a mixture of the two. In general, however, the first approach works well when you want to emphasize the person who conducted the research\u2014for example, if you were comparing the theories of two prominent researchers. It also works well when you are describing a particular study in detail. The second approach works well when you are discussing a general idea and especially when you want to include multiple citations for the same idea.<\/p>\n<p>The third most common error in\u00a0Table 11.2 has to do with the use of\u00a0<i>et al.<\/i>\u00a0This is an abbreviation for the Latin term\u00a0<i>et alia<\/i>, which means \u201cand others.\u201d In APA style, if an article or a book chapter has <em>more than two authors<\/em>, you should include all their names when you first cite that work. After that, however, you should use the first author\u2019s name followed by \u201cet al.\u201d Here are some examples:<\/p>\n<p>Recall that Mehl et al. (2007) found that women and men spoke about the same number of words per day on average.<\/p>\n<p>There is a strong positive correlation between the number of daily hassles and the number of symptoms people experience (Kanner et al., 1981).<\/p>\n<p>Notice that there is no comma between the first author\u2019s name and \u201cet al.\u201d Notice also that there is no period after \u201cet\u201d but there is one after \u201cal.\u201d This is because \u201cet\u201d is a complete word and \u201cal.\u201d is an abbreviation for the word\u00a0<i>alia<\/i>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-success\">\n<h3>Key Takeaways<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>APA style is a set of guidelines for writing in psychology. It is the genre of writing that psychologists use to communicate about their research with other researchers and practitioners.<\/li>\n<li>APA style can be seen as having three levels. There is the organization of a research article, the high-level style that includes writing in a formal and straightforward way, and the low-level style that consists of many specific rules of grammar, spelling, formatting of references, and so on.<\/li>\n<li>References and reference citations are an important part of APA style. There are specific rules for formatting references and for citing them in the text of an article.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"bcc-box bcc-info\">\n<h3>Exercises<\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Practice: Find a description of a research study in a popular magazine, newspaper, blog, or website. Then identify five specific differences between how that description is written and how it would be written in APA style.<\/li>\n<li>Practice: Find and correct the errors in the following fictional APA-style references and citations.\n<ul>\n<li>Walters, F. T., and DeLeon, M. (2010). Relationship Between Intrinsic Motivation and Accuracy of Academic Self-Evaluations Among High School Students.\u00a0Educational Psychology Quarterly, 23, 234\u2013256.<\/li>\n<li>Moore, Lilia S. (2007). Ethics in survey research. In M. Williams &amp; P. L. Lee (eds.), Ethical Issues in Psychology (pp. 120\u2013156), Boston, Psychological Research Press.<\/li>\n<li>Vang, C., Dumont, L. S., and Prescott, M. P. found that left-handed people have a stronger preference for abstract art than right-handed people (2006).<\/li>\n<li>This result has been replicated several times (Williamson, 1998; Pentecost &amp; Garcia, 2006; Armbruster, 2011)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t <section class=\"citations-section\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t <h3>Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t <div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <div id=\"citation-list-107\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <div class=\"licensing\"><div class=\"license-attribution-dropdown-subheading\">CC licensed content, Shared previously<\/div><ul class=\"citation-list\"><li>Research Methods in Psychology. <strong>Authored by<\/strong>: Paul C. Price, Rajiv S. Jhangiani, and I-Chant A. Chiang. <strong>Provided by<\/strong>: BCCampus. <strong>Located at<\/strong>: <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/researchmethods\/\">https:\/\/opentextbc.ca\/researchmethods\/<\/a>. <strong>License<\/strong>: <em><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"license\" href=\"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-sa\/4.0\/\">CC BY-NC-SA: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike<\/a><\/em><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t <\/section><hr class=\"before-footnotes clear\" \/><div class=\"footnotes\"><ol><li id=\"footnote-107-1\"><em>Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association<\/em> (6th ed.) (2010). Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. <a href=\"#return-footnote-107-1\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 1\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-107-2\">Bentley, M., Peerenboom, C. A., Hodge, F. W., Passano, E. B., Warren, H. C., &amp; Washburn, M. F. (1929). Instructions in regard to preparation of manuscript.\u00a0<em>Psychological Bulletin, 26<\/em>, 57\u201363. <a href=\"#return-footnote-107-2\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 2\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-107-3\">Madigan, R., Johnson, S., &amp; Linton, P. (1995). The language of psychology: APA style as epistemology.\u00a0<em>American Psychologist, 50<\/em>, 428\u2013436. <a href=\"#return-footnote-107-3\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 3\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-107-4\">American Psychological Association, Committee on Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Concerns Joint Task Force on Guidelines for Psychotherapy With Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Clients. (2000). <em>Guidelines for psychotherapy with lesbian, gay, and bisexual clients<\/em>. Washington, DC: Author. Retrieved from http:\/\/www.apa.org\/pi\/lgbc\/guidelines.html <a href=\"#return-footnote-107-4\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 4\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><li id=\"footnote-107-5\">Onwuegbuzie, A. J., Combs, J. P., Slate, J. R., &amp; Frels, R. K. (2010). Editorial: Evidence-based guidelines for avoiding the most common APA errors in journal article submissions. <em>Research in the Schools, 16<\/em>, ix\u2013xxxvi. <a href=\"#return-footnote-107-5\" class=\"return-footnote\" aria-label=\"Return to footnote 5\">&crarr;<\/a><\/li><\/ol><\/div>","protected":false},"author":23485,"menu_order":2,"template":"","meta":{"_candela_citation":"[{\"type\":\"cc\",\"description\":\"Research Methods in Psychology\",\"author\":\"Paul C. Price, Rajiv S. Jhangiani, and I-Chant A. 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