Item Rule Example Sample feedback More information Grammar Capitalization Capitalize: I Proper nouns (specific people, places, or things) Titles that precede a person’s name The first word of a sentence Example: I learned about the presidents of the United States in school today. Example: I learned about President Barack Obama, who is the president of the United States, in school today. Incorrect capitalization Personal versus objective pronouns Use the personal pronoun “who” to refer to people; use the relative pronoun “that” to refer to objects or animals. Incorrect: I interviewed the scientist that conducted the research. Correct: I interviewed the scientist who conducted the research. Missing personal pronoun Pronoun agreement A singular pronoun must be used to replace/refer back to a Example: The student will submit their paper by the due date. Pronoun number disagreement
“I”, rather than a third person construction (APA, 2010, p. 69). APA: Formatting See: 2:55-10:14 in the Pages 7-11 in the on the Writing Centre website Search by keyword Alignment All body text should be including block quotations and references, with a ragged right edge (APA, 2010, p. 229). Incorrect: Centred Justified text that spreads equally across the line Right-aligned Correct: Left-aligned Incorrect alignment Search for “alignment” or see page 7 in the . Introduction heading The introduction isn’t labelled because it’s assumed that the first paragraph/section of a paper is the introduction (APA, 2010, p. 27). APA style doesn’t label the introduction because it’s assumed that the first paragraph/section of a paper is the introduction. Search for “introduction” or see page 27 in the APA manual. Fonts Unless permitted to do otherwise by the instructor, authors should use serif fonts, and the preferred APA typeface is Times New Roman, 12 pt. (APA, 2010, p. 228). All text should be in black and the same typeface should be used throughout the document. Incorrect: Arial, Verdana, Calibri Correct: Times New Roman, 12 pt. Font Search for “font” or see page 7 in the .
Line-spacing All text, including block quotations and the references, should be double-spaced (APA, 2010, p. 229). Only the table of contents and any table/figure text are single-spaced (p. 229). Exception: Students in the MALEAD programs should single-space block quotations and references. Incorrect line-spacing Search for “line spacing” or see page 9 in the . Margins At least 1”/2.5 cm margins on all sides (APA, 2010, p. 229). The academic convention at RRU is that margins should be 1”/2.5 cms on all sides unless otherwise stated by the instructor. Incorrect margins Search for “margins” or see page 9 in the . Page numbers Page number appears in the top right corner of each page of the text (see examples on p. 41 of the APA manual). The academic convention is that the title page is included in the overall page count but doesn’t show a page number. Incorrect: page numbers appearing anywhere other than the top right corner. The page number should be just the number, versus “Page 2”, “Page 2 of 8”, etc. Correct: Top right corner: 2 Page numbering Search for “page numbers” or see page 9 in the . Running head “The running head is an abbreviated title that is printed at the top of the pages of a manuscript or published article to identify the article for the readers” (APA, 2010, p. 229). The running head appears in the heading in the top left corner of every page, must not exceed 50 characters (including spaces), and appears in all capital letters. Example of running head on title page: Running head: TITLE OF DOCUMENT “Running head” must appear as the identifier of the text on the title page Example of running head on second and subsequent pages: TITLE OF DOCUMENT Incorrect running head format Search for “running head” or see pages 9-10 in the .
shown) (APA, 2010, pp. Personal communication Personal communication (e.g., a phone call, conversation, interview, email, lecture, discussion group posting) does not provide recoverable data; therefore, the resource is only cited within the text but not in the reference list (APA, 2010, p. 179). Example: An important factor to consider is that, “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing” (J. Greenwood, personal communication, January 15, 2004). Example: J. Greenwood (personal communication, January 15, 2004) noted that lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing. Personal communication Search for “personal communication” or see page 18 in the . Placement of citation The necessary citation information can be presented in brackets following the quoted/paraphrased text, or in combination with information provided within the sentence text. Example: The researchers demonstrated that, “quoted material” (Johnson, 2010, p. 4). Furthermore, Johnson (2010) noted that, “quoted material” (p. 4). Incorrect citation format Search for “citation placement” or see page 14 in the . Quotations Quotations of 39 words or fewer should be presented inline with double quotation marks around the quoted text and the citation coming before the closing punctuation (APA, 2010, p. 170). Quotations of 40+ words should start on a new line, no quotation marks are necessary, all text is left-aligned (not justified) but the text begins 1 tab space from the left margin, and the citation appears after the closing punctuation (APA, Inline quotation: For example, “I quoted this text” (Author, year, p. 4). Block quotation: If the quotation comprises 40 or more words, display it in a freestanding block of text and omit the quotation marks. Start such a block quotation on a new line and indent the block about a half inch from the left margin (in the same position as a new paragraph. . . .Double space the entire Quotation is 39 words or less and should run inline with the rest of the text. Quotation is 40+ words so should be formatted as a block quotation. Search for “block quotation” or see page 12 in the , and
Year of publication When the author is named in the sentence, the year of publication must immediately follow in parentheses (APA, 2010, p. 174). Incorrect: Johnson noted that, “quoted material” (2010, p.4). Correct: Johnson (2010) noted that, “quoted material” (p. 4). Year placement Search for “publication year” or see page 14 in the . APA: References The references should only include resources from which the author has quoted or paraphrased material in the paper (APA, 2010, p. 180). See page 19 in for a sample references page, as well as: 38:00-1:06:24 in the Pages 19-21 in the Search by keyword Pages 180-183 in the APA manual Alphabetical order References should be listed alphabetically according to the first listed author’s last name (APA, 2010, p. 181). Example: American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Lee, C. (2009, September 15). APA style blog: How do I cite a Kindle? Retrieved from Incorrect ordering Search for “reference order” or see page 20 in the . Anonymous author If the resource is “signed ‘Anonymous,’ begin the entry with the word Anonymous spelled out, and alphabetize the Example: Anonymous. (year). Title of resource. City, State Use Anonymous as the author’s name Search for “anonymous” or see page 183 in the APA manual.
entry as if Anonymous were a true name” (APA, 2010, p. 183). abbreviation: Publisher. Distinguishing between resources with the same author and publication years If the paper contains citations to two or more resources by the same author published in the same year, lower-case alphabetical letters should be added after the year to distinguish between the resources (e.g., 2001a, 2001b) (APA, 2010, p. 182). This formatting should be used and matched in the in-text citations and references in order for the reader to find the source in the references. See “” for how to order the references with the same author and year of publication. Then, assign the first reference in the grouping “a”, the second resource in the group is “b”, etc. Example: George, B. (2002a). Go for it! Toronto, Canada: Gherkin Press. George, B. (2002b). Power-lunch your way to the top. Toronto, Canada: Gherkin Press. In-text citations: (George, 2002a, p. X) and (George, 2002b, p. X) Distinguish between resources published by the same author in the same year using lower-case alphabetical letters Search for “same author” or see page 16 in the . Hanging indent The second and subsequent lines of every reference should have a .5”/1.25 cm hanging indent (APA, 2010, p. 180). Example: Cuddy, C. (2002). Demystifying APA style. Orthopaedic Nursing, 21(5), 35-42. Retrieved from the Academic Search Premier database. Missing hanging indent Search for “indent” or see page 19 in the .
No listed author “If there is no author, move the title to the author position, and alphabetize the entry by the first significant word of the title” (APA, 2010, p. 183). Example: Heuristic. (n.d.). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary (11th ed.). Retrieved from Use name of resource if author’s name isn’t available Search for “no author” or see page 183 in the APA manual. No publication or copyright date available If there is no publication/copyright date available, use (n.d.) (APA, 2010, p. 185). Example: Royal Roads University. (n.d.). Strategic research themes. Retrieved from Use n.d. when date isn’t available Search for “no date” or see page 185 in the APA manual. Ordering multiple resources with same author, published in different year Multiple resources by the same author but published in different years should be ordered by the year of publication with the earliest publication first (APA, 2010, p. 182). Example: Johnson, J. (2003). … Johnson, J. (2005). … Incorrect ordering See page 182 in the APA manual. Ordering resources with the same author and publication years Resources by the same author and published in the same year should be ordered alphabetically by title (excluding “a” or “the”) (APA, 2010, p. 182). Example: Johnson, J. (2003). First I wrote a book. New York, NY: Publisher. Johnson, J. (2003). Next came the journal article. New Incorrect ordering Search for “same author same year” or see page 182 in the APA manual.
References American Psychological Association. (2009). DOI and URL flowchart. Retrieved from http://blog.apastyle.org/files/doi-and-url-flowchart-8.pdf American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author. Lee, C. (2011, June 3). How do you cite an e-book (e.g., Kindle Book)? [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2011/06/how-do-you-cite-an-e-book.html Royal Roads University. (2012). APA help guide. Retrieved from