Quick Guide to APA Formatting (6th ed.)

Based on  the Publication Manual of the America Psychological Association (6th edition)

General formatting (see Figure 2.1 p. 41 for an example)

• Times Roman typeface size 12 double-spaced
• Margins – 1 inch
• Page numbers – plain numbers, top right corner
• Header – top left corner
  • On title page: ‘Running head: [SHORTENED TITLE IN CAPS]’
  • On all subsequent pages: ‘[SHORTENED TITLE IN CAPS]’

Levels of Headings ( Table 3.1, p. 62; see Figure 2.1, pp. 44-45 for an example

Organization

Title page (see Figure 2.1 p. 41 for an example) includes:

• Title of writing piece
• Author’s name (replace with student ID for anonymous marking)
• Author’s institutional affiliation (e.g. School of Psychology, Bangor University)
• Some modules require additional information (e.g. module code, graduate instructor’s name) so check assignment guidelines

Research reports (see Chapter 2, p.21 for a detailed description of each section) include:

• Abstract*
• Introduction* (starts on new page)
• Methods* (includes subsections e.g. *participants, materials/apparatus, *design, *procedures, data analysis)
• Results*
• Discussion*
• Conclusion
• Appendix/Appendices (if multiple appendices are included, differentiate between them using capital letters; e.g. Appendix A, Appendix B etc.)

* = compulsory

Tables/Figures

Number all tables/figures with Arabic numerals in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text (e.g. Figure 1, not Figure 1a, Table 2b); if included in appendix, use both the capital letter corresponding to the appendix and numerals (e.g. Table A1 is the first table in Appendix A).

Table Layout (see Table 5.1 p 129 for an explanation of the basic components of a table; see Section 5.18 pp. 141-149 for examples of standard tables for presenting several types of data; see section 5.19 p. 150 for a table checklist)

• Caption – positioned above the table; table title (but not table number) in Italics
• Cell Margins:
  • For columns – not used
  • For rows – used to separate column headings from the data

Figures (see Table 5.1 p 129 for an explanation of the basic components of a table; see Section 5.22 pp. 152-160 for examples of figures; see section 5.30 p. 167 for a figure checklist)

• Caption – positioned immediately below the figure; figure number (but not figure title) in Italics
• Graph axes should be clearly labelled
• Elements (e.g. of diagrams/charts) within the figure should be labelled or explained in the caption
• Units of measurements should be provided

Crediting Sources

In-text citations (see pp. 174-179 for a detailed explanation)

Reference list (see pp. 180-192 for a detailed explanation, see Chapter 7 p.193 for examples by type of source)

General formatting

• Title ‘References’
• References listed in alphabetical order (see section 6.25 foe a detailed explanation of ordering in different situations)
• Hanging indent

Referencing a book (Section 7.02, p.202)

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year of publication). Title. City, Country (or state for USA): Publisher.

E.g.:

Thomas, K. (1962). The structure of scientific revolutions. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

Referencing a journal article (Section 7.01, p.198)

Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (year of publication). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume number(issue number), pp-pp. doi:xx.xxxxxxx

E.g.:

Binney, R. J., Parker, G. J., & Lambon Ralph, M. A. (2012). Convergent connectivity and graded specialization in the rostral human temporal lobe as revealed by diffusion-weighted imaging probabilistic tractography. Journal of cognitive neuroscience, 24(10), 1998-2014. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_00263

Reducing bias in language (see Sections 3.12-3.17 pp.73-77 for a detailed explanation by topic)

Avoid term -> preferred term(s)

• Subjects -> participants
• Transgender (noun) -> transgender (adjective) e.g. female-to-male transgender individuals/ transsexual (noun/adjective)
• Sex change -> sex-reassignment
• Sexual preference -> sexual orientation
• Homosexual -> lesbians, gay man, bisexual men/women
• Under 18 years -> girl/boy (<12 years old), young man/women or adolescents (13-17 years old), 18 years old or older – women/man/adults
• Elderly/senior (noun) -> elderly/senior (adjective), older adults

Disabilities

• avoid language that objectifies a person by their condition (e.g. autistic, neurotic), that uses pictorial metaphors (e.g. confined to a wheelchair), that uses excessive and negative labels (e.g. AIDS victim, brain damaged)
• use people-first language, and do not focus on the individual’s disabling or chronic condition (e.g. person with paraplegia, youth diagnosed with autism, individuals with intellectual disabilities)