[This page is a summary of rules for using APA style. The version you are reading was revised 10/10/96, edited and revised again on  September 5, 2000 with Bill Scott of the College of Wooster, and updated in January 2003 by Doc Scribe. I have made every effort to keep this document accurate, but readers have occasionally pointed out errors and inconsistencies which required correction. I am grateful to them and invite additional feedback. This document may be reproduced freely if this paragraph is included. --Russ Dewey, rdewey@gasou.edu]

Download the APA Crib Sheet PDF and other APA style resources from Dr. Abel Scribe PhD.
See Professor Dewey's excellent Web site for Psychology Students.

APA Crib Sheet Contents

Introductory Information Rules Abbreviations Avoiding biased and pejorative language Capitalization Commas Hyphenation Italics (underlining) Miscellaneous Numbers Quotation marks

Page Formats Title & text pages (graphic) Headings Text details References & tables (graphic) Tables (notes) Reference Citations (In-Text) Reference Formats Abbreviating within a reference Alphabetizing within reference lists APA reference style & examples

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Some of the more commonly used rules and reference formats from the manual are listed here. However, this web page is no substitute for the 440 page APA Manual itself, which should be purchased by any serious psychology student in the U.S., or by students in other countries who are writing for a journal which uses APA format. The APA Manual can be found in almost any college bookstore, as well as in many large, general-purpose bookstores, in the reference and style guide section. You may check the current price and delivery of the APA Manual by clicking on this link to amazon.com. The spiral bound edition is especially handy when formatting research papers.

The APA Manual draws a distinction between "final manuscripts" such as class papers, theses, and dissertations, and "copy manuscripts" to be submitted for review and publication. The APA Crib Sheet follows the instructions given in chapter six for "Material Other Than Journal Articles" (APA, 2001, pp. 321-330). Final manuscripts differ from copy manuscripts in these ways:

• Spacing. "Double-spacing is required throughout most of the manuscript. When single-spacing would improve readability, however, it is usually encouraged. Single spacing can be used for table titles and headings, figure captions, references (but double-spacing is required between references), footnotes, and long quotations" (APA, 2001, p. 326).

• Figures, tables, and footnotes. "In a manuscript submitted for publication, figures, tables, and footnotes are placed at the end of the manuscript; in theses and dissertations, such material is frequently incorporated at the appropriate point in text as a convenience to readers" (APA, 2001, p. 325).

The most notable additions and changes to fifth edition of the APA Manual (2001) include:

• Electronic sources require new formats in references. The formats previously featured on the APA Web site have been superseded. Several formats are included in the Crib Sheet.

• Italics or underline? "Use the functions of your word-processing program to create italic, bold, or other special fonts or styles following the style guidelines specified in this Publication Manual" (APA, 2001, p. 286). However, underlining in place of italics is still acceptable when using a typewriter (see APA, 2001, p. 100). Always be consistent!

• Hanging indents. "APA publishes references in a hanging indent format. . . . If a hanging indent is difficult to accomplish with your word-processing program, it is permissible to indent your references with paragraph indents" (APA, 2001, p. 299).

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Abbreviations

• Avoid abbreviations (acronyms) except for long, familiar terms (MMPI).
• Explain what an abbreviation means the first time it occurs: American Psychological Association (APA).
• If an abbreviation is commonly used as a word, it does not require explanation (IQ, LSD, REM, ESP).
• Do not use the old abbreviations for subject, experimenter, and observer (S, E, O).
• The following abbreviations should NOT be used outside parenthetical comments:
  • cf. [use compare]
  • e.g. [use for example]
  • etc. [use and so forth]
  • i.e. [use that is]
  • viz. [use namely]
  • vs. [use versus]
• Use periods when making an abbreviation within a reference (Vol. 3, p. 6, 2nd ed.)
• Do not use periods within degree titles and organization titles (PhD, APA).
• Do not use periods within measurements (lb, ft, s) except inches (in.).
• Use s for second, m for meter.
• To form plurals of abbreviations, add s alone, without apostrophe (PhDs, IQs, vols., Eds).
• In using standard abbreviations for measurements, like m for meter, do not add an s to make it plural (100 seconds is 100 s); when referring to several pages in a reference or citation, use the abbreviation pp. (with a period after it and a space after the period).
• Do not use the abbreviation "pp." for magazine or journal citations; just give the numbers themselves. Do use "pp." for citations of encyclopedia entries, multi-page newspaper articles, chapters or articles in edited books.
• Use two-letter postal codes for U.S. state names (GA).

Avoiding Biased and Pejorative Language

DO NOT use . . .	when you can use . . .
ethnic labels (for example, Hispanic)	geographical labels (Mexican Americans)
"men" (referring to all adults)	"men and women"
"homosexuals"	"gay men and lesbians"
"depressives"	"people with depression"

Correct use of the terms "gender" and "sex"

The term "sex" refers to biology and should be used when biological distinctions are emphasized, for example, "sex differences in hormone production."

Avoid gender stereotypes. For example, the manual suggests replacing "An American boy's infatuation with football" with "An American child's infatuation with football" (see APA, 2001, p. 66).

Sensitivity to labels

In racial references, the manual simply recommends that we respect current usage. Currently both the terms "Black" and "African American" are widely accepted, while "Negro" and "Afro-American" are not. These things change, so use common sense.

Capitalize Black and White when the words are used as proper nouns to refer to social groups. Do not use color words for other ethnic groups. The manual specifies that hyphens should not be used in multiword names such as Asian American or African American.

Labels can be tricky, and the manual has a lot to say about them. For example, "American Indian" and "Native American" are both acceptable usages, but the manual notes that there are nearly 450 Native American groups, including Hawaiians and Samoans, so specific group names are far more informative.

The terms Hispanic, Latino, and Chicano are preferred by different groups. The safest procedure is use geographical references. Just say "Cuban American" if referring to people from Cuba.

The term Asian American is preferable to Oriental, and again the manual recommends being specific about country of origin, when this is known (for example, Chinese or Vietnamese). People from northern Canada, Alaska, eastern Siberia, and Greenland often (but not always!) prefer Inuk (singular) and Inuit (plural) to "Eskimo." But some Alaska natives are non-Inuit people who prefer to be called Eskimo. This type of difficulty is avoided by using geographical references. For example, in place of "Eskimo" or "Inuit" one could use "people from northern Canada, Alaska, eastern Siberia, and Greenland."

In general, call people what they want to be called, and do not contrast one group of people with another group called "normal" people. Write "we compared people with autism to people without autism" not "we contrasted autistics to normals." Do not use pejorative terms like "stroke victim" or "stroke sufferers." Use a more neutral terminology such as "people who have had a stroke." Avoid the terms "challenged" and "special" unless the population referred to prefers this terminology (for example, Special Olympics). As a rule, use the phrase "people with _______" (for example, "people with AIDS," not "AIDS sufferers").

In referring to age, be specific about age ranges; avoid open-ended definitions like "under 16" or "over 65." Avoid the term elderly. Older person is preferred. Boy and Girl are acceptable referring to high school and and younger. For persons 18 and older use men and women.

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Capitalization

• Capitalize formal names of tests (Stroop Color-Word Interference Test).
• Capitalize major words and all other words of four letters or more, in headings, titles, and subtitles outside reference lists, for example, "A Study of No-Win Strategies."
• Capitalize names of conditions, groups, effects, and variables only when definite and specific. (Group A was the control group; an Age x Weight interaction showed lower weight with age.)
• Capitalize the first word after a comma or colon if, and only if, it begins a complete sentence. For example, "This is a complete sentence, so it is capitalized." As a counter example, "no capitalization here."
• Capitalize specific course and department titles (GSU Department of Psychology, Psych 150).
• Do not capitalize generic names of tests (Stroop color test). "Stroop" is a name, so it remains capitalized.
• Capitalize nouns before numbers, but not before variables (Trial 2, trial x).
• Do not capitalize names of laws, theories, and hypotheses (the law of effect).
• Do not capitalize when referring to generalities (any department, any introductory course).

Commas

• Do not use commas to separate parts of measurement (9 lbs 5 oz). Use the metric system, as a rule.
• Use commas before "and" in lists, for example, height, width, and depth.
• Use commas between groups of three digits, for example, 1,453.
• Use commas to set off a reference in a parenthetical comment (Patrick, 1993).
• Use commas for seriation within a paragraph or sentence. For example, "three choices are (a) true, (b) false, and (c) don't know." Use semicolons for seriation if there are commas within the items. For example, (a) here, in the middle of the item, there are commas; (b) here there are not; (c) so we use semicolons throughout.
• Use commas in exact dates, for example, April 18, 1992 (but not in April 1992).

Hyphenation

• Do not hyphenate -ly and superlative words (widely used test, best informed students).
• Do not hyphenate common prefixes (posttest, prewar, multiphase, nonsignificant) unless needed for clarity (pre-existing).
• Do not hyphenate foreign, letter, numeral terms (a priori hypothesis, Type A behavior) when the meaning is clear without it (least squares solution, heart rate scores).
• Do not hyphenate if a noun comes first (a therapy was client centered, results of t tests).
• Hyphenate adjectival phrases (role-playing technique, high-anxiety group, two-way analysis).
• Hyphenate compound adjectives preceding nouns (client-centered therapy, t-test scores) unless the compound adjective involves a superlative (best written paper).
• Hyphenate if the base is an abbreviation or compounded (pre-UCS, non-college bound).
• Hyphenate if the base word is capitalized or a number (pre-Freudian, post-1960).
• Hyphenate if the words could be misunderstood without a hyphen (re-pair, un-ionized, co-worker).
• If in doubt, consult a recently published dictionary. Standards change. For example, "data base" is now "database," and "life-style" is now "lifestyle."

Italics (Underlining)

• Do not italicize or underline common foreign abbreviations (vice versa, et al., a priori).
• Do not italicize or underline for mere emphasis.
• Italicize or underline the titles of books and articles, species names, introduction of new terms and labels (the first time only), words and phrases used as linguistic examples, letters used as statistical symbols, and volume numbers in reference lists.

Miscellaneous: Colons, dashes, parentheses, numbering paragraphs

• Do not use "and/or." Write things out. For example, "Monday, Tuesday, or both" is preferable to "Monday and/or Tuesday."
• Do not use a colon or other punctuation after an introduction which is not a complete sentence such as

  this one, or any other sentence in the body of text which flows into an extended quote. The quote "picks up where the sentence leaves off" and provides the punctuation.

• Use a dash (rendered on typewriters and some word processors as a double hyphen) when there is a sudden interruption like this one--zoiks!--in the flow of a sentence. Overuse "weakens the flow of the writing" (APA, 2001, p. 81).
• Use parentheses to introduce an abbreviation, for example, the galvanic skin response (GSR).
• Use appendixes (appendices) as the plural of appendix. Use datum as singular, data as plural. Use matrix as singular, matrices as plural. Phenomenon is the singular form of the plural phenomena. Use schema as singular, schemas (not schemata) as plural.
• When listing separate paragraphs in a series, use a number and a period, not parentheses.
  1. The first paragraph goes here.
  2. The second paragraph goes here.

Numbers

• Spell out common fractions and common expressions (one-half, Fourth of July).
• Spell out large numbers beginning sentences (Thirty days hath September . . .).
• Spell out numbers which are inexact, or below 10 and not grouped with numbers over 10 (one-tailed t test, eight items, nine pages, three-way interaction, five trials).
• Use numerals for numbers 10 and above, or lower numbers grouped with numbers 10 and above (for example, from 6 to 12 hours of sleep).
• To make plurals out of numbers, add s only, with no apostrophe (the 1950s).
• Treat ordinal numbers like cardinal numbers (the first item of the 75th trial . . .).
• Use combinations of written and Arabic numerals for back-to-back modifiers (five 4-point scales).
• Use combinations of numerals and written numbers for large sums (over 3 million people).
• Use numerals for exact statistical references, scores, sample sizes, and sums (multiplied by 3, or 5% of the sample). Here is another example: "We used 30 subjects, all two year olds, and they spent an average of 1 hr 20 min per day crying.
• Use metric abbreviations with figures (4 km) but not when written out (many meters distant).
• Use the percent symbol (%) only with figures (5%) not with written numbers (five percent).

Quotation Marks

• Use quotation marks for an odd or ironic usage the first time but not thereafter, for example, "This is the "good-outcome" variable, but as it turns out, the good-outcome variable predicts trouble later on . . ."
• Use quotation marks for article and chapter titles cited in the text but not in the reference list. (In Smith's (1992) article, "APA Style and Personal Computers," computers were described as "here to stay" (p. 311).)

Extended quotations

• Add emphasis in a quotation with italics, immediately followed by the words [italics added] in brackets.
• Brackets are not necessary when changing the first letter of a quotation to upper case.
• For quotations over 40 words in length, indent and single space the whole block (double space in papers for review or publication). Indent five more spaces (one-half inch, 1.25 cm) if there are paragraphs within the long quotation after the first. Always provide author, year, and page citation.
• Expand or clarify words or meanings in a quotation by placing the added material in quotes. For example, "They [the Irish Republican Army] initiated a cease-fire."
• Reproduce a quote exactly. If there are errors, introduce the word sic italicized and bracketed--for exammple [sic]--immediately after the error to indicate it was part of the original source.
• Use three dots with a space before, between, and after each (ellipsis points) when omitting material, four if the omitted material includes the end of a sentence (with no space before the first). Do not use dots at the beginning or end of a quotation unless it is important to indicate the quotation begins or ends in midsentence.

Do NOT use quotes to . . .

• . . . cite a linguistic example; instead, underline or italicize the term (the verb gather).
• . . . hedge, cast doubt, or apologize (he was "cured"). Leave off the quotes.
• . . . identify endpoints on a scale; underline or italicize instead (poor to excellent).
• . . . introduce a key term (the neoquasipsychoanalytic theory).

Headings

Use headings in the order presented. If you need just two levels, use Level A and Level B headings. Level A and B headings do not end with punctuation except to add emphasis with an exclamation point or question mark. Do not begin a paper with the heading Introduction. It is understood that all papers begin with an introduction.

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Text details

• Abstracts are limited to 120 words (APA, 2001, p. 13).
• Double space the text, but single space within block quotes, references, and the abstract.
• Footnotes are rarely used in APA papers, except for author affiliation and contact information--the author note.
• Hyphenation should not occur at the end of lines, only between words when necessary.
• Indent paragraphs, block quotes, and hanging indents one-half inch (1.25 cm or five to seven spaces).
• Justification should be set to "off" or "left margin only" (the right margin should be uneven, a ragged right margin).
• Keyword emphasis requires the use of italics, but only the first time a term is used. If the intent is to indicate odd or ironic usage, use quotation marks.
• Margins should be at least 1" all around (about 2.5 cm).
• Page numbers are required on every page: Number pages consecutively.
• The page header summarizes the title in a few words. The header and page number go inside the margin space, double spaced above the text, next to the right margin.
• Word processor features--such as bold and italic fonts and hanging indents--should be used as appropriate.

References and tables

Table notes

• Place tables close to where they are first mentioned in your text, but do not split a table across pages. (Tables in papers submitted for review or publication are placed on separate pages at the end of the paper.)
• Label each table beginning with the table number followed by a description of the contents.
• Horizontal rules (lines) should be typed into tables; do not draw them in by hand.
• Each row and column must have a heading. Abbreviations and symbols (e.g., "%" or "nos.") may be used.
• Do not change the number of decimal places within a column.
• Do not change the units of measurement within a column.
• "Use a zero before the decimal point when numbers are less than one" (APA, 2001, p. 128). Write "0.23" not ".23" unless the number is a statistic that cannot be larger than one, for example a correlation r = .55, or a probability p < .01.
• Add notes to explain the table contents. These may be general notes or footnotes. The latter are labeled "a, b, c, etc."
• Use asterisks to indicate statistical significance explained in the probability level note at the bottom of the table. "Assign a given alpha level the same number of asterisks from table to table within your paper, such as *p < .05 and **p < .01; the largest probability receives the fewest asterisks [the smaller probability get more asterisks]" (APA, 2001, p. 170).
• You may both single space and double space within a table to achieve clarity. Tables in papers submitted for review or publication (only!) must be double spaced throughout.

• For two-author citations, spell out both authors on all occurrences.
• For multiple-author citations (up to five authors) name all authors the first time, then use et al., so the first time it is Smith, Jones, Pearson and Sherwin (1990), but the second time it is Smith et al., with a period after "al" but no underlining.
• The first time an "et al." reference is used in a paragraph, give the year, thereafter (if the citation is repeated in the paragraph) omit the year.
• For six or more authors, use et al. the first time and give the full citation in references.
• Include a page reference after the year, outside quotes. For example: The author stated, "The effect disappeared within minutes" (Lopez, 1993, p. 311), but she did not say which effect; Lopez found that "the effect disappeared within minutes" (p. 311). The sentence quoted is capitalized only if it follows a comma, and is a complete sentence not merged into the flow of the text.
• If two or more multiple-author references which shorten to the same "et al." form, making it ambiguous, give as many author names as necessary to make them distinct, before et al. For example: (Smith, Jones, et al., 1991) to distinguish it from (Smith, Burke, et al., 1991).
• Join names in a multiple-author citation with and (in text) or an ampersand (&) in reference lists and parenthetical comments. For example: As Smith and Sarason (1990) point out, the same argument was made by in an earlier study (Smith & Sarason, 1990).
• If a group is readily identified by its initials, spell it out only the first time. For example, "As reported in a government study (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 1991), blah blah . . . " and thereafter, "The previously cited study (NIMH, 1991) found that . . .
• If the author is unknown or unspecified, use the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title), for example: ("Study Finds," 1992).
• If citing multiple works by the same author at the same time, arrange dates in order. In general, use letters after years to distinguish multiple publications by the same author in the same year. For example: Several studies (Johnson, 1988, 1990a, 1990b, 1995 in press-a, 1995 in press-b) showed the same thing.
• For old works cite the translation or the original and modern copyright dates if both are known, for example: (Aristotle, trans. 1931) or (James, 1890/1983).
• Always give page numbers for quotations, for example: (Cheek & Buss, 1981, p. 332) or (Shimamura, 1989, chap. 3, p. 5).
• For e-mail and other "unrecoverable data" use personal communication, for example: (V.-G. Nguyen, personal communication, September 28, 1993). These do not appear in the reference list.
• For quoting electronic documents without page numbers, cite paragraph numbers if given, indicated by the paragraph symbol or the abbreviation para. in the citation (e.g., Smith, 2000, ¶ 17). If there are no paragraph numbers, cite the nearest preceding section heading and count paragraphs from there (e.g., Smith, 2000, Method section, para. 4).

Abbreviating within a reference

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Alphabetizing within reference lists

• Use prefixes in alphabetizing names if commonly part of the surname (De Vries).
• Do not use von in alphabetizing (Helmholtz, H. L. F. von), or Jr., III, or Sr.
• Treat Mc and Mac literally; Mac comes before Mc.
• Disregard apostrophes, spaces, and capitals in alphabetizing; D'Arcy comes after Daagwood, Decker comes after de Chardin.
• Single-author citations precede multiple-author citations of the same year (Zev, 1990 then Zev et al., 1990).
• Alphabetize corporate authors by first significant word. Do not use abbreviations in corporate names.

APA reference style

Anonymous or unknown author (common in newspapers):

Citation: ("Caffeine Linked," 1991). Use heading caps when citing titles in text citations.

Books (Group author, 3–5 authors, reprint/translation, edition other than first):

   American Psychiatric Association. (1990). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (3rd ed.).

Washington, DC: Author.

Citation: (American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1990); next citation (APA, 1990). Note: "Author" is used as above when author and publisher are identical.

   Booth, W. C., Colomb, G. G., & Williams, J. M. (1995). The craft of research. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Citation: (Booth, Colomb, & Williams, 1995); next citation (Booth et al., 1995).

   Ebbinghaus, H. (1913). Memory (H. A. Rueger & C. E. Bussenius, Trans.). New York: Teachers College. (Original

work published 1885)

Citation: (Ebbinghaus, 1885/1913).

   Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (1979). The elements of style (3rd ed.). New York: Macmillan.

Citation: (Strunk & White, 1979).

Chapter or section in a book (online & print):