The basics of American Psychological Association style, including online help links.

1. APA Style
Cynthia Kane
Professor and Director of Assessment
Emporia State University Libraries and Archives
ckane1@emporia.edu
620-341-5480

2. PHILOSOPHY:
The APA style is designed specifically for scientific research with an eye
towards publication. The MLA (Modern Language Association) style is
designed for humanities disciplines.
APA FAQs: “Rules of style in scientific writing encourage full disclosure of
essential information and allow us to dispense with minor distractions.”
THEREFORE:
APA in-text references and citations focus upon:
 YEAR of the publication
 ACCURACY of complex material, such as tables and statistics
Comparing Differences in APA and Other
Citation Styles!

3. APA:
Camenga, D. R., Cavallo, D. A., Kong, G., Morean, M. E., Connell, C. M., Simon, P., . . .
Krishnan- Sarin, S. (2015). Adolescents’ and young adults’ perceptions of
electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation: A focus group study. Nicotine &
Tobacco Research, 17(10), 1235-1241.
Chicago Manual of Style (Author-Date):
Camenga, Deepa R., Dana A. Cavallo, Grace Kong, Meghan E. Morean, Christian M. Connell,
Patricia Simon, Sandra M. Bulmer, and Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin. 2015. "Adolescents’
and Young Adults’ Perceptions of Electronic Cigarettes for Smoking Cessation: A
Focus Group Study." Nicotine & Tobacco Research 17 (10): 1235-1241.
MLA:
Camenga, Deepa R., et al. "Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Perceptions of Electronic
Cigarettes for Smoking Cessation: A Focus Group Study." Nicotine & Tobacco
Research 17.10 (2015): 1235-41. PsycINFO. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.
See the Differences?

4. CHECK the citation generated from a “Cite” or “Citation Tools” feature
from a database. Depending upon the original metadata, it may need to
be edited for the correct APA style (or corresponding citation style).
EXAMPLE (APA citation copied and pasted directly from Academic Search
Premier):
Ashok, P., Apte, G., Wagh, G., & Joshi, A. R. (2013). Psychological Well-
Being & Obesity in Peri-Menopausal and Post-Menopausal
Women. National Journal Of Physiology, Pharmacy &
Pharmacology, 3(1), 97-101.
 Can you identify the errors?
But Even Then…

5. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2009).
Updates: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/24
APA Frequently Asked Questions, http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/what-is-apa-style.aspx
WAW Library Electronic Databases
 Many offer a “citation tools” or “cite” feature that will convert a bibliographic record into a citation style
 WARNING – the tools are ONLY as good as the metadata within the bibliographic record! Proofread the citation
against the American Psychological Association Publication Manual.
APA Style Blog, http://blog.apastyle.org/
 Official companion to the APA Publication Manual; weekly posts about APA style questions and areas not
necessarily covered in the Manual!
OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue, APA Formatting and Style Guide,
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
APA Style Guide (WAW Library), http://emporia.beta.libguides.com/apa
Help with APA Style

6. http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/
APA Tutorial (from the American
Psychological Association)

7.  Freely available bibliographic software programs
 Zotero – download for Firefox browser, with “extensions” for Google Chrome and Safari
 https://www.zotero.org
 RefME – Web based and supports Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and
Opera
 https://www.refme.com/
 Both allow downloading of citations in various formats, creation of bibliographies in
different citation styles, and creating “collections” (Zotero) or “projects” (RefME) for
organizing information
 Zotero: Integrates with Microsoft Word to import in-text citations and
bibliographies while writing
 RefME: Copy and paste bibliographic citations; create, copy, and paste
“pages/notes” to add page numbers and direct quotes or paraphrasing
Zotero and RefME

8. APA Style
Cynthia Kane
Professor and Director of Assessment
Emporia State University Libraries and Archives
ckane1@emporia.edu
620-341-5480