This document provides guidelines for writing assignments using APA style, including formatting references in journals, books, and other sources. It discusses hanging indentation for reference lists, paraphrasing versus quoting, and including title pages, introductions, bodies, conclusions, and alphabetized reference sections. Formatting recommendations include using Times New Roman 12 point font and justifying to the left only. Abbreviations for U.S. states are also included.

1. APA BASICS TO BE CONSIDERED IN WRITING
AND REPORTING PSYCHOLOGY
ASSIGNMENTS
Tefera Tekle
Jigjiga University
December, 2012

2. APA basics in reporting psychological assignments
1. Reference formats
Journal
General journal Format
Last name, Initials of first author, Las name, Initials of second author, & Last name, Initials of third
author. (Year of publication). Title of article. Name of Journal in Italics, Volume Number in
Italics, page numbers. Doi(digital object identifier) number.
Braaten, R. F. (2010). Song recognition in zebra finches: Are there sensitive periods for song
memorization? Learning and Motivation, 41, 202–212. doi:10.1016/j.lmot.2010.04.005
Gangestad, S. W., Thornhill, R., & Garver-Apgar, C. E. (2010). Fertility in the cycle predicts women’s
interest in sexual opportunism. Evolution and Human Behavior 31, 400–411.
doi:10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2010.05.003
Example of a journal article with more than seven authors:
Wampold, B. E., Imel, Z. E., Laska, K. M., Benish, S., Miller, S. D., Flückiger, C., . . . & Budge, S.
(2010). Determining what works in the treatment of PTSD. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 923–
933. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.06.005
Book
Lastname, Initials of first author, & Lastname, Initials of all other authors. (Year of publication). Title of
book in italics (Edition number not in italics). City and State/Country: Publisher’s name.
Stanovich, K. E. (2004). How to think straight about psychology (7th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Beins, B. C., & Beins, A. M. (2008). Effective writing in psychology: Papers, posters, and presentations.
Malden, MA: Blackwell.
Howell, D. & Cramer, D. (2011). Introduction to research methods in psychology (3rd ed). Harlow,
England, Pearson Education Limited.
* For countries outside the USA, we don’t need the state abbreviations such as: MA, NY, GA, PA,
etc instead we shall write the name of the country. These abbreviations are used only for US cities.
A chapter from an edited book
Weiss, J. M. (1977). Psychological and behavioral influences on gastrointestinal lesions in animal models.
In J. D. Maser & M. E. P. Seligman (Eds.). Psychopathology: Experimental models (pp. 232–
269). San Francisco, CA:Freeman.
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3. APA basics in reporting psychological assignments
First Edition Book
Kimmel, A. J. (1996). Ethical issues in behavioral research: Basic and applied perspectives. Malden,
MA: Blackwell.
Internet Sources
Lastname, Initials of first author, & Lastname, Initials of all other authors. (Year). Title of the article.
Date browsed and the web address.
Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. (1979, April). The Belmont Report. Retrieved from
http://www.hhs.gov/ohrp/humansubjects/guidance/belmont.htm
Magazine
Palmer, J. D. (1982, October). Biorhythm bunkum. Natural History, 90–97.
Organization as author
National Institutes of Health Office of Extramural Research. (2008). Protecting human research
participants. Retrieved from http://phrp.nihtraining.com/users/login.php
APA. (2010). Publication manual of American psychological association (6th ed). Washington, DC:
Author.
2. Basic Tips
 The paragraphs in the reference list must be in hanging style. To hang the paragraph, select the
paragraphleft click paragraph Special  Hanging
 Paraphrase the materials, describe in your own words unless you should use quotation marks
(with page numbers). For example, Howitt and Cramer (2011) concerning psychological research
wrote “The best way of understanding psychological research methods is to read in detail
about the studies which have been done and build on this” (p5). This could for example be
paraphrased as:
o To understand psychological research methods we should read and review other similar
studies (Howitt & Cramer, 2011).
o Cramer and Howitt (2011) suggested that reading and reviewing similar research findings
could help us to better understand psychological research methods.
 Use block quotation for words more than 40.
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4. APA basics in reporting psychological assignments
For example, Like Ross, other sociologically based theorists emphasized larger social groupings,
from neighborhood gangs to ethnic groups and political parties (e.g., Sumner, 1906). That
emphasis continues in the modern sociocultural perspective—the view that a person’s
prejudices, preferences, and political persuasions are affected by factors such as nationality,
social class, and current historical trends. For example, compared to her workingclass Irish
grandmother, a modern-day Manhattan executive probably has different attitudes about
premarital sex and women’s roles on mountain climbing expeditions (Roberts & Helson, 1997).
In the block quote we don’t used quotation marks rather we simply use 0.5 inch right and left
margin. The above text could be quoted as:
Sociologically based theorists emphasized larger social groupings, from neighborhood
gangs to ethnic groups and political parties. That emphasis continues in the modern
sociocultural perspective—the view that a person’s prejudices, preferences, and political
persuasions are affected by factors such as nationality, social class, and current historical
trends (Kenrick & .P.7).
 Citation
o When you cite use et, al,. for authors more than two in the second time of citation. For
example, use Abebe, Kebede, & Samson (2002) in the first time of citation. In the second
time, you can cite the text as Abebe, et al., (2002). Or …….. (Abebe, et, al., 2002).
o All cited materials should appear in the reference list
 Your paper should include
o Title page
 The introduction section begins with the title of the article you are writing.
o Introduction
 Objectives
o Main body (contents)
o Conclusion
o References
 References should include the name of the author, year, etc.
 The title of books should be in italic. If it is journal the name of the journal will be
italicized.
 The reference lists should be arranged in alphabetic order.
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5. APA basics in reporting psychological assignments
Sample Title Page
 The cover page should include
o Name of the institution
o Title of the paper
Title of the paper
o Requirement
John Burger
 Formatting
o Use Times New Roman 12 Point Jijiga University
o Only justify to the left
o Don’t use margin decorations An assignment submitted to the Department
of Psychology in partial fulfillment of the
course Experimental Psychology
November, 2012
Abbreviations for U.S. States
Place Abbreviation Place Abbreviation Place Abbreviation Place Abbreviation
U.S. States and District of U.S. States and District of U.S. States and District of U.S. States and District of
Columbia Columbia Columbia Columbia
Alabama AL Illinois IL Montana MT Rhode RI
Island
Alaska AK Indiana IN Nebraska NE South SC
Carolina
Arizona AZ Iowa IA Nevada NV South SD
Dakota
Arkansas AR Kansas KS New NH Tennessee TN
Hampshire
California CA Kentucky KY New Jersey NJ Texas TX
Colorado CO Louisiana LA New Mexico NM Utah UT
Connecticut CT Maine ME New York NY Vermont VT
Delaware DE Maryland MD North Carolina NC Virginia VA
District of DC Massachusetts MA North Dakota ND Washington WA
Columbia
Florida FL Michigan MI Ohio OH West WV
Virginia
Georgia GA Minnesota MN Oklahoma OK Wisconsin WI
Hawaii HI Mississippi MS Oregon OR Wyoming WY
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6. APA basics in reporting psychological assignments
For example, from the copy right part of the book we can write the reference as follows:
Baumister, R.F. & Bushman, B.J. (2011). Social psychology and human nature (2nd ed). Belmont,
CA:Wadsworth cengage learning.
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