1. Everest Research Guides
Edited 3/6/2015 Amanda Richards, MLIS
APA Citation Style
This guide aims to help familiarize you with the use of APA. Below you will find the basic
principles required for this citation style. Keep in mind that whatever your instructor wants
overrides what is written here. Be sure to check with your instructor. For more in-depth
information, or for items not covered here, refer to the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association, 6th
edition (“APA Manual”) which can be found in
the library at REF BF76.7 .P83 2010.
APA Formatting (APA Manual, 2010, p. 229-230)
 1 inch margins on all sides
 Times New Roman Font
 10 to 12 point font
 Text should be double spaced
 Page header at the top of every page
o “THE TITLE OF YOUR PAPER” (in all caps) flush with the left margin
o Title should be 50 or fewer characters
 Page numbers in the upper right hand corner
o Title page is page 1
 Indent the first lines of a new paragraph (1.5 inch indent)
Title Page
 The header on the title page should be different than the rest of the paper. It should read “Running
header: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER”
 In the top half of the title page type the title of your paper, your name, and affiliation on separate lines.
This should be centered.
Citing your Work
Citing your work is extremely important. Uncited or improperly cited work can lead to claims of plagiarism,
and in an academic setting can be punished severely. You will need to use in-text citations within the body of
your paper when you reference ideas you learned elsewhere, or when you use quotes or figures taken from other
publications (internet, books, presentations, journals, magazines, etc.). A references list is also important for
letting your reader know where you conducted your research. This list tells them what articles you read and
gives them enough information so that they can find the article to read themselves. (Refer to chapter 6 in the
APA Manual for more info.)
In-text Citations (Parenthetical references) (APA Manual, 2010, p. 174-179)
 Any direct quotes (taken word for word from another source) should be put in Quotation marks (“”) and
have a citation directly following in parenthesis and following the format (Author, year, page number).
o E.g. “Although boys and girls can be equally skilled at using computers and computer games,
boys are more likely than girls to choose to play with them” (Cassell & Jenkins, 1998, p. 14).
 Any paraphrased ideas (shortened and/or put into your own words) do not need quotation marks but do
need a citation directly following in parenthesis and following the format (Author, year, page number).

2. Everest Research Guides
Edited 3/6/2015 Amanda Richards, MLIS
o E.g. The Queen of Hearts hated white roses, so when the gardeners realized they had planted
white roses they panicked and painted them red (Carroll, 1920, p. 112).
Reference Page
The reference page is where you list each source you used to write your paper. Each item in the references
should have an in-text citation somewhere in the body of your paper. If you read an article or book and used any
of the information learned in your paper, that source should be represented here.
Reference page basics
 New page with the word References in the top center of the page
 Double-spaced
 All entries should be in alphabetical order by the authors last name
 Use a hanging indent (indent the second and following lines of the entry) for entries that are longer than
one line.
 Use initials for the authors first and middle name
o E.g. Richards, Amanda M. = Richards, A. M.
 Maintain the punctuation and capitalization that is used by the journal in its title
 Capitalize all major words in journal titles
 When referring to books, articles, or web pages, capitalize only the first letter of the word of a title and
subtitle, and proper nouns.
 Journal names and book titles are italicized.
Reference list examples (APA Manual, 2010, p. 193-224)
Books
Author, A. A. (Year of publication). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Location: Publisher.
Journal Article
Author, A. A., Author, B. B., & Author, C. C. (Year of Publication). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume
number(issue number), pages.
Website
Author. (Date published if available; n.d.—no date—if not). Title of article. Title of website. Retrieved date.
From URL
For more information on citations use the following resources:
The Owl Purdue University
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
APA Publication Manual
Reference section of the library BF 76.7 .P83 2010
Everest Library Website
http://everest.libguides.com/southorlandolibrary