This document provides guidelines for using numbers, abbreviations, capitalization, italics, and other punctuation in APA Style. It addresses when to spell out or abbreviate words, how to capitalize titles and headings, when to use italics, how to format numbers, and the correct usage of Latin abbreviations. The guidelines establish consistency in writing style and ensure readers can easily understand numerical information and abbreviated terms used in scholarly works.

2. 2

3. It refers to guidelines for
ensuring clear, consistent
communication and presentation
in written works.
3

4. 4

5. 1
Establishes the rhythm of a
sentence, telling readers where to:
PAUSE
• Comma (,)
• Semicolon (;)
• Colon (:)
Stop
• Period (.)
• Question
mark (?)
Take a detour
• Dash (-)
• Parentheses ( )
• Square brackets
[ ]

6. “
6
Insert one Space after the
Periods or other punctuation
marks at the end of the sentence.
Commas, Colons, and Semicolons
Initials in personal names.
(M. P. Clark., K. Thiyaga)
Periods that separate parts of
sentence.
Insert one Space after the
After internal periods in
abbreviations (e.g., a.m., i.e.,
U.S.)
Around colons in ratios (1:3)

7. 7
End a complete Sentence
With Initials in names (Masinas,
E. D.)
Latin abbreviation (a.m., p.m.,
vs.)
Do
Abbreviations used as
adjectives
(U.S. Navy)
Era Designation (B.C., A.D.,
B.C.E.)
End each element within a
reference (except DOIs and
URLs)
Don’t
In abbreviation of the state,
province, or territory names (NY;
CA; Washington DC)
In capital letter abbreviations and
acronyms (APA, NDA, NIMH, IQ)
Abbreviations for the academic
degree (PhD, PsyD, EdD, MD, RN,
MSW, Med)
Metric and nonmetric measurement
abbreviation (cm, hr, kg, min, ml, s)
Web address in text or in the
reference list

8. 8
Do
Between elements in a series of three or more
items.
Correct: height, weight, and depth
Incorrect: height, weight and depth
After an introductory phrase (In this section, we
discuss)
Set off statistics in the text (R(2,71) = 3.38, p
<0.4.)
Set off the year in the exact dates (Retrieved April
23, 2020, from in April 2020)
Set off the year in parenthetical in-text citations
(Thiyagu, 2020)
Three digits in most numbers of 1,000 or more
Don’t
Between the two parts of a compound
predicate
Correct: Participants rated the items and
completed a demographic questionnaire.
Incorrect: Participants rated the items, and
completed a demographic questionnaire.
To separate parts of measurements (7
years 4 months 2 min 35 s)

9. 9
 Between a grammatically complete introductory clause and a final phrase
or clause that illustrates. (They have agreed on the outcome: informed
participants performed better than uninformed participants)
 In ratios and proportion. (1. Suri et al. (2019) confirmed the finding: Test
performance depended on preparation.
2. The proportion of salt to water was 1:8.)
 In references between the place of publication and publisher. (New York, NY:
Wiley)
 After an introduction that is not a complete sentence or independent clause.

10. 10
Separate two independent clauses that
are not joined by a conjunction
Separate two independent clauses joined by a
conjunctive adverb such as “however,”
“therefore,” or “nevertheless”
Separate items in the list that already
contains commas
Separate multiple parenthetical citations
Separate sets of statistics that already
contains commas
Separate different types of information in
the same set of parentheses to avoid back-
to-back parentheses
• Students received course credit for participation;
community members received $ 10.
• The children studied the vocabulary words;
however, they had difficulties with recall.
• The color groups were red, yellow, and blue;
orange, green, and purple; or black, gray, and
brown.
• (Thiyagu, 2019; Lai et al., 2016; Williams & Peng,
2019)
• (age, M=34.5 years, 95% CI [29.4, 39.6]; Years of
education, M=10.4 [8.7, 12.1]; and weekly
income, M=612 [522, 702])
• (n=33; Fu Ginsburg, 2020)

11. 11
e.g.:
Social adjustment— but not
academic adjustment— was
associated with extraversion
• Long Dash
• To set off an element
added to amplify or
digress from the main
clause.
• Do not use space before
or after an em dash.
• Midsized Dash
• Between words of equal weight in
compound adjectives and to
indicate a numerical range, such
as a page or date range.
• Do not insert a space before and
after an en dash.
e.g.:
Author–date citation
Sydney–Los Angeles flight
pp. 4–7 ; 50%–60%

12. 12
• To introduce a new
word or phrase used as
an ironic comment,
slang, or invented
expression.
• To set off the title of an
article in a periodical or
book when the title is
mentioned in the text.
• To reproduce material
from a test item to
participants.
• To identify the anchors of a scale.
Instead, italicized them.
• To cite a letter, word, phrase, or
sentence as a linguistic example,
instead, italicized the term.
• to introduce a technical or key
term. Instead, italicize the term.
• To hedge, Do not use any
punctuation with each
expression.

13. 13
To set off structurally
independent elements.
The patterns were
statistically
To set off in-text
citations.
Barns and Suriya (2019)
described…
(Proctor & Hoffmann, 2016)
To introduce an
 Galvanic skin response
(GSR)
 Child Report of Parental
Behavior Inventory (CRPBI;
Schaefer, 1965)
abbreviation in the text.
To group of
mathematics
expression.
(k-1)/(g-2)
significant
(see Figure 5).
To enclose statistical
values that do not
already contain
parentheses.
•Was statistically
significant (p=.031)

14. 14
To enclose parenthetical material that is already in parentheses.
(The result for the control group [n=8] are also presented in
Figure 2.)
To enclose values that are the limits of a confidence interval
(Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory-2 [MMPI-2];
Butcher et al., 2001)
To enclose abbreviations when the abbreviated term appears in
parentheses (95% Cls [-7.2, 4.3], [9.2, 12.4], and [-1.2, -0.5])

15. 15
To separate a numerator from
denominator
To set off phonemes
In citations of translated,
reprinted, reissued, or
republished works in the text
• X/Y
• /o/
• Freud
(1923/1961)
To specify either of two
possibilities
• and/or
• Latin o/a

16.  Spelling should conform to standard American English as
exemplified in Merriam--Webster's Collegiate Dictionary
(2005).
 Spelling of psychological terms should conform to the APA
Dictionary of Psychology (VandenBos, 2007).
 If there is a choice for spelling , use the first spelling listed.
 Use preferred spelling of some of more common Latin or Greek
origin words. Singular Plural appendix appendices cannula
cannulas datum data phenomenon phenomena.
 Use only an apostrophe with the possessive of a plural name.

17. 17
APA receives many questions about the spelling of technology terms.
Some examples of common terms are provided next for ease of reference:

18. 18
Compound words may be written as
 Two separate words (e.g. health care)
 One hyphenated word (e.g. self-esteem)
 One solid word (e.g. caregiver)
In general, follow the hyphenation shown in the Merriam-
Webster.com Dictionary and the APA Dictionary of Psychology to
determine how to spell and hyphenate words in APA Style papers.

19. if a compound word does not appear in the dictionary, it is called
a temporary compound.
The most important principle for writing temporary compounds is to use
hyphens in them to prevent misreading. For example, if a compound
adjective appears before a noun, use a hyphen (e.g., decision-making
behavior, high-anxiety group). However, if the compound adjective
appears after the noun, a hyphen is usually unnecessary (e.g., behavior
related to decision-making, a group with high anxiety).
The Publication Manual contains additional guidance on when to use
hyphens (e.g., in conjunction with capitalized base words or numerals).

22. Words with prefixes and suffixes are usually written without a hyphen in APA
Style. Some common examples are presented next. The Publication Manual
contains additional prefixes and suffixes and corresponding examples that
follow the same pattern as well as a handful of exceptions.

23. APA Style is a “down” style, meaning
that words are lowercase unless there
is specific guidance to capitalize them.
For example, capitalize the first word of
a sentence, unless the sentence begins
with the name of a person whose name
starts with a lowercase letter.

24. The first word in a
complete sentence
The first word after a
colon if what follows the
colon is a complete
sentence
Example: The statement
was emphatic: Further
research is needed
Proper noun (other than a
personal name (e.g. iPad,
eBay)
Lowercase statistics term
(e.g. t test, p value)

25. 25
Capitalize proper nouns in APA Style.
 Proper nouns include the specific names of people, places, and things.
 Names of racial and ethnic groups are treated as proper nouns, which
means they are capitalized (e.g., African American, Asian American, Black,
European American, First Nations, Hispanic, Native American, Latinx,
White).
 Capitalize trade names (e.g., brand names of medications). However, do not
capitalize general names or generic brands. Likewise, capitalize a job title or
position when the title precedes a name, but not when the title is used alone

26. 26
In general, do not capitalize the names of diseases, disorders,
therapies, treatments, theories, concepts, hypotheses, principles,
models, and statistical procedures.
The following are some common examples:

27. 27
However, do capitalize personal names that appear within these
kinds of terms, as demonstrated in the following examples.
The following are some common examples:

28. 28
APA Style uses two types of capitalization for titles of works (such as
paper titles) and headings within works: title case and sentence
case.
In the title case, major words are capitalized, and most minor words
are lowercase. In sentence cases, most major and minor words are
lowercase (proper nouns are an exception in that they are always
capitalized).
•MAJOR WORDS: Nouns, verbs (including linking verbs), adjectives, adverbs,
pronouns, and all words of four letters or more are considered major words.
•MINOR WORDS: Short (i.e., three letters or fewer) conjunctions, short
prepositions, and all articles are considered minor words.

29. 29
When to use title case?
Use title case for the following:
 Titles of articles, books, reports, and other works appearing in text
 Titles of tests or measures, including subscales
 All headings within a work (Levels 1–5; these are also bold or bold italic)
 The title of your own paper and of named sections and subsections within
it
 Titles of periodicals (these are also italicized)
 Table titles (these are also italicized)
 Figure titles (these are also italicized), axis labels, and legends

30. How to implement a sentence case?
30
In sentence case, lowercase most words in a title or heading.
Capitalize only the following words:
the first word of the title or heading
the first word of a subtitle
the first word after a colon, em dash, or end
punctuation in a heading
nouns followed by numerals or letters
proper nouns (such as the names of racial or ethnic
groups).

31. When to use sentence case?
31
Use sentence case for the following:
titles of articles, books, reports, webpages, and other
works in reference list entries, even if the title case was used
in the original work.
table column headings, entries, and notes
figure notes

33. 33
When to use italic?
In APA Style papers, use italics for the following
cases:

34. 34
When not to use italic?
Do not use italics for the following cases in APA
Style papers:

35. 35
In general, avoid using italics for emphasis. Instead, rewrite your sentence to provide
emphasis. For example, place important words or phrases at the beginning or end of a
sentence instead of in the middle, or break long sentences into several shorter sentences.
However, do use italics if emphasis might otherwise be lost or the material might be misread,
as in the following example.
If you add emphasis to a direct quotation, place the words “[emphasis added]” in square
brackets after the words you have italicized.
When words that would normally be italicized appear
within text that is already italicized, those words should
be set in standard (nonitalic) type, referred to as reverse
italicization. For example, if an italic symbol appears in a
table title (which is also italicized), use the standard type
for the symbol.

36. 36
It is a shortened form of a word or
phrase; abbreviations of phrases are
often composed of the first letter of
each word of the phrase (i.e., acronym).
To maximize clarity, use abbreviations
sparingly.

37. 37
Also consider readers’ familiarity with the abbreviation
before using it. Although abbreviation can be useful for
long, technical terms in scholarly writing, communication
is often garbed rather than clarified if an abbreviation is
unfamiliar to readers.
In general, use an abbreviation if
 It is conventional and readers are likely to be more
familiar with the abbreviation that with complete form and
 Considerable space can be saved and cumbersome
repetition avoided.

38. 38

39. 39

40. 40

41. 41
If a reference has a group author, the name of the group can
sometimes be abbreviated for example, “American
Psychological Association” can be abbreviated to “APA.” You
are not obligated to abbreviate the name of a group author, but
you can if the abbreviation is well-known, will help avoid
cumbersome repetition, or will appear at least three times in
the paper. For example, many professional organizations use
an abbreviation for their name, and it would be appropriate to
use the abbreviation in your paper as well.

42. 42
As with other abbreviations, provide the full name of the group on first
mention in the text, followed by the abbreviation.
If the group name first appears in a narrative citation, include the
abbreviation before the year in parentheses, separated with a comma.
Example:
If the group name first appears in a parenthetical citation, include the
abbreviation in square brackets, followed by a comma and the year.
Example:

43. 43
In the reference list entry, do not abbreviate the group author name.
Instead, spell out the full name of the group as presented in the source.
Example:
If several references have the same group author, introduce the
abbreviation only once in the text.
In the rare case that two different groups abbreviate to the same form (e.g.,
both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric
Association abbreviate to “APA”) and you cite both groups in your paper, spell
out each name every time. Do not use the abbreviation because it would be
unclear which APA you meant within the context of your paper.

44. 44
Many Latin abbreviations are used in APA Style papers to save space. Use
the following standard Latin abbreviations only in parenthetical material; in
the narrative, use the translation of the Latin term. In both cases, punctuate
as if the abbreviation were spelled out in the language in which you are
writing.

45. 45
The following cases are exceptions to the use of Latin abbreviations:
Use the abbreviation “v.” instead of “vs.” in the title or name of a court case in
the reference list and in all in-text citations.
For example,
Use the Latin abbreviation in both narrative
and parenthetical citations.
Note that the abbreviation is not used in APA Style.

46. Numbers are used in all sorts of scholarly works.
, writers may report numerical
information about participants (number of
participants, demographic information such as age,
etc.) as well as the results of statistical analyses.

47. Even writers who are not conducting empirical research often
use statistical information to support key points. For example,
writers conducting a literature review or writing a response
paper may report numerical information such as the percentage
of people diagnosed with a particular disease or disorder, the
staffing levels of psychologists or nurses, or the number of
terms on a topic they were familiar with.
When writers follow guidelines for number usage, their papers
become more consistent and readable.

48. Numbers Expressed in Words
here were five nurses on duty
the study had three conditions
students were in the third, sixth, eighth, 10th, and 12th grades

50. Numbers Expressed in Numerals
there were 15 psychologists at the clinic
the study had 40 participants
students were in the third, sixth, eighth, 10th, and 12th grades

52. Numbers in a series

53. Statistical and Mathematical Copy
• Do not provide a formula for statistic in common use.
• Provide a formula when the statistic or mathematical
expression is new, rare or essential to the paper
• When reporting inferential statistics (e.g. t test, F test, chi-
square test) including sufficient information to allow readers
to fully understand the analyses conducted
• Symbols and abbreviations are often used for statistics.
• e.g, “mean” is abbreviated “M”
• Do not provide a reference for a statistic in common
use (e.g., Cohen’s d)
• Provide a reference when (a) less common statistics
are used, (b) a statistic is used in unconventional or
controversial way, or (c) the statistic itself the focus
of the paper

54. Statistical Abbreviation and Symbols

55. Presentation of Equations

56. List
Name
Job Title
Name
Job Title
Name
Job Title
When writing a list, ensure all items are syntactically and conceptually parallel.
For example, all items might be nouns or all items might be phrases that begin
with a verb. Most lists are simple lists, in which commas (or semicolons in the
case of lists in which items contain commas) are used between items, including
before the final item (see more information and examples on the lettered lists
page). To draw additional attention to items, APA Style also supports the use of
lettered lists, numbered lists, and bulleted lists.
When writers follow guidelines for the creation of lists, their papers become
more consistent and readable.

57. Lettered Lists
Example:
Example:

58. Lettered Lists

59. This is an example of a numbered list:
Our hypotheses were as follows:
1. Social media use would be associated with lower mood.
2. Active participation in social media would be associated with higher mood than
passive participation.
3. Perceived meaningfulness of online activity would mediate the relationship
between online activity and mood.

60. Bulleted Lists

61. Items that are complete sentences
If bulleted items are complete sentences, begin each item with a capital
letter and finish it with a period or other appropriate punctuation. The
following example demonstrates this format as well as how to include a
citation for the information in the bulleted list.
Infants often display prosocial behavior—that is, behavior intended to help others—
when interacting with their parents, as demonstrated in the following examples
(Hammond & Drummond, 2019):
• Infants are happy to participate in normal household chores, such as cleaning up.
• Infants often display positive emotions when following parents’ behavioral requests,
such as not touching the stove.
• Infants will try to help others who seem like they need help with simple tasks, such
as carrying multiple objects.

62. Items that are words or phrases
62
If bulleted items are words or phrases (but not complete
sentences), begin each item with a lowercase letter
(except words such as proper nouns).
There are two options for the punctuation of bulleted
lists when the items are words or phrases. The following
examples demonstrate both options as well as how to
integrate in-text citations into bulleted lists.

63. Items that are words or phrases
63
The first option is to use no punctuation after the bulleted items
(including the final one), which may be better when the items are
shorter and simpler.
Poor sleep quality has been linked with the following
symptoms:
 higher levels of negative mood
 physical symptoms such as insomnia
 Stress
 use of medications
 persistent psychological distress (Glozier et al., 2010; Lund
et al., 2010)

64. Items that are words or phrases
64
The second option is to insert punctuation after the bulleted items as
though the bullets were not there, which may be better when the items
are longer or more complex.
Young adults have many motivations for texting on their smartphones:
 social connection, in which people text as a way to connect
with others;
 escapism, in which people text to get away from dull or
uncomfortable situations such as waiting in line; and
 distraction, in which people text to distract themselves while
having a conversation with someone or being in a meeting;

65. Lettered
Lists
Numbered
Lists
Bulleted Lists
• Within a sentence or paragraph narrative, identify elements in
a series with lowercase letters in parentheses when doing so
will help readers understand the separate, parallel items in a
complex list.
• Used numbered list to display complete sentences or
paragraphs in a series
• Use a lettered or bulleted list rather than a numbered list if
the items are phrases.
• If bulleted list items are complete sentence, begin each
sentence with a capital letter and finish it with a period
or other end of punctuation.
List
Guidelines
• Heading structure alerts readers to the order of ideas in a paper,
seriation
• When a list within a sentence contains three or more items, use a
serial comma before the final item