“Writing Styles” workshop introduces the idea that a specific writing style provides the writers with the rules they need to produce a research paper that conforms to its standards.For those who want to complete their post-graduate studies, it is a good idea to buy the style manual accepted by the majority of their department members. You have to make sure that you get the most recent edition. Each style manual has many, many rules, most of which you do not need to learn in detail. When preparing to write your research paper, you have to refer to your style manual so many times to make sure that you are following its standards. In this workshop, we are going to concentrate upon APA.

1. Writing Styles
By:
Jihan Zayed, Ph. D.
Qassim Private Colleges,
KSA

2. Why do you have to do this?
Because learning to write
means mastering a uniform
writing style in a manner that
will be understood by most
readers.

3. Common Academic Writing Styles:
 MLA, used in English and the
humanities;
 APA, used in psychology and the
social sciences;
 Chicago, used in history and some
humanities; and
CSE, used in biology and other
sciences.

4. The APA
Writing Style

5. What is APA?
 The American Psychological Association
(APA) publication manual is the most
commonly used format for research papers
in the social sciences.
 APA regulates:
• Stylistics
• In-text citations
• References

6. page margins
type styles and fonts
spacing
indentation
headers
quotations
citations of sources
references
Major areas we are going to cover
in our workshop:

7. General Format
 Your research paper should:
• be typed and double-spaced to be printed
on standard-sized paper (8.5”x11”),
• use 1”margins on all sides,
• use 10-12 pt. Times New Roman, and
• include a page header (title) in the upper
left-hand of every page and a page number
in the upper right-hand side of every page

8. General Format
 Your research paper
should include four
major sections:
References
Main Body
Abstract
Title page

9. Title Page
(In the upper
half of the page,
centered: paper
title, writer’s
name,
instructor’s
name, university
and date)
Page header

10. Abstract Page
Write a 150- to 250- word
summary of your paper in
an accurate, concise, and
specific manner.
 Page header: do NOT
include “Running head:”
 Abstract: centered, at the
top of the page
Include main keywords of
your research.

11. Main Body (Text)
• Number the first text page as page
number 3.
• Type and center the title of the paper
at the top of the page.
• Type the text double-spaced with all
sections following each other without
a break.
• Identify the sources you use in the
paper in parenthetical, in-text
citations.

12. APA In-Text Citations
• Reference in the text:
• According to Davies (2005), varieties of …
• OR, you may write like this:
• In a study of varieties of modern English
(Davies, 2000) …
• References at the end of your paper:
• Davies, D. (2005). Varieties of modern English.
UK: Pearson Education Limited.

13. One Work by Two authors
• Always cite both names every time the
reference occurs in text.
• Use the word "and" between the authors' names
within the text, Use "&" in the parentheses.
• Example: Reference in the text:
• Boud and Knights (1994). confirmed that … OR,
you may write like this:
• In a study of … (Boud & Knights, 1994).
• Example: References (at the end of your paper)
• Boud, D. and Knights, S. (1994). Designing courses
to promote reflective practice. Research
• and Development in Higher Education, 16: 229-234.

14. Works with three through five authors:
• List the last names of all authors the first
time you cite them.
• If you are citing the paper of 3 or more
authors for a second or more time, list last
name of first author, followed by “et al.,”
and the date.
• For example, (Kirk, Spock, McCoy, &
Scott, 1966, p. 1701) [for the first time you cite
it]
• (Kirk et al., 1966, p. 1701) [for all other times
you cite it]

15. Sources with six authors or more:
• (Picard et al., 1987, p. 1701d) [for every
time you cite it, but include up to
seven authors in the full reference. If
there are more, include the first six,
followed by an ellipse (...) followed
by the last of the names.]

16. Article in an internet-only journal
• Ellis, G. (1998). Developing metacognitive
awareness: The missing dimension [Online].
British Council. Retrieved on 29 Aug 2004 02:56:37
GMT from
http://www.pt.britishcouncil.org/journal/j1004ge.h
tm.

17. Journal Article: paginated by issue:
online and hardcopy
 Devine, P. G., & Sherman, S.
J. (1992). Intuitive versus rational
judgment and the role of stereotyping in
the human condition: Kirk or
Spock? Psychological Inquiry, 3(2), 153-
159. http://dx.doi.org/10.1207/s15327965p
li0302_13

18. Book Article or Chapter
 James, N. E. (1988). Two sides of paradise:
The Eden myth according to Kirk and
Spock. In D. Palumbo (Ed.), Spectrum of
the fantastic (pp. 219-223). Westport,
CT: Greenwood.

19. Encyclopedia Article
 Sturgeon, T. (1995). Science fiction. In L. T.
Lorimer et al. (Eds.), The encyclopedia
Americana (Vol. 24, pp. 390-392).
Danbury, CT: Grolier.

20. ERIC Document
 Fuss-Reineck, M. (1993). Sibling
communication in Star trek: The next
generation: Conflicts between
brothers. Retrieved from ERIC database.
(ED364932)

21. Company and Industry Reports:
 [Include the URL of the database's homepage
instead of the complete link.]
Industry custom report: Advertising
agencies. (2013, February 25).
Retrieved from Hoover's website:
http://subscriber.hoovers.com/H/home/index.html
 [You have the option of using the database's
name as the author instead of the publisher.]
Hoover's Inc. (2013, February 25). Industry custom
report: Advertising agencies. Retrieved from
http://subscriber.hoovers.com/H/home/index.html

22. Internet Video
 Crusade2267. (2006, November 02). For
the uniform: One fan's obsession with Star
trek, part 1 [Video file]. Retrieved from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul5q4
PTME-M

23. PowerPoint Presentation
 Oard, D. W. (2001). Bringing Star trek to life:
Computers that speak and
listen [PowerPoint presentation]. Retrieved
from University of Maryland
TerpConnect website:
http://terpconnect.umd.edu/~oard/papers
/cpsp118t.ppt

24. Levels of Headings
 Research papers use from 1 to 5 levels of
headings, as shown:

25. Quotations
 Quotation marks that close a quote come
before the parenthetical reference. Commas
and periods come after parenthetical
references, for example, “Quote” (Bayer,
2008, p. 4).
 However, exclamation marks and question
marks that end a quote come before the
closing quotation mark. In these cases, a
comma or a period is required after the
parenthetical reference: “Quote?” (Bayer,
2008, p. 2).

26. Block quotations
 (quotations of more than 40 words) are
indented on the left 0.5 inches, double-
spaced, and without quotation marks.
 The necessary citation information is given
outside the punctuation that ends the
borrowed material. For example:

27. APA Tables
 Label tables with an Arabic numeral and
provide a title. The label and the title appear
on separate lines above the table, flush-left
and single-spaced.
 Cite a source in a note below the table.
Table 13
t Values of the EG and the CG in Phonology
Source: Zayed, J. (2010). The effectiveness of reflection in developing students'
oracy in English at the faculties of tourism and hospitality ( Unpublished doctoral
dissertation), Mansoura University, Faculty of Education, Egypt.

28. APA Figures
 Label figures with an Arabic numeral and provide a title. The label and
the title appear on the same line below the figure, flush-left .
 You might provide an additional title centered above the figure.
 Cite the source below the label and the title.
Source: Zayed, J. (2010). The effectiveness of reflection in developing students' oracy
in English at the faculties of tourism and hospitality ( Unpublished doctoral
dissertation), Mansoura University, Faculty of Education, Egypt.

29. References Page
• Center the title (References)
at the top of the page. Do
not bold it.
• Double-space reference
entries
• Flush left the first line of the
entry and indent subsequent
lines.
• Order entries alphabetically
by the author’s surnames.
• Every source cited in your
paper must appear on the
reference list, and every
entry in your reference list
must be cited in your paper.