Mastering APA Style for Students: A Comprehensive Tutorial Guide
This tutorial provides a detailed guide on understanding and applying APA style effectively, particularly for students in education, nursing, business, and social sciences. It covers essential aspects such as formatting issues, internal citations, and creating reference pages. Step-by-step instructions help students distinguish between true APA and abridged versions, address common questions, and ensure their academic writing adheres to APA guidelines. By focusing on formatting, students can organize their arguments and cite sources accurately.
Mastering APA Style for Students: A Comprehensive Tutorial Guide
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Presentation Transcript
Style Tutorial APA
What Disciplines Use This Style? • Primarily: • Education • Nursing • Secondary: • Business • Social Sciences • Such as: • Psychology • Linguistics • Sociology • Economics • Criminology
General Concerns • Formatting Issues • Internal Citations • References • Credible Sources (see professor)
Step One: Ascertain Type of APA • Ask the student if they are using true APA or an abridged version. • If true APA, carry on to step two. • If an abridged version, the student needs to provide the tutor with the specifics. • This may require the student to approach his/her professor for clarification and further instructions before a tutor can fully assess the APA.
Step Two: Student Questions • The first thing to do in any tutorial is to discover what the student needs and answer his/her questions. • Typical questions: • Is my APA correct? • How do I ____________? • Create a running head • Change page numbers between sections • Etc. • Are my citations correct? • Is my reference page set up correctly?
Content • We cannot help with subject content, but we can help with the structure of the student’s argument. • Make sure that the student understands that if they prioritize formatting or style concerns, there will not be much time left in the tutorial to address content concerns or argument/structure issues.
Step Three: Answering Concerns • Basic formatting: • Margins: 1 inch • Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt. • Paragraphs: Double space • Header: Running head • Sections: • Title Page • Abstract • Main Body • References
Internal Citations • Paraphrasing: • …(Robbins, 2008). • Quote less than 40 words: • “…” (Smith, 2005, p.6). • (Smith, 2005, pp. 8-9). • Incorporating a source into a paragraph: • According to Stemmer (2008)… • Stemmer (2008) indicates… • Quote more than 40 words (block quote): • Indent: 0.5” • No quotation marks • . (Roueche & Roueche, 1993, p.121) • Block quotes in APA are like MLA but with a year attached. • Secondary Source: • Ex: Stemmer’s work (as cited in Pratt, 2008). • Pratt on Reference page
Reference Page • Title: References (centered) • Book: • Branham, C. (1998). Profiles of great African Americans. Lincolnwood, IL: Publications International. • Magazine: • Clemetson, L. (2001, January 8). Oprah on Oprah. Newsweek, 137, 38-44. • Newspaper: • Dedman, B. (1999, October 10). Professor Oprah, preaching what she practices. New York Times, p. C1. • Website: • Sandsworth, L. R. (n.d.). Oprah’s dynasty. Retrieved from http://www.femalebusinessnews.com/oprah/apap/ttl
For further examples… APA: The Easy Way A Writer’s Resource
