APA Format Citation Guide

Because of the demanding nature of academic work, we occasionally need to locate an APA citation guide to ease our life. In light of this, EssayService has outlined the APA citation format for you. And if you're still uncertain, feel free to take advantage of our APA paper writing service, get in touch with the authors, and use the support chat.

What is the APA citation style?

Ever wondered how to cite in APA style? Before getting into the specifics of it, let us go through a basic definition of what the APA format citation stands for. This notion was established in 1929 by anthropologists, psychologists, and business managers. The goal of creating the APA citation style was to set up a straightforward system that would simplify the numerous components of scientific writing, ultimately reducing the difficulty of examining these articles.

Thus, when using the APA style citation in an essay, one should stick to the guidelines regarding all its inherent technicalities. These elements are defined as:

• The student's use of headings
• Consistent tonality
• Appropriate essay length
• Correct use of grammar, punctuation, abbreviations, page numbers, etc.
• Display tables and figures where necessary
• Combine paraphrasing and in-text citation APA while also doing them according to the rules

Regardless of the types of sources used, consistency and clarity are always the top priorities. The APA citation format is encompassed around all the elements being in sync. Doing so allows the examiners to go back and look at the sources if necessary. With that in mind, it becomes quite apparent why employing this referencing style correctly reduces the time it takes to write the actual essay.

Where Is APA Style Used

First off, before we check out an APA citation example, we will elaborate on where this style is encountered the most and why. Apart from the Harvard Referencing Style, in most cases, the APA reference format will be assigned to courses relevant to social sciences and behavioral sciences. Overall these two encompass topics surrounding economics, linguistics, psychology, sociology, anthropology, etc.

Regardless of whether the subject requires you to create an APA formatting bibliography, remember that all essential elements remain the same. Each topic may bring forth a unique set of requirements, such as displaying the reference list in order of appearance or perhaps alphabetically.

The most popular subjects

First off before we check out an APA formatting example, we will elaborate where this style is encountered the most and why. In most cases, the APA citation style will be assigned to courses which are relevant to social sciences and behavioral sciences. Overall these two encompass topics surrounding:

Regardless of what subject will require you to create an APA formatting bibliography remember that all of the essential elements remain the same. Each topic may bring forth a unique set of requirements such as displaying the references in order of appearance or perhaps alphabetically.

APA Citation Format Guidelines

Let's cover many fantastic tips and tricks to help you get through by using our APA citation guide. First, let us acquaint ourselves with the necessary steps to tackle an APA format 6th edition.

The essay should contain four significant sections: Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References. Each primary part must be started on a new page.

• Any APA formatting research paper requires the assignment to be typed up no matter what.
• Make use of double-spaced lines on a standard-size A4 paper that has a 1-inch margin on all sides.
• Regarding fonts, students must stick to the recommended 12-point size Times New Roman font.
• Page numbers are to be placed in the top right-hand corner.
• Create a page header/running head which will be included at the top of every page. The header must contain the title of the paper using all capital letters. It is not to be centered according to the APA citation style requirements but simply start from the left-hand side with no indent. Nonetheless, if it exceeds 50 characters, including spaces and punctuation, it must be transformed into a shorter version.
• A special identifier known as a Digital Object Identifier is issued to some electronic information, such as online journal articles (DOI or doi).

APA Formatting Title Page

To help you get a better understanding of what such a task should look like, this APA citation guide will include visual aids to hastened the process. Below is an example of what the title page has to look like for it to be considered appropriate followed up by a detailed explanation of why the elements are used in such a manner.

This section of the APA citation style needs an entirely blank page for reference list entries on its own, do not add any other information on it except what will be mentioned below or indicated by the lecturer. Visibly now is the time to introduce our audience to the essay. Thus, in our APA formatting example, we can see the running header and page number at the top of the page. All elements needed here must be centered as a requirement of the APA citation style. Following the title page, the APA citation format regarding the running header remains just the simplified title of the paper.

It is recommended that an APA citation style title not exceed 12 words in length and should not be typed in all capital letters like the header while avoiding senseless information or abbreviations. In most cases, a journal title in APA style uses one or two lines of physical space on the page. Fundamentally, APA references include the author, publication date, source, and title.

Abstract APA Formatting Template

Since it is another primary element, it will require the student to start a fresh new page. Do not forget to include the essay's running header as indicated by our APA citation guide. The title, namely 'Abstract,' has to be centered; however, it is vital not to be too bold, underline, use italics, format, or edit the word in any shape or form.

Then the students must begin a new line of text where the description starts. In essence, it means creating a compelling summary of the key points highlighted by one's research on the topic. Generally, its word limits range from 150 words to a maximum of 250. In some cases, due to the highly technical nature of the topic, the APA citation format dictates we use a particular list of keywords specific to an academic sphere. To do so, the student must indent and italicize the word Keywords: followed by a list highlighting what they are.

Overall the APA citation format helps structure all the elements into place. What most researchers peek at in this section is giving out some information on their research question(s), research topic, methods of data analysis, methods of data collection, participants, if any, results, and lastly, the conclusion.

APA Formatting Samples

As for the final significant section of our APA citation guide, we will explore how to cite APA by displaying the references correctly. It involves accurately presenting one's APA citation in-text and listing them at the end in the required manner. So without any further adieu, let us look at some of the most popular resources being done according to the 6th edition of the APA publication manual.

• Books

The power of habit: Why we do what we do in life and business by Charles Duhigg.

Duhigg, C. (2012). Power of habit: why we do what we do in life and business. New York: Random House Trade Paperbacks.

• Magazines

Edwards, C. N., & Webb, M. (2006, April 1). A review of research in the social scientific study of religion, volume 15. Counseling and Values, 205(3).

• Newspapers

Thompson, P. (2015, January 31). Welcome to New York; with Better Runs Than Broadway and More High-Fliers Than Wall Street, Upstate New York Is an Undiscovered Ski Gem. Coventry Evening Telegraph (England). Retrieved October 23, 2017.

• Websites

Scientific American at the Google Science Fair by Marietta DiChristina

DiChristina, M. (2015, September 23). SA at the Google Science Fair. Retrieved October 2, 2017, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/education/sa-at-the-google-science-fair/

• Journals

Taplin, N. (2017). Commodities Find Support From Just About Everyone. Wall Street Journal,509(1), 11-14. Retrieved October 23, 2017, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/commodities-find-support-from-just-about-everyone-1483590868

• Films/Videos

Tarantino, Q. (Director), & Bender, L., & Miramax (Producers). (1995). Pulp Fiction [Motion picture on DVD]. United States of America: Buena Vista Home Entertainment.

How to make in text citations correctly

It is not surprising that just being able to use the APA citation style in a bibliography is not enough to live up to the expectations of this referencing style. Having compiled and edited the list of your sources successfully now it is time to understand how to mention them following the rules highlighted by our APA citation guide. Below we will explore the most encountered questions by students when trying to incorporate their references as APA in-text citations.

• Citing one or multiple authors using the APA citation style

In this case, the APA citation format changes according to the number of authors as well as how the student wishes to display them.

One Author:

According to the research done by Taplin (2017) we can see the difference in…

Two To Five Authors:

For the first in-text citation we must mention all the authors involved. The following mentions only include the main/first author's name followed by et al.

The studies conducted by Bernes, Kerry, Smith, Peterson, & Kellerman (2007) indicates…

Bernes et al., (2007)

Six Authors:

Smith et al. (2012) sought to prove…

• Paraphrasing and summarizing

As stated by Kellerman (2004), mastering the APA citation format is a difficult task for first-timers.

Or

The art of mastering the APA citation format is always a demanding task for young academics ( Kellerman, 2004, p. 214)

Providing the page number in the second example is optional.

• Short and long quotations

Any quotations having more than 40 words are considered long according to the APA citation style. Nonetheless, the more extended version does not make use of parentheses but instead makes use of a free-standing block of typewritten lines. Both require the author and year of publication to be mentioned. Remember that direct quotations appear in quotation marks and end with a citation.

More Academic Help

If you want further assistance with other projects, let our service do the job for you. Our experienced writers have never failed to provide personalized writing on time tailored to your requirements and leave the reader awestruck. And if you want to learn about how to write an essay in APA format, check our guide!