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APA Citations

APA 7th edition citation assistance

APA style

American Psychological Association (APA) citation style is widely used in the social sciences.  This guide gives APA citation style examples for  resources available at Mabee Library, with an emphasis on electronic/online resources

A copy of other APA Style Manual is available at the Mabee Library Front Desk.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 7th ed., Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. 

When to cite

"Cite the work of those individuals whose ideas, theories, or research have directly influenced your work. They may provide key background information, support or dispute your thesis, or offer critical definitions and data.  Citation of an article implies that you have personally read the cited work.  In addition to crediting the ideas of others that you used to build your thesis, provide documentation for all facts and figures that are not common knowledge" (APA, 2010, p. 169).

Formatting Guides

Paper Format 

Consistency in the order, structure, and format of a paper allows readers to focus on a paper’s content rather than its presentation. The guidelines for paper format apply to Students and Professionals, the differences lie in the Title Page formatting. 

Paper Formatting

Paper Setup Guide

Student Title Page Guide

Heading Levels Template

You can typically use the default settings and automatic formatting tools in Microsoft Word (and other word processing software). However, always check that your settings match the guides provided above. 

American Psychological Association. (2019, August). Paper format. APA style. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format 

 

Hanging indent tips

Hanging Indent Directions for Google Docs

  1. Highlight the citation(s) you want to indent. ...
  2. Along the top menu, click on "Format," then go down to "Align & indent," then click on "Indentation options."
  3. In the Indentation options menu, under "Special," select "Hanging."
  4. Click "Apply.

Hanging Indent Directions for Microsoft Word:

  1. Highlight the citation(s)
  2. Right-click your mouse on the highlighted text
  3. Select 'Paragraph' from the pop-up menu
  4. Under 'Indentation,' open the drop-down menu under 'Special:' and select 'Hanging'
  5. The 'By:' field next to it should be .5" as the standard indentation.
  6. Press "ok"

Hanging Indent Short Cut in Word on Windows computers:

  1. Highlight the text/paragraph and Press on Ctrl+T to create a new hanging indent. If there are no explicit tab stops on the text, Word will automatically indent to the next default tab stop, which is usually 0.5". Each subsequent press of the shortcut indents the hang one more tab stop.
  2. You can also press Shift+Ctrl+T to undo the hanging indent you just made.