APA Style Guide

American Psychological Association (APA) style is commonly used by writers in the social sciences.  This guide is based on the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual. this guide is intended to supplement - not replace - the manual. Please refer to the manual if you have any questions.

Learning how to cite may seem like a daunting task. However, it is well worth it in the end for several reasons:

• To avoid plagiarism 
• To show academic honesty 
• To allow others to learn more about your topic.
• To allow the reader to conduct their own research from your work
• Not "common knowledge"

Whether you choose to add a direct quotation to your paper or merely paraphrase someone else's idea, you must cite any work that did not come from you.  That includes but is not limited to text, images, computer code and charts.

Remember when in doubt, cite it!

This guide will help you with the basic concepts of APA.  For more information consult the manual.

Here are some links and helpful sites for citing your sources in APA Style. 

Student Sample Paper - Sample paper in Microsoft Word from the APA website

Here is a sample paper from the Purdue OWL.  This is what your paper should look like.