APA style
APA style, developed by the American Psychological Association in 1929, is a standardized format primarily used in academic writing within the social sciences, business, and nursing fields. It aims to provide a consistent structure that enhances readability and comprehension, minimizing distractions from unfamiliar formatting. The most recent edition, the seventh, was introduced in 2020, incorporating improvements for accessibility, especially for users of screen readers.
APA style encompasses various elements, including guidelines for paper layout, font choice, spacing, and the structure of different sections, such as title pages, abstracts, main bodies, and references. It also delineates two main types of papers: literature reviews, which summarize existing research, and experimental reports, which detail original research findings. Key stylistic principles emphasize clarity, active voice, and inclusive language, encouraging authors to avoid bias related to gender, race, and disability.
Proper citation is critical in APA style, requiring in-text citations that follow an author-date-page format and a comprehensive references list organized alphabetically. This attention to detail not only credits original sources but also strengthens the integrity of academic work.
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APA style
APA style, also called APA format, is a type of formatting used in academic writing in the social science, business, and nursing fields. Widely used in the area of psychology, APA style is commonly used as the format for essays and papers in high school and college. The American Psychological Association developed the style of writing to establish a uniform set of rules for structure, formatting, spacing, punctuation, references, word use, and more. In 2020, the APA introduced the seventh edition of the APA style in its Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
Overview
The American Psychological Association created APA style in 1929 to ensure academic writers in the social sciences had a uniform procedure to observe and use. When writers follow a particular style, it allows for increased reading comprehension. Unfamiliar formatting may distract editors and other readers from an APA user's work.
APA style covers many elements. It provides guidelines for paper size, font choice and size, spacing, indentions, margin sizes, and page headers (the information about the work at the top of every page). It gives the basic page layout for a manuscript, which includes a title page, an abstract (summary of the work), the main body of the work itself, and references (works used to write the article). In addition, APA style guides writers on the correct way to use abbreviations, punctuation, numbers, tables, figures, and more.
APA style provides information about the two main types of APA papers—the literature review and experimental report—and requirements, such as sections to use, for each. The literature review is an overview of a topic according to existing scientific literature. An experimental report is a writer's own research and results of a particular topic.
Three basic style guidelines are included in APA style: point of view/voice, clarity/conciseness, and word choice. An individual should use active voice and first-person point of view when writing about research conducted. Writers should provide clear and specific descriptions and explanations and avoid wordiness and vague language. They should choose their words carefully to avoid using terms that can have multiple meanings. Poetic and figurative language also should not be used in APA writing.
APA style has recommendations for eliminating bias concerning disability, gender, race, and sexuality. For example, writers should avoid using the word normal in contrast to disabled when describing a person. They should not use gendered pronouns such as he or she and instead use the plural they or rephrase the sentence to avoid pronoun use. Writers should also try to use alternative descriptors to avoid offending readers.
The most precise part of APA style is formatting citations and references correctly. Writers should use in-text parenthetical citations throughout the paper and a references list at the end to show readers which sources they used for research. In-text citations should follow an author-date-page style, which means the author's last name should be listed, followed by the date of the publication and the page number referenced in the work. This information should be enclosed within parentheses. The references list shows all of the publications used in the paper. It is arranged in alphabetical order by the authors' last names. The formatting of references differs per type of publication.
Bibliography
Almeida, Pedro. "The Origins of APA Style (and Why There Are So Many Rules)." JEPS Bulletin, 10 July 2012, blog.efpsa.org/2012/07/10/the-origins-of-apa-style-and-why-there-are-so-many-rules. Accessed 8 Dec. 2016.
"APA Formatting and Style Guide (7th Edition)." Purdue Online Writing Lab, Purdue University, owl.purdue.edu/owl/research‗and‗citation/apa‗style/apa‗formatting‗and‗style‗guide/index.html. Accessed 17 July 2024.
"Introducing the Basics of Seventh Edition APA Style Tutorial." American Psychological Association, apastyle.apa.org/blog/basics-7e-tutorial. Accessed 9 Oct. 2020.
"General Differences between MLA and APA." AcademicTips.org, 6 Jan. 2013, academictips.org/mla-format/general-differences-between-mla-and-apa. Accessed 8 Dec. 2016.
"What Is APA Format? - Style & Definition." Study.com, study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-apa-format-style-definition-quiz.html. Accessed 8 Dec. 2016.
"Style and Grammar Guidelines." American Psychological Association, Feb. 2024, apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines. Accessed 17 July 2024.