APA style and citations for dummies - Joe Giampalmi 2021

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The locations of some of the most important lessons you learned in your lifetime include the playground, the athletic field, and the sandbox. These environments are like laboratories where most parents try to teach their children to be kind, caring, and respectful. You’re a considerate person today (also intelligent because you bought this book) because of numerous reminders from the significant adults in your life who regularly said: “Be nice.” “Be kind.” “Share your toys.” “Wait your turn.”

Adults’ “nice” and “kind” reminders referred to your respectful words to your young peers. The hurtful meaning of words contradicts an age-old childhood chant: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” Disrespectful language — biased references to appearance, race, religion, gender and gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and more — hurts longer than the healing time of broken bones.

You also learned respect by participating in sports and similar activities. Professional sports in the United States experienced a metamorphosis after historical patterns of racial discrimination. Most athletes on all levels today value teammates for their ability to perform, regardless of their background. Minorities experienced racial discrimination and were banned from participating in professional leagues.

“I am not concerned with your liking or disliking me … all I ask is that you respect me as a human being,” said Jackie Robinson, the object of racial abuse and the first Black man to play Major League Baseball for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field on April 15, 1947. Major League Baseball honors Robinson’s racial justice accomplishment on that date annually, with every Major League player wearing his number, 42. Using language that is respectful to all human beings also honors Robinson. APA’s recommendation to use bias-free language represents a goal of every academic writer and every respectable writing community.

General guidelines for unbiased and respectful language in APA include the following:

· Using people-first language to identify people with disabilities. Avoid language highlighting their disability.

· Preferring gender-neutral language to gender-specific terms related to business and selected occupations.

· Avoiding perpetuating stereotypes that denigrate people according to race, age, disability, gender, and sexual orientation.

· Avoiding extreme comparisons of groups using language such as normal, the average person, most people, and the general public.

· Additional topics that require language sensitivity and respectful choices include marriage, religion, and politics.

APA identifies bias-free language choices as guidelines and suggestions, not as recommendations or requirements. Language, like people, grows and evolves. Words appropriate to one generation may eventually become unacceptable to another generation. The language recommended in this chapter is generally acceptable to most people and groups, but some people and groups may disagree. Because rhetorical situations vary, choose the most appropriate words for the writing requirement. Choose language that is sensitive to your readers, and ensure that it is positive and respectful. If you question a word’s sensitivity, seek a second opinion.

Racial and ethnic references

Principles for respectful racial and ethnic references include

· Avoiding inappropriate and unnecessary references to race. If you’re talking about children traveling with stuffed animals, for example, references to the children’s race lacks relevance.

· Avoiding racial stereotypes, as well as exaggerated mental images that negatively associate a race with dress, appearance, food, and so forth.

Age and disability references

Principles for respectful age and disability references include

· APA suggests “exact ages or age ranges.” Some examples are older adults, 60- to 75-year-olds, the over-80 crowd, septuagenarians, octogenarians, nonagenarians, and centenarians.

· Biased: The elderly were seated near the elevators.

· Revised: Senior citizens were seated near the elevators.

Elderly implies too large a group of people. It also implies a stereotype of fragility, a reference unacceptable to senior citizens who skydive and run marathons.

Language offensive to some senior citizens includes old people, older people, oldest, old, old timers, elders, the aged, and seasoned adults.

· Emphasize the person and not the disability. APA recommends the phrase, “a person with.”

· Biased: Diabetics check blood sugar regularly.

· Revised: People with diabetes check blood sugar regularly.

Language offensive to some people with disabilities includes disabled, handicapped, crippled, mental retardation, mentally ill, wheelchair-bound, victim, suffering with, and afflicted with.

Gender and sexual orientation references

References to gender and sexual orientation also require the sensitivity of a psychologist. Apply the “self-test” — How would you feel if the words were written about you? — before going public by hitting the Send button.

Gender references

Principles for respectful gender references include

· Using parallel gender references. For example, use girl where you would use boy, woman where you would use man, lady where you would use gentleman, and female where you would use male.

· Biased: The girls in the lab collected data.

· Revised: The women in the lab collected data.

Both girl and boy imply a younger age than women and men. Girl and boy also imply informal colloquialism. APA recommends formal language, such as men and women when referencing adults. Gender references to high school students include boys and girls. Gender references to college students include men and women.

· Use neutral pronoun references. An easy way to do this is to use the plural rather than the singular as the subject of a sentence.

· Biased: Each manager must prepare his department for working virtually.

· Revised: Managers must prepare their departments for working virtually.

· Avoid gender-specific stereotypes for occupations. Examples include construction workers, secretaries, doctors, nurses, letter carriers, police officers, business owners, and flight attendants.

· Biased: When the doctor arrived, she immediately examined her patient.

· Revised: The doctor arrived and immediately examined the patient.

The following table has additional examples of biased gender language and acceptable revisions.

Some gender language issues remain in transition, as in the following examples:

· Can a women’s basketball team play man-to-man defense? Currently, when most male and female basketball teams play pressure defense, they identify their style of play as man-to-man defense. Among coaches of female teams, the terms person-to-person and player-to-player defense are gaining in popularity. For basketball fans, playing zone defense doesn’t resolve the gender language issue.

· What’s the most feared alert at sea? Crew members at sea drill to react to “man overboard.” One-syllable man requires less time to alert the crew than the two-syllable person or woman. U.S. Coast Guard documentation is beginning to reflect gender-neutral person overboard. Gender-neutral personal flotation device (PFD) helps you if you fall overboard but does not resolve the man overboard alert issue.

Avoid activity that risks falling overboard. Also, keep dogs safe on board because no terminology addresses if they fall overboard. But if they do, they have a stroke named after them.

Gender identity and sexual orientation references

APA’s general categorization of sexual orientation, a person’s feeling and sense of identity, includes heterosexual, bisexual, and homosexual. APA identifies nonbinary gender such as genderqueer, gender-nonconforming, gender-neutral, agender, and gender-fluid. Gender identity, exclusive of sexual orientation, includes transgender men and cisgender women.

Specific gender identities are relevant for researchers, usually graduate students, identifying participants in a study. The academic community, at all levels, values respecting all people.

Sexual orientation language that is APA-acceptable includes lesbians and gay men (preferred to homosexuals). Also avoid sexual preference, he/she, (s)he, and alternating male and female pronouns.

Socioeconomic references

Principles for respectful socioeconomic references include

· Focusing on what people have, rather than what they don’t have

· Avoiding offensive stereotypes

APA identifies socioeconomic status as income and “educational attainment, occupational prestige, and subjective perceptions of social status and social class.” Terminology in this section applies primarily to professional researchers in their Methods section, but also generally to undergraduates, following their professors’ guidelines.

APA recommends avoiding derogative language such as low income, the poor, inner city, the projects, and poverty. They prefer positive language such as people experiencing homelessness to the homeless and opportunity gap to achievement gap.