APA style and citations for dummies - Joe Giampalmi 2021

Clarifying elements: reference conventions and abbreviations
Formatting last impressions: reference list
Practicing safe cites: writing and citing sources

Punctuation, abbreviations, spelling, spacing, and formatting required in reference entries represent the most detailed and complex language in the academic community. The complexity of this language exceeds that of your resume. But you can chill. Do your best to construct a perfectly accurate reference list, and recognize that your professor isn’t looking to penalize you for incorrect spacing between volume numbers and issue numbers. Violations in formatting become a grading issue when your professor identifies big-picture issues such as lack of hanging indentations, weak sources, a vague argument, or disrespect for APA style and citations.

Show your pride as a scholar by nailing formatting requirements. Proof it, have it peer reviewed, have it reviewed by your writing center, and proof it again. To quote a sign in the classroom of Joe Owsley, Sun Valley High School (Aston, Pa.) math teacher, “The harder you work, the luckier you get.”

The following sections take a closer look at punctuating and capitalizing references.

Punctuating your references

APA establishes a punctuation style for references. Create a personal list of APA punctuation relative to your research. Here’s a look at APA punctuation rules specific to the reference list.

· Use a comma to separate author initials from additional authors’ names. Use an ampersand (&) with two authors: Lee, J. T., & Albright, M. A.

· Use a serial comma with an ampersand for three or more authors: Anderson, C. A., Brown, W. W., & Davis, A. W.

· Follow periods with one space.

· If no date is available, use the abbreviation “n.d.” (no date) with no space between “n.” and “d.”

· Use a comma to separate initials from suffixes: Garcia, T. T., Jr., & Katz, S. T.

· Enclose in parentheses additional book information that follows the title, and follow the parentheses with a period: (3rd ed., Vol. 2).

Table 12-1 lists specific abbreviations for references.

TABLE 12-1 Reference list entry abbreviations

Spell authors’ last names exactly as they appear in published works: diGregorio, A’lloway, Maria-Cortez-Lopez, and d’Marco. Also spell publications exactly as they appear in published works: SciENTIFIC, ReVISor, ReKlamations, and Re$alables.

Capitalizing references

APA utilizes two capitalization styles for titles of works and headings within references:

· Title case requires capitalization of major words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and all words four letters or longer). Minor words that aren’t capitalized include three-letter or fewer conjunctions, prepositions, and articles. In title case, you always capitalize the first word of the title and subtitle, even if they’re minor words: The Great Escape: The Story of Educating Poverty.

Here are some uses of title case:

· Titles of books, periodicals, and reports used in text, but not in reference lists

· Heading levels within text (see Chapter 14)

· Figure and table titles (see Chapter 13)

· Sentence case requires lowercase for most words. Capitalize proper nouns, the first word of the title, and the first word after a colon, dash (em dash), or end mark of punctuation: The great influenza: The story of educating poverty. Sentence case is used in the reference list.

Here are some uses for sentence case:

· Titles of works in the reference list

· Table column headings

· Notes headings (see Chapter 13)