Citation Guides

Setting up your title page

APA Style gives slightly different guidelines for Student and Professional papers, both of which are described in detail in chapter 2 of the APA Manual. This guide goes over Student papers only. Student Title Pages includes three major components, the paper Title, Authorship information, and Page number.

1. Paper Title

The Title should be placed in the top half of the page (typically 3-4 lines down from the top margin). It should be in title case, bold font, and centered on the page.

2. Authorship Information

After the title, add a black double-spaced line, and then add the following information, in the order listed. Each element should be on a new double-spaced line, in standard font (not italics or bold), and centered.

1. The Byline (name(s) of each author on the paper) should be written out as your first name, middle initial, and last name (John E. Doe). Note that multiple authors will all be on the same line, separated by commas with "and" before the last name, but their institutional Affiliations (see below) will each be on a unique line. 
   • At the professional level, papers with multiple authors have the authors listed in order of their level of contribution. For group projects at the student level, however, it is expected that all participants will contribute equally to the project, and so APA doesn't dictate a specific order in which the authors should be listed. However, it is a good rule of professionalism to list authors in order the names alphabetically according to last name. 
2. The institutional Affiliation (one for each author) includes the name of the school or department of the institution followed by the name of the institution, separated by a comma. Unless the institution name itself includes a location (University of Chicago), you should not list a location.
   • Do not abbreviate the name of the department, school, or university in the affiliation. For example, a paper for an education class would have the affiliation fully written out as "Liffrig Family School of Education and Behavioral Sciences, University of Mary."
   • In the case of multiple authors from a single institution (such as a group paper), it is not necessary to double-list the affiliation. In the case that there are multiple authors from different institutions, each affiliation should be on its own line, in correlation with the order of the authors.
3. Course Number and Name, following the format on your syllabus for abbreviating and numbering.
4. Instructor Name (follow the way their name is given on your syllabus, including their title and any initials)
5. Lastly, write out the Assignment Due Date in month, date, and year format. (Example: November 24, 2024)

3. Page Number

Use your word processor's "heading" feature to add a page number that will automatically update as you type and add pages. You can easily access the header by double-clicking on the top margin of the page.

 Formatting the body of your project

1. Student papers within APA do not typically use running headers within a paper, but the very first line of the first page of the text should repeat the title of your paper. It should be centered, in bold font, and use title casing (this is considered a first level heading, following the formatting demonstrated below). The main text of the paper begins immediately on the next double-spaced line with no extra spacing.
2. Follow all of the "Overall Formatting" guidelines on the first tab of this page (align left, do not hyphenate, double-space everything, etc.).
3. The first line of each paragraph should have a 1/2 inch indent, with subsequent lines aligned flush with the left margin.
   • Most word processors will already have this as a default setting, but it can be adjusted if not.
4. The entirety of Block Quotes should be indented by 1/2 inch. For long block quotes (which should be used sparingly) that span more than one paragraph, the first line of the second and following paragraphs should be indented an additional 1/2 inch, for a total of 1 inch from the margin. The first paragraph will still be "flush" with the left side of the block quote.
5. There should only be a single space following punctuation before the next sentence starts.
6. Internal Headings and Subheadings can be used in longer papers to designate sections within the project's structure and aid in organization. Use the following guidelines for internal headings:
   • There are five standard levels of heading in APA Style to designate different sections within your paper. See the table below for instructions on how to format each level.
   • Use title casing for headings, avoid using all capital letters for readability.
   • Do not use numbers or letters to designate headings.

Format for the Five Levels of Heading in APA Style:

Setting up your Reference List

This page is for the visual formatting of your Reference List page as a whole. For examples of how to write entries for specific source types, see the "APA Citation Examples" page.

1. Your Reference List should be the very first section following the main text (before any tables, indexes, etc.).
2. On the first line of the page, the label "References" should be capitalized, bold, and centered one inch from the top of the page (the normal margin).
3. On the very next double-spaced line, immediately begin your first entry following the heading.
4. The first line of each entry should be flush with the left margin, with each subsequent line indented 1/2 inch. (This is known as a "hanging indent.")
5. Entries should be organized alphabetically, regardless of the importance they played in your project.

Tables and Figures - Shared Guidelines

In APA style, the basic guidelines for formatting tables and figures are the same. Complete information on tables and figures can be found in chapter 7 of the APA manual.

A Note on Figures: in APA style, any visual components other than data tables is considered a "figure." This includes photographs, illustrations, graphs, charts, etc.

A Note on Tables: Always use the table-building feature on your word processor rather than attempting to manually create one. Because of the way documents adjust to fit different screen sizes and software, the data is unlikely to line up properly if you use a "DIY" table. On the other hand, the table-building feature is designed to keep tables stable, but you will likely need to adjust the formatting to fit APA guidelines.

Placement within Paper

There are two options for the placement of visual components like tables and figures (images, charts, graphs, etc.). The first option is to include them within the text of the project as they are referenced, or to group them all together at the end of the paper in a section titled "List of Tables and Figures."

If included within the text of the project:

• Align them with the left margin.
• Place them after a full paragraph (rather than mid-paragraph).
• Add an extra double-spaced line between the end of the previous paragraph and the table/figure.

If grouped together in a list of tables and figures:

• Align them with the left margin.
• The list should be located after the reference list.
• List all tables first (each on its own page), followed by the figures (each on its own page). Order the tables and figures within each section according to how they are first referenced in the paper.

Line Spacing

The entire item should be double-spaced throughout. If needed for readability, the body of a table may be reduced to one-and-a-half or even single-spaced. An example would be if the table spans more than a single page when double-spaced but would fit if single-spaced. However, the heading (label and title) and notes must always be double-spaced, regardless of the body spacing.

Use of Color, Division Lines, and Other Visual Components

Use division lines as needed for visual distinction between the heading (label and title), body, and notes. Generally, due to the more visual nature of figures, division lines are not needed, but tables may benefit so that you avoid losing readability in a "sea of numbers."

Avoid using shading in tables and never use it merely for decoration. If you need to emphasize specific data within the table, draw attention using a note instead (see section 7.14 in the APA manual to learn about special types of notes).

Organization/Essential Information

Follow this structure to organize both tables and figures (each item on a new line):

1. Numbered Label
   Every table or figure in the paper is labeled with a number (even if it is the only one in the project). This label is simple and only consists of the word "Table" or "Figure" and the number. Example: Table # or Figure #
   • Labels are bolded and aligned to the left.
   • Number each table or figure in the order that they appear in the paper.
   • Use Arabic numbers only (not alphabetic characters).
2. Title
   • Titles are italicized and aligned to the left.
   • Use title case.
3. Body
   • The actual content of the table or figure follows the title and comes before any clarifying notes that may be needed. The table or figure should be simple to understand.
   • For readability, fonts should be simple, sans serif fonts (Ariel, Calibri, Lucida Sans Unicode, etc.), and be between 8pt and 14pt in size.
   • As noted above, if necessary for readability, the content of a figure or table can be spaced at one-and-a-half or single-spaced.
4. Legend or "key" (for figures only)
   The legend or "key," if needed, is used to define the meaning of symbols used in the figure image.
5. Notes/Source (as needed)
   Notes can be used to explain the contents of the table or figure in more depth, if needed.
   Citations for borrowed information/images go here.

Citations

The source of the item should be completely cited both in the table/figure note and the reference list. See the APA manual for how to cite your own original research.

Lists (APA Manual 6.49-52)

Lists can be done a few different ways. They can be incorporated into the text itself or set vertically in a bullet-style list. Either way, be careful to use lists sparingly. When overused, they can potentially end up distracting from the information they are trying to convey.

When to use each type of list:

• Lettered Lists should be used when embedding lists within the flow of the text.
• Numbered Lists should be used for vertical lists where the items are complete sentences, and the items will be better displayed in a "ranked" order.
• Bulleted Lists should be used for vertical lists where the items are incomplete sentences or phrases, or the items are complete sentences where it is important to avoid attributing importance to the order of the list.

Lists Inline with the Text (unlabeled and lettered)

1. In a simple list where the order is not important, structure the grammar so that the list flows naturally from the rest of the sentence. There is no need to start the list with a colon. Use a serial comma before the final item (otherwise known as the "Oxford Comma").

   • Example: Fields of study that typically use APA style include nursing, social work, and education.

2. In complex lists, when the items themselves include commas, use semicolons between the items rather than more commas.

   • Example: We were interested in how professors view the use of AI in class projects; their opinion on its ethical use in various stages of project development, such as the drafting vs. proofreading process; and what level of confidence they have in the currently available AI-detecting software.

3. If needed to designate order or simply for visual clarity, use letters to identify items in an in-text list.
   • Begin the list with a colon.
   • Precede the final item with a conjunction (and/or/but) as you would a typical sentence.
   • Separate items with either commas or semicolons, according to the rules above.
   • Letters must be in lowercase and enclosed in parentheses.

   • Example: In addition to the usual books, DVDs, and audio CDs, Welder Library has a "Library of Things," which includes: (a) portable DVD players, (b) HDMI cables and converters, (c) puzzles, (d) board games, and (e) webcams for taking online tests.

Vertical Lists (numbered and bulleted)

Vertical, or bullet-style, lists are best used when the items are particularly lengthy or complex. There may also be occasions when the information itself is strengthened by separating it from the main text for visual emphasis. Vertical lists may be numbered or bulleted, depending on the purpose of the list and the grammatical makeup of the items.

Numbered Lists:

1. Numbered lists in APA Style are for vertical lists where each item is a complete sentence, and the order is either important, or the meaning will not be obstructed by an implied order.
2. When introducing a vertical list of complete sentences/paragraphs (see Example 1 below), end the preceding sentence in the text with a colon, and then begin the list on the next double-spaced line.
3. Items should be numbered (use the "numbered list" function of your word processer to automatically structure and indent the list). Each item should start with a numeral followed by a period (like this list). Numbers should NOT be enclosed in or followed by parentheses.
4. Capitalize the first word of each item (as well as the first word in any other sentence in the list item).
5. End each item with a period or other appropriate punctuation.

Bulleted Lists:

1. Bulleted lists in APA Style are for vertical lists of either phrases/sentence fragments or complete sentences where numbering would potentially incorrectly indicate importance to the order of the items.
2. For a bulleted list of complete sentences, introduce the list with a sentence ending in a colon. Each item should begin with a capital letter and finish with appropriate punctuation (see Example 2 below).
3. For a bulleted list of phrases without punctuation, introduce the list with a sentence ending in a colon. Each item should begin with a lowercase letter and have NO punctuation at the end of each item (see Example 3 below).
4. For a bulleted list of phrases with punctuation, introduce the list with a sentence that has no ending punctuation, and then end each item in the list with a comma or semicolon as if it were a normal sentence without bullets (see Example 4 below).

Vertical List Examples (as provided in sections 6.51 and 6.52):