APA QUICK REFERENCE STYLE AND FORMATTING GUIDE INCLUDES BELHAVEN UNIVERSITY EXCEPTIONS 2016

Transcription

1 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 1 APA QUICK REFERENCE STYLE AND FORMATTING GUIDE INCLUDES BELHAVEN UNIVERSITY EXCEPTIONS 2016 BELHAVEN UNIVERSITY 1500 Peachtree Street Jackson, Mississippi 39202

2 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 2 APA Quick Reference Style and Formatting Guide Includes Belhaven University Exceptions 2016 Adult Studies Editors: Dr Paul Criss and Dr Everett Wade Adult Studies Reviewers: Jon Pirtle, Kim Priesmeyer, Dr Sandra VanPelt, and Paige Walters Adapted from Belhaven Graduate School of Education Quick Guide, editors Dr David Hand, Dr Cynthia Wilkins, Dr Catherine Wasson, and Dr Rebekah Chiasson Belhaven University Jackson, Mississippi Belhaven Adult Studies Current Update: Developed and adapted from the (2001) Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed) Washington, DC: American Psychological Association

3 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS 4 General APA Guidelines Major Paper Sections 4 Margins 4 Line Spacing 4 Font 4 Underlining vs Italics 5 Page Numbers 5 Page Headers 5 Headers 5 Paragraph Indentation 5 Title Page 5 Spelling Bible and Biblical 6 Spelling Christian worldview 6 Citations 6 In-Text Citations: The Basics 6 Short Quotations 7 Paraphrasing and Summarizing 7 Citing Various Types of Authors 7 Citing Indirect Sources 9 Citing Electronic Sources 9 Citing the Bible 9 References 10 Entries for Different Types of Authors 11 Articles in Periodicals 13 Books 13 Electronic Resources 14 Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing 15 Quotations 15 Paraphrases 15 Examples 16 Example Materials 18 Example Title Page 18 Example APA References by Type 19 Preparing an Essay 20 Introduction 20 Body Paragraphs 20 Conclusion 21

4 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 4 APA GUIDELINES WITH BELHAVEN UNIVERSITY EXCEPTIONS APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences This resource, revised according to the 6 th edition, second printing of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page For more information, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (6 th ed, 2 nd printing) The Belhaven exceptions to APA and unique formatting guidelines will be indicated by the following symbol: GENERAL APA GUIDELINES Papers are to be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (85" x 11") with 1" margins on all sides APA recommends using 12 pt Times New Roman font Belhaven requires that candidates use 12pt Times New Roman Include a page header at the top of every page, including the Title page and the Reference page (Page headers at times are miscalled Running Headers APA considers a Running Header only for use on the Title page and it is different than a Page Header) To create a page header, insert page numbers flush right Then type a shorten version of the "TITLE OF YOUR PAPER" in the header flush left using all capital letters The page header is a shortened version of your paper's title and cannot exceed 50 characters including spacing and punctuation Belhaven requires a Page Header on all pages including the Title page All pages are numbered Major Paper Sections Your paper should include three major sections: the Title Page, Main Body, and References Margins Use uniform margins on every page - 1 inch margins - top, bottom, right and left -- On most word processors, 1 inch is the default setting for margins Do not justify the right margin and do not use the hyphenation function to break words at the end of lines Let a line run short rather than break a word at the end of a line Line Spacing Double space between all lines of the manuscript Font APA format requires work to be word-processed with a 12 point font in Times Roman or New Times Roman Belhaven requires that candidates use 12 pt Times New Roman no exceptions

5 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 5 Underlining vs Italics Use italics rather than underlining Do not use the functions of your word processor to create underlining, or other special fonts or styles of type Page Numbers Number all pages except those for artwork in the upper right-hand corner Begin numbering pages with the title page The number should appear at least one inch from the right-hand edge of the page and on the same line as the Header See below for instructions on how to add page number and header properly in Microsoft Word Page Headers Pages occasionally are separated, so identify each page with the header flush left and page number flush right To add a header to your paper in Microsoft Word 2007, complete the following steps: 1 Click Insert > Header > Blank The cursor should be flush left 2 Type your title (abbreviated if need be) in all caps 3 Tab over to right-hand corner 4 Click Insert > Page Number > Current Position > Plain Number If 12 pt Times New Roman is not set as the default font in Microsoft Word, you will need to highlight the header text and page number and change the font to this Belhaven requires a Page Header on all pages including the Title page Belhaven does not use a Running Header on the Title page, only a Page Header Headers Center the title of the paper on the first full page of text right below the page header Use upper and lower case lettering in Bold print If the title is longer than one line, continue to next line and single space (do not double space the title) If there is a colon in the title, divide the title at the colon and complete the title on the next line This is considered a Level 1: Header - (no underlining) Level 2: Sub-Headers: Flush to left margin, Bold print using upper and lower case letters (no underlining) Belhaven University only implements two levels of headings: Level 1: Headers and Level 2: Sub-Headers Paragraph Indentation Indent the first line of every paragraph with a five-space indent Use the tab function if you are using a word processor or computer Most word processors' or computers' default setting is acceptable

6 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 6 Title Page The title page should contain the title of the paper, the author's name, and the institutional affiliation (in that order) Include the page header (described above) flush left with the page number flush right at the top of the page Start the first line of the title by counting 17 single spaces down from the Page Header Center the title, the author s name, and the institution s name Belhaven requires a Page Header on all pages including the Title page Double space between the title, author s name, and the institution If the title exceeds more than one line, double space the title name If the title has a colon in the name, this is the best place to break the title into two lines, space down from the colon and then complete the title Next double space down to add the institution s name (See the sample Title page at the back of this Handbook) Spelling Bible and biblical The word "Bible," when it refers to the sacred book is a proper noun and is always capitalized "Holy Bible" and "Scripture" are also proper nouns and should always be capitalized The word "biblical" is not a proper noun and is not capitalized Spelling Christian worldview Belhaven University renders the term as one word: Christian worldview, not Christian world view CITATIONS Reference citations in text are covered on pages of the Publication Manual What follows are some general guidelines for referring to the works of others in your essay Note: APA style requires authors to use the past tense or present perfect tense when using signal phrases to describe earlier research, for example, Jones (1998) found or Jones (1998) has found In-Text Citations: The Basics When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation This means that the author's last name and the year of publication for the source should appear in the text, for example, (Jones, 1998), and a complete reference should appear in the reference list at the end of the paper If you are referring to an idea from another work but NOT directly quoting the material, or making reference to an entire book, article or other work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication and not the page number in your in-text reference All sources that are cited in the text must appear in the reference list at the end of the paper

7 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 7 What follows are some rules for in-text citation capitalization, quotes, and italics/underlining: Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials: D Jones If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words that are four letters long or greater within the title of a source: Permanence and Change Exceptions apply to short words that are verbs, nouns, pronouns, adjectives, and adverbs: Writing New Media, There Is Nothing Left to Lose (Note: in your References list, only the first word of a title will be capitalized: Writing new media) When capitalizing titles, capitalize both words in a hyphenated compound word: Natural-Born Cyborgs Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon: "Defining Film Rhetoric: The Case of Hitchcock's Vertigo" Italicize titles of longer works such as books, edited collections, movies, television series, documentaries, or albums: The Closing of the American Mind; The Wizard of Oz; Friends Put quotation marks around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles, articles from edited collections, television series episodes, and song titles: "Multimedia Narration: Constructing Possible Worlds"; "The One Where Chandler Can't Cry" Short Quotations When directly quoting from a work, you will need to include the author, year of publication, and the page number for the reference (preceded by "p") Introduce the quotation with a signal phrase that includes the author's last name followed by the date of publication in parentheses According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time" (p 199) If the author is not named in a signal phrase, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in parentheses after the quotation She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones, 1998, p 199), but she did not offer an explanation as to why Paraphrasing and Summarizing If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to the author and year of publication in your in-text reference, but APA guidelines encourage you to also provide the page number (although it is not required) According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners APA style is difficult for first-time learners (p 199)

8 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 8 Citing Various Types of Authors A Work by Two Authors: Name both authors in the signal phrase or in the parentheses each time you cite the work Use the word "and" between the authors' names within the text of a sentence: Research by Wegener and Petty (1994) supports this claim Use the ampersand in the parentheses at the end of a sentence or paragraph: These conclusions were supported by many other researchers (Wegener & Petty, 1994) A Work by Three to Five Authors: List all the authors in the signal phrase or in parentheses the first time you cite the source (Kernis, Cornell, Sun, Berry, & Harlow, 1993) In subsequent citations, only use the first author's last name followed by "et al" in the signal phrase or in parentheses In et al, et should not be followed by a period (Kernis et al, 1993) Six or More Authors: Use the first author's name followed by et al in the signal phrase or in parentheses Harris et al (2001) argued (Harris et al, 2001) Organization as an Author: If the author is an organization or a government agency, mention the organization in the signal phrase or in the parenthetical citation the first time you cite the source According to the American Psychological Association (2000), If the organization has a well-known abbreviation, include the abbreviation in brackets the first time the source is cited and then use only the abbreviation in later citations First citation: (Mothers Against Drunk Driving [MADD], 2000) Second citation: (MADD, 2000) Two or More Works in the Same Parentheses: When your parenthetical citation includes two or more works, order them the same way they appear in the reference list, separated by a semi-colon (Berndt, 2002; Harlow, 1983)

9 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 9 Authors with the Same Last Name: To prevent confusion, use first initials with the last names (E Johnson, 2001; L Johnson, 1998) Citing Indirect Sources If you use a source that was cited in another source, name the original source in your signal phrase List the secondary source in your reference list and include the secondary source in the parentheses Shelton argued that (as cited in Hawkins, 2016, p 112) Citing Electronic Sources Cite an electronic document, if possible, the same as any other document by using the author-date style Note: Never use the page numbers of Web pages you print out; different computers print Web pages with different pagination Kenneth (2014) explained Citing the Bible Identify the version of the Bible used in the first citation of the text when directly quoting from Scripture Example: (2 Cor 5:17 New International Version) (Joshua 3:11 New Living Bible) Spell out the version do not use acronyms for versions Do not identify the version of the Bible unless directly quoting from the Bible; if only summarizing, paraphrasing, or referencing, then only identify the book, chapter, and verse Note: Do not identify the version of the Bible in subsequent references unless and when a different version is cited or referenced in the text Do Not Reference the Bible On the Reference Page According to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6 th ed, 2009, section 618, reference entries are not needed for the Bible and other major classical works

10 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 10 REFERENCES Your reference list should appear at the end of your paper It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body of the paper Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your reference list; likewise, each entry in the reference list must be cited in your text Your references should begin on a new page separate from the text of the essay; label this page "References" centered at the top of the page (do NOT bold, underline, or use quotation marks for the title) All text should be double-spaced just like the rest of your essay All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin This is called hanging indentation Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give the last name and initials for all authors of a particular work for up to and including seven authors If the work has more than seven authors, list the first six authors and then use ellipses after the sixth author's name After the ellipses, list the last author's name of the work Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work For multiple articles by the same author, or authors listed in the same order, list the entries in chronological order, from earliest to most recent Present the journal title in full Maintain the punctuation and capitalization that is used by the journal in its title Capitalize all major words in journal titles When referring to books, chapters, articles, or Web pages, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns Do not capitalize the first letter of the second word in a hyphenated compound word Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays in edited collections Please note: While the APA manual provides many examples of how to cite common types of sources, it does not provide rules on how to cite all types of sources Therefore, if you have a source that APA does not include, APA suggests that you find the example that is most similar to your source and use that format For more information, see page 193 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (6 th ed, 2 nd printing)

11 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 11 Entries for Different Types of Authors The following rules for handling works by a single author or multiple authors apply to all APA-style references in your reference list, regardless of the type of work (book, article, electronic resource, etc) Single Author: Last name first, followed by author initials Berndt, T J (2002) Friendship quality and social development Current Directions in Psychological Science, 11, 7-10 Two Authors: List by their last names and initials Use the ampersand instead of "and" Wegener, D T, & Petty, R E (1994) Mood management across affective states: The hedonic contingency hypothesis Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, Three to Seven Authors: List by last names and initials; commas separate author names, while the last author name is preceded again by ampersand Kernis, M H, Cornell, D P, Sun, C R, Berry, A, Harlow, T, & Bach, J S (1993) There's more to self-esteem than whether it is high or low: The importance of stability of self-esteem Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, More Than Seven Authors: List by last names and initials; commas separate author names After the sixth author's name, use an ellipses in place of the author names Then provide the final author name There should be no more than seven names Miller, F H, Choi, M J, Angeli, L L, Harland, A A, Stamos, J A, Thomas, S T, Rubin, L H (2009) Web site usability for the blind and low-vision user Technical Communication, 57,

12 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 12 Organization as Author: Simply list the organization in place of an author s name American Psychological Association (2003) Unknown Author: begin with the title of the work Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (10th ed)(1993) Springfield, MA: Merriam- Webster NOTE: When your essay includes parenthetical citations of sources with no author named, use a shortened version of the source's title instead of an author's name Use quotation marks and italics as appropriate For example, parenthetical citations of the source above would appear as follows: (Merriam-Webster's, 1993) Two or More Works by the Same Author: Use the author's name for all entries and list the entries by the year The earliest comes first Berndt, T J (1981) Berndt, T J (1999) When an author appears both as a sole author and, in another citation, as the first author of a group, list the one-author entries first Berndt, T J (1999) Friends' influence on students' adjustment to school Educational Psychologist, 34, Berndt, T J, & Keefe, K (1995) Friends' influence on adolescents' adjustment to school Child Development, 66,

13 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 13 References that have the same first author and different second and/or third authors are arranged alphabetically by the last name of the second author, or the last name of the third if the first and second authors are the same Wegener, D T, Kerr, N L, Fleming, M A, & Petty, R E (2000) Flexible corrections of juror judgments: Implications for jury instructions Psychology, Public Policy, and Law, 6, Wegener, D T, Petty, R E, & Klein, D J (1994) Effects of mood on high elaboration attitude change: The mediating role of likelihood judgments European Journal of Social Psychology, 24, Two or More Works by the Same Author in the Same Year: If you are using more than one reference by the same author (or the same group of authors listed in the same order) published in the same year, organize them in the reference list alphabetically by the title of the article or chapter Then assign letter suffixes to the year Refer to these sources in your essay as they appear in your reference list, eg: "Berdnt (1981a) makes similar claims" Berndt, T J (1981a) Age changes and changes over time in prosocial intentions and behavior between friends Developmental Psychology, 17, Berndt, T J (1981b) Effects of friendship on prosocial intentions and behavior Child Development, 52, Articles in Periodicals Basic form: APA style dictates that authors are named last name followed by initials; publication year goes between parentheses, followed by a period The title of the article is in sentence-case, meaning only the first word and proper nouns in the title are capitalized The periodical title is run in title case, and is followed by the volume number which, with the title, is also italicized If a DOI has been assigned to the article that you are using, you should include this after the page numbers for the article If no DOI has been assigned and you are accessing the periodical online, use the URL of the website from which you are retrieving the periodical Author, A A, Author, B B, & Author, C C (Year) Title of article Title of Periodical, volume number(issue number), pages doi:

14 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 14 Article in Journal Paginated by Volume: Journals that are paginated by volume begin with page one in issue one, and continue numbering issue two where issue one ended, etc Harlow, H F (1983) Fundamentals for preparing psychology journal articles Journal of Comparative and Physiological Psychology, 55, Article in Journal Paginated by Issue: Journals paginated by issue begin with page one every issue; therefore, the issue number should be indicated in parentheses after the volume The parentheses and issue number are not italicized or underlined Scruton, R (1996) The eclipse of listening The New Criterion, 15(3), 5-13 Books Basic Format for Books Author, A A (Year of publication) Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle Location: Publisher Note: For "Location," you should always list the city and the state using the two letter postal abbreviation without periods (New York, NY) Calfee, R C, & Valencia, R R (1991) APA guide to preparing manuscripts for journal publication Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Edition Other Than the First Helfer, M E, Kempe, R S, & Krugman, R D (2007) The battered child (5th ed) Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press

15 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 15 Electronic Sources Please note: There are no spaces used with brackets in APA When possible, include the year, month, and date in references If the month and date are not available, use the year of publication Article from an Online Periodical: Online articles follow the same guidelines for printed articles Include all information the online host makes available, including an issue number in parentheses Author, A A, & Author, B B (Date of publication) Title of article Title of Online Periodical, volume number(issue number if available) Retrieved from Baker, M J (2012) Understanding the living Web Website Journal, 149 Retrieved from Online Scholarly Journal Articles: Referencing DOIs: Please note: In August of 2011 the formatting recommendations for DOIs changed DOIs are now rendered as an alphanumeric string which acts as an active link According to The APA Style Guide to Electronic References, 6 th edition, you should use the DOI format which the article appears with So, if it is using the older numeric string, use that as the DOI If, however, it is presented as the newer alpha-numeric string, use that as the DOI Purdue OWL maintains examples of citations using both DOI styles Because online materials can potentially change URLs, APA recommends providing a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), when it is available, as opposed to the URL DOIs are an attempt to provide stable, long-lasting links for online articles They are unique to their documents and consist of a long alphanumeric code Many-but not all-publishers will provide an article's DOI on the first page of the document Note that some online bibliographies provide an article's DOI but may "hide" the code under a button which may read "Article" or may be an abbreviation of a vendor's name like "CrossRef" or "PubMed" This button will usually lead the user to the full article which will include the DOI Find DOI's from print publications or ones that go to dead links with CrossReforg's "DOI Resolver," which is displayed in a central location on their home page

16 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 16 Article From an Online Periodical with DOI Assigned Author, A A, & Author, B B (Date of publication) Title of article Title of Journal, volume number, page range doi: / Brownlie, D (2007) Toward effective poster presentations: An annotated bibliography European Journal of Marketing, 41, doi:101108/ Article From an Online Periodical with no DOI Assigned: Online scholarly journal articles without a DOI require the URL of the journal home page Remember that one goal of citations is to provide your readers with enough information to find the article; providing the journal home page aids readers in this process Author, A A, & Author, B B (Date of publication) Title of article Title of Journal, volume number Retrieved from Kenneth, I A (2000) A Buddhist response to the nature of human rights Journal of Buddhist Ethics, 8 Retrieved from QUOTING, PARAPHRASING, AND SUMMARIZING The preparation of a formal paper places a great deal of responsibility on the individual student That responsibility is measured by the way the student utilizes ideas and written material prepared by others, as well as the way such materials are represented by the student in the paper Failure to observe commonly accepted professional standards in the preparation of a paper most frequently is labeled as plagiarism Plagiarism may result in the student's receiving an "F" for the course Quotations Material that has been written and published by another author must be handled as a quotation when it appears as a part of another person's work In this case, when you, as a student, are utilizing printed material from another author, you must indicate that it is a direct quotation This can be done in one of two ways If the quotation is less than forty words, put quotation marks around the material If the material is lengthier, it is appropriate to indent the material in a block quotation Block quotations are double-spaced In both cases, it is necessary to give a proper citation including the name of the author, the year the material was published, and the page or pages on which the material can be found

17 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 17 Paraphrases Paraphrasing is when you use the ideas of others, and it most often involves the rewording and restructuring of written material to fit your own style of writing The ideas contained therein, however, are those that are usually already written and published The reason for using paraphrasing is twofold: (1) to put the idea into your own words and (2) to give credibility and authority to the idea For whatever reason material is paraphrased, a citation should be properly noted Paraphrasing is a valuable skill because: it is better than quoting information from an undistinguished passage it helps you control the temptation to quote too much the mental process required for successful paraphrasing helps you to grasp the full meaning of the original 6 Steps to Effective Paraphrasing 1 Reread the original passage until you understand its full meaning 2 Set the original aside, and write your paraphrase on a note card 3 Jot down a few words below your paraphrase to remind you later how you envision using this material At the top of the note card, write a key word or phrase to indicate the subject of your paraphrase 4 Check your rendition with the original to make sure that your version accurately expresses all the essential information in a new form 5 Use quotation marks to identify any unique term or phraseology you have borrowed exactly from the source 6 Record the source (including the page) on your note card so that you can credit it easily if you decide to incorporate the material into your paper Examples The original passage: Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes Lester, James D Writing Research Papers 2nd ed (1976): A legitimate paraphrase: In research papers students often quote excessively, failing to keep quoted material down to a desirable level Since the problem usually originates during note taking, it is essential to minimize the material recorded verbatim (Lester 46-47) An acceptable summary: Students should take just a few notes in direct quotation from sources to help minimize the amount of quoted material in a research paper (Lester 46-47)

18 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 18 A plagiarized version: Students often use too many direct quotations when they take notes, resulting in too many of them in the final research paper In fact, probably only about 10% of the final copy should consist of directly quoted material So it is important to limit the amount of source material copied while taking notes Note: Plagiarism is the act or instance of plagiarizing, to steal or pass off the ideas or words of another as one's own without crediting the source Paraphrasing or quoting material without crediting the source is plagiarism As indicated above, plagiarism may result in the student's receiving an "F" for the course Paragraph with Paraphrasing without direct quote The author discusses the impact of boarding schools through what some literature refers to as nine characteristics explaining the impact of such institutions Many of these refer to the social status of the pupils and social standing of those who have been charged with their care Two of the characteristics close student-staff relationship and dual curriculum stand out when accounting for what some would consider the long-term success of boarding schools (Kahane,1988) Paragraph with Paraphrasing with direct quotation Kahane (1988) argues the impact of boarding schools through what some literature refers to as nine characteristics explaining the impact of such institutions Many of these refer to the social status of the pupils and social standing of those who have been charged with their care Two of the characteristics close student-staff relationship and dual curriculum stand out when accounting for what some would consider the long-term success of boarding schools (Kahane,1988) Weinberg (1967) found, Certain scholars have assumed that boarding schools provide a consistent pedagogical environment that increases their power to desocialize and resocialize pupils (p 64)

19 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 19 (Start title 17 single spaces down from the Header - Make sure you are set at 12 pt font spacing) Example Title John C Doe Belhaven University

20 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 20 Example APA References by Type Type of Source Book, one author Sample Reference Entry (Actual references are double-spaced) Warfield, C (1998) High school teaching strategies New Haven, CT: Harper Collins Book, two authors Baxter, J D, & Stein, G M (2014) Prevention and care New York, NY: McGraw Hill Book, editors in place of authors Kennedy, X J, & Gioia, D (Eds) (2007) Literature: an introduction New York, NY: Longman Work in an Anthology Johnson, J A (1987) My Bones Are Vexed In J Timmerman & D Hettinga (Eds), In the World (pp ) Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic Journal Article Drichel, S (2008) Regarding the other: Postcolonial violations and ethical resistance in Margaret Atwood s work Modern Fiction Studies, 54, Journal article, read online, without doi Jacoby, W G (1994) Public attitudes toward government spending American Journal of Political Science, 38, Retrieved from Journal Article, read online, with doi Fearon, J D, & Laitin, D D (2003) Ethnicity, insurgency, and civil war American Political Science Review, 97(1), doi: /S

21 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 21 Magazine Article, print Henry, D R, (1999, Sept 9) The question of gun control Time, 178, Magazine Article, read online Henry, D R, (1999, Sept 9) The question of gun control Time, 178, Retrieved from Newspaper Article, print Beauchamp, D M (2010, Nov 15) Tennessee goes green The New York Times Newspaper Article, read online Beauchamp, D M (2010, Nov 15) Tennessee goes green The New York Times Retrieved from Web Site: no author, no publication date Cystic fibrosis (nd) Retrieved December 16, 2015, from Mayo Clinic website,

22 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 22 PREPARING A TRADITIONAL ACADEMIC ESSAY Part 1: The Introduction An introduction is usually the first paragraph of your academic essay A good introduction does two things For one, an effective introduction gets the reader s attention You can get a reader s attention by telling a story, providing a statistic, pointing out something strange or interesting, or providing and discussing an interesting quote Be interesting and find some original angle via which to engage others in your topic An effective introduction also provides a specific and debatable thesis statement The thesis statement is generally only one sentence long A good thesis statement makes a debatable point that someone might disagree with and argue against It also serves as a roadmap for what you argue in your paper The following is an example of a first paragraph: Preparing to be a teacher requires more than just knowing the material to be taught In addition to the knowledge needed to teach effectively, instructors also need a variety of skills in order to interact successfully with students To be an effective teacher, one has to deal with students according to their individual needs, have patience, and earn students respect rather than demanding it from them Note that the thesis statement (in boldface) addresses three points: Dealing with students according to their individual needs The need for patience Earning respect rather than demanding it This thesis statement helps to structure the rest of the essay, as it clearly addresses three points that can then be explained in the corresponding sections of the paper Part 2: The Body Paragraphs Body paragraphs help you prove your thesis and move you along a compelling trajectory from your introduction to your conclusion If your thesis is a simple one, you might not need as many body paragraphs to prove it If it is more complicated, you will need more body paragraphs The next paragraphs (depending upon the number required as in our example, three points) deal with each individual point You must use a different paragraph for each point You should use transitional worlds to introduce each paragraph Adapted from handouts by Dr Liliana Naydan, University of Michigan, Sweetland Center for Writing and the Jacksonville Theological Seminary Student Catalog 2015

23 BU APA QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE 23 Example of the second paragraph in our example essay: To begin with, every student is different If I am going to reach each and every student in my class, I need to find out all I can about that student Knowing his or her background will help me to understand why he or she reacts the way that he or she does Some students need visual instruction while others need hands-on participation Just knowing the material that I am teaching is not sufficient Example of the third paragraph: In addition to knowing all that I can about each student, I learned that patience is a vital necessity for a teacher to possess Sometimes it is necessary to repeat instructions several times before all of the students understand the material Sometimes I may have to alter my progress of teaching in order to make sure that every student knows the material that I am presenting The words bolded at the beginning of the two example paragraphs indicate transitional words You are not to underline these words in your essay You should continue the rest of the paragraphs except the final one using the points in your first paragraph The last paragraph is a concluding paragraph and should summarize what you state in the first paragraph Once again, you should list all points that you have discussed in your essay Part 3: The Conclusion A conclusion is the last paragraph of your essay If you are writing a particularly long essay, you might need two or three paragraphs to conclude A conclusion typically does one of two things or, of course, it can do both An effective conclusion summarizes the argument Instructors will not expect you to write anything new in your conclusion They just want you to restate your main points Especially if you have made a long and complicated argument, it is useful to restate your main points for your reader by the time you have gotten to your conclusion If you do so, keep in mind that you should use different language than you used in your introduction and your body paragraphs The introduction and conclusion should not be exactly the same An effective conclusion explains the significance of the argument Some instructors may want you to explain your argument s significance In other words, they want you to answer the so what question by giving your reader a clearer sense of why your argument matters For example, your argument might be significant to studies of a certain time period Alternately, it might be significant to a certain geographical region Alternately still, it might influence how your readers think about the future You might even opt to speculate about the future and/or call your readers to action in your conclusion