Research --
1 APA CHECKLIST Acronyms You can use acronyms in your essay/report as long as your express the complete term (followed by the acronym in brackets) the first time you refer to it in text. After this, you need only include the acronym. For example: o For patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), exercise capacity is severely limited in these situations (Smith & Bloggs, 2013).
Furthermore, studies have shown that individuals living with COPD have decreased quality of life in relation to .. ...... If you are going to cite an organisation that has a common abbreviation more than once in your essay, you can format this as follows: First citation: A recent report (World Health Organization [WHO], 2014) highlighted five factors that contribute to increased economic burden in relation to healthcare in third world nations. Subsequent citations: Similar trends have also been noted in studies conducted internationally (WHO, 2014). Commonly recognised abbreviations include: World Health Organizati on (WHO) National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) American Psychological Association (APA) Australian Psychological Society (APS) Author names For in -text citations , only cite the author surname and the year of publication. As a general rule, author initials are not included. On the reference list , the author surname and initials must be included. In general, the author surname will be included first, followed by the initial(s). o The only exceptio n to this is when you reference a chapter from an edited book. In this instance, the chapter authors are listed first (by author surname then initials ) whereas the editor details are listed with initials first followed by surname. For example: Ahmad, Y., & Smith, P. K. (1994). Bullying in schools and the issue of sex differences. In J. Archer (Ed.), Male violence (pp. 70 -83). London: Routledge. List authors in the order in which they appear in the source. Never re -order the listing of publication authors for any reason. 2 RULES FOR MULTIPLE WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR Sources with the Same Author with DIFFERENT YEARS On the reference list, include the works by the same author starting with the earliest work first. For example, Smith, E. (2008). The psycho logical management of chronic illness among children and adolescents. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 11 , 445 -460. http://dx.doi.org/10.330.0044 -XX875776 Smith, E. (2011). Managing co -morbid chronic conditions among childhood populations. International Journal of Stress Management, 3 , 22 -41. http://dx.doi.org/10.299.4877XZ993032 Sources with the Same Author with the SAME YEAR When you have multiple sources by the same author published in the same year, a lowercase letter is added to the year to distinguish one work from another. References are arranged alphabetically according to the title . Examples of how to cite and reference such works are listed below. Citing in text: Other factors shown to impact the management of stress and anxiety in adolescents with chronic illness are gender, socio -economic status, and illness severity (Smith, 2008a). Smith (2008b) stated that …….. On the Reference list: Smith, E. (2008a). Psychological factors related to managing stress and anxiety among adolescents with chronic illness. International Journal of Stress Management , 5 , 445 - 460. http://dx.doi.org/10.990.33020B3308 Smith, E. (2008b) . The psychological management of chronic illness among children and adolescents. Psychology, Health & Medicine, 11 , 445 -460. http://dx.doi.org/10.330.0044 -XX875776 3 RULES FOR DIFFERENT NUMBERS OF AUTHORS o When you have a reference with between one and seven authors , you need to list all authors on the reference list. o When you have a reference with eight or more authors , list the first six authors, then insert three ‘full stops’ then add the last author’s name. For example: Engberg, M., Dugan, T. R., Haworth, J. J., Williams, T. S., Johnson, R. R., MacArthur, O., … Jackson, R. T. (2008). Navigating the complex world of emotions: A meta -analysis of recent works. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34 , 223 -240. http: //dx.doi.org/10.1067/dsi.2990 Electronic Sources on Reference list - doi or URL? A Digital Object Identifier (doi) is a permanent electronic link that enables easy identification and retrieval of electronically sourced information. A doi is commonly attached to journal articles, often appearing on the first page of the article. A URL is a roadmap to digital information on the internet (APA Style Guide to Electronic References, 2012). General rule : The doi is the preferred electronic retrieval format ( for journal articles in particular), however, if you cannot easily identify the doi, include the document URL in your reference. If referencing a ‘doi’ with electronic journal articles, make sure to preface the actual doi number with the following: o http:// dx.doi.org/xxxxxxxx A complete doi would look similar to the following: o http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0024996 When including a doi or URL with your electronic source, make sure to remove the hyperlink so it is not an active weblink. Do not include a full stop at the end of a doi or URL on your reference list. The above information has been adapted from the APA Style Guide to Electronic References (2012). 4 Font Size and Type Times New Roman 12 point font should be used throughout your assignment set. No different types or font sizes should be used anywhere (including your headings). Tip: Make sure to double check your header and footer format, as sometimes the default setting for these can be set at a different font typ e and size. Hanging Indent All references should have a hanging indent (the first line of each reference is left aligned with all subsequent lines are indented five to seven spaces - or one tab space). Headings Headings are generally used more in rese arch reports than in essays. The following rules should be followed to format headings if used. Note: In general, if you are using headings in an essay , you will format them using ‘Level 2’ heading guidelines (see table below). Level of Heading Format 1 Centred, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading 2 Flush left, boldface, Upper and Lowercase Heading 3 Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. 4 Indented, boldface, italicised, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. 5 Indented, italicised, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. The above table has been adapted from the APA Style Guide to Electronic References (2012). Indenting of Paragraphs Each new paragraph should be indented 5 -7 spaces (or one Tab space). This is how you signify that you have started a new paragraph. There should be NO additional spaces between paragraphs or assignment 'sections' (see Annotated Example). 5 In -text Citations Use ‘and’ between the last 2 authors when you have a citation with 3 or more authors within the text . Use ‘&’ symbol between the last 2 authors when you have a citation with 3 or more authors within brackets . On the reference list however, use “&” symbol only when referencing two or more authors. For example : o Miller, R. M., Roger, K. L., & Standing, J. J. (2013) o Naylor, E. R. , & Kismet, W. T. (2011) When citing multiple sources within a bracketed area, make sure that you have ordered your sources alphabetically by first author. o For example (Baker, Stobbs, & Miller, 2009; Johnson & Leelan, 2013; Swarovski, Teller, Beck, & Howard, 2014). Make sure to use ‘et al.’ appropriately: o For citations with 3, 4, or 5 authors, lis t all authors in the first citation. For all subsequent citations, use first authors name followed by ‘et al.’ o For citations with 6 or more authors, for all citations from the first onward, use the first author’s name only, followed by ‘et al.’ Include a citation(s) directly after you refer to or discuss information from a source in your paragraph. Do NOT simply list the citation(s) at the end of the paragraph. TIP: In -text Citation & Reference List Consistency Have you cross -checked your citations to make sure they match up with your reference list? Everything cited in your essay /report needs to have a corresponding reference on the refer ence list. Everything included o n the reference list needs to be cited in -text. Issue Numbers Have you used issue numbers correctly? Remember, as a general rule, you do not include the issue number of the journal volume. You only include issue numbers when the journal is paginated by issue (i.e.
each new volume begins at page 1). Note : You can check this by entering the name of the journal into the library catalogue search box. When the journal is displayed, click on it to take you to the journal home page. You can then view the issues linked to each volume. Check to see if each new issue for a particular volume star ts back at page 1 (if so you need to include the issue number on your reference list). If each new issue for that particular volume continues on from where the last page number of the previous issue, you do NOT need to include the issue number. 6 Italics Mak e sure you have used italics appropriately. The following parts of your references should be in italics: o Name of Journal and volume (for journal articles) o Book title (for books) o Title of report in grey literature (e.g. Government or corporate report title, press release title, white paper title, fact sheet/brochure title, o Conference paper title o Thesis title o Photograph title Do not italicise titles of documents that ‘stand -alone’ on websites (i.e. a document or article that is not published by a scholarly jo urnal or a research/government source). Try to avoid using such ‘unreliable’ sources. The above information has been adapted from the APA Style Guide to Electronic References (2012). Line Spacing Double line spacing should be used throughout your assignment. This includes the Reference list (see Annotated Example). Page Numbers Page numbers should be inserted in the upper right -hand side of the page header flush against the margin. Page numbers should to start on the Title Page (starting at 1) and should be formatted with just the page number (see Annotated Example). Punctuation Check that you have used spacing and punctuation appropriately. Period o Insert one space after: periods that separate parts of a reference. For example: o Smith, I. B., Baker, J. S., & Colman, O. (2013). When using ‘et al.’, punctuate as follows: o Wilson et al. (2011) reported o Wilson et al.’s (2011) study demonstrated ….. o A recent study (Wilson et al., 2011) demonstrated that… 7 Serial Comma Use a comma between elements in a series of three or more items. o For example: Examining height, width, and depth demonstrated that….. (Bidgood, Alexander, & Samuel, 2005) It was noted by Bidgood, Alexander, and Samuel (2005) that ..... Bidgood, J. C., Alexander, T., & Samuel, P. (2013). Watch the placement of commas and spacing after full stops when listing author names (see examples above). Quotations Make sure to always include the page number with your citation when you quote directly from a source. Make sure to place double quotation marks around the quoted text. Avoid overuse of direct quotations. As a general rule, try to paraphrase rather than quote. Sentence Capitalisation Make sure to use sentence capitalisation for the titles of your sources (e.g. journal article tit le, name of book, title of report). Remember there are some exceptions to this rule (see below) o Capitalise the first word after the placement of a colon in t he title of a journal. For example: An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric prope rties. o Cap italise surnames and/or country names in journal article titles. For example: Analysis of Freudian theory: Investigating memory bias among Brazilian nationals. o Capitalise abbreviations in journal article titles. For example: Development and valid ation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS scales. Use of Numbers in Text Numbers between zero and nine are expressed in words within the body of your essay/report. For example: o The pilot study recruited five participants who each completed a headache diary over a two -week period. Numbers that are ten and over should be expressed as numerals. For example: o The study, which assessed respiratory function and oxygen saturation levels among 416 in -patients at a local hospital, reported t hat ......
