APA Style Resource

This online reference to APA style (5th edition) was created as a guide for students at the School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at San Jose State University. It is designed to provide a quick introduction to APA style for new students, but it might also be helpful for continuing students who need a brief refresher on the special requirements of APA style.

Complete details on APA style can be found in two printed books:

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.), published in 2001.

Concise Rules of APA Style: The Official Pocket Style Guide from the American Psychological Association, published in 2005.

Introduction to APA Style
Student papers in APA style
References

Types of Citations:
Book
→ Book
→ Chapter in book
Periodical
→ Article in journal
→ Article in newspaper / magazine
Electronic Resource
Movie
Other Reference Types
→ Lecture / Presentation
→ Conference proceeding / report
→ Book review
→ Thesis / dissertation
→ Oral history

Introduction to APA Style

The style guidebook now known as the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) has its roots in the world of academic publishing in the late 1920s. Originally it was a broad effort by editors of research publications (mainly academic journals in the disciplines of psychology and anthropology) to establish a consensus within the scholarly research community on standards for manuscript preparation for articles. These standards were initially identified through a collaboration between journal publishers and authors, the researchers who are continually building a scholarly body of research within their academic discipline. The style guide was intended to be a reference book to establish a common approach for research publication. But standards are dynamic, and the APA style guide has evolved through five editions since its first formal publication in 1952. The current revision, the fifth edition, was published in 2001.

Manuscript Prep and Ethical Scholarship

It's helpful to think of a publication standard such as the APA style guide as establishing guidelines in two areas: (1) the presentation of a physical manuscript submitted for publication and (2) formal acknowledgment of the research of other scholars. The first mainly satisfies the needs of publishers for processing manuscripts, such as minimum margins, consistent punctuation, double spacing, running heads, page numbering. The second mainly satisfies the research community's standards for ethical scholarship, for establishing how research within one article is built upon the research of other scholars.

Plagiarism

In APA style, researchers formally acknowledge their debt to the scholarly work of others by listing citations in a Reference list. The Reference list, which appears after the body of the article text, is the mechanism for avoiding plagiarism, defined in Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary as "to steal or pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own; to commit literary theft; to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source." The consensus within the worldwide community of researchers is that authors must take responsibility for crediting the ideas and research of others.

Graduate School Standards

In addition to establishing standards for journal publication, the APA style guide is selected by university programs as the standard for the presentation of student research, such as that for dissertations, theses, and student papers. The School of Library and Information Science (SLIS) at San Jose State University has designated APA style as a requirement for student papers, so it is the responsibility of every student in the SLIS program to understand and format their papers in APA style. Use of APA style is intended mainly to provide SLIS students with a formal framework to understand (1) the elements of effective written presentation and (2) the principles of ethical scholarship.

Student Papers in APA Style

There are generally four APA style elements required in most student papers in the SLIS program: (1) Title page, (2) Abstract, (3) Body of paper, and (4) References.

(1) Title Page:

This is the first page of a student paper and must include (1) running head, (2) title of paper, and (3) name of author (aka byline) plus affiliations, if any (see pp. 296-298 in 5th ed.).

(2) Abstract:

The abstract should summarize the content of a student paper and begin on a new page (see pp. 12-15, 298 in 5th ed.).

(3) Body of Paper:

The body text of a student paper should begin with an introduction (see pp. 15-17 in 5th ed.) and end with a conclusion to highlight what was learned through research (while APA style does not formally require a conclusion, it is recommended in student papers as a way to close with some meaningful analysis, which is akin to the section called Discussion in APA style; see pp. 26-27).

By far the most important element for student papers at SLIS is correctly formatted in-text citations in the author-date style (see pp. 207-214 in 5th ed.). These citations in the body of the paper correspond to entries in the Reference list; the in-text citation is the shortened form and its corresponding entry in the Reference list provides full publication details. In-text citations and Reference list entries constitute formal acknowledgment by the student author of the paper of the research and ideas of other scholars and writers.

(4) References:

The focus of this instructional resource on APA style is the Reference list, which should always begin on a new page after the end of the body text of the paper. The References section of a student paper is a list of sources cited within the body of the paper that supports the student's research and credits the work of other authors; each entry must provide full publication details for the corresponding shortened citation appearing in parentheses in the body text. (For more information, see pp. 28, 215-219 in 5th ed.)

One-to-One Correspondence

The Reference list must correspond one to one with all in-text citations in the student paper. That is, every citation in text must have a corresponding full entry in the References list, and every entry in the Reference list must have a corresponding shortened citation in text. This requirement points out the essential difference between a Reference list and a Bibliography, which lists works not specifically cited within the student paper but which may have provided a student with a general survey of the topic of research. Student research papers in the SLIS program are not required to have a Bibliography, but they definitely must have a Reference list.

In-text citation: Robbins (2003) understands organizational behavior as . . .
Reference list entry: Robbins, S. (2003). Organizational behavior (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Three Basic Components

For those unfamiliar with APA style, it's helpful to think of every entry in the References list as having three basic components:

Name of the author(s)
Year or date of publication
Publication details, including article title, journal or book title, edition, editor(s), volume, place of publication, name of publisher or publication, page number(s), URL, and date retrieved online.

Simple Reference:

Hansen, D. (1993). Strained sisterhood: Gender and class in the Boston Female Anti-Slavery Society. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.

Complex Reference:

Lindberg, L., & Munn, N. (2004). Internships in public library archives and local history collections. In C. Mediavilla (Ed.), Public library internships: Advice from the field. Methuen, NJ: Scarecrow Press.

Very Complex Reference:

Bernier, A., Chelton, M. K., Jenkins, C. A., & Pierce, J. B. (2005, June). Two hundred years of young adult library services history: A chronology. What's in VOYA [Voice of Youth Advocates] Articles. Retrieved November 29, 2005, from http://www.voya.com/whatsinvoya/web_only_articles/Chronology_200506.shtml

TYPES OF CITATIONS

For the sake of instruction and testing, this APA style resource groups References into five types:

Book, and chapter in a book
Periodical article, such as those in journals, magazines, and newspapers
Electronic resources of any type
Broadcast media, such as movies and television
Miscellaneous, which includes book reviews, lectures, oral history, reports from conference proceedings, and dissertations.

Book

Eberhart, G. M. (Ed.). (2000). The whole library handbook 3: Current data, professional advice, curiosa about libraries and library services. Chicago: American Library Association.

Hock, R. (2004). The extreme searcher's Internet handbook: A guide for the serious searcher. Medford, NJ: CyberAge Books.

Loertscher, D., & Lance, K. (2002). Powering achievement: School library media programs make a difference: The evidence mounts (2nd ed.). San Jose, CA: Hi Willow Press.

Main, L., & Duval, B. K. (1992). Automated library systems: A librarian's guide and teaching manual. Westport, CT: Meckler.

Merriam-Webster's collegiate dictionary (11th ed.). (2004). Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster.

Chapter in Book

Dale, R. L. (2004). Consortial actions and collaborative achievements: RLG's preservation program. In F. C. Lynden (Ed.), Advances in librarianship v. 27 (pp. 1-23). San Diego, CA: Elsevier Academic Press.

Ford, C., & Quiroga, L. M. (1998). Columbian academic libraries: Cooperation and challenges. In K. McCook, B. J. Ford, & K. Lippincott (Eds.), Libraries: Global reach, local touch (pp. 31-38). Chicago: American Library Association.

Fuller, D. (2003). Statewide efforts to support digital libraries in K-12 schools. In Evidence-based practice and school library media programs [Treasure Mountain Research Retreat #11 proceedings]. Salt Lake City, UT: Hi Willow Research and Publishing.

Haycock, K. (2005). Librarianship: Intersecting perspectives from the academy and from the field. In N. Horrocks (Ed.), Perspectives, insights and priorities: 17 leaders speak freely of librarianship (pp. 122-130). Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press.

Humphries, L. (2002). How to evaluate a Web site. In A. Mintz (Ed.), Web of deception: Misinformation on the Internet (pp. 165-173). Medford, NJ, CyberAge Books.

Loertscher, D. (1995). The future school library media center. In B. J. Morris (Ed.), School library media annual, v. 13. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited.

Main, L. (2000). Javascript. In J. G. Williams (Ed.), Encyclopedia of microcomputers (Vol. 25, pp. 185-240). New York: M. Dekker.

Periodical: Journal Article

Dowlin, K. (1997). Statement by Kenneth E. Dowlin, ALA candidate for president. American Libraries, 28(3), 50.

Duval, B. K., & Main, L. (1998). The growth of microcomputer-based electronic research in California community colleges. Library Software Review, 17(1), 31-54.

Ellis, S. H. (2003). Library education in the west. Colorado Libraries, 29(2), 5-27.

Fisher, W. (1998). Terminator 2: Library education; the issue that wouldn't die. Library Acquisitions: Practice and Theory, 22(1), 31-34.

Ford, C. E. (2003). Digital reference [review of special issue of D-Lib magazine]. Library and Information Science Research, 25, 225-228.

Frances, M. (1997). Your John: The love letters of Radclyffe Hall. Library Journal, 122(3), 135-136.

Hall-Ellis, S., Grealy, D. S., & Sitter, C. (2005). Back to the future of library and information science practice and research. Colorado Libraries, 31(1), 5-32.

Hansen, D. (2004). Professionalizing library education, the California connection: James Gillis, Everett Perry, and Joseph Daniels. Library Trends, 52(4), 963-987.

Karpuk, D. (2004). The human dimension of online instruction. Academic Exchange Quarterly, 8, 106-110.

Leonard, B. G. (1994a). The metamorphosis of the information resources budget. Library Trends, 42, 490-498.

Leonard, B. G. (1994b). Collection management in Australian academic libraries: An American perspective. Library Acquisitions, 18, 147-156.

Liu, Z. (2004). Perceptions of credibility of scholarly information on the Web. Information Processing and Management, 40(6), 1027-1039.

Main, L. (2001). The global information infrastructure: Empowerment or imperialism? Third World Quarterly, 22(1), 83-98.

Peck, P. (2003). The big event. School Library Journal, 49(3), 45.

Somerville, M. M., & Vuotto, F. (2005). If you build it with them, they will come: Digital research portal design and developmental strategies. Internet Reference Services Quarterly, 10(1), 77-94.

Periodical: Newspaper / Magazine Article

DiMattia, S. (2005, August). Information professionals intent on impact [Special news report from SLA annual conference]. American Libraries, 36(7), 30-31.

Egelko, B., & Gaura, A. (2003, March 10). Librarians try to alter Patriot Act; Santa Cruz warns readers that FBI may spy on them. San Francisco Chronicle.

Gupta, S. (2004, November 1). Click to get sick?: People who get medical advice from the Web actually get worse, a study shows. Time, 102.

Johnson, C. (2004, August 10). Study checks Web sites for quality of health advice. The Boston Globe, p. C13.

Lance, K. C. (2005, May). Racial and ethnic diversity of U.S. library workers. American Libraries, 36(5), 41-43.

Mehr, L. H. (2005, October). Director Fred Zinnemann: A very special collection. Clarion, 1(1), 12-13, 22-23.

Electronic Resource

American Library Association, Office for Intellectual Freedom. (2005, October 25). FAQ: USA PATRIOT Act. Retrieved November 29, 2005, from http://www.ala.org/ala/oif/ifissues/issuesrelatedlinks/usapatriotactfaq.htm

Anderson, J. (2003, August 31). CIPA and San Francisco, California: Why we don't filter. Retrieved November 29, 2005, from http://www.webjunction.org/do/DisplayContent?id=996

McGregor, A. (2003, August 28). Library says it won't use Internet filters. Needham Times. Retrieved November 3, 2003, from www.townonline.com/needham/news/local_ regional/nt_newndlibraryfiltersms08282003.htm

Minow, M. (2004, April). Lawfully surfing the Net: Disabling public library Internet filters to avoid more lawsuits in the United States. First Monday, 9(4). Retrieved November 29, 2005, from http://firstmonday.org/issues/issue9_4/minow/

Princeton Survey Research Associates. (2002). A matter of trust: What users want from Web sites: Results of a national survey in Internet users for Consumer WebWatch. Retrieved December 5, 2004, from http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/news/1_abstract.htm

Stuhlman, D. D. (2004). Hebrew names and name authority in library catalogs. (1st ed.). Chicago: BYLS Press. Retrieved November 29, 2005, from http://home.earthlink.net/~byls-press/

Movie

Capra, F. (Producer, director). (1946). It's a wonderful life [Motion picture]. United States: RKO/Liberty Films.

Ephron, H. (Producer), & Lang, W. (Director). (1957). Desk set [Motion picture]. United States: Twentieth-Century Fox.

Hacker, M. (Producer, director, editor). (1997). My knees were jumping: Remembering the Kindertransports [Motion picture]. (Available from the National Center for Jewish Film, Waltham, MA).

Harris, M. J. (Producer). (2000). Into the arms of strangers: Stories of the Kindertransport [Motion picture]. United States: Warner Bros.

Mankiewicz, J. L. (Producer), & Cukor, G. (Director). (1940). The Philadelphia story [Motion picture]. United States: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Universal Studios (Producer), & Pakula, A. J. (Writer, director). (1982). Sophie's choice [Motion picture]. United States: Universal.

Other Reference Types:
Lecture / Presentation

Ford, C. (2005, March 12). Making a place for youth. California and Pacific Southwest Recreational Park Training Conference, Sacramento, CA.

Lindberg, L. (2005, July 13). Archival appraisal defined. Powerpoint lecture presented in Wheeler Hall room 122 on the U.C. Berkeley campus.

Rockman, I. F. (2004, February 6). Teaching information competence at California State University system. Powerpoint lecture delivered in room D402 at San Jose State University.

Conference Proceeding / Report

Collins, C., Quiroga, L. M., & Ford, C. E. (1999). An exploratory study of the advantages and limitations of a virtual conference: An evaluation of the 15th APEC ISTWG Conference. Internal report for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

Liu, M. (2002). My family and Shanghai Library. Proceedings of the First Shanghai International Library Forum. Knowledge Navigation and Library Services, Shanghai Scientific and Technological Literature Publishing House.

Weedman, J. (1999, May). Biodiversity in LIS education. Presented to the San Diego chapter of the Special Library Association.

Book Review

Fisher, W. (1990). [Review of the book Business serials of the U.S. government]. Collection Management, 12, 198-200.

Lindberg, L. (2004, July). [Review of the book Owning memory: How a Caribbean community lost its archive and found its history]. Library Quarterly, 74(3), 379-383.

Liu, G. (1998, August). [Review of the book Automated information retrieval]. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 49(10), 953-956.

Loertscher, D. (2005). [Review of the book The power of reading]. Teacher Librarian, 32(4), 47.

O'Donnell, M. (2005, December 11). Dark history of mind control [Review of the book World as laboratory: Experiments with mice, mazes and men]. San Francisco Chronicle, p. M5.

Thesis / Dissertation

Collins, J. L. (1994). Oral history management. Unpublished master's thesis, San Jose State University.

Guerra, A. M. (2003). Innovative library programs for the Hispanic population. Unpublished master's thesis, San Jose State University.

King, W. H. (1990). The celluloid librarian: The portrayal of librarians in motion pictures. Unpublished master's thesis, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Wing, C. M. (2002). “Many goodly pleasaunt bokes”: The royal library of Henry VIII. Unpublished master's thesis, San Jose State University.

Oral History

Rosenthal, I. S., & Davis, K. (interviewer). (1998, June 19). Oral history interview with Inge Sachs Rosenthal [electronic transcript]. Retrieved November 29, 2005, from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Library and Archives Catalog. RG-50.030*0389.

Rothschild, B. (1994). Oral history interview with Blanka Rothschild: Describing deportations from the Lodz ghetto [audio recording]. The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Library and Archives. Retrieved December 13, 2005, from http://www.ushmm.org/research/collections/index.php?content=oralhistory/

Sadan, I. (1997, January 27). Oral history interview with Ingeborg Sadan about the Kindertransport [audio recording]. Imperial War Museum Collections Online. Retrieved December 13, 2005, from http://www.iwmcollections.org.uk/media/audio/Sadan-civilians.mp3

Wagener, E. (1998, November 11). Oral history interview with Ellen Wagener: An artist or a nun [audio recording]. Iowa Women Artists Oral History Project. Retrieved December 13, 2005, from http://www.lucidplanet.com/iwa/FeaturedArchive/WagenerE/1EW.mp3

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