Oops, I Did It Again!
by Timothy McAdoo
Page 67 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) notes that “writers often use redundant language in an effort to be emphatic.” Instead, the redundant wording can be distracting.
The Manual provides a few examples of commonly used redundancies: “were both alike,” “were exactly the same,” “absolutely essential,” and others.
On Twitter, the APA Style team has had fun coming up with additional examples. Can you think of more? Post them in the comments below and/or on…
Five Steps to a Great Title
by Chelsea Lee
You’ve burned through the midnight oil. You’ve written the last word, double-, nay, triple-checked the reference list, and as the sun clambers over the windowsill you face the last remaining question: What to call this work of staggering genius? You are tempted to play the facetious card and call your paper “A Study of the Effects of Red Bull on a Person's Ability to Form Coherent Sentences,” but the long-term implications of such a title for your academic success give you pause. What else, then, shall suffice?…
A Post About Nothing
by Timothy McAdoo
Today I want to zero in on a special topic. This is not just an empty set of words: Let’s de-cipher another APA Style point!
The zero before a decimal point is known as a leading zero. Have you noticed that sometimes this zero is used in decimal values and sometimes it is not?
APA Style has a very simple guideline for leading zeros:
- If a value has the potential to exceed 1.0, use the leading zero.
- If a value can never exceed 1.0, do not use the
…
Announcing New Features on the APA Style Blog
We are very proud to announce the debut of several new features to the APA Style Blog. We hope that they will improve the usefulness and user friendliness of the site as well as your enjoyment of it. If you read our posts through a feed aggregator like Google Reader, we hope that you will pay our main site a visit at http://blog.apastyle.org to check it out. The new features include
- a search box to search blog posts,
- buttons to subscribe to our RSS feed, Twitter feed, or Facebook page,
…
Headings and the Use of Boldface Type
by Chelsea Lee
APA has gotten a lot of questions and feedback from users who are confused about when to use boldface type and when not to, particularly in headings. Here are the short and sweet answers about font formatting style:
Regular Formatting
Use regular font formatting (no boldface, no italics) for all section titles, such as
- Abstract,
- Author Note,
- Title of Your Paper (on the title page and on the page where the text begins),
- References,
- Appendix/Appendices, and
- Footnotes.
Section titles should also be centered, on their…
Formatting Statistics: Using Brackets
by Timothy McAdoo
In the previous post, we discussed how to use parentheses and commas with statistics.
Today, we highlight an exception to this guideline. There are two cases when brackets are the preferred choice in APA Style.
First, when parenthetical text also includes a statistic, brackets should be used.
| (See Figure 3 for the results from the control group [n = 8]; compare with results from the Pink Floyd listening group [n = 23] and the Beatles listening group [n = 41].) |
…
Formatting Statistics: Using Parentheses
by Timothy McAdoo
The Publication Manual (6th ed.) presents guidelines for formatting statistical and mathematical copy. As noted on page 116 of the Manual, these guidelines reflect "standards of content and form agreed on in the field" and are designed to enhance clear communication.
The most basic guidelines are that statistics should be italicized and shown in parentheses:
| In Experiment 1, participants listening to The Smiths were no more likely to dance energetically than were those listening to The Cure (p = .24). |
…
How to Cite the U.S. Constitution in APA Style
by Chelsea Lee
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union….” —U.S. Constitution, pmbl.
Those immortal words open the U.S. Constitution. But how to cite it in an APA Style paper? The answer is in the Bluebook—no, not that cheery blue-covered 6th edition Publication Manual, but The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation (18th ed., 2005; www.legalbluebook.com). The Bluebook sets the standard for all legal citations, and the style for legal citations that you see in the Publication Manual
…
Join the APA Style Team on Facebook!
We are pleased to announce that APA Style is now on Facebook!
Follow us to get official updates on all things related to APA Style, including announcements about new blog posts, tips and tricks on writing and style, new features on apastyle.org, and more!
… (continued)
Secondary Sources (aka How to Cite a Source You Found in Another Source)
by Timothy McAdoo
You’ve probably heard that you should avoid secondary sources when possible. It’s true—if you find great information being quoted or paraphrased somewhere, it’s well worth your effort to track down the original source so you can read it for yourself and therefore cite it directly.
But why track down the original when you already have the quotes?
First, by reading the full text of the original source, you can verify that the context of the quote supports the point you
…
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