Transcript Slide 1

APA Formatting: Beyond
Citations
Kelly Chermack, PhD, Dissertation Editor
Beth Oyler, Writing Instructor
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Questions and Recording
• Type in the Questions box
• Access captioning
• Download slides
• View recording
• Walden Writing Center
website:
– www.writingcenter.waldenu.edu
– webinars
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Session overview & objectives
What we WILL cover.
Course paper formatting
Capstone study formatting
Capitalization
Tables of contents
Numbers
Tables and figures
Abbreviations
Appendices
Serial commas and seriation
Capstone-specific issues
Verbs
MS Word formatting
Point of view
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What we will NOT cover.
Course Paper Formatting
Times New
Roman, 12
point.
Title
page
Font
style and
size
Header, title,
student name,
and Walden
University.
Running
head
Different
first page.
Templates
Spacing
between
sentences.
Double
spacing
Page
numbers
Headings
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Begin on
page 2.
Capitalization
• First word of a sentence
• Proper nouns
– Freud  cesarean section
– Department of Psychology  psychology course
– Chapter 2  these chapters
• Major words and words of four letters or more in
headings and titles
• Do not capitalize models or theories
– Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
– Einstein’s theory of relativity
• See pages 101-104 in the APA 6th Edition
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Abbreviations
• Introduce once within parentheses
– The Center for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC)
– English language learners (ELLs)
• Combine abbreviations and a citation
– The Department of Education (DOE; 2012)
– (The Department of Education [DOE], 2012)
– (DOE, 2012)
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Abbreviations
Writers should avoid these common mistakes with abbreviations:
(1) The ELLs (English Language Learners) in my class give a
different perspective.
Abbreviation should
be in parentheses.
(2) Often ELL students have different experiences they can
expose other students to.
Repetition of learner
and students.
(3) English language learners are thus a valuable addition to
classes.
No need to spell out
phrase.
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Abbreviations
Instead:
(1) The English language learners (ELLs) in my
class give a different perspective.
(2) Often ELLs have different experiences they
can expose other students to.
(3) ELLs are thus a valuable addition to classes.
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Abbreviations
• Latin abbreviations:
– Within parentheses
– (i.e., diabetes and heart disease)
i.e.
e.g.
etc.
vs.
cf.
That is
For example
And so forth
Versus
compare
– See pages 106-111 in the APA 6th Edition
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Seriation



Seriated lists:
A survey should include (a) clear wording, (b)
convenient access, and (c) concise directions.
Numbers: Particular order.
When collecting data, I will
1. Develop the survey questions,
2. Send out the survey link to the participants, and
3. Gather the data after 1 month.
Bullets: No particular order.
A survey should include
• Clear wording to avoid confusion;
• Convenient access so participants can easily respond; and
• Concise directions that do not overwhelm participants.
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Seriation
• Parentheses for lower-case letters
– The Writing Center offers (a) short answers via e-mail
within 24 hours, (b) paper reviews returned within 48
hours by appointment, and (c) hour-long webinars
throughout the month.
– The Writing Center offers support with (a) paper
reviews, email questions, and developmental editing;
(b) a website with examples and tips; and (c) form and
style reviews.
• Numbers only for:
– Vertical lists
– Items in a particular order
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Seriation
• Helpful hints:
– Does the list need to be ordered or chronological?
• If not, using the first example, and keeping the text within the
paragraph, may be the best idea
• If yes, a numbered list, like the second example, is probably
best
– Not chronological, but needs to be emphasized?
• The last example may be best
– Are in a numbered or bulleted list, are there complete
sentences? Does it need to be cited?
• This will help you choose the correct punctuation
– See pages 63-65 in the APA 6th Edition
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Numbers
• Nine and below, 10 and above
• Except:
– Time: 3 years, 4 hours
– Chapter 4
– Scores/Points: 7 points
– Percentages: 5.5%
– Abstracts
• See pages 111-114 in the APA 6th Edition
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Serial Comma
• Oxford comma
• Comma after each item in a series:
– She researched, read, and wrote her paper.
– I chose between a qualitative, quantitative, and
mixed-methods design.
– The Writing Center offers short answers via e-mail,
paper reviews by appointment, and webinars
throughout the month.
– See pages 88-89 in the APA 6th Edition
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Verb tense
• Use past tense to discuss what a source said
or did
– Brown (2012) distributed the surveys by e-mail.
– The CDC (2010) reported that 25% of Americans
do not have access to health care.
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Verb tense
• Use the active voice instead of passive voice
–Passive voice
–The surveys were distributed by e-mail.
–The surveys were distributed by Brown (2012) by
e-mail
–Active voice
–Brown (2012) distributed the surveys by e-mail.
–See pages 77-78 in the APA 6th Edition
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Point of View
• Avoid referring to yourself in the third
person
The author reviewed the case study.
The researcher will analyze the lesson plan.
I reviewed the case study.
I will analyze the lesson plan.
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Point of View
• Use appropriately
• Avoid:
– Saying “I” too much or when unnecessary
– Referring to the reader with “we” or “you”
We need to ensure students have strong reading skills.
Teachers need to ensure students have strong reading
skills.
Parents need to ensure students have strong reading skills.
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Web resources for today’s content
• Course paper templates
• Headings page
• Capitalization page
• Numbers page
• Latin Abbreviations page
• Serial commas page
• Seriation page
• Active and Passive Voice page
• Point of View page
• “Appropriate Use of First Person” webinar
• APA Manual, Chapter 4 “Mechanics of Style”
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Web resources for doctoral capstones
• Doctoral templates
• “Using the Walden Doctoral Capstone Template” and
Capstone webinars
• Capstone Resources page
• Form and Style Review page:
• Microsoft Writing Resources
• Tables and Figures page
• Appendix page
• APA Manual, Chapter 4 “Mechanics of Style”
• APA Manual, Chapter 5 “Displaying Results”
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Questions?
[email protected]
[email protected]
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