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Running head: BASIC APA FORMATTING AND STYLE GUIDE 1
Basic APA Formatting and Style Guide: Wright State University Master of Public Health Program
General Formatting A. Margins: 1-inch margins (top, bottom, left, right) B. Font style and size: Times New Roman 12-point font C. Running head: should be a short title of the paper, no more than 50 characters, placed at the top left of the paper (double click on header and select ‘Different First Page’) D. Page numbers: number each page at the top right, starting with the title page E. Line spacing: double-spaced throughout entire paper: title, abstract, body (no additional line spacing before or after each paragraph), and references F. Paragraph indention (except abstract page): One-half inch – set tab default (view ruler
- also aids in other formatting issues) G. Spacing after punctuation: one space following a comma, semi-colon, and colon within a sentence, two spaces following punctuation ending a sentence (aids in readability) H. Show or hide formatting marks: On the Home tab, in the Paragraph group, click Show/Hide (aids in spacing issues)
Title Page A. Header should have Running head: SHORT TITLE IN ALL CAPS should be displayed on the title page (succeeding pages should just include SHORT TITLE IN ALL CAPS). B. The title page is page one (1), placed in the top right corner in 12-point font. C. Title is approximately 12 words describing the body of work - centered in 12-point font. D. Author’s name - first name, middle initial, last name - centered in 12-point font. E. Institutional affiliation is centered in 12-point font.
Abstract (when required) The abstract is a one-paragraph summary, including the most important parts of the paper. Typically, an abstract covers the research topic and questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis, and main conclusions.
Running head: BASIC APA FORMATTING AND STYLE GUIDE 1
Basic APA Formatting and Style Guide: Wright State University Master of Public Health Program
John H. Doe
Wright State University
A. Heading should be centered (no bold, formatting, italics, underlining, or quotation marks). The abstract should be in block formatting (no paragraph indention), is limited to 150-250 words, and includes keywords.
Body A. Title: the full title of the paper is centered on the first line (not bolded) B. Introduction: this section is not labeled and follows the title C. Subject Headings : There are five levels of heading which are demonstrated below:
Tables A. Table Numbering: all tables should be numbered using Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3, …) B. Title: the title is italicized, title case, and should be clear and concise to explain relationships C. Spacing: use generous spacing between columns and rows and strict alignment to clarify relationships within a table D. Heading: each column should be labeled with a clear, brief heading E. Lines: horizontal lines should be used for clarity (no vertical lines, color, or shading) F. Body: consistent reporting of decimal places with in the same column G. Notes: if additional information about the table is needed, this should appear in the notes sections labeled Note. The notes should be placed under the table, and each note should appear on a new line. There are three different types of notes:
- General notes: refer to the table as a whole
- Specific notes: refer to the specific part of the table identified by a lowercase superscript letter
- Probability notes: used to specify the p-value for the statistical test
APA Headings Level Format 1 Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Headings 2 Left-aligned, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
(^3) this after this level….. Indented, boldface, lowercase heading with a period.^ Continue with text like
(^4) text like this….. Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase heading with a period.^ Continue with
(^5) after….. Indented, italicized, lowercase heading with a period.^ Continue with text like this
Note: For student papers, the American Psychological Association (2002) states that:
Double-spacing is required throughout most of the manuscript. When single-spacing would improve readability, however, it is usually encouraged. Single-spacing can be used for table titles and headings, figure captions, references (but double-spacing is required between references), footnotes and long quotations (p. 326).
References Heading is centered, not bold; include only those sources cited within the paper.
Periodical/Journal Article Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). The title of article. Full Title of Journal/Periodical,
volume (number) , page range.
Maibach, E. E., & Murphy, D. E. (1995). Self-efficacy in health promotion research and practice:
Conceptualization and measurement. Health Education Research , 10 (1), 37-50.
Article from an Online Periodical with DOI Assigned Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Full Title of Journal, volume (number),
page range. doi:0000000/
Book Author, A. A. (Year). Book title (edition number, if applicable). Location of publishing:
Publisher.
Gorsuch, R. L. (1983). Factor analysis (2 nd^ ed.). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Book Chapter Author, A. A. (Year). Chapter title. In editor(s) (Eds.), Book title (pp. x-x). Location of
publishing: Publisher.
Government Publication U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1994). Preventing tobacco use among young
people: A report of the Surgeon General. (Publication number 94-XX). Atlanta, GA: U.S.
Department of Health and Human Service, Public Health Services, Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health
Promotion, Office of Smoking and Health.
Online Document Author, A. A. (Year). The title of article/work. Retrieved from website address
Regents of the University of Minnesota. (1997). Writing tips: fog index. Retrieved from
http:www.fpd.finop.umn.edu/Related/Writing_Tips/Writing-Tips.html
When there is no author for a webpage , the title moves to the first position of the reference entry. Example: New child vaccine gets funding boost. (2001). Retrieved from
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/health/story_13178.asp
Cite in text the first few words of the reference list entry (usually the title) and the year. Use double quotation marks around the title or abbreviated title: ("New Child Vaccine," 2001).
Note: Use the full title of the webpage if it is short for the parenthetical citation. Articles found on the web, like the example above, are not italicized in the reference entry and are not italicized but enclosed in quotations in the in-text citation, just like a newspaper or magazine article. Reports found on the web would be italicized in the reference list, as in Publication Manual (6th ed.) Examples 31, 32, and 33 on pp. 205–206. They would also be italicized in the in-text citation, just like a book.
Websites For a passing reference to a website in text, the URL is sufficient; no reference list entry is needed.
Gussie Fink-Nottle has set up a discussion forum for newt fanciers (http://gfnnfg.livejournal.com/).
However, when you are citing a particular document or piece of information from a website, include both a reference list entry and an in-text citation. The key to creating the reference list entry is to determine the type of content on the web page. Basically, provide the following four pieces of information:
Author, A. (date). Title of document [Format description]. Retrieved from http://xxxxxxxxx
The in-text citation includes the author and date (Author, date), as with any other APA Style citation.
(Note: adapted from the sixth edition of the APA Publication Manual , © 2010)
If the quotation has more than 40 words, use a block quotation. Begin the quotation on a new line and indent a half-inch from the left margin. Double-space the entire quotation, and at the end of the quotation, provide citation information after the final punctuation mark.
John Nicholson (1820) anticipated this effect when discussion farming methods in the
nineteenth century:
Perhaps it would be well, if some institution were devised, and supported at the
expense of the State, which would be so organized as would tend most effectually
to produce a due degree of emulation among Farmers, by rewards and honorary
distinctions conferred by those who, by their successful experimental efforts and
improvements, should render themselves duly entitled to them. (p. 92)
References
American Psychological Association. (2016). APA Style. Retrieved from
http://www.apastyle.org/
Paiz, J. M., Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Lawrick, E., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderlund, L., Brizee,
A., & Keck, R. (2010). APA Formatting and Style Guide. Retrieved from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5 th^ ed.). (2002). Washington,
DC: American Psychological Association.
Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6 th^ ed.). (2010). Washington,
DC: American Psychological Association.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Abby Burns, MPH graduate assistant, in helping the faculty and staff of the MPH
program to create the original document in 2011.
