(The American Psychological Association ( APA

The American Psychological Association (abbreviated APA) is the

largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in
the United States. It is the world's largest association of psychologists with
around 152,000 members including scientists, educators, clinicians,
consultants and students. The APA has an annual budget of around
$115m. The American Psychological Association is occasionally confused
with the American Psychiatric Association, which also uses the acronym
.APA

Mission Statement
The mission of the APA is to advance the creation, communication and application of psychological
knowledge to benefit society and improve people’s lives.

Vision Statement
The American Psychological Association aspires to excel as a valuable, effective and influential
organization advancing psychology as a science, serving as:
• A uniting force for the discipline
• The major catalyst for the stimulation, growth and dissemination of psychological science and
practice
• The primary resource for all psychologists
• The premier innovator in the education, development, and training of psychological scientists,
practitioners and educators
• The leading advocate for psychological knowledge and practice informing policy makers and
the public to improve public policy and daily living
• A principal leader and global partner promoting psychological knowledge and methods to
facilitate the resolution of personal, societal and global challenges in diverse, multicultural
and international contexts
• An effective champion of the application of psychology to promote human rights, health, well
being and dignity

The APA core values statement

The American Psychological Association commits to its vision through a mission based upon the
following values:
• Continual Pursuit of Excellence
• Knowledge and Application Based on Methods of Science
• Outstanding Service to Its Members and to Society
• Social Justice, Diversity, and Inclusion
• Ethical Action in All That We Do

:History

Founding

The APA was founded in July 1892 at Clark University by a group of 26 men. Its first president was G.

Stanley Hall. There are currently 54 divisions in the APA, and it is affiliated with 60 state, territorial,

and Canadian provincial associations.

Dominance of clinical psychology

Due to the dominance of clinical psychology in APA, several research-focused groups have broken

away from the organization. These include the Psychonomic Society in 1959 (with a primarily cognitive

orientation), and the Association for Psychological Science (which changed its name from

the American Psychological Society in early 2006) in 1988 (with a broad focus on the science and
research of psychology). Theodore H. Blau was the first clinician in independent practice to be elected

president of the American Psychological Association in 1977.

APA) Style)
:Definition
American Psychological Association (APA) Style is a set of rules developed to assist reading
comprehension in the social and behavioral sciences. Designed to ensure clarity of communication,
the rules are designed to "move the idea forward with a minimum of distraction and a maximum of
precision."[1] The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association contains the rules for
every aspect of writing, especially in the social sciences from determining authorship to constructing
a table to avoiding plagiarism and constructing accurate reference citations

APA Style Basics

A. Part of APA style paper:
APA Style requires that manuscripts include the following sections, in the following
order:
• A cover or title page
• An abstract page (optional: usually, this is required only for papers over.
• The Text.
• Reference List
··
Titil or cover of page:

• Page header and page number:

- 1/2 inch from the top of page, aligned to the right margin,
- Type the page header: this should include the first two or three words of the paper title, and
the page
number. The cover page is page 1.

• Running head:
- The running head is an abbreviation of the title; it should be typed on the
line
below the page header, flush left, in UPPERCASE, following the words “Running
head:”.
- It should not exceed 50 characters, including punctuation and spacing.

• Paper title: About a third of the way down the page, type the title of the paper, centered
on the page. Capitalize all the significant words in the title.

• The identification information: Should included the title, your name, and institutional
affiliation. Your name should be typed in upper and lower case letters, centered, and double
spaced one line below the title (on separate lines ).

.
ABSTRACT PAGE
An abstract should be a brief summary of the paper’s primary premise and
findings, no more than 120 words.
For the abstract page, center the word “Abstract” at the top of the page, and
then include the abstract for the paper, double spaced, and flush against the
left margin.
 The purpose of the abstract is to condense the paper into a few, succinct lines. Thus,
the reader must be able to understand the essence of the paper from reading just the
abstract, without actually reading the paper.
 
The easiest way to write an abstract is to work from an outline of the paper. Condense
the headings and subheadings into general ideas and insert these into your abstract
within understandable sentences.

The Text:

· The page header identifies the first page of the text as the third page of your paper. It should
have previously been set up on the cover page.

· The title that appears on the first page of your paper should be the same as the full title that
appears on your cover page. The title should be centered and double-spaced, and should appear in
upper and lower case letters (NOT in quotation marks).

· The body of the paper

Margins. The margins for your paper should be uniform on all sides, set to at
least 1" or 2.54 cm on all sides: top, bottom, left and right. Line length for each
typed line should be no more than 6.5" (16.51 cm), and the maximum number
of lines of text per page is 27.
Spacing. Double space all portions of the paper. This means you should leave
a full line between each line of text in the paper.
Page headers. 1/2 inch from the top of each page, include a header, with the
first two or three words of the title, and the page number.
Page numbering. Page numbering begins with the cover or title page.
Typeface. Use an easily readable “serif” font (such as Palatino, Courier, or Times
New Roman) in 12 point size.
Text alignment. Set the text alignment to “Left,” so that the right edge of the
text on the page is uneven.
Paragraph indentation. Set the paragraph indentation to 5 spaces, or about
1/2 inch.
Punctuation. Space once after periods, question marks, commas, colons, and
semicolons. Do not space once after internal periods in abbreviations.

· The headings and subheading are necessary to help organize the different sections of
your paper. Headings act similar to an outline (were it to be distributed throughout the
paper).

- Articles in APA journals use from one to five levels of headings.

- For many papers in APA style, two levels of headings meet the requirements (use levels 1 and
3). When three levels of headings are needed, use levels 1, 3, and 4.

Level 1: Centered Upper- and Lowercase Heading

Level 2: Centered, Italicized, Upper and Lowercase Heading
Level 3: Flush Left, Italicized, Uppercase and Lowercase Side Heading
Level 4: Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.
Level 5: CENTERED UPPERCASE HEADING

. Quotations

A quotation is an exact, word-for-word copy of a phrase, sentence, or paragraph of your

source. It must be surrounded by quotation marks (if consisting of fewer than 40 words),
and the author(s) must be cited along with the page (if provided) from which the quoted
material was taken. Quotations should be used sparingly and only when you need to 1)
state an essential theory, model, or point of someone; 2) provide credibility for a point you
are making; or 3) capture how something important is expressed.

For short quotations (less than 40 words):

• should be enclosed in double quotation marks and should be incorporated into the sentence.
• Should be included the author’s last name and the year of publication (for quoted material, a
page number is included).
• If an author is not available, use the title of the work.
• Examples:
 According to Jones (1998), "Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first
time" (p. 199).

Jones (1998) found "students often had difficulty using APA style" (p. 199); what implications does this have
for teachers?

• If the author is not named in a signal phrase, place the author's last name, the year of publication, and the page number in
parentheses after the quotation

She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style" (Jones, 1998, p. 199), but she did not offer an
explanation as to why.

For long quotations (more than 40 words):

• Longer quotations should be set apart from the surrounding text, without
quotation marks, in block format, indented five spaces from the left
margin, and double spaced.
• If the quotation is more than one paragraph, indent the first line of the
second paragraph about 1/2 inch (5 spaces).

• Examples:

Jones's (1998) study found the following:

Students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time citing sources.
This difficulty could be attributed to the fact that many students failed to purchase a style manual or
to ask their teacher for help. (p. 199)

Summary or Paraphrase

If you are paraphrasing an idea from another work, you only have to make reference to the author and
year of publication in your in-text reference, but APA guidelines encourage you to also provide the
page number (although it is not required.)

• Examples:

According to Jones (1998), APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners.
APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998, p. 199).

Quotations within a quotation:

• In block quotations, use double quotation marks to indicate that a phrase is a direct quote.
For shorter quotations, use single quotation marks.

Summary of Quotations

• quotations of fewer than 40 words are incorporated into the text and surrounded by
quotation marks ("). The author's name and page number must also be provided.

Lee (2001) found "the measurement inaccurate, thus the results skewed" (p.10), but
she did not provide an alternative measurement tool.

• Quotes of 40 words and more are started on a new line that is indented 5 to 7
spaces (one tab setting) from the left margin, double-spaced, and not enclosed within
quotation marks (" "). The author's name is provided, as is the page number of the quote (in
parentheses at the end).

• To indicate omitted words in a sentence, use an ellipsis mark (three periods with a
space before and after each: . . . ). To indicate the omission of a full sentence or more within
a quotation, use a period before the three dots (. . . .). Do not use an ellipsis mark to start or
end a quotation unless the quote would otherwise be misunderstood.

• The case of the first letter of the first word of a quotation may be changed along with
the end punctuation to match the syntax of your sentence.
 • Use brackets [], not parentheses (), to enclose words (syntactic additions or
changes, explanations) inserted into a quotation by a person other than the writer being
quoted.

• Use single quotation marks (‘) to set off material that was in double quotes (") in the
original; however, in a quote of 40 or more words use double quotation marks to enclose
material that was enclosed in quotes in the original.

• Place periods and commas within closing quotation marks (double or single). Place
other punctuation inside closing quotes only when it was part of the source material.

Personal Communication

• Any communication considered unrecoverable data (person to person, letters,

memos, phone and e-mail contact, discussion groups, electronic bulletin boards) is cited in
text only, not in reference list:

A.W. Smith (personal communication, February 28, 2001), Executive Director of my agency,
told me that….

According to an ACS assistant to the Commissioner (J.L. Rhone, personal communication,

January 25, 2001), the….

Citation of a work discussed in another

• To cite the work of an author whom you have not read but who has been cited by
one you have, give the original author’s name in the text only (do not give year and do not
cite in reference list). Then give the words "as cited in" and the source from which you read
about the original. For example, the author you are reading (Fay) cites another (Kim):

Kim (as cited in Fay, 1999) stated that "autism is a disorder of brain development"
(p.85).

• Cite Fay in the reference list, not Kim.

According to Mitchell (as cited in Arles, Ziegler & Curtis, 1998), children develop…

• Cite Arles and colleagues in reference list.

Use of verb tense:

• Past tense expresses an action or condition that occurred at a specific time in the
past. Use the past tense when reporting on a researcher’s work and results.

The study (Smith, 2000) showed....

Patrick (2001) reported that...

• Present perfect tense expresses a past action or condition that did not occur at a
specific time, or an action beginning in the past and continuing to the present. Use the past
tense or the present perfect tense for a literature review and a description of a procedure if
the discussion is of past events:

Jones (1999) found...

Smith (2000) has shown...
The study has shown...

• Use the present tense to discuss results, refer to graphic data, and present
conclusions.

B. REFERENCES
 There are two part in references;

- CITATIONS IN TEXT OF PAPER

- REFERENCE LIST

 CITATIONS IN TEXT OF PAPER

• Citations in the text of your paper should include the author’s last name(s), the year of publication, and be
enclosed in parentheses (Wolf & Masters, 2006).

• When you are including a direct quote from a source work, include a specific page reference (Anderson,
2004, p. 223).
• If the author(s) names are mentioned in the same sentence, include only the year of publication.
• If the year of publication is mentioned in the text, include only the author’s name in the cite.

Two authors
• For works by two authors, always include both author names: (Anderson & Bjorn, 2003)
As Anderson and Bjorn (2003) illustrated in their recent study
As recently as 2003, a prominent study (Anderson & Bjorn) illustrated.

Three, four, or five authors

• When a work has 3, 4, or 5 authors, include the names of all the authors the first time the work is cited:
(Anderson, Myers, Wilkes, & Matthews, 2003)
• For all subsequent citations of this work, use “et al.”: (Anderson et al., 2003)
Six or more authors

• When a work has 6 or more authors, use et al.: (Bell et al., 2003)
Unsigned works

• For unsigned works, include the title, enclosed in parentheses. Put quotation marks for short work titles,
and italicize the titles of reports, books, and other significant works :
(“Recent Developments,” 2004)
(Dictionary of Tetrathalocigistic Diseases, 2004).

 REFERENCE LIST

• The reference list comes at the end of your paper, on a separate page, entitled Reference
List.
• Put the list in alphabetical order by author, and use a hanging indent to format all entries (as
shown).
• This list shows you how to format various kinds of reference list entries.
• Titles of books and periodicals should always be in italics; articles should be in regular type
without
quotation marks.
• List authors by “Last name, First initials.”

ONE AUTHOR IN THE BOOKS

Author, A. (20xx). Title of book in italics: Capitalize first words of title and subtitleas
well as proper nouns like Canada (2nd ed.). City: Publisher.

EX. Rosenthal, R. (1987). Meta-analytic procedures for social research (Rev. ed.). Newbury Park, CA:
Sage.

TWO OR MORE AUTHORS IN THE BOOKS

List up to six authors, then add “et al.” if there are more:

EX. DeMarcos, D. J., Alexander, T. G., Turner, W. G., & Zebrinsky, R. T., et al. (1998). Memory function
in patients with Alzheimer’s. New York: Harbinger Press.

Chapters from Edited Books

Author, A., & Author, B. (20xx). Title of chapter: Capitalize first word of title and subtitle only.
In A. Surname (Ed.), Title of book in sentence case and italicized (3rd ed., pp. 10-20). City:
Publisher.
A Translation
Laplace, P. S. (1951). A philosophical essay on probabilities. (F. W. Truscott & F. L. Emory, Trans.). New

York, NY: Dover. (Original work published 1814).

GOVERNMENT OR GROUP AS AUTHOR

Organization. (Year). Title. Identification description. Place: Publisher.
EX. Statistics Canada. (1995). National population health survey overview 1994-95. Catalogue No.
82-567. Ottawa, ON: Minister of Industry.

Journal Articles
Author(s). (Date). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume[issue], page–page.

EX. Scruton, R. (1996). The eclipse of listening. The New Criterion, 15(30), 5-13.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLE
Author(s). (Date). Title of article. Newspaper title, page number.

EX. Stevenson, J. T. (2003, December 17). Depression contributes to weight gain in adolescents. The
Toronto Star, p. D17.

ARTICLE IN AN ONLINE PERIODICAL

Author(s). (Date). Title of article [Electronic version]. Title of Journal, volume, page- page.

EX. Patterson, Q. S. (1999). Psychology and the student [Electronic version]. Journal of
Psychiatric Research, 23, 225-227.

Reports:

• Available from the Government Printing Office (GPO):

National Institute of Mental health. (2000). Clinical outcomes in mental illness (DHHS
Publication No. ADM 73-8709). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.

• Not available from GPO or a document deposit service:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (1999). Obesity in children:

New prevention methods (AHCPR Publication No. 567-98007). Washington, DC:
Author.

• Available from the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC):

George, O.P. (2001). Teacher preparedness in early childhood education

centers (Report No. NCRTL-OP-23-4). Newark, NJ: National Center for Research on
Teacher Learning. (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 573980).

ONLINE DOCUMENT
Author, A. A. (Date). Title of work. Retrieved month day, year, from source.

Stevenson, R. T. (2003). Helping children help themselves. Retrieved November 23, 2003,
from http://www.children.com/articles/.
 • If there’s no author, start with the title (your in-text citation should use the first words from
the title).
• Depression drug causes legal furor. (2004, March 16). Retrieved March 24, 2004,
from http:// news.ninemsn.com.au/Health/story_35725.

WEBSITE
• When you are citing an entire website (not a document found on the website), APA style
suggests you
should provide the address (URL) of the site withinthe text, and not include it in the reference list. For
example,
“Kidspsych is an interactive website for children
(http://www.kidspsych.org).”
• Subsequent references, if close enough to the first tobe clear, can refer simply to the title of
the website rather than repeating the URL.
• Note: If referencing a specific document found on the website, use the format provided above
under Online Document.

ELECTRONIC MESSAGE POSTINGS

• Author. (date). Subject line of message [number]. Message posted to List name,archived at
location

• EX. Simon, M. N., Jr. (2003, July 23). Finding resources for psychology [Msg. 4]. Message
posted to References for Psychology mailing list, archived
at http://groups.yahoo.com/ group/psychologies/msg000999.html.

• Basic Rules in references:

• All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented
one-half inch from the left margin. This is called hanging indentation.
• Authors' names are inverted (last name first); give the last name and initials for all
authors of a particular work for up to and including seven authors. If the work has more than
seven authors, list the first six authors and then use ellipses after the sixth author's name.
After the ellipses, list the last author's name of the work.
• Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of
each work.
• If you have more than one article by the same author, single-author references or
multiple-author references with the exact same authors in the exact same order are listed in
order by the year of publication, starting with the earliest.
• When referring to any work that is NOT a journal, such as a book, article, or Web
page, capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after
a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns. Do not capitalize the first letter of the second
word in a hyphenated compound word.
• Capitalize all major words in journal titles.
• Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals.
• Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as
journal articles or essays in edited collections.

Key Differences: “Vancouver” v. APA:

 In-text numbering system, not parenthetical author, year, and page/paragraph

number
 Reference list numbered, not alphabetized
 No periods after initials, no ampersand in author section of Reference items
 Date appears after title, not after author
 No italicization, few parentheses in Reference list
 Journal titles abbreviated, not spelled out
 No spaces between year, volume, number, page numbers
 “Available from:” intro to URL of Internet sources v. “Retrieved MONTH + DAY, from
+ URL” (APA)
Difference Between APA and MLA ( Modern Language Association )

ABSTRACT.

This difference in this category is pretty obvious: APA Style requires an abstract page, while MLA Style does not. An
abstract is a short summary of your paper.

IN-TEXT CITATIONS.
With both styles, use the last name of the author(s) in any in-text citation. With APA Style, you also include the year
of publication. With MLA Style, you include the page number of the information you cited along with the name of the
author(s), but you do not include the year of publication. By including the year of publication, APA Style gives the
readers a chance to decide how much relevancy to place on a particular source, based on its age. With the subject
matter used with MLA Style, however, the age of the sourced material usually isn''t as vital to its relevancy, so MLA
Style doesn''t list the year of publication.

With both styles, remember that the in-text citation is simply a method of ensuring that your readers can easily find
the full citation in the reference list or works cited page at the end of the paper. You don''t need extensive information
about the source for an in-text citation.

PAGE NUMBERS.

With both styles, the page number appears in the upper right corner of each page, but each style has different
additional information. With APA Style, you must include a running title to the left of the page number on each page.
A running title is a two- or three-word summary of the title of your paper. With MLA Style, include the author''s name
to the left of the page number on each page.

REFERENCE LIST FORMATTING.

With both APA Style and MLA Style, when listing each of your sources on the reference list page (APA Style) or
works cited page (MLA Style), use the full last name of the author(s) in each entry. In APA Style, you also list only the
initials of the first and middle name of each author. In MLA Style, you spell out the entire first and middle name of
each author. (Middle name information is optional.)

TITLE PAGE.
APA Style requires a title page, but MLA Style does not. If you choose to skip the title page with MLA Style, simply
include your name, your instructor''s name, your course, and the full date in the upper left-hand corner of the first
page. Then center the title on the page, followed by your main text.

For more detail about vancuval visit this site;

http://www.library.uq.edu.au/training/citation/vancouv.pdf