APA Formatting

This format is only to be used if YOU conducted the interview.

A citation for an interview is included in parenthesis right before the period at the end of the sentence. The citation needs to include the first initial of the person, period, and last name. The words "personal communication" follow the name, then comma, and the date. Note that the period goes after the citation and not at the end of the sentence. Here is an example:

It is better to be happy (M. Marchese, personal communication, June 18, 2012).

If the authors name is included in the sentence then the citation does not include the author, but follow the format of the previous citation in all other regards.

Millie Marchese stated it is better to be happy (personal communication, June 18, 2012).

Though this post has some basic formats you should be familiar with and may refer to, I strongly advise you to read the APA manual and get familiar with all that is necessary to have a properly APA formatted paper.

Reference

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological
Association (6th ed.).

Format Citations for Quotes

This post is for specifics on formatting a citation when there is a quote. If you need basics for formatting a citation click this link.

Citing a quote follows the same format as a regular citation plus a comma and the page or paragraph number if it is a webpage. If you need to review citations, click on where it says "this link" above or on "Format for Citation" under the archives listed on the right.

Author Says
if a book or journal article use page number abbreviated as p. or pp. for pages.
Goose (2012) said "Mary had a little lamb" (p. 12).

if a webpage use paragraph number abbreviated as para.
According to Goose (2012) "Mary had a little lamb" (para. 12).

Author's name not in sentence

Another format is to include the author information in the citation if the author's name is not mentioned in the sentence like this:

“Mary had a little lamb” (Goose, 2012, para. 1).

remember to use p. or para. based on where the content came from.

More than 40 words

If the quote is more than 40 words indent the paragraph quote and use the format explained above with the exception of punctuation at the end of the citation. In this case, the punctuation goes at the end of the sentence not the citation. Here are two examples of the citation format for a quote more than 40 words:

According to Goose (2012):
            Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb,
            Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow.
            Everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went,
            Everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go.
            She followed her to school one day, school one day, school one day,
            She followed her to school one day and that was against the rules. (p. 4)

            Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb,
            Mary had a little lamb whose fleece was white as snow.
            Everywhere that Mary went, Mary went, Mary went,
            Everywhere that Mary went the lamb was sure to go.
            She followed her to school one day, school one day, school one day,
            She followed her to school one day and that was against the rules. (Goose, 2012, p. 4)

Tips

If you want to skip words in a quote you can use three dots or you can insert words in a quote for clarification by using square parenthesis. Here is an example:

Goose (2012) said " Mary had a little lamb ... and that was against the [school's] rules" (p.4).

Though this post has some basic formats you should be familiar with and may refer to, I strongly advise you to read the APA manual and get familiar with all that is necessary to have a properly APA formatted paper.

Reference

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological

Association (6th ed.).

Friday, June 22, 2012

Steps in formatting a paper from start to finish

Step 1: Write the title page . At this time do not add the running header. Just focus on setting up the text for the paper.

Step 2: Outline your paper. Start with the title of the paper (this is your intro) and write out every topic that is required for the paper. This serves for you not to forget what to write and starts organizing your paper. Use headings format at the start of the outline to maintain correct APA format. Remember that you must have a conclusion. After your outline is complete insert a page break and write the word References centered (not bold) on the page.

Step 3: Now add the running header. You don't want to do this before now because you need more than one page to your paper before you can add this element. Remember that a running header is not just text at the top of the page, it is actually in a header text field.

Step 4: Add content. This is the MOST important part of your paper. As you write, cite your information and reference it. Do this as you write not at the end as an after thought.

Step 5: Run spell check and grammar check. Then Edit, Edit, and Edit again.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Intentional and Unintentional Plagiarism

Plagiarism can be both intentional and unintentional. The most obvious intentional plagiarism is when a student deliberately uses someone else work by either copying or paying for the content. In addition, in intentional plagiarism a student may submit their own previously written work as new content for another class or the student may make up references. With intentional plagiarism, the student is deliberate in using someone else's information without giving them credit or having permission to do so.

In unintentional plagiarism, a student may not realize they are plagiarizing. This may include either not citing or referencing in a written piece or not using the correct APA style format to include all the elements required when citing or referencing. To avoid unintentional plagiarism, it is important to know and understand how to use APA style formatting (American Psychological Association, 2010). To become familiar with APA style formatting, there are so many resources to help you. I recommend viewing a video called APA Style: Basics of APA (APA.org, 2010) listed below in the references. What is important is to be be aware of APA formatting to help you avoid plagiarizing unintentionally.

References

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC.

APA.org (2012). APA Style: Basics of APA. Style Retrieved from http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/index.htm

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Create a Running Header

Preparing the Title page Header

Click on "Insert" tab
Choose "Header" then "Blank"
You will see a choice for "Different First Page". Mark that box
Type the words "Running head:" and then your paper's title all in CAPITAL letters

All text in the header needs to be in Times New Roman size 12 font.
If the title is too long (more than 50 characters) you may shorten

Tab over to the right side of the page and choose "Insert" tab and "Page Number"
Choose "Current Position" then "Plain"
Click on "Close Header and Footer"

Preparing the header for the rest of the paper.

Press enter many times to reach close to the bottom of page 1.
Click on "Insert" tab
Choose "Page Break" (this will force all the text that follows to begin on page 2.
Scroll down and make sure you on page 2
Click on "Insert" tab
Choose "Header" then "Edit"
Type the title of your paper all in CAPITAL letters

All text in the header needs to be in Times New Roman size 12 font.
If the title is too long (more than 50 characters) you may shorten
Do not type "Running head:" on page 2.

Click on "Close Header and Footer"