Item | Guidelines |
DOI Information |
Be sure to use the full DOI link in your reference.
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Figure Titles |
The word “Figure” and the number should be bolded.
The figure title is in title case and italics.
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Headings |
All headings are bold. Headings 3 & 5 are italicized. |
In-text Citations |
Two authors: For works with two authors, use an ampersand (&) in parenthetical in-text citations: (Guirrez & Castillo, 2020) and use the word “and” in narrative in-text citations: Guirrez and Castillo (2020).
Three or more authors: Use the first author's name followed by et al. in-text and parenthetically from the first citation onward. Parenthetical Citations: Place the author name and publication year in parentheses.
Narrative Citations: Incorporate the author's name into the text as part of the sentence and then follow with the year in parentheses. |
Line Spacing | Double-space the entire paper. Do not add extra lines before or after headings or between paragraphs. |
Lists - Bulleted |
Bulleted items that are complete sentences should begin with a capital letter and end with a punctuation mark. There are two options for punctuating bulleted lists that consist of items listed as words or phrases.
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Lists - Lettered |
Use a serial comma when a list within a sentence contains three or more items. Use semicolons if any of the items already contain a comma. For increased attention to items use lowercase letters in parentheses before each item. |
Punctuation |
Use one space after a period or other punctuation mark at the end of a sentence. Use a serial comma before the final element in lists of three or more items (i.e., Oxford Comma). Use parentheses to set off in-text citations. |
Reducing Bias | When writing, always be sure to select words that are accurate, clear, and free from bias or prejudicial connotations. |
Reference List | The label “References” should be formatted as a Level 1 heading. |
References |
Capitalize titles in sentence case: Capitalize only the first word of the title, the subtitle, and any proper nouns.
Present both DOIs and URLs as hyperlinks (e.g., beginning with “https:”).
Provide surnames and initials for up to and including 20 authors. Only use the words “Retrieved from” if the retrieval date is needed. Do not add a period after the DOI or URL. Omit the publisher if the author and publisher are an exact match. Do not include physical locations for publishers. |
Singular "They" | Singular “they” is endorsed as part of APA Style because it is inclusive of all people and helps writers avoid making assumptions about gender |
Spacing | Use one space after a period or other punctuation at the end of a sentence. |
Table Formatting |
Number tables in the order they are mentioned in the text. Include borders only at the top and the bottom of the table, beneath column headings, and above column spanners. Do not use vertical borders or borders around every cell in the table. |
Table Titles |
The word “Table” and the number should be bolded.
The table title is in title case and italics.
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Title Page - Student |
The running head is no longer a required element of the title page. Page number upper right corner.
The title should be capitalized, bold, centered, and located in the upper half of the title page. |
Fragments, Comma Splices, and Run-On Sentences
Learn to avoid sentence and punctuation issues.
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