The Purdue OWL also includes a sample paper formatted in APA Style.
Video tutorial from the American Psychological Association about the basics of APA Style.
Citing Business Databases in APA Style
APA Style (from Research and Documentation 5 by Diana Hacker)
If you are more familiar with MLA, then the capitalization rules for APA might seem confusing. Following the rules below when capitalizing titles or works:
Within the text of the paper
In the reference list or bibliography
All this information can be found on pages 101 - 103 in the APA style manual.
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The examples below follow the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed., 2010 (APA-M). Correct spacing, use of italics, and punctuation are essential. APA style requires double-spacing throughout the paper, including the Reference List page (APA-M, p. 229). The first lines of paragraphs should be indented 5 to 7 spaces. For additional examples, see APA-M, pp. 228-231. Sample pages of a completed paper appear on pages 41-59 of the APA-M.
See pages 92 and 170-174 of the APA-M for information about direct quotations. Author-date citations, placed within the text, replace footnotes or endnotes. Two examples:
Martin (1984) urges roommates to settle differences...
In her list of rules for roommates (Martin, 1984)...
If a citation you need is not illustrated here, find the APA Publication Manual in the reference section.
Call Number: Ref. BF 76.7 .P83 2010
APA style reference pages are double-spaced throughout and use “hanging indent” format, meaning that the first line of each reference is set flush left and subsequent lines are indented. See the APA Citation Guide PDF for examples of correct spacing and indenting.
*All page numbers on this guide refer to the APA-M
Print (p. 198)
Hall, D. T. (1990). Promoting work/family balance. Organizational Dynamics, 18(3), 5-18.
In this example, "18" is the volume number, “3” is the issue number, and "5-18" are the page numbers.
Electronic with no DOI (p.199)
Mates, B. F., & Strommen, L. (1995). Why Ernie can't read: 'Sesame Street' and literacy. The Reading Teacher, 49(4), 300-306. Retrieved from http://www.reading.org/general/Publications/Journals/RT.aspx
Electronic with DOI (pp. 198-199)
Alejos, A., Weingartner, A. Scharff, D.P., Ablah, E., Frazier, L., Hawley, S.R.,…Wright, K.S. (2008). Ensuring the success of local public health workforce assessments: Using a participatory-based research approach with a rural population. Public Health, 122 (12), 1447-1455. doi:10.1016/j.puhe.2008.06.008
Print: Blanton, K. (2007, August 24). Short sales of homes on rise. The Boston Globe, pp. A1, A6.
Electronic: Schwirtz, M. (2009, August 13). Russian navy joins search for freighter. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com
Print: Dicum, G. (2007, September). Eyes in the sky and on your desktop. Sierra, 92(5), 58-62.
Electronic (No Author) accessed through a subscription: A wiser wiki. (2007, May). Utne Reader, (141), 10-11. Retrieved from http://www.utne.com
Print: Corey, G. (1994). Self-esteem. In Encyclopedia of Psychology (Vol. 3, pp. 369-370). New York: Wiley.
Electronic accessed through a subscription: Kaczkowski, C. (2006). Acid-base balance. In Gale Encyclopedia of Nursing and Allied Health (2nd edition). Retrieved http://www.gale.cengage.com
Print Source: Gardner, H. (1993). Creating minds. New York: Basic Books.
Electronic Book Based on Print: Krames, J.A. (2002). The Rumsfeld way: The leadership wisdom of a battle-hardened veteran. doi: 10.1036/0071406417
Electronic Book Not Based on a Print Version, no DOI available: Dujac, P. (n.d.). Ananda. Retrieved from http://onlineoriginals.com/showitem.asp?itemID=82
Edited Book (Print) Davis, W. C., & Robertson, J. I., Jr. (Eds.). (2005). Virginia at war: 1861. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky.
Print: Skidmore, R. A., Thackeray, M. G., & Farley, O. W. (1997). Introduction to social work (7th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Print: Carlyle, T. (1995). The hero as king. In J. T. Wren (Ed.), The leader's companion (pp. 53-55). New York: Free Press.
Electronic (no DOI available, viewed through a subscription): Lowenthal, D. (2002). The disenchanted future. In R. D. Sack (Ed.), Progress: Geographical Essays (pp.61-77). Retrieved from http://www.netlibrary.com/
Because they do not provide recoverable data, personal communications such as telephone conversations, email messages, and personal interviews are not included in the Reference list. Cite personal communication in the text only. Give initials, surname of the communicator, and provide as exact a date as possible: (N. Schwartz, personal communication, April 1, 2001).
Malkin, B. (2011, May 12). Planking: A beginner's guide. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/8509161/Planking-a-beginners-guide.html
Ninja. (2009 August 9). A dollar a day [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.punchdebtintheface.com
Lustig, R.H. (2009, July 30). Sugar: The bitter truth [Video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oM