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Write With Clarity, Precision, and Inclusion APA Style is used by writers in many disciplines around the world for concise, powerful, and persuasive scholarly communication. About APA Style 7th Edition Now Available
The Mastering APA Style Student Workbook is an online and interactive workbook for teaching and learning seventh edition APA Style. Explore the workbook to learn more, register for a webinar, watch a demo video, try a sample workbook, and purchase your copy. Adopt the workbook for your course or workshop to use it to teach APA Style and scholarly writing. Explore the workbook Course adoption
Learn More About JARS
Table of Contents | Supplemental Resources | Introduction (PDF)
Official Source for APA Style
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition is the official source for APA Style.
Widely Adopted
With millions of copies sold worldwide in multiple languages, it is the style manual of choice for writers, researchers, editors, students, and educators in the social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, nursing, communications, education, business, engineering, and other fields.
Authoritative and Easy to Use
Known for its authoritative, easy-to-use reference and citation system, the Publication Manual also offers guidance on choosing the headings, tables, figures, language, and tone that will result in powerful, concise, and elegant scholarly communication.
Scholarly Writing
It guides users through the scholarly writing process—from the ethics of authorship to reporting research through publication.
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It is an indispensable resource for students and professionals to achieve excellence in writing and make an impact with their work.
7 Reasons Why Everyone Needs the 7th Edition of APA’s Bestselling Publication Manual
Full Color
All formats are in full color, including the new tabbed spiral-bound version.
Easy to Navigate
Improved ease of navigation, with many additional numbered sections to help users quickly locate answers to their questions.
Best Practices
The Publication Manual (7th ed.) has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect best practices in scholarly writing and publishing.
New Student Resources
Resources for students on writing and formatting annotated bibliographies, response papers, and other paper types as well as guidelines on citing course materials.
Accessibility Guidelines
Guidelines that support accessibility for all users, including simplified reference, in-text citation, and heading formats as well as additional font options.
New-User Content
Dedicated chapter for new users of APA Style covering paper elements and format, including sample papers for both professional authors and student writers.
Journal Article Reporting Standards
New chapter on journal article reporting standards that includes updates to reporting standards for quantitative research and the first-ever qualitative and mixed methods reporting standards in APA Style.
Bias-Free Language Guidelines
New chapter on bias-free language guidelines for writing about people with respect and inclusivity in areas including age, disability, gender, participation in research, race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality
100+ Reference Examples
More than 100 new reference examples covering periodicals, books, audiovisual media, social media, webpages and websites, and legal resources.
40+ New Sample Tables and Figures
More than 40 new sample tables and figures, including student-friendly examples such as a correlation table and a bar chart as well as examples that show how to reproduce a table or figure from another source.
Ethics Expanded
Expanded guidance on ethical writing and publishing practices, including how to ensure the appropriate level of citation, avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism, and navigate the publication process.
List of Tables and Figures
Editorial Staff and Contributors
Acknowledgments
Introduction (PDF, 94KB)
Utility and Accessibility
What’s New in the Seventh Edition?
1. Scholarly Writing and Publishing Principles
Types of Articles and Papers
1.1 Quantitative Articles1.2 Qualitative Articles1.3 Mixed Methods Articles1.4 Replication Articles1.5 Quantitative and Qualitative Meta-Analyses1.6 Literature Review Articles1.7 Theoretical Articles1.8 Methodological Articles1.9 Other Types of Articles
1.10 Student Papers, Dissertations, and Theses
Ethical, legal, and professional standards in publishing
Ensuring the Accuracy of Scientific Findings
1.11 Planning for Ethical Compliance1.12 Ethical and Accurate Reporting of Research Results1.13 Errors, Corrections, and Retractions After Publication1.14 Data Retention and Sharing1.15 Additional Data-Sharing Considerations for Qualitative Research1.16 Duplicate and Piecemeal Publication of Data
1.17 Implications of Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism
Protecting the Rights and Welfare of Research Participants and Subjects
1.18 Rights and Welfare of Research Participants and Subjects1.19 Protecting Confidentiality
1.20 Conflict of Interest
Protecting Intellectual Property Rights
1.21 Publication Credit1.22 Order of Authors1.23 Authors’ Intellectual Property Rights During Manuscript Review1.24 Authors’ Copyright on Unpublished Manuscripts
1.25 Ethical Compliance Checklist
2. Paper Elements and Format
Required Elements
2.1 Professional Paper Required Elements
2.2 Student Paper Required Elements
Paper Elements
2.3 Title Page2.4 Title2.5 Author Name (Byline)2.6 Author Affiliation2.7 Author Note2.8 Running Head2.9 Abstract2.10 Keywords2.11 Text (Body)2.12 Reference List2.13 Footnotes2.14 Appendices
2.15 Supplemental Materials
Format
2.16 Importance of Format2.17 Order of Pages2.18 Page Header2.19 Font2.20 Special Characters2.21 Line Spacing2.22 Margins2.23 Paragraph Alignment2.24 Paragraph Indentation
2.25 Paper Length
Organization
2.26 Principles of Organization2.27 Heading Levels
2.28 Section Labels
Sample papers
3. Journal Article Reporting Standards
Overview of Reporting Standards
3.1 Application of the Principles of JARS
3.2 Terminology Used in JARS
Common Reporting Standards Across Research Designs
3.3 Abstract Standards
3.4 Introduction Standards
Reporting Standards for Quantitative Research
3.5 Basic Expectations for Quantitative Research Reporting3.6 Quantitative Method Standards3.7 Quantitative Results Standards3.8 Quantitative Discussion Standards3.9 Additional Reporting Standards for Typical Experimental and Nonexperimental Studies3.10 Reporting Standards for Special Designs3.11 Standards for Analytic Approaches
3.12 Quantitative Meta-Analysis Standards
Reporting Standards for Qualitative Research
3.13 Basic Expectations for Qualitative Research Reporting3.14 Qualitative Method Standards3.15 Qualitative Findings or Results Standards3.16 Qualitative Discussion Standards
3.17 Qualitative Meta-Analysis Standards
Reporting Standards for Mixed Methods Research
3.18 Basic Expectations for Mixed Methods Research Reporting
4. Writing Style and Grammar
Effective scholarly writing
Continuity and Flow
4.1 Importance of Continuity and Flow4.2 Transitions
4.3 Noun Strings
Conciseness and Clarity
4.4 Importance of Conciseness and Clarity4.5 Wordiness and Redundancy4.6 Sentence and Paragraph Length4.7 Tone4.8 Contractions and Colloquialisms4.9 Jargon4.10 Logical Comparisons
4.11 Anthropomorphism
Grammar and usage
Verbs
4.12 Verb Tense4.13 Active and Passive Voice4.14 Mood
4.15 Subject and Verb Agreement
Pronouns
4.16 First- Versus Third-Person Pronouns4.17 Editorial “We”4.18 Singular “They”4.19 Pronouns for People and Animals (“Who” vs. “That”)4.20 Pronouns as Subjects and Objects (“Who” vs. “Whom”)
4.21 Pronouns in Restrictive and Nonrestrictive Clauses (“That” vs. “Which”)
Sentence Construction
4.22 Subordinate Conjunctions4.23 Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers
4.24 Parallel Construction
Strategies to Improve Your Writing
4.25 Reading to Learn Through Example4.26 Writing From an Outline4.27 Rereading the Draft4.28 Seeking Help From Colleagues4.29 Working With Copyeditors and Writing Centers
4.30 Revising a Paper
5. Bias-Free Language Guidelines
General Guidelines for Reducing Bias
5.1 Describe at the Appropriate Level of Specificity
5.2 Be Sensitive to Labels
Reducing Bias by Topic
5.3 Age5.4 Disability5.5 Gender5.6 Participation in Research5.7 Racial and Ethnic Identity5.8 Sexual Orientation5.9 Socioeconomic Status
5.10 Intersectionality
Punctuation
6.1 Spacing After Punctuation Marks6.2 Period6.3 Comma6.4 Semicolon6.5 Colon6.6 Dash6.7 Quotation Marks6.8 Parentheses6.9 Square Brackets
6.10 Slash
Spelling
6.11 Preferred Spelling
6.12 Hyphenation
Capitalization
6.13 Words Beginning a Sentence6.14 Proper Nouns and Trade Names6.15 Job Titles and Positions6.16 Diseases, Disorders, Therapies, Theories, and Related Terms6.17 Titles of Works and Headings Within Works6.18 Titles of Tests and Measures6.19 Nouns Followed by Numerals or Letters6.20 Names of Conditions or Groups in an Experiment
6.21 Names of Factors, Variables, and Effects
Italics
6.22 Use of Italics
6.23 Reverse Italics
Abbreviations
6.24 Use of Abbreviations6.25 Definition of Abbreviations6.26 Format of Abbreviations6.27 Unit of Measurement Abbreviations6.28 Time Abbreviations6.29 Latin Abbreviations6.30 Chemical Compound Abbreviations
6.31 Gene and Protein Name Abbreviations
Numbers
6.32 Numbers Expressed in Numerals6.33 Numbers Expressed in Words6.34 Combining Numerals and Words to Express Numbers6.35 Ordinal Numbers6.36 Decimal Fractions6.37 Roman Numerals6.38 Commas in Numbers
6.39 Plurals of Numbers
Statistical and Mathematical Copy
6.40 Selecting Effective Presentation6.41 References for Statistics6.42 Formulas6.43 Statistics in Text6.44 Statistical Symbols and Abbreviations
6.45 Spacing, Alignment, and Punctuation for Statistics
Presentation of Equations
6.46 Equations in Text6.47 Displayed Equations
6.48 Preparing Statistical and Mathematical Copy for Publication
Lists
6.49 List Guidelines6.50 Lettered Lists6.51 Numbered Lists
6.52 Bulleted Lists
General Guidelines for Tables and Figures
7.1 Purpose of Tables and Figures7.2 Design and Preparation of Tables and Figures7.3 Graphical Versus Textual Presentation7.4 Formatting Tables and Figures7.5 Referring to Tables and Figures in the Text7.6 Placement of Tables and Figures
7.7 Reprinting or Adapting Tables and Figures
Tables
7.8 Principles of Table Construction7.9 Table Components7.10 Table Numbers7.11 Table Titles7.12 Table Headings7.13 Table Body7.14 Table Notes7.15 Standard Abbreviations in Tables and Figures7.16 Confidence Intervals in Tables7.17 Table Borders and Shading7.18 Long or Wide Tables7.19 Relation Between Tables7.20 Table Checklist
7.21 Sample Tables
Sample tables
Figures
7.22 Principles of Figure Construction7.23 Figure Components7.24 Figure Numbers7.25 Figure Titles7.26 Figure Images7.27 Figure Legends7.28 Figure Notes7.29 Relation Between Figures7.30 Photographs7.31 Considerations for Electrophysiological, Radiological, Genetic, and Other Biological Data7.32 Electrophysiological Data7.33 Radiological (Imaging) Data7.34 Genetic Data7.35 Figure Checklist
7.36 Sample Figures
Sample figures
8. Works Credited in the Text
General Guidelines for Citation
8.1 Appropriate Level of Citation8.2 Plagiarism8.3 Self-Plagiarism8.4 Correspondence Between Reference List and Text8.5 Use of the Published Version or Archival Version
8.6 Primary and Secondary Sources
Works Requiring Special Approaches to Citation
8.7 Interviews8.8 Classroom or Intranet Sources
8.9 Personal Communications
In-Text Citations
8.10 Author–Date Citation System8.11 Parenthetical and Narrative Citations8.12 Citing Multiple Works8.13 Citing Specific Parts of a Source8.14 Unknown or Anonymous Author8.15 Translated, Reprinted, Republished, and Reissued Dates8,16 Omitting the Year in Repeated Narrative Citations8.17 Number of Authors to Include in In-Text Citations8.18 Avoiding Ambiguity in In-Text Citations8.19 Works With the Same Author and Same Date8.20 Authors With the Same Surname8.21 Abbreviating Group Authors
8.22 General Mentions of Websites, Periodicals, and Common Software and Apps
Paraphrases and Quotations
8.23 Principles of Paraphrasing8.24 Long Paraphrases8.25 Principles of Direct Quotation8.26 Short Quotations (Fewer Than 40 Words)8.27 Block Quotations (40 Words or More)8.28 Direct Quotation of Material Without Page Numbers8.29 Accuracy of Quotations8.30 Changes to a Quotation Requiring No Explanation8.31 Changes to a Quotation Requiring Explanation8.32 Quotations That Contain Citations to Other Works8.33 Quotations That Contain Material Already in Quotation Marks8.34 Permission to Reprint or Adapt Lengthy Quotations8.35 Epigraphs
8.36 Quotations From Research Participants
Reference Categories
9.1 Determining the Reference Category9.2 Using the Webpages and Websites Reference Category
9.3 Online and Print References
Principles of Reference List Entries
9.4 Four Elements of a Reference9.5 Punctuation Within Reference List Entries
9.6 Accuracy and Consistency in References
Reference elements
Author
9.7 Definition of Author9.8 Format of the Author Element9.9 Spelling and Capitalization of Author Names9.10 Identification of Specialized Roles9.11 Group Authors
9.12 No Author
Date
9.13 Definition of Date9.14 Format of the Date Element9.15 Updated or Reviewed Online Works9.16 Retrieval Dates
9.17 No Date
Title
9.18 Definition of Title9.19 Format of the Title Element9.20 Series and Multivolume Works9.21 Bracketed Descriptions
9.22 No Title
Source
9.23 Definition of Source9.24 Format of the Source Element9.25 Periodical Sources9.26 Online Periodicals With Missing Information9.27 Article Numbers9.28 Edited Book Chapter and Reference Work Entry Sources9.29 Publisher Sources9.30 Database and Archive Sources9.31 Works With Specific Locations9.32 Social Media Sources9.33 Website Sources9.34 When to Include DOIs and URLs9.35 Format of DOIs and URLs9.36 DOI or URL Shorteners
9.37 No Source
Reference Variations
9.38 Works in Another Language9.39 Translated Works9.40 Reprinted Works9.41 Republished or Reissued Works
9.42 Religious and Classical Works
Reference List Format and Order
9.43 Format of the Reference List9.44 Order of Works in the Reference List9.45 Order of Surname and Given Name9.46 Order of Multiple Works by the Same First Author9.47 Order of Works With the Same Author and Same Date9.48 Order of Works by First Authors With the Same Surname9.49 Order of Works With No Author or an Anonymous Author9.50 Abbreviations in References9.51 Annotated Bibliographies
9.52 References Included in a Meta-Analysis
Author Variations
Date Variations
Title Variations
Source Variations
Textual Works
10.1 Periodicals10.2 Books and Reference Works10.3 Edited Book Chapters and Entries in Reference Works10.4 Reports and Gray Literature10.5 Conference Sessions and Presentations10.6 Dissertations and Theses10.7 Reviews
10.8 Unpublished Works and Informally Published Works
Data Sets, Software, and Tests
10.9 Data Sets10.10 Computer Software, Mobile Apps, Apparatuses, and Equipment
10.11 Tests, Scales, and Inventories
Audiovisual Media
10.12 Audiovisual Works10.13 Audio Works
10.14 Visual Works
Online Media
10.15 Social Media
10.16 Webpages and Websites
General Guidelines for Legal References
11.1 APA Style References Versus Legal References11.2 General Forms
11.3 In-Text Citations of Legal Materials
Legal Reference Examples
11.4 Cases or Court Decisions11.5 Statutes (Laws and Acts)11.6 Legislative Materials11.7 Administrative and Executive Materials11.8 Patents11.9 Constitutions and Charters
11.10 Treaties and International Conventions
Preparing for Publication
12.1 Adapting a Dissertation or Thesis Into a Journal Article12.2 Selecting a Journal for Publication12.3 Prioritizing Potential Journals
12.4 Avoiding Predatory Journals
Understanding the Editorial Publication Process
12.5 Editorial Publication Process12.6 Role of the Editors12.7 Peer Review Process
12.8 Manuscript Decisions
Manuscript Preparation
12.9 Preparing the Manuscript for Submission12.10 Using an Online Submission Portal12.11 Writing a Cover Letter12.12 Corresponding During Publication
12.13 Certifying Ethical Requirements
Copyright and Permission Guidelines
12.14 General Guidelines for Reprinting or Adapting Materials12.15 Materials That Require Copyright Attribution12.16 Copyright Status12.17 Permission and Fair Use
12.18 Copyright Attribution Formats
During and After Publication
12.19 Article Proofs12.20 Published Article Copyright Policies12.21 Open Access Deposit Policies12.22 Writing a Correction Notice12.23 Sharing Your Article Online
12.24 Promoting Your Article
Credits for Adapted Tables, Figures, and Papers
References
Index