Some Items for Students to Master for APA Style

• Running head is permanent and is aligned on the left margin on the same line as the page number. It should read “Running head: . The title should not contain more than 12 words in length and should not have abbreviations. All letters of the title are capitalized.  Example: Running head: READING SKILLS (NB this is for title page only). The Title Page is always page 1. Other pages after page 1, the title appears on each page in the header with only page numbers changing.  Example: (NB: The words “Running head” only appears on the title page which is page 1).
• Ampersand: If the citation is in parentheses, you have to use the ampersand (‘&’) instead of the word “and” in text of paper. Always use ampersand (&) in captions, tables and on reference page.
• Do not use contractions in sentence construction (it’s = it is; won’t = will not).
• Always spell out acronym on first use in the paper. Example: IT= Information Technology.
• Direct quotes must give page number. If no page numbers available, cite paragraph number using the abbreviation para. (para. 4).  If no page or paragraph numbers, cite paragraph and heading number where information has been derived: (Discussion section, para. 2).
• Outline all authors’ first time reference is cited. Use et al. in further references (ex: Smith et al., 2009) (Exception: Six or more authors use et al. first time).
• References should be in alphabetical order by author(s) last name on the reference page; inscribe last name, then first and middle initial (if there is any). If no author is provided, one should use the first character of the title.
• When citing a book on the reference page, capitalize the first word of the title only (with the exception of proper names). Italicize the name of the book too.
• In reference area, capitalize the FIRST word (the word after a colon) and all proper names in the title of articles and books.
• Italicize the name of books, magazines and journals but DO NOT italicize the name of the article.
• Do not use the words Issue or Iss., Volume or Vol., or Pages, p. or pp. on reference page.
• The volume number and name of the journal are italicized. Pay attention to punctuation.
• Use the hanging indent to cite references on reference page.
• Punctuation when concluding a Quote: If quotation is at the end of a sentence, seal quote with quotation marks, cite the source in parentheses, and end with other punctuation outside the final parenthesis. If a quote is found in mid-sentence, close quote with quotation marks, cite the source straight away after the quotation marks, and carry on with the sentence.
• Punctuation when concluding a reference: The period (or sentence terminator) goes after the in-text citation to end the sentence.

There are many other APA guidelines students must become aware of when writing.

Knowing APA formatting will ease most of the stress brought by academic writing. Good luck in your degree journey and happy APA writing.