An EasyGuide to APA Style: (EasyGuide Series)

Winner of the 2022 Textbook Excellence Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA) This clear and concise book demystifies the process of writing in APA style and format. Fully updated with content from the Seventh Edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, An EasyGuide to APA Style, Fourth Edition identifies common APA style and formatting mistakes, how to avoid them, and helps students become better writers and communicators of psychological science. Written in a conversational style to make the task of learning how to write more enjoyable, this guide helps students navigate the maze of rules in the APA Publication Manual and become proficient in learning the fine points of APA style. Providing detailed examples and complete sample student papers that conform to APA format, the authors illustrate not only how to write using APA style, but also what writing in APA style really looks like when papers are complete.

Table of Contents:
Preface About the Authors Section I. Overview Chapter 1: APA Style Versus Format: Why It Matters to Your Audience and Why It Should Matter to You What Is the Difference Between APA Style and APA Format? Why APA Style Anyway? Wasn’t MLA Good Enough? In the Long Run, Attention to Detail Matters (Including APA Style and Format) Write for Your Specific Audience: Term Papers Versus Formal Research Papers Chapter 2: Your Visual Table of Contents QuickFinder The Sample Paper With Content and Page Numbers Section II. Writing With (APA) Style: Big-Picture Items Chapter 3: General Writing Tips Specific to APA Style: General Bare-Bones Fundamentals Clear and Succinct Writing: Using Your Scholarly Voice Commonly Confused Words in Psychology and Beyond Subject–Verb Agreement Active Voice Versus Passive Voice in APA Style Some (But Not Too Much) First-Person Usage Avoiding Anthropomorphism Chapter 4: A Quick Grammar Summary for APA-Style Writing Parts of a Sentence Parts of Speech Common Grammar Mistakes to Avoid Chapter 5: Plagiarism and How to Avoid It: Thou Shalt Not Steal (or Be Lazy) But I Didn’t Know. . . . It Sounds Like a Bad Word Quoting: More Than Just a Copy and Paste Paraphrasing: In Your Own Words An Author’s License (Yours): Modifying Source Material But I Can Freely Use My Own Work, Right? How About This for a Plagiarism Awareness Exercise? Chapter 6: Avoiding Biased Language The Fundamental Lesson: View People as Individuals First Specific Recommendations for Reducing Bias: Nonsexist Language and Other Areas Sexual Orientation Racial and Ethnic Identity Disabilities Occupations Gender and Pronouns: With an Indefinite Recommendation Section III. Writing With (APA) Style: Getting Down to Business Chapter 7: Writing Your Introduction: Tying the Story All Together What to Include in Your Introduction Formatting Your Introduction Getting Your Introduction Started Using an Outline: Organizing Your Literature Review Common Mistakes to Avoid in Your Introduction Outline for the Sample Introduction Chapter 8: Citing Sources in Text: Whodunit (or Said It)? A Good Rule of Thumb Ready, Cite, GO In-Text Citation Basics Some Curveballs Chapter 9: A Step-by-Step Playbook of Your Method: How, What, When, Who, and Where? Where in the Flow of Pages Do You Place the Method Section? Where in the Method Section Does This Information Go? Subjects/Participants Materials and Apparatus Procedure Formatting Your Method Section Chapter 10: Writing About Statistics and Associated Fun: How Did It All Turn Out? Let Us Talk Statistics Basics and Beyond Formatting Your Results Paragraph Including Effect Size and Power Chapter 11: Writing Your Discussion: It’s a Wrap Formatting Your Discussion Section What to Include in Your Discussion Section Getting Your Discussion Section Started Organizing Your Discussion Section Common Mistakes to Avoid in Your Discussion Section Outline for the Sample Discussion Section Included Sample Paper Chapter 12: Everybody Needs References A Helpful Note Creating Your References Section Using Abbreviations The Basics Basic References Section Formatting Rules Some Not-So-Basic Rules You Might Need Section IV. Presenting Your Work in APA Format Chapter 13: The Numbers Game: How to Write Numbers (and When the Rules Change) When You Use Numerals When You Use Words Using Both Numerals and Words How to Use Decimal Points Additional Rules for Including Numbers in Your Paper Metrication When Do You Use Abbreviations? Chapter 14: Formatting: Organizing, Headings, and Making Your Work Look Good to Print What Goes Where? What Your Paper Should Look Like Headings Spelling Matters: Spelling and Capitalization Rules Final Touches Chapter 15: Table That Motion: The Special Challenges of Tables and Figures What Is What Getting the Details Just Right A Note on “Notes” Figuring It Out Get Legendary (and Use Captions) Where to Place Tables and Figures But I Am Doing a Literature Review: Could I Use a Table or Figure? Do Not Forget Chapter 16: Make Microsoft Word 2016 Work for You: APA Formatting Word 2016 Tabs and Drop-Down Menus Setting the Margins Line Spacing and Spacing Between Paragraphs Page Numbering Tabs, Centering, and the Ruler References and the Hanging Indent Preparing a Table (Rows, Columns, Lines, Centering) Fonts and Font Variations (Italics, Bold, Superscript) Page Breaks, Orphans, and Widows Spellchecker and Grammar Checker Developing Good Habits: Autosaving, File Naming, File Storage, Frequent Backups Section V. Some Nitty-Gritty Details Chapter 17: Making a List, No Apps Required: Enumeration and Seriation Why Bother? Keeping Order at the Section Level Order Within Paragraphs or Sentences On a Related Note Chapter 18: Abbreviations, Signs, Symbols, and Punctuation: The Details Can Matter: Emoji This! OMG: To Abbreviate or Not? Blinding You With Science and Latin Punctuation Section VI. In Closing: Important Considerations Chapter 19: Using Rubrics: Knowing What It Means to Write a Good Paper Follow Rubrics When Provided Example Rubrics Chapter 20: Proofreading the Entire Paper: Get It Right! Sample Page of APA Text for Practicing Proofreading Chapter 21: Complete Sample of an Experimental (Research) Student Paper: Samples, Anyone? Sample Student Paper Sample Manuscript Title Page Chapter 22: How to Avoid the Most Common Mistakes: All Together Now APA Style and Format Quiz APA Style and Format Quiz: Answers Be Aware of Professors’ Pet Peeves Appendix A: Error List for Chapter 20 Appendix B: APA Style and Format Checklist References Index

About the Author :
Beth M. Schwartz is the Provost and Professor of Psychology at Endicott College. Previously she served as Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost and Professor of Psychology at Heidelberg University, in Tiffin, Ohio. Dr. Schwartz started her career on the faculty at Randolph College (founded as Randolph-Macon Woman′s College) in Lynchburg, VA, where she served for 24 years. At Randolph she was the William E. and Catherine Ehrman Thoresen ‘23 Professor of Psychology and Assistant Dean of the College. She received a BA at Colby College (Maine) and a PhD in cognitive psychology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her scholarship focuses on the scholarship of teaching and learning/pedagogical research, in particular the issues surrounding academic integrity and honor systems. In addition to numerous professional presentations at conferences, she has published many book chapters and articles in a variety of scholarly journals, including the Journal of Higher Education, Ethics and Behavior, Law and Human Behavior, and Applied Developmental Science. She has also edited and coauthored books, including Child Abuse: A Global View(Schwartz, McCauley, & Epstein, 2001), Optimizing Teaching and Learning (Gurung & Schwartz, 2012), and Evidence-Based Teaching for Higher Education (Schwartz & Gurung, 2012). She is a member of the American Psychological Association (APA) and the American Psychological Society and is a Fellow of Division 2 of APA (Society for the Teaching of Psychology). She was an award-winning teacher at Randolph College, where she taught Introduction to Psychology, Research Methods, Cognitive Psychology, and the capstone course. She received the Award for Outstanding Teaching and Mentoring from the American Psych-Law Society, the Gillie A. Larew Award for Distinguished Teaching at Randolph College, the Katherine Graves Davidson Excellence in Scholarship Award from Randolph College, and the Distinguished Faculty Achievement Certificate from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.     R. Eric Landrum is a professor and chair in the Department of Psychological Science at Boise State University. He received his PhD in cognitive psychology from Southern Illinois University–Carbondale. He is a research generalist, broadly addressing the improvement of teaching and learning, including the long-term retention of introductory psychology content, skills assessment, improvement of help-seeking behavior, innovations in advising, understanding of student career paths, the psychology workforce, successful graduate school applications, and more. Eric has made more than 425 presentations, written 23 books, and published 85 peer-reviewed journal articles. He has collaborated with more than 300 research assistants and taught more than 18,000 students in 28 years at Boise State. During summer 2008, he led an American Psychological Association (APA) working group at the National Conference for Undergraduate Education in Psychology studying the desired results of an undergraduate psychology education. At the 2014 APA Educational Leadership Conference, Eric was presented with a presidential citation for outstanding contributions to the teaching of psychology. With the 2015 launch of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology journal, he served as inaugural coeditor. He is a member of APA, a fellow of Division 2 (Society for the Teaching of Psychology), and a fellow of Division 1 (General Psychology), and he served as STP president (2014). He served as the 2015–2016 president of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association. He is a charter member of the Association for Psychological Science (named fellow in 2018). During 2016–2017, Eric was president of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, and he was president of Psi Chi, the international honor society in psychology, in 2017–2018. In August 2019, he received the American Psychological Foundation’s Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award, the highest award given to teachers of psychology in America. In April 2024, Eric was named a Distinguished Professor at Boise State, the highest award for tenured faculty at the university. In January 2025, he was named a Psi Chi Distinguished Member, the highest honor bestowed by the international honor society in psychology.  Regan A. R. Gurung is professor of psychological sciences at Oregon State University. He was on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (UWGB) for 20 years, where he was the Ben J. and Joyce Rosenberg Professor of Human Development and Psychology. He received a BA at Carleton College (Minnesota) and a PhD at the University of Washington. He then spent three years at the University of California, Los Angeles. He has published articles in a variety of scholarly journals, including Psychological Review and Teaching of Psychology. His textbook, Health ­Psychology: A Cultural Approach (SAGE, 2023) is in its fifth edition, and he has coauthored/edited 15 other books, including Study Like a Champ (APA, 2023) and Transforming Introductory Psychology (APA, 2023). He is a fellow of the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the Midwestern Psychological Association. He has won the Founder’s Award for Excellence in Teaching as well as of the Founder’s Award for Scholarship at UWGB, and he was also the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Wisconsin Professor of the Year (2009) and the UW System Regents’ Teaching Excellence Award winner. In August 2017, he received the American Psychological Foundation’s Charles L. Brewer Distinguished Teaching of Psychology Award, the highest award given to teachers of psychology in America, and he is the 2024 Oregon State University Margaret and Thomas Meehan Honors College Eminent Mentor. He is past president of the Society for the Teaching of Psychology and past president of Psi Chi, the international honor society in psychology. He is founding coeditor of the APA journal, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology. In January 2025, he was named a Psi Chi Distinguished Member, the highest honor bestowed by the international honor society in psychology.