Use the APA Citation Style

• Resources |
• Formatting Tips |
• Sample Citations 

Most papers at City University of Seattle must be written using APA style. APA style refers to the rules and conventions established by the American Psychological Association for citing sources, creating a reference list and formatting a research paper. Complete information is available in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed., 2010).

This guide contains a list of basic APA style elements that are commonly required for assignments at CityU. Your instructor may modify these requirements for specific course assignments.

• The Basics of APA Style (2012). American Psychological Association.
• Diana Hacker's Social Sciences
  (click "Documenting Sources" at left). In-text citations, list of references, manuscript format and sample paper.
• APA Formatting and Style Guide (2009).
  The OWL at Purdue.
• APA Style Essentials (2010).
  Vanguard University of Southern California.
• APA Style.org
  Contains additional information about APA style, as well as limited examples and tutorials from APA.
• Whitaker, A. (2009). Research and APA style guide 2010. Bratislava, Slovakia: City University of Seattle. A guide for City University of Seattle students in Europe about doing, using, and citing research in academic assignments.

• CityU APA Style Template
  A Microsoft Word template that can be used to format an academic/college paper in APA format, including reference citation examples. This template includes minor modifications to APA style for the running head and title page which meet the needs of most undergraduate writing assignments at CityU. Your instructor or program may require the use of strict APA style for required assignments.
• APA Style Template
  This APA style guide, created by Douglas Degelman of Vanguard University, includes a Microsoft Word template in standard APA style as found in the APA Style Manual.
• How to Use the APA Features of Microsoft Word 2007

• Citation Builder
  A free online tool to help you format APA style citations for a variety of resources, provided by the North Carolina State University Library.
• Zotero
  A free Firefox extension that helps researchers collect, manage, and cite their research sources.

• Font is 12 point Times New Roman (8.03).
• Margins are set at 1 inch (2.54cm) (8.03).
• Line spacing is double throughout the entire document with pages numbered in sequence, starting with the title page (8.03).
• Punctuation spacing is two spaces after each punctuation mark ending a sentence, and one space after all other punctuation (4.01, 4.02).
• Title page is a separate page and includes the header, article title, author’s name and date (8.03).*
• Headers appear at the top of each page and include the author’s last name and page number.*
• All pages, beginning with the title page, should be numbered consecutively (8.03).
• Heading levels accurately reflect the organization of the paper and are used consistently throughout the paper (3.02-3.03).
• Paragraphs contain at least three sentences but are not longer than one page (3.08). Indent the first line of each paragraph (8.03).
• Abbreviations are written as entire words or phrases the first time they are used with the abbreviation following in parentheses. Use the abbreviated form subsequently, unless it is used at the beginning of a sentence (4.22-4.23).
• Quotations under 40 words are surrounded by quotation marks and include page or paragraph numbers in the in-text citation. Quotations of 40 or more words are formatted in a freestanding block of text with no quotation marks (4.08, 6.03, 6.05).
• Figures, tables, appendicies and other document elements should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals (1,2,3) in the order in which they are mentioned (5.05, 5.30).
• Tables are all referred to in the text and every table column includes a heading (5.13, 5.19).
• Appendices are on separate pages, with only one table or figure per page (8.03).

• References are cited accurately in both the text and the reference list, and are ordered alphabetically by authors’ surnames (6.11-6.21, 6.16, 6.25).
• Hanging indents and double spacing are used for all reference list entries (2.11).
• Capitalize only the first word of an article, book, or chapter title and subtitle (if any), and any proper nouns (6.29)
• Electronic journal articles are cited in the same manner as print journal articles.*
• Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs) should be included in journal article citations if they can be easily located (see sample citations below).*
• Journal and book titles in the reference list are spelled out fully and italicized.
• Page numbers for all articles are provided in the reference list (7.01, 7.02).

• What is a citation? What are the parts of a citation?
• Why do I need to cite and document sources?
• What kinds of sources need to be documented?

Below you will find some of the most common types of sources used in academic research. For additional examples and more detailed information about the APA style, refer to The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed., 2010), or to the recommended resources linked below.