This quick reference should not be used as a style guide; it is only a reference tool to be used along with the most recent version of the APA style guide as indicated below.

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) must be followed for headings and subheadings, tables and figures, block quotations, in-text citations and references. However, regarding overall document considerations (i.e., margins, pagination, etc.) the Format Manual requirements supersede those of APA. For more information, see Using Style Guides at graduate.asu.edu/usingstyleguides.html.

Headings/Subheadings (pp. 113-114)
Guidelines provided for up to 5 levels of headings/subheadings, identified as follows:




If your document has only 1 (level of) heading, use Level 1.
If your document has 2 (levels of) headings, use Level 1 (first) and Level 3 (next).
3 headings, use Level 1 (first), Level 3 (next), and Level 4 (last).
4 headings, use Levels 1 - 4 in that order.
5 headings, use Level 5 (first), and then Levels 1 - 4 (see example above).

Block Quotations (pp. 117-118)
Use for quotations of more than 40 words; double space; indent 5 spaces (one-half inch) from left; no quotation marks.

In-text Citation: Author Mentioned in Sentence (pp. 207-214)
Cite only the publication date in parentheses, directly following the author's name wherever it appears in the sentence. To cite a particular part of a source, include a comma and page number after the basic entry.

In-text Citation: Where Author Not Mentioned in Sentence (pp. 207-214)
Cite author's last name, followed by a comma and the publication date, all in parentheses. To cite a particular part of a source, include a comma and page number(s) after the basic entry.

Figures (pp. 176-201)
Figures include all types of illustrations (i.e., graphs, maps, charts, photographs, drawings, etc.). A figure title/caption is simply titled "Figure" and appears flush left below the figure, followed by an Arabic numeral and period, all in italics (see example below). The title/caption and/or legend (a concise explanation of symbols used in a figure) appear after the figure label, flush left and double-spaced. For example:


Figure 1. Overall brain activity during the first 5 minutes of REM. Those suffering from sleep

deprivation show a significantly different pattern than the control group.


Tables (pp. 147-175)
All tables should appear as close as possible to corresponding text. Type "Table" above the corresponding table, flush left, followed by an Arabic numeral. A title/caption should appear flush left on the next line, title cased*, italicized, and double-spaced. For example:

Table 1

Imaginary Table Title for Imaginary Data



References:

General/Spacing (p. 216) Each entry should have a hanging indent and be double-spaced; also double-space between entries. Reference list/bibliography should be arranged alphabetically by author last name.

Books and Book Articles (pp. 248-255)
Author's last name, followed by a comma, the author's initial(s), and a period; the year of publication in parentheses, period; title in italics (capitalize first word only of both the title and subtitle as well as proper nouns), followed by a period; publisher information, which includes city, followed by a colon, and the publisher, followed by a period. For example:

Smith, J.P., & Luna, A. J., Jr. (2002). A fun book: When you do not know how to format your list of

references (3rd ed.). City: Name of Publisher.

Journal Articles (pp. 239-241)
Author's last name, followed by a comma, the author's initial(s), and a period; the year of publication in parentheses, period; article title (no quotes; capitalize first word of title and subtitle only), period; Journal title in italics, comma; volume number, comma; and page numbers, period.

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*The first letters of certain words within titles (e.g., initial words, important words, words with 4 or more letters, etc.) are always capitalized. See pp. 95-96 in the APA Publication Manual for more information.


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