APA Tips
A Few Pointers to Make the Pain of APA Style Writing Seem Bearable
Knowing how to effectively use APA style writing is an important tool for college students and researchers alike. Varying from the format most commonly used in K-12 settings (MLA), APA style writing will allow academic essays to be organized in a manner conducive to professional publication and presentation.
Using the Active Voice
If you've got a professor who sleeps with a copy of the APA Publication Manual under their pillow, one sure way of making your academic life miserable is by writing in the passive voice! While not all professors focus on this particular APA fopah, many readers and editors will...so knock it off! Of course, there may be some instances where the passive voice is needed, like when you want to emphasize the the object/recipient instead of the agent, but your best option is to avoid it all together!
Always Proofread Your Work
Before you submit your work for review or publication, go through it and pinpoint any grammatical mistakes that are bound to be discovered. Commas, pronouns, subject/verb agreement, and restrictive/nonrestrictive clauses tend to be the major grammatical pitfalls in APA style writing. It may be worth your time to dust off your old high school grammar book and review these particular concepts.
Using Levels of Head
Knowing the different "Levels of Head" in APA style writing is an excellent way of hanging onto a few valuable project points. Unless you are submitting your work for publication in an academic journal, it is uncommon for the typical college student to surpass even the first of five levels. According to the APA Publication Manual, all topics of equal importance have the same level of heading throughout an essay. This means that the headings you use to separate main ideas in your essay (level one headings) are all formatted the same (centered and written with upper and lowercase letters), and serve the same purpose (introducing main topics). If you want to modify those topics into subcategories, you would then introduce another heading level (level 2), written just below the first in italic letters. Click here to view a detailed guide of APA headings and the different formatting a each level.
How to Add Quotes in APA Style
A critical characteristic of any college paper, regardless of formatting style, is the use of quotes to add credibility and expertise. Where APA style varies however, is in the manner of adding your quotation to the text body. Adding quotes in APA style happens in one of the following three ways:
1) a quotation under 40 words that begins with "he/she stated..." and ends with the proper author citation (Guillen, 2008, p.109).
2) a quotation under 40 words that begins with "Guillen (2008) found..." and ends with the proper page number information "(p. 109)".
3) a quotation over 40 words that is written in a freestanding block (without quotations) and ends with the proper page number "(p.109)."
Guillen (2008) found the following:
Suite101.com, which is the leading online publication for up and coming writers,... (p.109).
The APA Reference Page
By far the most tedious and annoying aspect of APA style writing, this area is commonly known as the ultimate consumer of a project's grade! The best approach to overcoming this literary nightmare is either getting a hold of the APA Publication Manual itself, or find a few online resources that do the work for you.
Websites like noodletools.com can create the reference citation for you, assuming you have all the right source information. The excruciating minutiae of this section is enough to make any student's head spin, so do yourself a favor and spend a significant amount of time reviewing this section. Making sure that your reference page is formatted correctly, as well as paying attention to areas like active voice, proofreading, headings, and quotations, is an excellent way to become an effective APA writer.
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