DR. NICHOLSON'S APA WRITING STYLE ASSISTANCE PAGE

Joel D. Nicholson, Ph.D.

Professor of International Business

San Francisco State University

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The APA Writing Assistance page provides in-depth assistance with the principle writing style used in Business and Psychology, APA (American Psychological Association) style.  There are several style guides, but APA is the simplest to use.  Using a style guide such as APA helps to organize your work and to make it visually neat and clear.  There are links in this site to MLA, Chicago, Turabian and other style guides.



This page and the numerous references here should be useful to you beyond this class. It should provide you insights into several parts of the writing process. There are informative sections on style, grammar, references, headings, punctuation, common errors, confusing word pairs and more, including indications of how to cite references from the Internet. 

 

I have written an exemplar APA Style Guide sample document in Word, reflecting changes reflected in the Sixth and most recent edition (2010) of the guide (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association).  It is recommended that you read through the simple Sample Word Document to get a feel for what APA style looks like.

American Psychological Association (APA) Writing Style

APA Style Resources

APA Online

What is APA Style?

The Online Writing Lab (OWL) at Purdue University

The OWL on Using APA Format (Updated 6th Edition)

The APA Style Crib Sheet at Georgia Southern University

The Arthur C. Banks Library at Capital Community College


 

Getting Started Writing a Paper in APA Style

How Should Term Papers Look in APA Style?

How to Write Papers with Loads of Grammar Help (The University of Richmond)

 

The Duke University Approach to Getting a Good Start on Your Paper

Choosing a Topic

Finding Background Information

Refining a Topic

Selecting Resources

Searching for Information

Evaluating Resources

Citing Sources and Avoiding Plagiarism

 

A Sample Paper About APA Style:  A Useful for Organizing Course Papers
 Utilizing APA Style

Sample Paper in APA Style using APA Style

 

How to Structure Papers Using APA Style

 

Headings

Headings from the OWL (Online Writing Lab at Purdue University)

Headings Guide from the University of Wisconsin Writing Center

Headings from the APA Style Crib Sheet at Georgia Southern University

 

Page Numbers

Page Numbers in APA Style from Reference Point

 

References -- Citing Sources

A Citation Machine!  

Plug in the Information and this Site will Generate both MLA and APA Citations for You

An APA Citation Wizard (Another citation engine)

APA and Other Style Citations from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo

APA References from the OWL (Online Writing Lab at Purdue University)

Citing Sources from Duke University

Using APA Style to Cite and Document Sources from Bedford St. Martins Online

Assembling a List of Works Cited in Your Paper (From Duke University)

APA Reference Style (Georgia Southern University)

APA Reference Style (5th Edition)

A Guide for Research Papers (Capital Community College)

APA Style for Electronic References

MLA and APA Source Citations (Duke University--Scroll to APA Style Section)

 

 

How to Prepare and Structure Annotated Bibliographies

Here I have done something similar to what I did at the beginning of this APA Writing Help section.  Namely, I have written a sample annotated bibliography.  It is in word format so you can easily view and/or download it.

A Sample Annotated Bibliography  

In addition, below are several websites specifically dealing with the nature, use, preparation and correct APA style of annotated bibliographies.  An annotated bibliography is an expanded set of references with short descriptions and/or evaluations of the reference material.  It can serve as an excellent vehicle for organizing research sources on a particular topic.  This is especially useful for the preparation of term papers. 

APA Format for Annotated Bibliographies (Cal Poly San Obispo)

How to Prepare Annotated Bibliographies (Cornell University)

Write an Annotated Bibliography (UC Santa Cruz)

How to Write Annotated Bibliographies (University of Newfoundland)

Annotated Bibliographies (The OWL at Purdue University)

Annotated Bibliographies (University of Wisconsin)

 

 

Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation Help

OWL:  Purdue University Online Writing Lab Grammar Help

Grammar Topics:  University of British Columbia in Victoria

Vocabulary Vitamins:  Grammar, Punctuation, Quotations

Traditional Rules, Word Order, Agreement and Case

Writing Center:  The University of Ottowa

 

Frequently Asked Grammar Questions

Frequently Asked Grammar Questions

Welcome to Dr. Grammar (University of Northern Iowa)

 

 

A Special Warning on Plagiarism

Do Your Own Work:  If you copy sources and do not properly cite them, you run a high risk of getting caught.  The penalties for plagiarism can be severe.  Plagiarism is writing something that you copied from a source without citing the source, giving the impression that the ideas were yours when they were not.  It is good to use other people's ideas properly in your papers, but you must cite them, put them in your references, give them due credit.  These web sites will help you understand plagiarism and how to avoid it.

Plagiarism:  It's Nature and Consequences (Duke University)

Avoiding Plagiarism (From the OWL at Purdue University)

Avoiding Plagiarism:  Practical Strategies (Duke University)

Electronic Plagiarism Seminar

 

 

Dictionaries, Thesauri, Encyclopedias, Reference Books

American Heritage Dictionary

Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary

Yourdictionary.com

Roget's Thesauri

Columbia Encylopedia

Encylopedia Britannica

Weird Words and Phrases

Common Errors in English

Bartleby's Elements of Style

 

Quotations

Bartlett's Quotations

The Columbia World of Quotations

Simpson's Contemporary Quotations

 

Common Writing Mistakes:  Word Pairs

Confusing Word Pairs (Discrete/Discreet, etc.)

More Confusing Word Pairs (Site/Cite, etc.)

More Confusing Word Pairs (Affect/Effect, etc.)

Sound Alike Words (From the OWL at Purdue University)

 

Common Writing Mistakes:  Classic Errors

20 Common Grammar Mistakes


Firesign Theatre (Just For Fun)

Histrionic Hysteria