APA Style|Library Guide
Adapted from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed. Call num. BF76.7.P83 2010

ESSENTIALS OF APA ESSAY STYLE
Formatting the Essay
 Double-spaced; 1” (2.54 cm) margins on all sides
 Indent the first line of each paragraph
 Times New Roman or similar font
 Font size 12 point

Components and Structure of the Essay
1) Title Page
2) Body of Essay (with in-text citations)
3) References (list of sources cited in essay)
*Follow formatting guidelines as shown below*

Title Page
Running head: SHORT TITLE

1

Body of Essay

SHORT TITLE
Full Title of Essay

Full Title of Essay
Your Name
Sheridan College

2

Begin with an introduction to the topic that outlines the significance of the problem you would like to address.
Heading
Be conscious of word choice, voice, bias, grammar, spelling, consistency of tense, and proper citation guidelines.
Subheading

References
SHORT TITLE

3

References
List each source (ie. book, article, etc) that you cited in the essay.
Alphabetize the reference entries by
Author’s last name.
Indent the second and following lines of each reference entry.

Be sure to support your argument with in-text citations from authoritative sources. IN-TEXT CITATION & REFERENCES
The Concise Rules of APA Style (2010) states that you must “provide documentation for all facts and figures that are not common knowledge” (p. 171). Each time you cite information from another source, you must provide both:
(1) an in-text citation, and
(2) a reference list entry.
ONLY an in-text citation (no reference list entry) is required for:
(1) Personal communication (interviews, etc) - Example: (personal communication, April 18, 2001)
(2) Major classical works (ancient Greek or Roman works, or religious works) - Example: (Qu’ran 5:3-4)

CREDITING SOURCES
NOTE: Punctuation, capitalization, and italicization must be completed exactly as written below.
For Online Publications: Complete reference as if for print material, with as much information as provided in the original document. Add “Retrieved from http://...” statement at end of reference (replace with DOI if provided).

Books
Variations

General Entry

REFERENCES LIST
Beatty, R. H. (2006). The ultimate job search: Intelligent strategies to get the right job fast. Indianapolis, IN: Jist Publishing.

In-Text Citation
(Beatty, 2006, p. 26)

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. Location: Publisher.

(Author, Year, p. page)

E-Book

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. [E-book provider version].
Retrieved from e-book provider’s URL

(Author, Year, p. page)

Editors, no authors Editor, E. E., & Editor, F. F. (Eds.). (Year). Title of work. Location:
Publisher.

Chapter in
Edited work

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of chapter. In E. Editor (Ed.), Title of book
(pp. pages). Location: Publisher

(Author, Year, p. page)

Dictionary or
Encyclopedia

Author, A. A. (Year). Entry. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Title of encyclopedia or dictionary. Location: Publisher.

(Author, Year, p. page)

Online
Dictionary or
Encyclopedia;
no author or editor Entry. (n.d.). In Title of dictionary or encyclopedia. Retrieved from
URL

(Editor & Editor, Year, p. page)

(Entry, n.d.)

Journal Articles
Variations

General Entry

REFERENCES LIST

In-Text Citation

Herbst-Damm, K. L., & Kulik, J. A. (2005). Volunteer support, marital status, and the survival times of terminally ill patients. Health
Psychology, 24(1), 225-229. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225

(Herbst-Damm & Kulik, 2005,
p. 226)

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume(issue), pages. doi:numbers/letters

( Author, Year, p. page)

No DOI*, No issue** Author, A. A. (Year). Title of article. Title of Journal, volume, pages.
Retrieved from URL (persistent link provided by database)

(Author, Year, p. page)

More than
Seven