By Kate Devlin
Most college students are familiar with APA style as it is often a requirement that they follow the style’s guidelines for their papers. While they may be familiar with it, they may not know all of its ins and outs.
Let’s explore why it’s so important to follow the APA guidelines.
What is so important about APA style?
Following the APA style guidelines is important for paper uniformity and consistency as well as for proper attribution or citing of sources. Papers sound better and flow better when they follow a style like APA.
Here’s a little snippet of APA history from the APA website that I thought was interesting. APA first came about in 1929 when a group of psychologists, anthropologists, and business managers got together and developed a set of what they called “procedures,” and what we today call “guidelines.” These guidelines, which have been revised over the years, are still in use today by students, researchers, and educators for their scientific papers. The most current edition is the 7th edition, released in October 2019.
How exactly do the APA guidelines help writers?
The guidelines help writers by establishing requirements for their papers. I’m going to touch briefly on seven of the main areas that APA covers. Keep in mind that this is a very general overview.
1. Format (which fonts to use, how to format headings, and margin set up)
2. In-text citations (how to format them correctly; see APA style guide for examples)
3. “Style mechanics” (includes use of punctuation, abbreviations, and capitalization)
4. Grammar (verb tense, active vs. passive voice, singular “they”)
5. References (how to cite, again the style guide will have examples)
6. Bias-free language
7. Tables and figures
What are some helpful resources for APA guidelines?
The best online resource I found was the American Psychological Association’s website. It’s easy to navigate and has great examples. Purdue’s Online Writing Lab also has helpful APA information. Your school or university should have helpful resources as well. Of course, the most comprehensive option is the full guide that can be purchased in print or digital format.
Resources
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