Concise Manual for APA 7th Edition E-Book

Parker Gregory

• Herausgeber: AMD
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

About the Book
The APA writing style, although well known for the clarity and precision it gives to writers could be really demanding with it standard, thereby making writing an excruciating task for both seasoned and initiates writers. The APA 7th edition has been concisely covered and simplified in this book – Concise Manual For APA 7th Edition, with step by step process on formatting, citing and referencing your paper, as well as other essential element that must be put into consideration. It also contains new guidelines made available in APA 7th edition.
Concise Manual For APA 7th Edition is adequately packed and put in place to…

• Clarify you on the basic foundation for APA writing style for student and professionals
• Help your workflow along with citations
• Guide you to write ethically

… and many more.

Leseprobe

Concise Manual for APA 7th Edition

A Handy Guide for APA Styled Citation

Gregory Parker

Copyright

Concise Manual for APA 7th Edition

Copyright © 2023 Gregory Parker

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein.

Disclaimer

This book is geared towards providing information in regards to the topic and issue covered. The publication is sold with the idea that the publisher is not required to render accounting, officially permitted, or otherwise, qualified services. If advice is necessary. Legal or health professional, a practiced individual in the profession should be ordered.

Printed on acid-free paper.

Table of Content

Copyright

Table of Content

Introduction

Guidelines and Major Changes in APA 7th Edition

Publishing Ethics

Journal Article Reporting Standard (JARS)

CHAPTER ONE

PAPER FORMATTING

The Basics

Title Page

Abstract

Body

Figures and Tables

References

Major APA Grammar Guidelines

CHAPTER TWO

TYPES OF PAPER FORMAT IN APA 7TH

Student Paper

Professional Paper

CHAPTER THREE

IN-TEXT CITATION

What needs Citation?

Methods for In-Text Citation

Special Considerations and Exceptions

Paraphrases and Quotation

Avoiding Undercitation and Overcitation

Common Errors With Citations

CHAPTER FOUR

REFERENCE LISTS

Formatting Patterns

DOIs and URLs

Reference Page General Formatting and Basics

Referencing Journal Articles

Referencing Books

Referencing Reports

Referencing Presentation

Referencing Thesis and Dissertations

Referencing Newspaper/Magazine Articles and Webpages

Missing Elements and special considerations

Referencing Social Media

Referencing Tables and Figures

About the Author

Introduction

APA style refers to a set of standard guides developed by the American Psychological Association to aid writers in presenting their ideas in a consistent and unambiguous manner. In 1929, the APA style was first as an article with just seven pages and has gradually grown and evolved in size and scope to a publication manual that takes into account the incessant complexity of the usage and production of scholarly data. The APA style has been said to be the most used style in the school of Continuing Studies as it focuses on social sciences and other related disciplines. In detail, the APA as a manual offers convenient guidance on how data can be formatted and addresses any stylistic hitch that may exist. It also offers certain rules by which sources can be incorporated ethically through approved citation patterns.

There are certain reasons why citation is a useful and accepted practice in academic writing. The most familiar of these reasons is to give credit to others for ideas that are rightfully theirs. Often an overall purpose in academic writing is to exchange and engage with other ideas. Familiarizing ourselves with these citation rules enables us to literally and visibly give credit to the original authors in order to allow readers to easily find the work that is referenced and also avoid the accusation of presenting or claiming someone’s ideas as your own which is called plagiarism. Another reason why citation is useful is because citing sources shows that you are in conversation with other scholars and ideas, thereby helping you establish a liable authority. In general, the more broadly and deeply a writer engages with credible sources, the more the credibility of that writer. The final reason is that citation systems are designed to help readers and audiences locate the sources easily, thereby helping build a comprehendible knowledge surrounding a subject.

The imperatives of incorporating sources correctly can be found in Georgetown’s Honor Code which can be seen in full on the University’s Honor Council webpage. A main thrust of the Georgetown student pledge reads; “To be honest in every academic endeavor”, which includes making sure that the writing project clearly shows what has been borrowed from someone else and what is the individual original contribution. The APA manual provides detailed assistance with adhering to that pledge. Specifically, the APA manual requires that works of persons whose theories, ideas or research have directly influenced any work of literature be cited. This applies to citing direct research, paraphrasing and summarizing the work. APA at the same time, emphasizes strongly that such paraphrasing be made in one’s own voice, thereby representing a correction in the wordings or the structure of the original works.

APA style guidelines provide a uniform foundation for scholars to communicate their ideas and findings in a clear, concise and organized form. However, sometimes the uniformity tends to go awry. The APA 6th edition was majorly criticized for its grammar prescriptivism related to pronouns in chapter 3 and this did allow for researchers wanting to respect an individual’s pronouns. This, however, wasn't the only criticism but it was one that was prominent. This wasn’t ideal, as style guides and publication manuals must strike a balance between flexibility and authority. Too much in either direction could detract from its original usefulness. In order to correct these inconsistencies and also account for ongoing changes in scholarship, on August 6th 2019 the APA announced their new 7th edition which went on sale later in October that year. The 7th edition saw a lot of improved changes such as identity first language, inclusive writing, accepted usage of pronouns etc.

Guidelines and Major Changes in APA 7th Edition

Sample Papers: Contained in the APA 6th edition was manuscript for one experiment, two experiments and meta-analysis. While this may seem to make sense for researchers, students however, get confused with such manuscript examples. APA 7th brings clarity to this by including a student paper complete with direct instructions on where to note the class title and professor’s name. Also included in it are discussion and expectation about qualitative, quantitative, mixed method and replication articles as well as meta-analysis section of both qualitative and quantitative nature. Theoretical articles, methodological articles and literature reviews are also covered in APA 7th edition.

Heading Levels: Included in APA 7th is a revised form of heading level. Although they are often overlooked by writers, they provide a reader with valuable information. Simply put, heading levels form a logical structure of a paper by making the reader aware of the way in which the paper’s contents are structured. Five levels of heading are embedded in APA 7th. Level 1 is used for the most important sections, level 2 is subordinate to level 1 and it goes on like that. Note that you should only use the number of headings necessary, many papers require only 2 levels. Also do not use numbers or letters for headings.

Verb Tense: Verbs are powerful and using them carelessly can be ambiguous and distracting. The key idea is consistent intense usage. Writers should stay in their chosen tense to ensure clarity and coherent expression as sudden shifts can be a distraction to readers thereby confusing them. Writers should keep in mind that literature has already happened, therefore use the past tense, same goes for methods and result sections. Whereas conclusions and discussion are happening in the present of the paper.

Pronouns: Writers most often than not struggle with pronouns when writing. In an effort to avoid ambiguity, authors should use the first person rather than the third person when describing work done by the author in a method section for example. APA 7th discourages the usage of the so-called “we” which refers to people in general, instead substituting a more specific noun for clarity. “He” or “She” should not be used as a generic pronoun but should be used sparingly. APA 7th emphasizes that the use of a singular “they” is inclusive of all people.

Bias-free Language: Writers should learn to always use language that is free of bias. Bias in APA 7th is defined as an implied or irrelevant evaluation. Accurate reporting can be damaged by implying prejudices or perpetuating biased assumptions. APA 7th clearly states this as a practice that is unacceptable. It sometimes happens that the writers are absolutely unaware that their writing consists of such prejudices. Similar to proofreading a work for spelling or grammar accuracy, APA 7th recommends that all authors proofread for any preconception about people and groups. Language constantly undergoes changes and authors must take responsibility to ensure that their writing is in line with present acceptable usage.