Writing Mechanics

Using APA Style

taken from Bank Street College Graduate School Writer's Handbook

The following explanations from the American Psychological Association will guide you in setting up bibliographies, reference lists, and citations in the text of your work. If you are accustomed to using another style sheet, you will find some striking differences between APA style and the others with which you may be familiar. Most notably, in the APA style sheet, capitalization in the title of an article or of a book follows the same rules as capitalization in a common sentence. According to most other style sheets, each important rule in any title should be capitalized. In APA style, capitalization of each important word applies only to titles of journals.

The following definitions are in keeping with APA style:

A reference list appears on a separate page at the end of an article. Titled "References," it documents books and articles actually used in the preparation of an article or essay and provides the information necessary to identify and retrieve each source. The writer should include only the sources that were used in the research and preparation of the article.

A bibliography cites works for background or for further reading. Often a bibliography is annotated; that is, it includes a brief objective description of the article or book.

A reference citation in text, in preference to footnotes, briefly identifies the source of information for readers, and enables readers to locate the source in the alphabetical reference list at the end of the article.

Content footnotes are discouraged because they are distracting to the reader, and because important information merits inclusion in the text.

Citing