Process

You are on a quest to hone and develop your APA skills.  Like a ninja you will observe, train, and apply your skills so that they become like reflexes.  Although the APA “moves” may feel awkward at first you will develop an understanding of how to use this writing and citation format so that you look and perform like a pro ~ watch out professional researchers!

 

Step 1 Gathering Your Observation Materials

Every good “ninja” needs a mentor and a good writer is no different.  However, when selecting a mentor you may choose a different source for each area or specialty, after all, the Master is the APA Manual but he has plenty of good protégées online.

  

In order to construct a paper in APA format you must learn the basics of the format.  To gather this information you will need to learn how to: format the title page, layout, in text citations, references, graphs, figures, and how to break apart your paper for easy reader use.  

Use these sites to develop an understanding of each.  To use click on the bold underlined statement(s).

A Pre-step to writing and formatting an APA paper is to complete an outline of the paper to be written.  The outline will serve as much of the basis for constructing and writing the paper. Click here for details and instructions on how to write an outline. 

Format the Title Page

Layout of the Paper 

In Text Citations 

Special Circumstances How to Cite a Supreme Court Decision/Transcript  

References 

Graphs & Figures  

     ·        Graphs & Figures at Doc Styles

Breaking Apart the Paper    

Extra Writing Assistance

Step 2 Your Training ~

Using the Materials You Have Reviewed and Collected

This part of your quest to develop APA skills will involve training and using the information you have collected.  Try to complete these activities from memory; however, you may use the materials and notes you collected during step 1.

Training Activity 1

Take this interactive Tutorial, to begin click here.

 

Training Activity 2

Now that you have developed the basic skills to use APA references and citation formats complete this tutorial on graphs and figures, to begin open an Excel worksheet and click here to begin the tutorial.

Here is a list of sample data for you to use for this exercise:

Control Group Girls  15

Experimental Group Girls  9

Control Group Boys  18

Experimental Group Boys 7

 

Training Activity 3

This is a group activity.  Break apart into groups of 3-4 people, use the same group for both phases.

For Phase 1 these are the group roles and instructions: 

Outliner – this person will be responsible for constructing an outline to be used by the team.  All of the team members should contribute but ultimately this person should lead the discussion and format the outline.  The outline should be about any appropriate subject which has no less than 3 headings and 2 sub-headings for each heading.  Example: Choosing a College.

Formatter – this person should take the information from the outline and place the information into the APA paper format in a Microsoft Word Document.  Include: Title page, headings, and sub-headings.  All of the team members should help with this task but the formatter should be responsible for typing and leading this discussion.

Phase 2 these are the group roles and instructions: 

Writer – this person should write a sentence for each heading and sub-heading with information that must be cited and referenced.  All of the team members should assist in this process.  The sentences should be typed in the formatted document under their appropriate heading(s); sentences should coincide with the heading/sub-heading.  Source materials must include one of each of the following: book, electronic source, journal article, inteview and a section/work refernced in book by another author.  Add one figure or graph from a resource as well.

Referencer – this person will now add the citations and appropriate references to the written material.  The entire team should assist in this process.  Add the citations to the written text in the Microsoft Word document and add the references to the appropriate section.

 

Phase 3 instructions: 

Editors – all of the team members should review the document to ensure that the paper is formatted correctly and that all citations and references are appropriate. 

Step 3 – Applying Your New “Ninja” APA Skills    

The last step to becoming an APA “ninja” is to use your skills.  Although these skills may not be reflex-like yet, attempt to complete these exercises without the use of your notes and/or materials.  Once you have completed the exercises your paper will be returned for your revision which you may use your notes to complete.  Points will be awarded for the first attempt with lesser points rewarded for the revision work.

 

Exercise 4.1

Unscramble these references and write in correct APA format for both an (1) in text citation and (2) a reference.

 

1.     New York  

Manhattan 

J. Billbob   

2007

Finding Faith in APA 

Critical Thinking Publications

 

2.     J. Doe-Smith      

Whispers from Attica  

2004

Harper-Row

Raleigh, NC       

 

3.     M. Matlock, P. Mason, S. Holmes, & M. Watson               

Finding Your Inner Detective

Spring 1996       

The Psychology of Crime Investigation Quarterly

Volume 10 Issue 4

Pages 11-17

 

4.     B. Simpson

University of Illinois – Springfield

Graphic Art and Animation 101

www.thesimpsons.univillinois-springfield.edu

Retrieved May 1, 2007

Page Updated June 10, 2005

Webmaster: thesimpsonfan@univillinois-springfield.edu

 

5.     In Managing Strategic Innovation and Change: A Collection of Readings

Oxford University Press

Technology brokering and innovation in a product development firm. 

Pages 480-505

New York, NY

(1997)

Hargadon, A. & Sutton, R.I. 

 

6.        Blackboard.com  

http://www.blackboard.com/company/press/release.aspx?id=822607

No date

No editor

Blackboard Inc completes merger with WebCT, Inc.

No webmaster

Retrieved April 9, 2006

 

7.        Pages 5-8

May 9, 2002

Article: Financial Briefs

Issue 10

Publication Educational Marketer

Volume 25

No Author

 

8.     Website for the American Medical Association: www.ama.org

Interviewer: Doctor May Fixitall

Retrieved February 1, 2007

Interviewee: Dr. Gregory House, doctor at Princeton Plains Hospital

Date of Interview: January 1, 2007

Doctor May Fixitall Show: Getting More Bang for Your Healthcare Buck

 

9.     City Under Fire

New York Times Online

Published January 11, 2004

Author Jane Hicks

Webmaster Ian Logan

www.nytimes.com      

10.    Issue 3

Page 99-118

        L. Bowpeep

Sheepherding in the 21st Century

Publication: Sheepherding Annual

June 7, 2003

www.sheeparecool.com

Volume 12

 

 

Exercise 4.2

Unscramble and format this title page information correctly.

 

1.     Team B

University of Massachusetts- Amherst

Instructor Dr. Laura Minuteman

December 10, 2005

The Boston Tea Party: A Review

Mary K. Whinesalot, Cherrytree Chopper, & Betty Crocker

 

2.     Martha Stewart

February 12, 2007

What I learned In Prison and Other Home Decorating Techniques

University of Hard Knocks

 

3.     April 13, 2004

W. Shakespeare & M. Knightshamalan

Old Villages and Their Playhouses: Building Characters

 

 

Exercise 4.3

Answer the following questions.

 

1.     How many spaces are between the header title and the page number?

 

2.                Does the page number appear at the top or the bottom of the page?

 

3.                For pre-publication reviews and college assignments does the abstract have its’ own page?

 

4.     Is the first line indented for a reference?

 

5.                How many words in a direct quote are required before a body of cited text is offset from the rest of the text?

 

6.                When writing a paper with other authors how do you decide what order to place the names in for the title page?

 

7.     If you are writing a paper for a college/high school level course should the instructor’s credentials be placed after his/her name (i.e. PhD, MAED, MBA)?

 

8.     When a source does not have a publication date how do you note this in the citation and reference?

 

9.     Identify the following heading types:

 

I want to be a Beach-bum

How to Surf

HOW TO ACT RETIRED AT THIRTY

 

 

10.    What is the difference between a reference and a citation?