A Short Research Paper Style Guide

Adapted from APA Publications Manual


For additional questions, see the on-line APA Publications Manual Highlights

Format


Paper: Research papers should be typewritten on 8.5x11-inch paper, double- spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides.

Cover and Title: A cover sheet should include the title (in all caps), author, date and course name and number. Repeat the title only (in all caps) on the first page of the text.

Page numbers should appear in upper right-hand corner of all text pages, except the title page. A running header (a shortened version of the title) is optional and can appear next to the page number on each page.

Binding: Staple pages together; please do not use report cover or binders.

Citations

In-text citations direct readers to sources in the References list. Information is limited to the last name(s) of author (or title), year of publication and page numbers (if applicable). Examples:
(Hallahan, 1995); Hallahan & Hallahan (1995)

Multiple authors: Include all authors, unless four authors or more are involved. Use commas and a concluding ampersand to indicate multiple authors. Multiple sources can be included, separated by semi-colons.
(Faber & Faber, 1992; Jones, Smith & Davis, 1994)
But:
(Jones, Smith, Davis & Thompson, 1995) can be cited as (Jones et al., 1995). Note: No period after et here.

No Author Given: If no author is given, cite the work's title. Long titles may be shortened, with the omitted words indicated with an ellipsis:(Perplexed Professors Plead for Proper Use of Pagination, 1995) can be cited as (Perplexed Professors..., 1995).

Specificity of Citations: No page number is necessary for a citation that is only one page long, or where only a general acknowledgement of a work is made.
The four-step process is well established in public relations (Cutlip, Center & Broom, 1994).

Be sure to include specific page number(s) when quoting text, citing definitions, or referring to specific content.
It is valuable to compare the four-step process of public relations (Cutlip, Center <& Broom, 1994, p. 1) to Grunig's approach (Grunig & Hunt, 1984, p.283).

Avoid Redundancies: When the authors' names are used as the subjects of a sentence, include only the year and page number (if applicable) in parentheses.
Cutlip, Center & Broom (1994, p. 14) suggest that ....

Multiple Citations for Same Author(s): If the same authors have multiple publications in the same year, assign a letter to each work alphabetically based on the first major word in the title, and list each entry sequentially, by year, in the References section.
Cutlip, Center & Broom (1994a, 1994b); the four step process (Cutlip, Center & Broom, 1994a, 1994b)

Quotations: Use quotes sparingly. Quotations of four lines or more should be indented and single-spaced. Give the author, year and page number in the main text before the quote is introduced, or at the end of the single-spaced quote, before returning to the main, double-spaced text.
Yates (1959, p. 84) summarizes the argument this way:
or
A leading scholar concurs:
.... in the United States (Yates, 1959, p. 84).

References

List all sources alphabetically by author's last name (or by title of the work) in a separate section at the end of the paper, labelled REFERENCES.

Double space each line (although example appear single-spaced here) and use hanging indents. Book/article titles appear in lower case, but capitalize proper names of authors and journals.

For class purposes, provide full names of authors, as they appear in publication. (When submitted to an APA journal, only initials are used:
Hallahan, K. (1996).

Important: Because many web browsers do not support underlining, instructions for underlining are duplicated here for your convenience. Be sure to underline the correct items listed.

Books
(Underline book title; note book titles are lower case.)

Grunig, James E. & Hunt, Todd (1984). Managing public relations. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.

Journal Articles
(With serial page numbering for entire volume; no need for issue number or date of publication. Note: Article names are lower case; journal title is capitalized. Underline journal title AND volume number only. No quotes around article title.)

Hallahan, Kirk (1995). An integrative model of PR media. Journal of Unusual and New Knowledge, 1, 222-227.

Magazine Articles
(With separate page numbering in each issue; note month and issue number are included). Underline serial title AND volume number only.)

Hallahan, Kirk (1994, December). Reflections of a purloined publicist.PR Today,23(12), 13-14. (Note underlining of volume number.)

Collected Chapters within Book
(Give chapter author's name, title and page information in addition to general book information. Underline book title only (and volume number, if applicable). Note: No quotes around chapter title.)

Bernays, Edward L. (1995). The last hurrah. In Kirk Hallahan and Ivy Lee (Eds.), The world's oldest profession (pp. 12-24). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Newspaper Articles
(Underline newspaper name only)

With author:
Jacobs, Mike (1995, April 15). Communication jobs on the rise. Denver Post, p. 1+.
Without author/byline:
Enrollments abound at schools of communication (1995, April 15).Long Beach (CA) Press-Telegram, p.1,14.

Personal Interviews
(No underline)

Bernays, Edward L. (1995, March 9). Personal interview.

Court Cases
(No underline)

Colorado State University vs. Hallahan, 235 U.S. 254. (1995).

Books/Monographs/Reports By a Publisher
(Without Specified Author. Underline title.)

Colorado State Rams press guide (1995). Fort Collins: Colorado State University Office of Sports Information.

Multiple Publications by Same Author in Different Years
(List in order by year. Follow rules applicable for articles and books.)

Hallahan, Kirk (1994, December). Reflections of a purloined publicist. PR Today, 23(12), 13-14.
Hallahan, Kirk (1995). An integrative model of PR media. Journal of Unusual and New Knowledge, 1, 222-227.

Multiple Authors/Multiple Publications in Same Year:

Cutlip, Scott M., Center, Allen H. & Broom, Glen M. (1994a). Effective public relations (6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
Cutlip, Scott M., Center, Allen H. & Broom, Glen M. (1994b). Effective public relations study guide (6th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

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Updated Summer 1996