Gcu apa style guide

APA Formatting Tutorial

Introduction

Hello, and welcome to Grand Canyon University’s APA Formatting Tutorial. This tutorial will

cover the basic format required for all papers submitted to GCU and will utilize Microsoft Word.

Most of the features demonstrated in this tutorial are available in earlier versions of Microsoft

Word but may be found in different locations. Keep in mind that different platforms and versions

of Word may look different and have different features. Access to Microsoft Office is provided

by GCU and can be installed from the GCU Technical Support website. A link is provided in the

Additional Resources list below this video.

Using GCU Templates

Using GCU Templates. The easiest way to format your paper correctly is by beginning with the

APA Template provided in the Student Success Center. To access the Student Success Center,

first log into your course. Next, click on “Dashboard,” then “Student Resources” and then click

on “Student Success Center.”

On the Student Success Center page, click on the Resources drop-down menu toward the top of

the page. Under Tools, click on “The Writing Center” and then “Style Guides and Templates.”

Under “Style Guides and Templates,” you will see the APA 7th Edition Template listed. There

are two versions, one with an abstract and one without. Click on the version that you want to use.

Your assignment will say if an abstract is required or not.

Note that there are a number of different templates available in the Writing Center and that

different level classes and disciplines have unique formatting requirements. You should select

and use the correct template for your assignment. If you are unsure as to which template to use,

consult your instructor.

When you click on the template, your computer will ask you to open or save the file. Choose

“Save” and save it with your other Word documents, or somewhere that you will easily

remember.

Once you save the template, double click on the file to open it. The file template may also open

automatically depending on your computer’s settings.

If there is a yellow bar at the top of the page that says “Protected View,” you will need to click

“Enable Editing” before you can make changes. This too may vary depending on the platform

you are using.

Now that the template is open, you will be able to simply insert your information into the paper

by highlighting the text you want to replace and typing over it.

Title Page

Title Page. First, add your title to the paper in place of the text “Typing Template for APA

Papers: A Sample of Proper Formatting for the APA 7th Edition.” A title should be descriptive,

focused, and it should include the key concepts of the paper.

After you have entered your title, add your Name where the Template says “Student A. Sample.”

For group projects, add the names of the other students in your group on the same line.

Next, enter the name of your college at GCU, such as the College of Nursing & Health Care

Professions, which is followed on all papers by "Grand Canyon University." Then enter the

course prefix and number, and the course title. The next line is for your instructor or instructors.

Finally, enter the date the assignment is due.

The template already includes the page numbers, so you will not need to add them.

There is more information about how to format your title page on the APA Style website and the

GCU Library’s Citing Sources in APA guide. Links are provided in the additional resources

section.

Abstract

Abstract. If you downloaded the template that included the abstract, your next page is the

abstract. An abstract is just a brief summary of your paper. Abstracts should be no more than 250

words and include your key points, research question, and conclusions. For papers that include

original research, include the design, method, and results of the research you did.

Your assignment will say if an abstract is required. Many assignments do not require an abstract,

so use the Template Without Abstract if one is not required.

There is more information about how to create an abstract on the APA Style website and the

GCU Library’s Citing Sources in APA guide. Links are provided in the additional resources

section.

Main Body

Main Body. Once you are finished with your abstract (if you have one) scroll to the next page

(page 3). If you do not have an abstract, this will be the second page right after the title page.

This is where you will begin to write your paper.

NEW SECTION

On the first line on this page, type the full title of your paper, in bold. Once you have done this,

you are ready to start typing your paper on the line below the title. Notice that the first line of the

paragraph is indented. Each time you start a new paragraph, the first line will automatically be

indented.

If you wish to divide your paper into sections, follow the format in the template. All headings are

in bold and have the first word and all words over four letters capitalized. The main headings,

called Level 1 headings, are centered. There is more information about how to use headings and

the different levels on the APA Style website and the GCU Library’s Citing Sources in APA

guide. Links to these resources are provided in the additional resources section.

In-Text Citations

In-Text Citations. As you type your paper, make sure that you cite any content that is from

another person or another source, whether a direct quote or just an idea. Citations will go in two

places. First, you will add an in-text citation directly after you reference another source in your

paper. Secondly, you will add the full reference to your reference list at the end of your paper.

Information about in-text and reference citations can be found in GCU Library’s Citing Sources

in APA Guide, the APA Style website, and in the Publication Manual of the American

Psychological Association.

In-text citations are much shorter than full citations. They generally include the author and date,

and for quotations, they also include page number or other specific location. For example, if I am

quoting from Eats, Shoots & Leaves: The Zero Tolerance Approach to Punctuation, by Lynne

Truss in my paper, I would say: Truss (2003) says about commas, “when it comes to improving

the clarity of a sentence, you can nearly always argue that one should go in; you can nearly

always argue that one should come out” (p. 80). You will notice the year follows the author’s

name. Since this is a direct quote, I include the page number at the end of the quote.

Sometimes sources, including some ebooks, do not have page numbers. If I want to quote Good

Arguments: Making Your Case in Writing and Public Speaking by Richard Holland Jr. and

Benjamin Forrest in my paper, I would say: As Holland and Forrest (2017) said, “No one knows

everything…you included. It stands to reason, then, that if you want to make good arguments,

you will need to rely on the arguments, ideas, and expertise of other authors” (Chapter 8). Since

this ebook does not have page numbers, I include the chapter instead. If you are not naming the

author in your sentence, then the in-text citation will follow the quote with author, year, and page

number or location. For example, if you were to write, “the English language first picked up the

apostrophe in the 16th century” you would then use author, year, and page number at the end of

quote: (Truss, 2003, p. 37).

If your quote is 40 or more words, it will need to be placed into a block quotation. Quotation

marks should not be used. The quote should begin on a new line and the entire quote should be

indented .5 inches from the left margin. Once the entire quote is written, remember to include the

in-text citation with a page number or other specific location in parentheses after the closing

punctuation mark.

More examples and tips for in-text citations can be found at the GCU Library’s Citing Sources in

APA Guide under ‘In-Text Citations’. For more information, please see the URLs listed below

under Additional Resources.

References Page

References. At the end of your paper, you will have your reference list. This is formatted

correctly in the APA 7th edition template in the Student Success Center that we have been using

as an example.

Note how the second line and any following lines of each citation in the reference list are

indented .5 inches. This is called a hanging indentation.

Let’s take a look at how the reference page is formatted. The first thing you should notice is that

the references are listed in alphabetical order by the author’s last name. In some cases, when

there is no personal author, the name of the organization responsible for the source is used as the

author.

While all references include the same basic information, each type of source is formatted slightly

differently. The last citation, Holland & Forrest, is for the book we quoted from earlier. The

citation includes the authors’ last names, followed by their initials, the publication year in

parentheses, the title of the book in sentence case and italics, and the name of the publisher. Even

though this book came from the library’s ebook collection, because it does not have a DOI, or

Digital Object Identifier, the reference is written the same as if it were a print book. The

reference to the Publication Manual is also a book, but it does have a DOI, so the DOI is at the

end.

Next, we’ll look at the fourth reference, which is for a journal article by Copeland and others.

This article has four authors and all are listed. The publication year follows in parentheses, then

the title of the article. Two items when referencing a journal article are always in italics, the

journal title and the volume number. If there is an issue number, it will follow the journal volume

in parenthesis. The page numbers come next. At the end of this particular reference is a DOI. Not

all articles or books have DOIs, but if you use a source in your paper and it has a DOI, be sure to

include this in your reference. It should be formatted just as shown in the example.

The final references we will look at are for a document or a webpage found on an organization

website, the American Nurses Association and the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment

examples. Notice that these references do not have a personal author. Instead, the department or

organization that is responsible for the information is listed as the author. Following the author is

the publication year in parentheses, and the title of the document found on the website in italics.

The first example then ends with the direct link to the source, as the webpage author and the

website’s owner are the same. The second example includes two additional pieces of information

before the link, a publication number, and the name of the overall government agencies

responsible for the document. Not all documents found online will include publication numbers,

but if you use a source that includes this information, it should be included in the reference.

These two pieces of information about this source can be clearly seen on the webpage for this

source, so we know to include them.

There is more information about different source types and how to cite them on the APA Style

website and the GCU Library’s Citing Sources in APA guide. Links are provided in the

additional resources section.

Finding Citations

Finding Citations in the Library. Many of the databases in the library include citations that you

can copy and paste into the References section of your paper. In general, once you locate an

article in a database, look for a button or link that says “cite.” We will demonstrate how to locate

citations in two of our general databases.

First, let’s look at the Academic Search Complete database. To get there from the library

homepage, click “Find Journal Articles” in the middle of the page. Then scroll down to click on

“Academic Search Complete” on the list. If you are prompted to login, enter your GCU login –

the same one you use to log into the student portal. Let’s try a simple search to find scholarly

articles. When you locate an article that you wish to use as a source for your paper, click on the

title of that article to view the detailed record. On the right side of the screen, you will see a list

of tools. Locate the “Cite” button and click on it. The center of the screen will now display

citations formatted in different citation styles. Highlight the APA formatted citation with your

mouse, then right click and select “Copy” from the menu that pops up. Next, go to your Word

document, find the correct location in your “References” list for the reference, and right click in

that location. From the menu that pops up, click on “Merge Formatting” – it’s the middle icon. If

the reference is more than one line long, the second and any following lines should be indented.

To set this in Microsoft Word, highlight the entire reference, go to the “Home” tab and click on

the small arrow in the lower right corner of the “Paragraph” section. In the “Indentation” area of

the window that opens, select “Hanging” from the menu below “Special,” and then click on OK.

It’s also important to check the capitalization of words in the titles of selected resources. In this

example provided by the database, the first letter of each word in the title is capitalized.

Although the first letter of the first word needs to be uppercase, the remaining words in the

article title may need to be changed to lowercase letters per APA guidelines.

Next, let’s locate a reference in the Credo Reference database. To get there, go back to the “Find

Journal Articles” page. Since we know the name of the database, click on “C” and then click on

“Credo Reference.” When you locate an entry that you wish to use as a source for your paper,

click on the title of that article in your results list to open it. To the top of the article, click on the

“Citation” button – a dialogue box will open. Next, make sure that “APA” is selected, then

highlight, copy, and paste the citation into the appropriate place in the “References” section of

your paper. You will then need to correct any extra information included.

The library databases automatically generate citations based on data that is included in the

detailed bibliographic record. Sometimes, the citation may be missing some key information that

you would need to complete your reference page, and some databases have not yet updated to the

APA 7th Edition formatting. Many will also include the permalink, so you can find the article

again. Though this link is helpful to you, it is not a part of an APA reference. Always proofread

and double-check the citations from any library database.

Figuring out the correct way to cite sources can be challenging; however, there are many

resources available to assist you in the process. For quick citation formatting help, you can also

visit the GCU Library’s Citing Sources in APA guide or the APA Style website. Links to these

resources are located at the bottom of the page under “Additional Resources.”

Inside the Writing Center, where you downloaded the template at the beginning of this tutorial, is

a Style Guide for the APA 7th Edition that also includes examples of citations.

If you are in doubt about a citation format, please do not hesitate to contact a librarian by e-mail

or by chat at http://library.gcu.edu or by phone at 1-800-800-9776, extension 639-6641. You can

also consult with a LEAD at the ACE Centers. Make an appointment and find out more at the

ACE Center website found with the links below.

This concludes the APA Formatting Tutorial. If you have further questions about APA style,

please refer to these additional resources.

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