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The student title page includes the paper title, author names (the byline), author affiliation, course number and name for which the paper is being submitted, instructor name, assignment due date, and page number.
The APA web site contains an example of a student title page.
The Student Title Page Guide from APA may also be helpful.
In-text citations are covered extensively in Chapter 8 of the APA Style Manual. If your question isn't addressed here, consult the manual or contact the library so that we can look up the information you need.
Your first decision, do you want to cite your source in narrative fashion or in parenthetical fashion. This APA page will show you the basic formats for each.
# of Authors | Parenthetical style citation | Narrative style citation |
---|---|---|
One author | (Smith, 2021) | According to Smith (2021) .... |
Two authors | (Smith & Chang, 2020) | According to Smith and Chang (2020) ... |
Three or more authors | (Oliver et al., 2017) | Oliver et al. (2017) reported... |
Group or corporate author |
(National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2018) Subsequent in-text citation (NIMH, 2018) |
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, 2018) found that... Subsequent in-text citation: According to NIMH (2018) ... |
APA acknowledges two types of publications, student publications and professional publications. Professional publications have more information and style elements included because they are generally being submitted for publication in a professional journal.
APA 7 2.2 states that student papers include at a minimum
Student papers do not typically include (unless required by the instructor)
With the 7th edition of the APA Style Manual, APA promotes the use of language of inclusivity and rejects language that is harmful or offensive towards people in marginalized communities. This guide has specific guidelines you should adopt when using terms that refer to the age, race, sexual orientation, social class or ability of others.
If you a new user of APA style, the way article and chapter titles are capitalized in your references may look strange. Article and chapter titles are written as if they are sentences and APA refers to this as "sentence case."
What you should capitalize in article and chapter titles
Any other word in the title should be written in all lower case.
Journal article example: I speak English, but I am still a Malay: Language attitudes and identity amongst Bruneians living in London.
Please note: Many of the citation tools provided by databases do not have the ability to change the letters in the titles to the proper case. The way the article or chapter title is entered into the database is the way it will appear in the citation that is generated.
If you use the citation generation tool, researchers should check for "sentence case" or "title case" before copying and pasting into your references.
And Further Note: The rules above apply only to article and chapter titles in your references list. Journal titles and book titles have all important words capitalized (APA refers to this as "title case") and also appear in italics. See the Publication Manual of the APA 7th edition, sections 6.13 - 6.21 for more information about capitalization.
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