Records Management Basics: APA Formatting

APA Style

1. Remember why we cite: Credit your sources, build your credibility, and save time (yours, if you want to find things again, and your instructors' if they need to check)

2. Follow an online guide, or look at the book:

3. Before you check the guide, ask yourself 'what is this that I'm referencing?'. Don't waste time looking at examples for something different. 

4. Use a citation tool: Many of our databases will format the references for you! But check an APA guide to make sure there are no mistakes!

5. Do you have a lot of assignments requiring reference lists or works cited lists? You might want to try a reference management software system-they do the formatting for you!

1. Select the text.

2. Use the Aa button on the Home ribbon of Microsoft word to select the correct case. 

Note that in APA:

• article titles are "Sentence case" (capitalize only the first word, proper nouns, and first word after punctuation)
• journal titles all have the first letter capitalized (except for prepositions shorter than three letters long).