APA Format

APA format is based upon the American Psychological Association (APA) style guidelines for the Social Sciences. The Social Sciences include Psychology, Sociology, and the Biological and Medical Sciences.

The main resource for proper APA format is the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition. APA format is complex and it is recommended that every student have a copy of the manual when writing research papers in APA format.

Overview of APA Format

APA format is too complex to cover for our purposes here but below is a brief outline of documenting source material in APA format. APA utilizes the term "references" when citing material from outside sources. The term bibliography is appropriate only when you have made an exhaustive search of all literature available on a prescribed subject.

Cite every reference used in your project at the place where you use anything said by another author. Typically, the author's last name, year of publication, and page number.