APA (American Psychological Association) style was developed by social and behavioral scientists to standardize scientific writing. It is used for term papers, research reports, empirical studies, literature reviews, theoretical articles, methodological articles, and case studies. (APA website)
Writers in the following disciplines usually use APA style:
ALL RESOURCES ON THIS PAGE ARE FOR APA 7TH EDITION.
NOTE: The citation generators in the Gale, EBSCO, & Proquest databases are now formatting APA citations in the 7th edition. As of 2/2/22 - The EBSCOhost database citation generators appear to be the most accurate for 7th edition overall, as they usually include page numbers and dois in the preferred format (https:doi.org/xxxxx). Remember trust, but verify!
These two handouts from the APA should help simplify citing articles found in databases:
A thorough explanation of APA format may be found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. If you expect to be writing many papers in APA format, you may wish to purchase a copy for your own reference. More information about the APA Publication Manual can be found here: https://apastyle.apa.org/products/publication-manual-7th-edition
*Many counterfeit copies of the 7th ed. have been reported. Here's where you can check to verify you copy is official: https://bit.ly/APA7_Verify
The above template will be sufficient for most student APA papers. When required by your professors to also use heading levels, consult the official APA Style website: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/headings or pages 47-49 in the APA Manual.
*Sample papers: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/sample-papers *Remember you will not be using the "Student" not the "Professional" version, unless your professor specifically requests it instead.
This 6 minute video explains how to use the APA student paper template for (APA 7th edition) to maintain the built in formatting.
Free Citation Generator Tools:
This video explains how to use the citation generator Citefast to create citations in APA 6th ed. It is here for reference, as the principles are the same.
American Psychological Association's Inclusive Language Guidelines and related information can be found here: https://www.apa.org/about/apa/equity-diversity-inclusion/language-guidelines