APA Lite (2009) Instructor’s Precis

APA Lite for College Research Papers by Dr Abel Scribe PhD - Revised and Updated Early Fall 2009
APA Lite for College Papers is a concise guide to crafting research papers in the style of the
American Psychological Association (APA). It is based on the current edition of the APA Publication
Manual (2009) while incorporating guidelines for “Material Other Than Journal Articles” found in the
last edition. APA Lite succeeds the APA Crib Sheet developed by Professor Dewey in the 1990s
and revised by the Abel Scribe collaboration in the current century. Doc Scribe is not affiliated in
any way with the American Psychological Association--this style guide is free!
APA (Style) Lite for College Papers ©2009 by Dr Abel Scribe PhD.

Style guide or instructions for authors? The latest edition of the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (2009) is an extended set of instructions and advice for authors writing for publication.
The content is true to the title. There is absolutely no prevision or mention of how the style might be applied to other
research writing, such as college research papers, theses, and dissertations, or conferences papers. There are
differences that matter. The previous fifth edition of the APA Publication Manual (2001) included a chapter on
“Material Other Than Journal Articles” (chap. 6). In this chapter a distinction was drawn between copy manuscripts
for publication and final manuscripts.
The author of a thesis, dissertation, or student paper produces a “final” manuscript; the author of a journal article
produces a “copy” manuscript (which will become a typeset article). The differences between these two kinds of
manuscripts help explain why the requirements for theses, dissertations, and student papers are not necessarily
identical to the requirements for manuscripts submitted for publication in a journal.
Copy manuscripts have been described throughout the Manual. Their life span is short; they are normally read
by editors, reviewers, and compositors only and are no longer usable after they have been typeset. Copy
manuscripts must conform to the format and other policies of the journal to which they are submitted.
Final manuscripts, however, reach their audiences in the exact form in which they are prepared. . . .
A number of variations from the requirements described in the Manual are not only permissible but also desirable
[italics added] in the preparation of final manuscripts. (pp. 321–322)
The APA Manual then goes on to offer suggestions for final manuscripts. “Because the [final] manuscript will not be
set in type, the manuscript must be as readable as possible [italics added]. . . . Reasonable exceptions to APA style
for theses and dissertations [and research papers] often make sense and are encouraged to better serve
communication and improve the appearance of the final document" (APA, 2001, p. 324-325).
1. Organization. “In a manuscript submitted for publication, figures, tables, and footnotes are placed at the end of
the manuscript; in theses and dissertations, such material is frequently incorporated at the appropriate point in
text as a convenience to readers” (APA, 2001, p. 325).
2. Line spacing. “Double-spacing is required throughout most of the manuscript. When single-spacing would
improve readability, however, it is usually encouraged. Single-spacing can be used for table titles and headings,
figure captions, references (but double-spacing is required between references), footnotes, and long quotations
[this is sometimes referred to as block spacing]” (APA, 2001, p. 326).
3. Tables. “Tables may be more readable if single-spaced” (APA, 2001, p. 325).
The new APA Manual incorporates item 3 as an option, the remaining advice and guidance is lost.
You cannot copyright a style. By law (17 U.S.C. 102(b)) "the original and creative word sequences in [a text] are
protected by copyright, but a writing style itself is in the public domain, no matter how original it is" (The Copyright
Handbook, 3rd. ed., by Stephen Fishman, 1998, Berkeley, CA: Nolo Press). You cannot copyright a research (or
any) style, nor can you copyright a language, even a programming language. If for example, you could copyright all
the works in the style of William Shakespeare, you would own everything published in that style. More recently the
courts have denied copyright protection to programming languages, even those invented by Microsoft and IBM!
“APA policy permits authors to use . . . a maximum of three figures or tables from a journal article or book
chapter, single text extracts of fewer than 400 words, or a series of text extracts that total fewer than 800 words
without requesting formal permission from APA” (APA, 2009, p. 173). APA Lite meets these fair use criteria.

&RS\ULJKW1RWLFH You are welcome to print, link, or distribute APA (Style) Lite for College Papers
for not-for-profit educational purposes. Instructors are encouraged to use the guide in their classrooms.
No additional permission is required. APA Lite is revised on a regular basis; you are invited to link
directly to the document rather than post it to another site.
© Copyright 2009 by Dr Abel Scribe PhD.

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APA LITE FOR COLLEGE PAPERS (2009): INSTRUCTOR’S PRECIS 2

THE NEW AND IMPROVED APA STYLE

Material changes to APA style for 2009 are to headings and to references to journal articles. There are numerous
minor changes, but these two merit special attention. Changes already underway in the field, the use of flow charts
to describe how a research study is organized and the use of confidence intervals in place of the standard deviation
in reporting statistics, are dutifully documented.

HEADINGS & LISTS (SERIATION)

There are five levels of headings available in APA style, only now they come in numerical order rather than in a
complex hierarchy which changed depending on the number of levels used.
Bullets. There is no mention of bullets in the previous edition of the APA Manual (2001), though the use of
paragraph seriation (numbered lists) was described. Now however, “the use of ‘numbered lists’ may connote an
unwanted or unwarranted ordinal position [ranking] . . . among the items. If you wish to achieve the same effect
without the implication of ordinality, items in a series should be identified by bullets” (APA, 2009, p. 64).

Page Header Reformatted in Bold Heading Caps 2

Level 1 Title or Major Heading Centered in

Heading Caps and Bold Font
Do not use the heading “Introduction.” Repeat the title. It is understood that all papers
begin with an introduction (APA, 2009, p. 63).
Level 2 Side Head in Bold Heading Caps
When top level headings run to two lines single-space within the heading, double-space
before and after (see the top of the page). Use (a) paragraph seriation or (b) sentence seriation to
further organize your paper, anywhere in the text.
1. Paragraph seriation lists single sentences or paragraphs numbered with arabic numerals and
Seriation
indented like ordinary paragraphs (see APA, 2009, p. 63).
2. Sentence seriation (a) lists topics or categories within sentences, with (b) each preceded by
a small letter in parentheses. Items are separated by commas or semicolons as required.
Level 3 paragraph or run-in heading in sentence caps and bold font. The heading need
not be a complete sentence but ends with a period or other appropriate punctuation.
Level 4 paragraph or run-in heading in sentence caps and bold italic font.
Level 5 paragraph or run-in heading in sentence caps and italic font.

Figure 1. Revised APA headings (2009). Headings are used in descending order as needed, starting over with each section of
the paper. The use of a bold font for the title and page header (running head) are an APA Lite modification.

Heading caps. The term is derived from headline style capitalization (as in newspaper headlines) from the Chicago
Manual of Style (2003, pp. 366-367). The APA Manual (2009) has no term for this, though text case in mentioned in
a footnote (p. 62). The old rule is retained. Capitalize the first word, the first word after a colon; all words of four
letters or more; and all adjectives, adverbs, nouns, and pronouns in a heading or title.
Sentence capitalization is also a term not used in the APA Manual though it accurately describes how these
headings are capitalized, following the same rules as for sentences: Capitalize the first word, the first word after a
colon, and proper nouns. The APA Manual (2009) uses the term lowercase in this context (p. 62), which is imprecise
and misleading.
Page header. The APA Manual (2009) shows the running head repeated in plain text on each page aligned with the
left margin in this format:
• APA Manual style: Running head: THE TITLE OF THE WORK IN FULL CAPITALIZATION
• APA Lite reformat: The Title of the Work in Heading Caps and Bold Font
Title. The APA Manual (2009) shows the title, on both the title page and the first text page, in heading caps and in
plain text. APA Lite uses a bold font, as if the title were a top-level heading.
Copy manuscripts. Tables may now be single- or double-spaced (APA, 2009, p. 141). Figures and their
corresponding captions no longer go on separate pages, they share the same page (p. 230).
APA LITE FOR COLLEGE PAPERS (2009): INSTRUCTOR’S PRECIS 3

REFERENCES TO JOURNAL ARTICLES

The APA has adopted the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) with real passion. The DOI is added to the end of a
standard references. There are two things to emphasize:
1. The DOI (if one is assigned) takes precedence over the URL for sources retrieved online. The URL goes only to
a journal’s home page, no longer to the specific document (see APA, 2009, pp.198-199).
2. “We recommend that when DOIs are available, you include them for both print and electronic sources [italics
added]” (APA, 2009, p. 189)
The old practice of noting [Electronic version] after the title has been discarded.
Retrieved from the Internet
Barry, J. M. (2004). The site of origin of the 1918 influenza pandemic and its public health implications
[Commentary]. Journal of Translational Medicine, 2(3), 1-4. Retrieved January 15, 2005 from
http://www.translational-medicine.com/
A retrieval date is now added only when there is suspicion that the document may change.
Print article
Brewer, B. W., Scherzer, C. B., Van Raalte, J. L., Petipas, A. J., & Andersen, M. B. (2001). The elements of
(APA) style: A survey of psychology journal editors. American Psychologist, 56, 266-267.
Digital (HTML/PDF) or print document with DOI
Weber, W., Vander Stoep, A., McCarty, R. L., Weiss, N. S., Biederman, J., & McClellan, J. (2008).
Hypericum perforatum (St. John’s Wort) for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children and
adolescents. JAMA, 299, 2633-2641. doi:10.1001/jama.299.22.2633
CHANGES TO REFERENCES (MISSING RULES & EXAMPLES)
Seven or more coauthors. The APA has changed the number and format for noting more than six coauthors to an
article. Now note the first seven authors, if there are more than seven note the first six, followed by an ellipsis, then
note the last author listed in the article.
Heshka, S., Anderson, J. W., Atkinson, R. L., Greenway, F. L., Hill, J. O., Phinney, S. D., . . . Pi-Sunyer, F.
X. (2003). Weight loss with self-help compared with a structured commercial program: A randomized
trial. JAMA, 289, 1792-1798.
States. The APA Manual (2001) used to have a short list of cities that did not require the state when used in
references, for example, New York, Boston, London, or Paris (p. 217). The state, province, or country is now
required: New York, NY, Boston, MA, London, England, Paris, France (APA, 2009, p.186). The short list is gone.
Missing! Edition other than first. There is no listed-indexed-numbered example of a reference to a book edition other
than the first. The topic is mentioned in a bulleted list (p. 203), but is not among 96 indexed reference examples.
Though several examples are shown (28, 29, 30, p. 203), not one highlights “edition other than first” in its heading.
This means the APA Manual cannot be used as a quick reference, but must be studied to find this information. This
will trip up students. This example is from APA Lite:
Edition other than the first (two authors):
Strunk, W., Jr., & White, E. B. (1979). The elements of style (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Macmillan.
Missing! Rules for references in text. Occasionally it is appropriate to give a reference in the text or in a note. This
is most common with tables or figures adapted from other sources. The previous edition of the APA Manual (2001)
devoted a section on how to do this, 3.73 Tables From Another Source, and gave examples of the reference form
used (p. 174). This has moved to a section on footnotes (APA, 2009, sec. 2.12) under the heading of “Copyright
permission.” It is cross referenced from section “5.06 Permission to Reproduce Data Displays” just before the major
section on tables. Note, the APA lets you reproduce three tables from an article without permission (p. 173).
Journal article
Adapted from "The Elements of (APA) Style: A Survey of Psychology Journal Editors," by B. W. Brewer, C.
B. Scherzer, J. L. Van Raalte, A. J. Petipas, and M. B. Andersen, 2001, American Psychologist, 56, p. 266.
Book (Monograph)
Note: From The Analysis of the Self: A Systematic Approach to the Psychoanalytic Treatment of Narcissistic
Personality Disorders (p. 123), by H. Kohut, 1971, New York: International Universities Press.
Give me a break! The new APA Manual (2009) wants you to give the name of the publisher in references in “as
brief a form as is intelligible” (p. 187). To do this drop words like Publishing Co., and Inc. from references, but keep
words like Books and Press. This accomplishes too little to be useful.

STATISTICS, TABLES, & FIGURES

Symbols. The APA continues to use nonstandard symbols for some statistics, however it now allows the mean to be
represented by the standard “X bar” symbol as well as the favored “M”.
= M = Sample mean, arithmetic average (APA, 2009, p. 120)
APA LITE FOR COLLEGE PAPERS (2009): INSTRUCTOR’S PRECIS 4

Confidence intervals have replaced the standard deviation in expressing statistical variation, both in statistics
represented in the text and in tables. Education and familiarity may be lagging journal practice among students.
Exact probabilities, for example p = .042, have replaced limit probabilities such as p < .05 wherever the statistic
allows. This is not mentioned in the section on statistics, but is covered in the section on Table Notes in a paragraph
on probability notes (APA, 2009, p. 130).
Single-space tables? “Tables may be submitted either single- or double-spaced” (APA, 2009, p. 141). If this is
appropriate for copy manuscripts it is certainly appropriate for final manuscripts.
Figures and their captions are placed on a single page, trailing the text in copy manuscripts (APA, 2009, p. 230).
This does not affect final manuscripts where figures are appropriately embedded in the text, but it can trip up
instructors unaware of the change (figures and captions were to go on separate pages in the previous edition of the
APA Manual).
Flow charts. Charts showing the progression of participants through a trial or study are required by many medical
journals and featured among the examples in the APA Manual (2009). These are illustrative of the methodology
used and organization of the study. An example is also included in APA Lite.

NUANCES & NUISANCES

Spelling breakthrough? The plural form of appendix is now appendices (APA, 2009, p. 06), not appendixes (APA,
2001, p.89). However, data is still the plural form of datum, a dubious preference given common usage allowing
data to be singular or plural.
Space twice at the end of sentences? The old rule of spacing once after all punctuation (except in abbreviations,
ratios, etc.) is changed. “Space twice after the punctuation marks at the end of a sentence” (APA, 2009, p. 88).
Abstracts. The old APA manual gave a specific limit to the length of an abstract. The new manual refers authors to
the journal instructions (APA, 2009, p. 27).

APA LITE FOR COLLEGE PAPERS

Students have never been fully supported by the APA Publication Manual. The previous edition (2001)
acknowledged the need to adapt the style for college papers, what it called final manuscripts (p. 321), but did not
feature page formats comparable to those for papers intended for publication, termed copy manuscripts. The new
edition reasserted the focus promised by the title. It is a publication manual, a set of instructions to authors and not
a style guide in the larger sense. For each paper published in a journal there are likely several hundred written for
the classroom. Colleges and universities have even adopted APA style for all student papers in their institutions.
The APA Publication Manual is also expensive. The retail price for the paperback version of the current edition is
$28.95. That’s a lot for a style manual that leaves students guessing on basic issues of format and appearance.
The new APA Manual is on sale (Fall 2009) at Amazon.com for just $15.92!
Legacy. The Student’s Guide to APA Style and the APA Crib Sheet were both developed in the 1990s as free
resources for students. The Student’s Guide was a collaboration of grad students and newly minted PhDs,
collectively working with the pen name of Dr Abel Scribe PhD. The Crib Sheet was developed by Professor Russ
Dewey at Georgia Southern University. The two streams merged in 2003 under the Crib Sheet banner. It was
redesigned in 2008 to become APA (Style) Lite for College Papers. The term crib sheet carries the connotation of
an illicit activity, like cheating on an exam. While the original Crib Sheet over-quoted from the APA Manual
stretching the intent of “fair use,” that is no longer the case. APA Lite falls within the APA’s stated fair use policy.
The new name more accurately reflects the content and legitimacy of the style guide.
APA Lite (Fall 2009 ed.) Topics
1.0. General Features. What is APA style? What’s most important to get right?
2.0. Title & Text Page. Getting started: the title and first text pages, headings and subheadings, seriation or lists.
3.0. Text Rules. Rules to observe as you write: abbreviations, capitalization, emphasis (italics), quotations.
4.0. Numbers & Statistics. Rules for presenting common numbers, precise measures, and statistics.
5.0. Tables & Figures. APA style tables require attention to detail, graphs and images less so.
6.0. Citations & References. You absolutely, positively--no exceptions!--must get this right!
Appendix. Language Bias.
Most authors, students and professionals, want a quick reference to formatting references and pages, and a guide
to the essential rules for using the style. A reference requires that you to know what questions to ask, a guide
answers questions you didn’t think to ask. APA Lite seeks to be both in the appropriate areas without burdening
users with minutiae. Students are encouraged to get the basic features of the style right, then to be consistent with
however they choose to present what’s not covered.
Most differences between copy manuscripts and final manuscripts (college papers) are formatting
issues. Everything else stays largely the same.
APA LITE FOR COLLEGE PAPERS (2009): INSTRUCTOR’S PRECIS 5

TITLE PAGE
Things useful for publication, such as the running head, serve no purpose on the title page of a paper intended for a
class or conference. The running head repeats the title and becomes the page header on the following pages.
Likewise, if a paper is not intended for review there is no point to separating author information from the abstract.
Block spacing has provoked fewer protests than the layout of the title page. This follows the suggestion from the last
edition of the APA Manual as a device to “improve readability. Block quotes, multiline titles and headings, notes and
captions, tables and references are single-spaced within, double-space from the rest of the text.
Page number. The old APA Manual (2001) suggested “the position of [page] numbers on the first pages of chapters
or on full-page tables and figures may differ from the numbers on other pages” (p. 326). It is shown centered at the
bottom of the title page.
Date. A copy manuscript carries no date. College papers probably should.
Abstract. This goes on a separate page in copy manuscripts since the title page is torn off to facilitate anonymous
review. Separate pages are just an annoyance in conference papers.

Running head: TITLE PAGE FOR COPY MANUSCRIPTS 1

Centered Title in Heading Caps

Title Page for Copy Manuscripts and Bold Font
Double-Spaced Title in Plain Text Abel and Abigail Scribe
Abel and Abigail Scribe Department of Advanced Studies
University of Boulder
University of Boulder April 1, 2009

Abstract
An abstract is not too common in student papers, but
required when submitting any paper for publication in an
American Psychological Association (APA) journal.
This is a good feature for students, especially graduate
students, to emulate in their work. An abstract is a brief
concise description of the research: what you were
Author Note looking for, why, how you went about it, and what you
found. Absent an abstract, proportion the title and
[Complete Author Affiliations] author block on the page. Abstracts to articles published
[Changes in Affiliation During Review] in APA journals are set in italics, a feature not specified
in the APA Manual, though perhaps appropriate for
[Acknowledgements/Special Issues] conference papers.
[Contact Information] [Keywords]
[Complete Author Affiliations]
[Acknowledgments (Conference Papers)]
[Contact Info (Conference Papers)]

Figure 2. APA style title page. Left, title page adapted from the APA Publication Manual, (6th ed., Fig. 2.1, p. 41). Right,
condensed style for college and conference papers. Block spacing is used (single space within blocks of text, double space
between blocks); title, author, abstract, and author note are combined on a single page.

Retained Text Format Rules

• Typeface. “The preferred typeface for APA publications is Times New Roman, with a 12-point font size” (APA,
2009, p. 228). This is a serif typeface, a typeface with small cross bars on the letters—Times Roman and
Courier are common examples.
• Ragged right margin? Do not hyphenate words at the ends of lines, “leave the right margin uneven, or ragged”
(APA, 2009, p 229). An unjustified right margin is called a ragged right margin for its appearance on the page.
• Indent all text paragraphs--except the abstract and the first paragraph in a block quote--one-half inch. Hanging
indents in references are also indented one-half inch. There are special rules for paragraphs in block quotes.
APA LITE FOR COLLEGE PAPERS (2009): INSTRUCTOR’S PRECIS 6

FIRST AND FOLLOWING TEXT PAGES

Serif Typeface Only! Number EVERY Page!
1” Margins
APA Style Final Manuscripts Short Title Page Header 2

APA Style Final Manuscripts for College Papers NO “Introduction”

1/2” The APA Manual warns that “the Publication Manual is not intended to cover scientific
Ragged
writing at an undergraduate level . . . . Instructions to students to ‘use the Publication Manual’ Margin
should be accompanied by specific guidelines for its use [italics added]” (APA, 2001, p. 322).
Space 2x
These needed guidelines are provided by APA Lite for College Papers, a free online webpage that
is also available in printable PDF format. An important feature of these guidelines is the sharp
distinction drawn between copy manuscripts and final manuscripts in the APA Manual.
1/2” Copy manuscripts have been described throughout the Manual. Their life span is short; they
are normally read by editors, reviewers, and compositors only and are no longer usable after
they have been typeset. Copy manuscripts must conform to the format and other policies of
the journal to which they are submitted. Space 1x: Block Quotes - Tables - References
Space 1x
Final manuscripts, however, reach their audiences in the exact form in which they are
prepared. . . . A number of variations from the requirements described in the Manual are not
only permissible but also desirable [italics added] in the preparation of final manuscripts.
(APA, 2001, pp. 321–322)
The APA Manual advises students to adapt the style for their class papers. It offers several
suggestions for preparing “theses, dissertations, and student papers” in a chapter entitled “Material
Figure 3. First and subsequent text pages. The previous edition of the APA Manual (2001) advocated block spacing to improve
the readability of college and conference papers (p. 326). The text is double-spaced, but block quotes are single-spaced within
while double-spaced from the text. The same line spacing is applied to headings, tables, references, and figure captions.

REFERENCE LISTS

APA Style Final Manuscripts 15

References

American Medical Association Editors. (2007). American Medical Association manual of style: A
guide for authors and editors (10th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.

American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication manual of the American Psychological

Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Brewer, B. W., Scherzer, C. B., Van Raalte, J. L., Petipas, A. J., & Andersen, M. B. (2001). The
elements of (APA) style: A survey of psychology journal editors. American Psychologist,
56, 266-267.

Gibaldi, J. (2003). MLA handbook for writers of research papers (6th ed.). New York, NY: The
Modern Language Association.

Hypericum Depression Trial Study Group. (2002). Effect of Hypericum perforatum (St John’s
Wort) in major depressive disorder: A randomized controlled trial. JAMA, 287, 1807–1814.
doi:10.1001/jama.287.14.1807

University of Chicago Press. (2003). The Chicago manual of style (15th ed.). Chicago, IL:
Author.
Figure 4. List of references in block format. References are arranged alphabetically by author. Block format single-spaces
within references, but double-spaces between references.

APA Lite presents the main features of APA style along with a page format more suitable for college papers.
© 2009 Dr Abel Scribe PhD