1 APA Quick Reference Handbook PREFACE This APA Quick Reference Handbook 5th edition 2003 is an updated modification of the Quick Reference Guidelines 4th edition compiled by Azra Naseem and Sarah Zafar 2000 which was revised in 2002 by the present English Language Support team that also included Mirat al Fatima Ahsan Its facilitative purpose and its applicability parameters remain the same as before that is this is a handbook which focuses only on certain aspects of the APA Manual it is not a summary and cannot be regarded as its substitute This booklet is especially useful for the M Ed CPs whose assignments and dissertations are required to be APA consistent Hence it has been adapted according to their needs which is why it covers and presents condensed forms of selected areas the selection criteria being the areas relevance to the AKU IED s writing needs1 For example the APA Manual 5th edition gives 95 examples of references whereas 42 examples have been included in this handbook A point to note here is that these reference examples include a revised Online Reference section which is substantially different in format from that given in the 4 th edition APA Manual This handbook has been divided into various sections Examples have been included to illustrate points in every segment In addition an effort has been made to format this handbook in the APA style so as to make it self illustrative Since this is a guideline it does not offer the kind of extensive and comprehensive coverage provided by the Manual itself Therefore it is advised for those who are in need of more comprehensive information that they consult the American Psychological Association Publication Manual APA 5th edition which is available in the library Every effort has been made to make this handbook as user friendly as possible It can be used by the CPs of the M Ed programmes the faculty related to the AKU IED M Ed programme and others involved in academic writing It is hoped that the effort proves useful The ELSP Team Azra Ahmed Faiza Saleem Fatima Shahabuddin 1APA permits the writers of theses and dissertations to satisfy the graduate school s specific requirements even if these requirements depart from the style outlined in the Publication Manual Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association 2001 p 322 2 FORMATTING Font Times New Roman typeface should be used Title should be set in upper case bold 14 font size Block quotations and footnotes should be set in 10 font size The abstract acknowledgements and the main body of the essay should be set in 12 font size If there is a dedication it should be in upper case bold 12 font size Paragraphs Line Spacing The first line of all paragraphs should be indented one tab key from the left hand margin The main body text should be left aligned In the main body use 1 5 line spacing 2 Leave one line space before a heading 3 Do not leave a line after the heading Do not leave a line between paragraphs Page Numbers Page numbers should be placed on the right side at the bottom of the page Each page in the dissertation from the body onward should be numbered in consecutive order This includes the text references and appendices Preliminary pages carry lowercase Roman numerals Spellings British or American spellings may be used as long as they are used consistently throughout the paper Bullets Bullets should be aligned with the paragraph i e they should be indented one tab key from the margin References The word references should be left aligned bold uppercase 12 font size There should be one line space between the heading and the first reference and between subsequent references Example REFERENCES Brown J D 1998 Understanding research in second language learning Cambridge Cambridge University Press 2AKU IED requires all student assignments dissertations to have 1 5 line spacing 3 one line or a line for AKU IED purposes means 1 5 line spacing 3 Appendices If the paper has only one appendix it is labelled as APPENDIX Uppercase bold centred 12 font size If it has more than one appendix each is labelled with a capital letter such as APPENDIX A APPENDIX B etc Font size for the title and the text should be 12 Text should be justified If for example there is more than one appendix for APPENDIX A then it will be titled APPENDIX A1 APPENDIX A2 etc Sub title Uppercase and Lowercase bold centred Example APPENDIX A Effects of Mentoring Footnotes Footnotes should be numbered with superscript smaller font size 10 Arabic numerals 1 2 3 etc Example Item analysis 1 The item analysis for each section was carried out as follows 1This section of the report has been edited in order to maintain test confidentiality Page Setup4 For the purpose of binding a left margin of 1 5 inches is required Other margins should be one inch These margin regulations should be met on all pages 4 This is in accordance with AKU IED s A Guide to the M Ed Dissertation 4 List of Acceptable Abbreviations Mentioned in the APA Manual chap