Conclusion

There is a lot of information included in the APA Style Manual. If your writing/editing skills are weak, plan to spend more time looking up the correct way of writing and formatting information.

The Purdue website mentioned earlier has a great series of writing lessons and UMSL has a writing center you should take advantage of (after all you pay fees to support centers such as this). Also, take advantage of any family members or colleagues who are particularly good at writing. I'm sure you have skills/knowledge that you can exchange for this assistance.

To complete this lesson, submit your Editing, References, & Revision "test" in MyGateway. You may take this "test" as many times as you wish. Questions on verbs and references will change each time. Remember that you are submitting a FIXED version of the paper for Question 2.

Proof Reading

In case you haven't seen proof reading marks, I have copied the ones I commonly use when grading papers & editing papers/documents. You will need these to understand marks made in manuscripts.

Continue to Next Page: Common Formatting Errors

Reference Formatting

Overview
It is very important that whatever the formatting style used, it is followed consistently and with attention to detail and there is no where this is more important than when formatting references.

Music Education generally uses APA, though musicologists may prefer Turabian, MLA, or Chicago. Many journals use more obscure formatting styles such as Harvard or will have their own formatting. Whatever the case, you must format carefully and as instructed.

APA also varies from some of the other styles in that first names are never used - only initials. This avoids possible gender-bias. Because of this practice, however it is particularly important to avoid pronouns such as "he" or "she" when referencing a researcher.

Chapter 7 of the APA Style Manual provides examples of formatting in dozens of situations, but you will likely need the following most often: book, journal article, dissertation, website. We will focus on referencing these sources, but look through Chapter 7 to get a feel for the different types of sources.

There are a couple of formatting issues that need attention:

order of information

italicization

capitalization

punctuation and spacing.

As a general rule, a period separates each part of the citation.

Book

See pp. 202-205 in the APA Style Manual for the formatting of a book reference.

• Order of Information: Author, Date, Title, Location, Publisher
• Italicization: Title of book is italicized.
• Capitalization: Note specifically that in the title of the book, only the first word is capitalized. Also, proper nouns (names) will be capitalized and the first word after a colon.
• Punctuation: Note the periods after the date, after the title, and at the end of the citation. Also note the location and publisher sections are separated by a colon. Date is in parentheses.
• Additional Information: If the book is edited, the editor's name is placed before the title - separated by a comma, and the editor's initials come before his or her last name.

Journal Article

See pp. 198-202 in the APA Style Manual for the formatting of a journal article.

• Order of Information: Author, Date, Title of article, Title of Journal, volume number, issue number, page numbers.
• Italicization: Title of journal and the volume are both italicized (but not the title of the article or the issue number)
• Capitalization: Note specifically that in the title of the article, only the first word is capitalized. Also, proper nouns (names) will be capitalized and the first word after a colon. In the title of the journal, each major word is capitalized.
• Punctuation: Note the periods after the date, after the article title, and at the end of the citation. Also note that the journal title and volume are separated by a comma, the issue is placed in parenthesis (without space) next to the volume number and a comma comes before the page numbers. Also note that there is no "p." or "pp." used to designate page numbers. Date is in parentheses.
• Additional Information: If the journal was found online, than an additional section starting with the words "Retrieved from..." will be placed at the end of the citation.

Dissertation (Thesis)

See pp. 207-208 in the APA Style Manual for the formatting of a dissertation.

To access dissertations and theses, search the Proquest electronic database. All dissertations and theses are considered "unpublished" even though you have access to these documents through Proquest.

In the past (long, long ago before the internet), dissertation abstracts were published in big, thick, dusty volumes called Dissertation Abstracts International (DAI). At that time, it was the only way to search through vast numbers of dissertations. With the advent of the internet and easy access to full-text dissertations, this practice is now archaic.

Dissertation (Thesis) Reference Formatting

• Order of Information - Author, Date, Title of dissertation, Type of document (Unpublished doctoral dissertation), Name of Institution, Location (or retrieval information for electronically accessed documents).
• Italicization: Title of dissertation is italicized.
• Capitalization: Note specifically that in the title of the dissertation, only the first word is capitalized. Also, proper nouns (names) will be capitalized and the first word after a colon. The name of the institution is capitalized and the location information. Though not clear in this edition of APA, the location is the city and state where the institution is located separated by a comma. If the state is clear from the name of the institution, than state may be omitted (e.g., University of Colorado, Boulder.)
• Punctuation: Note the periods after the date, after the type of document, and at the end of the citation. Also note the name of the institution and location sections are separated by a comma. Date is in parentheses.
• Additional Information: Full text dissertations can now be accessed electronically through Proquest. Retrieval information must be included if electronic copy referenced.

Webpage

Formatting webpages is not clear in APA.

Please add the following guide to referencing web pages to your APA manual (I've formatted this information to fit on the white space on p. 224). Download from MyGateway (File: Add to APA Reference p. 224), Print, and tape into your book.

This reference is roughly based on p. 212 #61 (Informally published or self-archived work) and information on the APA website.

• Order of Information: Author, Date, Title, [Type document if applicable] Retrieved from information. If referencing a specific type of web document (e.g., blog, discussion board), not this in brackets following title. If normal webpage, omit this information.
• Italicization: Title of wepage is not italicized.
• Capitalization: Note specifically that in the title of the webpage, only the first word is capitalized. Also, proper nouns (names) will be capitalized and the first word after a colon.
• Punctuation: Note the periods after the date, after the title. THERE IS NO PERIOD AFTER THE WEB ADDRESS. Date is in parentheses. date". If a specific date is listed on the webpage, also list it specifically in the reference (2010, October 29).
• No date Option: If there is no obvious date on the webpage, than the correct date is "n.d." which stands for "no date".
• No author option: If there is no obvious author for the webpage, use the name of the website as the author (see p. 209 #47 as an approximate example)
• No title option: Use a heading or sub-heading as the title or use the first handful of words with a ... following as a title (as we sometimes do with song titles).

Reference Lists & In-Text Citations
To reference a source (include in reference list), the source MUST be referenced in the text. See pages 174-178 in the APA Style Manual.

The in-text citation can either consist of the author or authors names, a comma, and the year of publication or may consist only of the year of publication if the authors' names are included as part of the sentence. Example 6.11 on page 174 gives examples of both of these in-text citations.

Bibliographies are not used in APA only a list of referenced works. A bibliography includes works that may be relevant and of interest to the reader but have not been directly cited in the text. APA only lists References.

Footnotes
Footnotes are rarely used in APA. Only important information is included and this will be included in the body of the text (if the information isn't important enough for the text, it isn't important enough to be included). References are included at the end and sources noted in the text, so there is no need for footnotes.

Reference Formatting "Test" Questions
For these questions, you will be given either the details of a source and asked to format a reference or you will be given incorrectly formatted references that you must correct.

Continue with Next Page: Conclusion

Common Formatting Errors

The following formatting issues often give students trouble. Most of these issues are covered in Chapter 4, which is assigned for next week. Rather than reading every word in this chapter, study the headings and know what is in this chapter. When you arrive at a formatting question, you can go to Chapter 4 to look it up.

Abbreviations, Italics & Quotations

· Define all abbreviations with full title before using

Music Aptitude Profile (MAP).

After defining an abbreviation, use the abbreviation throughout rest of document. Information about abbreviations can be found on pp. 106-111 in your APA Style Manual.

· Common Latin abbreviations:

e.g., means "for example"
i.e., means "in other words".

These two Latin abbreviations are commonly confused/misused.

· Italicize most statistical abbreviations

n = number of participants
M= mean
p = probability.

If in doubt, consult the table on pp. 119-123 in the APA Style Manual.

· If quoting over 40 words, use a block quote (indented). An example of correctly formatted block quote is on p. 92 of APA Style Manual.

· In APA, page numbers are only used when quoting directly

“Miele (1993) found…in this manner” (p. 276).

Note: The period of the sentence comes after the page number. If paraphrasing, use an in-text citation (covered in Reference Lesson).

Headings & Sub-headings

Headings in the new APA Style Manuel (2009) are changed from previous editions. Examples of headings can be found on pp. 62-63 in the APA Style Manual.

You will likely need only three levels of headings (Main heading: bold, centered, upper/lower case; 1st sub-heading (level 2): bold, left justified, upper/lower case; 2nd sub-heading (level 3): bold, indented from left, first word only capitalized, ends with period.

Numbers

Information about numbers can be found on pp. 111-114 in the APA Style Manual. Key things to remember:

· Numbers below 10 are written out (one, two, three…)

· Numbers over 10 are figures (11, …. 154 ….)

· Numbers beginning sentences are written out (Forty musicians…., One hundred children…)

Examples - Number Formatting

Correct
The researcher interviewed 40 musicians about their memorization.
Incorrect
The researcher interviewed forty musicians about their memorization.

Correct
The researcher interviewed ten musicians about their memorization.
Incorrect
The researcher interviewed 10 musicians about their memorization.
Correct
Ten musicians answered questions about their memorization.
Incorrect
10 musicians answered questions about their memorization.

Correct
Forty musicians answered questions about their memorization.
Incorrect
40 musicians answered questions about their memorization.

· Times, dates, ages, size, measurement, etc. are expressed as figures (2 weeks ago, 9 rats, March 5, 2003, 5% of students, 2-year-olds). See p. 112 in the APA Style Manual.

· When reporting a number as part of an equation (such as one that contains an = sign), put spaces around the = sign.

Correct
The researcher interviewed musicians (n = 10) about their memorization.
Incorrect
The researcher interviewed musicians (n=10) about their memorization.

Use consistent decimal places throughout document (e.g., 4.002 & 5.000 or 4.00 & 5.00). Can round numbers to 1, 2, or 3 decimal places, just be consistent.

Tables & Figures

Information about formatting tables and figures can be found on pp. 127-161 (Chapter 5) in the APA Style Manual.

· Tables expresses information in rows & columns for clarification.

. Tables should always be referenced in the text i.e., (see Table 1).

. Each table needs a caption that makes sense independently of text

. Decimal points must line up – use decimal tab. The decimal tab should be a tab formatting option. It often looks like an upside-down T with a dot. This tab forces all decimals to line up. (See picture at top of this page. Decimal tab can be seen in upper left corner. Also notice the tab marks in the ruler bar.)

In Microsoft Word, view ruler, tabs are on far left, click on tab box until decimal tab appears, drag decimal tab to ruler where you would like decimal place.

See help menus in individual word processing programs for additional help.

· Figures include graphs, pictures & diagrams used to clarify data

. Figures should always be referenced in the text i.e., (see Figure 1).

. Each figure needs a caption that makes sense independently of text. See examples in APA pp. 152-153. Notice the captions for figures is below the figure (while it is above a table) and the italicization differs also.

. If the figure is a graph, label both x (horizontal) and y (vertical) axes

Complete the Editing Question in "test"In this exercise you are given an excerpt from a research article with many errors. There are dozens and dozens of errors. I'm looking for you to find at least 20.

Continue with Next Page: Reference Formatting

Clarity of Writing

Purpose of research

The purpose of a research report is to disseminate information. The goal is clear communication and understanding.
Note: All of the information below applies not only to research reports, but any academic communications (reports to principals, letters home to parents, handbooks, etc.)

Pages 67-70 in the APA Style Manual discusses Economy of Expression, Redundancy, and Precision.

* Be concise & professional. Extra words often obscure meaning and reader doesn't want to sift through words to get information
* Be exact & complete – avoid words such as “most”, “frequently” without defining meaning

Example - General statement to more specific statement

1. The Majority of subjects felt music made them smarter.

2. Fifty percent of subjects reported music increased intelligence.

3. The majority of subjects (51%) reported music increased intelligence.


Voice, Verbs, Pronouns & Tense

· Use 3rd person voice in all professional communications and research – Avoid “I” (first person)

· Use active verbs when possible and keep focused on students or research participants (what they did)

· Use pronouns sparingly – Very sparingly (avoid most pronouns) - Pronouns can be confusing if reference is not clear. Pronouns are also gender-specific and thus bias is an issue.

See pp. 79-80 in the APA Style Manual for an overview of pronouns.

Example - Multiple ways to rewrite a sentence for additional clarity and action

She interviewed 40 musicians about their memorization (non-specific pronoun).

Forty musicians were interviewed about memorization. (passive focus on participant)

Memorization interviews were conducted with 40 musicians (passive focus on researcher)

The researcher conducted interviews with 40 musicians (active focus on researcher)

During an interview, 40 musicians discussed memorization (active focus on participant)*

* Personal preference.

Verbs

Active v. Passive

Sometimes in research it is better to use a passive voice, but readers are more interested in ACTION! See pp. 77-79 in the APA Style Manual for an overview of verbs.

Hint: Passive voice often requires a linking verb such as "was" or "were".

Active verbs emphasize action. If you need more practice or examples to understand the difference between active and passive verbs, Purdue has great writing tutorials.

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/539/1


Noun/verb agreement

People act, results, tables, studies do not. Check to make sure your nouns agree with your verbs.

A researcher can do something.
Research cannot.

Plurals

The following plurals/singulars are often confused:

Data

* Singular = datum
* Plural = data

Correct
Data were analyzed....

Incorrect
Data was analyzed...

Appendix

* Singular = appendix
* Plural = appendices

Correct
Raw data are reported in Appendices A and B.

Incorrect
Raw data are reported in Appendix A and B.

Really Incorrect
Raw data is reported in Appendix A and B.

Additional Note: Past tense

Research studies are always written in past tense (the research has already been completed - it's in the past).

Complete the Active v. Passive Questions on "Test"

For this portion of the test, you are asked to rewrite passive sentences as active sentences.Remember to focus on participants first (if possible) or on researchers.



Continue to Next Page: Proofing

Introduction

Before you start this lesson, please do the following:

• Read Chapters 3 & 7 in your APA Publication Manual.
• Read the Directions for Online Lesson (right margin of this page)
• Open MyGateway and find the Editing, Reference, & Revision "Test". You will complete this "test" as part of this assignment. 
• View the APA Tutorial at http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/index.htm This tutorial has narration and allows you to click through various parts of the APA Manual. There are 25 slides.

If you have not done so, please stop and complete the above tasks before continuing.

Continue with Next Page: Clarity of Writing