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Special Education Research

Resources related to special education.

Write Papers Using APA format

The College of Education and Human Development uses the APA style to format papers and generate citations.

  • Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA)   Fenwick Reference BF76.7 .P83 2020
  • Academic Writer Tutorial Basics of 7th edition APA Style: This tutorial is designed for writers new to APA Style. Learn the basics of seventh edition APA Style, including paper elements, format, and organization; academic writing style; grammar and usage; bias-free language; mechanics of style; tables and figures; in-text citations, paraphrasing, and quotations; and reference list format and order.   Click this link

Basic APA Format - APA 7th ed.
Your paper should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11") with 1" margins on all sides. You should use a clear font that is highly readable. APA recommends using 12 pt. Times New Roman font.

For references: 

  • References must be double-spaced.  (See page 45 - Section 2.21)
  • Use the authors last name, first initial. Second initial (if given)  for the first 20 authors (See page 286 section 9.8)
  • Include the issue number for articles with an issue number.  (See page 294 - Section 9.25)
  • Only capitalize the first letter of the first word, proper nouns, or words following punctuation. Do not capitalize every word in the article title.  (See page 291 - Section 9.19)
  • APA requires the DOI in http format (http://doi.org/XXXXXXX or the words Retrieved from followed by the journal's url. (See pages 299-300 Sections 9.35 and 9.36)

In-text Citations
Reference citations in text are covered on pages 253-278 of the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual. What follows are some general guidelines for referring to the works of others in your essay.

For specific examples  of how to create in-text citations use the Purdue Owl APA Citations: The Basics

The tabs in the next box give examples of the proper way to cite references in APA format. Examples were taken from the following resources:

  1. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (7th Ed). (2020). American Psychological  Association  - current version of the APA style manual
  2. APA Style Blog- Includes a table for line spacing in APA style.  Use search box on right to search the entire APA style blog.

If you need additional help try the following chart provided by APA: How to Write an APA Style Reference When Information Is Missing.  This handy table explains to cite a reference in APA format when parts of a reference are missing

APA Reference Examples

If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is provided, you must include it in your citation. If a DOI is not provided use the journal's url.  See examples below:

Example of how to cite an article with a doi in APA 7th editionWhere can you find the doi?

  • Look at the top and the bottom of the first page of the article
  • In databases look for the DOI when you first find the article on the database landing page
  • In some databases, the DOI can be found on the page which contains the articles abstract after the journal's ISSN number
  • Go to Crossref.org's Guest Query to search for a missing article doi. This link let's you look up the bibliographic information about an articles and provides a DOI if one is available.  Under "Bibliographic metadata search"  fill in as many fields as possible, then click search. This form is a guest query interface to the Crossref system for individual DOI retrieval.

If a journal article does have a DOI, you must provide the journal's url.

Cite a journal article without a doi in APA 7th edition

To find the journal URL, do one of the following:

  • Look for the journal URL at the top of the bottom of the journal article pdf
  • Go to UlrichsWeb Global Serials Directory (find it under the letter U on the Articles & More tab on the Library's home page)  In the example above, you would enter Journal Plus Education in the search box in Ulrich's, then click on the journal title on the results page and scroll down to the word "Website"
  • In most EBSCO databases, click on the article title, then scroll down to the word source, click on the journal title.
  • Do NOT use sites like Questia, FindArticles, HighBeam,etc. They are vendors who index and sell articles; they are not journal publishers.

Listed below is a link to the 11th edition of the American Medical Association Manual

The examples below give examples of how to cite a book, book chapter, and an edited book in APA format.

Cite a book in APA format

Author, A. & Author, B. (Year of publication). Book titlePublisher.

Example of how to cite a book in APA 7th edition

NOTE:  If a book has a doi, you must include the DOI at the end of the reference.

Cite a Chapter in an Edited Book

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year of publication). Title of chapter. In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pages of chapter). Publisher.

How to cite a book chapter in an edited book in APA 7th edition

 

Government reports, technical reports and research reports are known as grey literature.  The examples below give examples of how to government documents in APA format and some things to consider when citing:

  • Treat a government document as a book, report, or brochure.
  • If a person is named on the title page, use her or him as author.
  • If no person is named, use the government agency, department, or branch as a group author.
  • Give the name of the group author exactly as it appears on the title page. If the branch or agency is not well known, include its higher department first.
  • If the group author is also the publisher, omit the pubisher
  • If there is a series or report number, include it after the title (p. 205).
  • The manual refers to the GPO (U.S. Gov. Printing Office).

See pages 329 to 331 Section 10.4 for specific examples of how to cite grey literature. The basic format is listed below followed by examples

Author Surname, First Initial. Second Initial. OR Name of Government Agency. (Year). Title: Subtitle (Report No. xxx [if available])Publisher.  URL

Government Document with Author

Image of reference for government document with authors in APA 7th edition

Government Document without Author

Image of reference for government document without authors in APA 7th edition

Format for Entire Test Description in an Online Database

Test name as it appears at the beginning of the entry. (Date of Mental Measurements yearbook not the test publication date). Title of test. [Database record]. Title of database. URL or DOI if available

Image of how to cite a test instrument in a database in APA format

Format for Entire Test Description in an Online Database

Test name as it appears at the beginning of the entry. (Date of Mental Measurements yearbook not the test publication date). Title of test. [Database record]. Title of database. URL or DOI if available

Image of how to cite a test review in a database in APA format

     

The table below provides information needed to cite the MMY correctly:

Twentieth           2017  TJ.F. Carlson, K.F. Geisinger, & J.L. Jonson
Nineteenth 2014  TJ.F. Carlson, K.F. Geisinger, & J.L. Jonson
Eighteenth 2010  R.A. Spies, J.F. Carlson, and K. F. Geisinger
Seventeeth 2007  K. F. Geisinger, R. A. Spies, J. F. Carlson, & B. S. Plake   
Sixteenth 2005  B. Plake, J. C. Impara & R. Spies
Fifteenth 2003  B. Plake, J. C. Impara & R. Spies
Fourteenth 2001  B. Plake & J. C. Impara
Thirteenth 1998  J. C. Impara & B. Plake
Twelfth 1995  J. C. Conoley & J. C. Impara
Eleventh 1992  J. J. Kramer & J. C. Conoley
Tenth 1989  J. C. Conoley & J. J. Kramer
Ninth 1985  J. V. Mitchell

The basic format to use when citing a web page is listed below, by type of web page.

  • Remember to double-space and to indent the second and following lines.
  • When an Internet document is more than one Web page, provide a URL that links to the home page or entry page for the document.
  • If you cite multiple pages from a single website, cite each page separately
  • Use the most specific date possible Section 10.15 p.350
  • If there isn't a date available for the page use (n.d.) for no date.
  • Only include a retrieval date when the contents of the page are designed to change over time.
  • When the author name and site name are the same, omit the site name. Section 1016 p.350

The basic format when citing a web page is:  Author, A. (date). Title of work. Site name. https//url

Examples of how to cite webpages in APA 7th edition

When citing YouTube videos, the person or group who uploaded the video is credited as the author to facilitate retrieval, even if they did not create the work. (See page 344 – Item 90)

Image showing how to cite a YouTube video in APA format

When citing streaming videos such as those in Alexander Street Press such as Education in Video or Counseling in Video, Kanopy, NJVID or Swank to name a few, use the example on page 344 #90 for correct format.  For example

Image of how to cite a streaming video from streaming media collection

Citations Made Easy with Zotero

Zotero

Use Zotero to generate accurate citations and quick bibliographies. Get started with the printable guide, or try these video tutorials:

Do you need a specialized citation style beyond APA, Chicago, or MLA? Check out Zotero's Style Repository for specialized formats.

The Libraries provide workshops to get you started using Zotero. Check the workshop calendar for times and locations.

Not a fan of Zotero? Check out the Purdue Online Writing Lab for assistance with citing APA, MLA and Chicago.
https://infoguides.gmu.edu/specialed/write
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