HD Theory Research

Human Development majors at Eckerd College use the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association's style guide.

Use the APA style guide which gives guidance on the writing process and includes reference citation examples.

APA Style Guides from Eckerd Library:​

• APA Style, 7th Edition (2020): Quick Reference Guide

​APA Style Guides Online:

• APA Formatting and Style Guide - from Purdue Online Writing Lab
• APA Style & Grammar Guidelines

​Sample Papers in APA Format

• Sample APA Paper from Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL)
• Sample Papers from APA Style Manual

Here are some important tips for writing your paper in APA style, as well as common errors that are often made. 

1. Special formatting for the Title Page
APA-formatted title pages should have the following components:

• Page number in the top right footer of the page 
• Title of the paper, name of author, and affiliation centered vertically and horizontally on the page
• See Sample Paper with cover page on the APA site

2. Quotations

• Quotations of more than 40 words should be surrounded by "quotation marks."
• Quotations longer than 40 words should be formatted as a block quote, with all lines of the quote indented
• When citing quotations always include the page number after the year within the parenthetical citation

            Example:  (Bandura, 1977, p. 136)

3. In-text and parenthetical citations

• In-text citations should include the author(s) and the year of publication. 

   Examples:

            According to Bandura (1977), social learning theory is ....

            OR

            Social learning theory is...(Bandura, 1977).

• If a work has 3 or more authors, cite the first author followed by et al. for the first and subsequent citations

            Example:

                    Gordon et al. (1991)  OR (Gordon et al., 1991)

​4. References Page

• Should start on a new page, be titled References, centered and NOT bolded.  This page should not be titled Works Cited or Bibliography.
• Citations should be listed alphabetically, double-spaced, and have a hanging indent.

5. Citation formatting

• Book titles - capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle, and any proper nouns.  Italicize book titles.

            Example: Social learning theory

• Article and chapter titles - capitalize only the first word of the title and subtitle, and any proper nouns.  No italics or quotation marks.

             Example:  Radical redesign of nursing homes: Applying the green house concept in Tupelo, Mississippi.

• Periodical titles - titles should be capitalized and the entire title should be italicized

            Example:  Journal of Housing for the Elderly.

• If a journal article is assigned a Digital Object Identifier (DOI), it must be referenced in the citation. Otherwise, include the URL.