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APA Style is a standardized writing format, established by the American Psychological Association, which doctoral students need to follow when preparing their dissertation.
If you have questions about APA formatting, look at our APA Style Guide.
You may want to buy a copy of the APA Guide to help you understand APA formatting rules:
Publication Manual (OFFICIAL) 7th Edition of the American Psychological Association by
A WALL STREET JOURNAL, USA TODAY, AND PUBLISHERS WEEKLY BESTSELLER. The newest official release of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition includes four different formats--spiral-bound and tabbed, paperback, hardcover, and ebook, all of which are in full color. It is the official source for APA Style. With millions of copies sold worldwide in multiple languages, the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition is the style manual of choice for writers, researchers, editors, students, and educators in the social and behavioral sciences, natural sciences, nursing, communications, education, business, engineering, and other fields. Known for its authoritative, easy-to-use reference and citation system, the Publication Manual also offers guidance on choosing the headings, tables, figures, language, and tone that will result in powerful, concise, and elegant scholarly communication. It guides users through the scholarly writing process--from the ethics of authorship to reporting research through publication. The seventh edition is an indispensable resource for students and professionals to achieve excellence in writing and make an impact with their work. The seventh edition has been thoroughly revised and updated to reflect best practices in scholarly writing and publishing. All formats are in full color, with a new tabbed spiral version Easy navigation, with topics divided into numbered sections to help users quickly location the information they need Resources for students on writing and formatting annotated bibliographies, response papers, and other paper types, guidelines on citing course materials, and guidance on writing clearly, precisely, and concisely Dedicated chapter for new users of APA Style covering paper elements and format, including sample papers for both professional authors and student writers New chapter on journal article reporting standards (JARS) that includes updates to reporting standards for quantitative research and the first-ever qualitative and mixed methods reporting standards in APA Style Updated chapter on bias-free language guidelines for writing about people with respect and inclusivity in areas including age, disability, gender, participation in research, racial and ethnic identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and intersectionality Updated chapter on essential style guidelines for scholarly writing, including punctuation, italics, capitalization, abbreviations, and numbers More than 40 new sample tables and figures Expanded guidance on ethical writing and publishing practices, including how to ensure the appropriate level of citation, avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism, and navigate the publication process More than 100 new reference examples covering periodicals, books, audiovisual media, social media, webpages and websites, legal resources, and many other document types Guidelines that support accessibility for all users, including simplified reference, in-text citation, and heading formats as well as additional font options
What Does it Mean to Read Carefully?
Careful reading requires knowing what to look for in research articles. Every article consists of some core components that you'll need to identify. Once you can identify these components, you can start to make claims about individual researchers and broader trends in the research.
Franklin University has identified six core components of original research (See the Core Components of a Scholarly Article box below).
What Does it Mean to Read Critically?
After you've identified the core components, you are ready to critically read the research. Critical reading involves three major steps: Summary, Evaluation, and Reflection.
Summary: To summarize you should provide a snapshot of the major components of a scholarly article.
Evaluate: To evaluate you should identify what the research does well and the limitations of the research.
Reflection: To reflect you should consider how one or more of these components are relevant to your own research.
As you are reading scholarly articles, compare the different studies and look for patterns:
All research articles have the following features:
A focus. Researchers say, “this is what I’m interested in.”
A rationale. Researchers say, “this is why this work ought to be done.”
A scholarly context. Researchers say, “this is what others have done on my topic so far”
A method. Researchers say, “This is how I’m going to study what I’m interested in”
A set of findings. Researchers say, “This is what I discovered after I did my research, and here’s what I have to say about it”
A set of implications. Researchers say, “Here is what my research means for all us going forward”
