APA Training

TESL RC APA TRAINING

Presented by Concordia's TESL Resource Center

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Home Page

Click on the following sections to complete the different modules of the training.

Concordia's Academic Code of Conduct

01

Introduction

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Paraphrasing, Direct Quotations & In-Text Citations

02

Additional Resources for Students

05

APA Reference List Formatting

04

APA Paper Formatting: Beyond Referencing

03

Throughout the training, you can always go back to the home page by clicking on this button

00

Introduction

This online training aims at giving university students an opportunity to explore and gain knowledge on the different aspects of APA formatting. This training is separated in 5 modules on the home page. At the end of each module, you will find a "Test Your Knowledge" section where you can answer questions to check your understanding of the content of the module.

Created for Concordia University, by the TESL RC Landscape in collaboration with Jennifer Sycamore, 2022. ©.

01

Introduction to Concordia’s Academic Code of Conduct

You probably already know that submitting someone else’s work as your own in university is a serious academic violation that can result in your expulsion from school. However, did you know that incorrectly citing a source can also have the same consequences? Let’s take a look at a more complete list of academic offenses.

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Introduction to Concordia’s Academic Code of Conduct

Academic Integrity Violations:

UNAUTHORIZED COLLABORATION

PLAGIARISM

SELF-PLAGIARISM

Test your knowledge

Info on academic code of conduct

Plagiarism

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According to Concordia's academic code of conduct, plagiarism is defined as:

• Missing (and even incorrect) citations for:
• Paraphrasing
• Direct quotations (even from professor lectures and personal communication)
• Reference to data or data sets
• Reprint or adaptations of tables, figures, images (Seventh Edition Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 2020, p. 255)
• Fabricated citations/Reference list entries
• Padding reference list – references not included in text.

Unauthorized collaboration

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According to Concordia's academic code of conduct, unauthorized collaboration is defined as:

• Asking a classmate for their answers
• Borrowing a classmate’s assignment to see how they structured it
• Working with a study group to complete an individual assignment (unless expressly permitted by the instructor)
• Getting someone else to write your paper, even if it's original and properly cited, also known as contract cheating.
• Using a file sharing website to access completed assignments
• Showing another student your essay before it is due.
• Sharing your login name and password with another student
• Asking a student who previously took the course for their assignments.

**It is up to the instructors of each course to decide if, how much, and when collaboration is permitted. If it is not expressly stated in the assignment instructions, assume that the work must be done alone. When in doubt, ask your professor for clarification first**

Self-Plagiarism

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According to Concordia's academic code of conduct, self-plagiarism is:

Also known as multiple submissions: Resubmitting work you have previously submitted for a grade. This applies to all learning institutions, not just Concordia. This means you cannot submit an assignment at Concordia that has already been submitted at Concordia or another other learning institution you have attended.

Introduction to Concordia's academic code of conduct:

Test your knowledge

Now that you’ve had a chance to explore a more robust list of academic integrity violations, let’s test your knowledge. Read the following scenarios and determine whether they are academic offenses or not.

Start

Read the following scenarios and determine whether they are academic offenses or not.

Scenario 1

Marc, Lindsey and Abdul are working together on a lab assignment for their Biology course. They are assigned to work together all term. The instructions indicate that they must work together to complete the experiments and then write and submit the lab reports individually. Marc suggests that they take turns writing up the report each week and share it with each other. Each partner could then reword the report and submit it.

Is this an academic offense?

Yes it is

No it is not

Concordia, University. (n.d.). Unauthorized Collaboration. Retrieved from https://www.concordia.ca/conduct/academic-integrity/unauthorized-collaboration.html

Yes, you are correct!

Next scenario

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Return to scenario

Read the following scenarios and determine whether they are academic offenses or not.

Scenario 2

Sarah is writing a research report for one of her classes on the use of technology for language teaching. She finds the course textbook quite helpful in explaining several of the theories she wants to incorporate in her paper. She has reviewed the information so much that she feels she can explain it to anyone. As she writes about the theories she has learned in her own paper, she feels that citations are not necessary given that she is writing in her own words rather than using direct quotations

Is this an academic offense?

Yes it is

No it is not

Concordia, University. (n.d.). Unauthorized Collaboration. Retrieved from https://www.concordia.ca/conduct/academic-integrity/unauthorized-collaboration.html

Yes, you are correct!

Back to home page

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Return to scenario

02

Paraphrasing, Direct Quotations & In-Text Citations

So now that you have a clear idea of what comprises an academic violation, let’s talk a bit more about paraphrasing and using direct quotations in your academic writing. Professors tell us that these are some of the most typical (and infuriating) issues they see in academic papers they receive.

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Paraphrasing, Direct Quotations & in-Text Citations

Paraphrasing

Direct Quotations

In-Text Citations: Narrative Citations

In-Text Citations: Parenthetical Citations

Citing multiple works for a single assertion

Test your knowledge

Direct Quotations

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It is most often preferable to paraphrase information into your own words. The reason for this is that paraphrasing allows you to synthesize information into the flow and context of your own written production. However, there are times when the use of direct quotations is preferable/necessary:

When is it necessary?

How to use them

Paraphrasing

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Click on the buttons below to get more information on how to paraphrase and when paraphrasing is necessary:

How to paraphrase

When is it necessary?

An important note on how to paraphrase

Parenthetical Citations

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Parenthetical citations are used when author and publication date both appear in parentheses ex: (Jones, 1998). Click on the buttons below for information on how to use parenthetical citations in the following contexts:

For sources with two authors

For a direct quotation

For sources with more than two authors

For sources with no author listed

Parenthetical citations can appear in the middle or at the end of a sentence. If it appears at the end of the sentence, the period would be placed after the closing parenthesis.

Narrative Citations

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• Narrative citations are used when the authors are incorporated into the narrative of the paper. Ex: According to Jones and Smith…
• The year is placed directly after the author’s name(s). Ex: According to Jones and Smith (1998)...
• Do not include the title of the article. Just the author’s names and date (and page number if it includes a direct quotation)

For sources with two authors

For sources with more than two authors

Multiple Works for a Single Assertion

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There may be times when you find several sources posit the same thing. Your paraphrase gains strength when you can attribute it to more than one academic source, but you have to properly acknowledge that. Note: keep in mind that a long list of citations can impede readability and thus you should only include citations that directly support your statement. Click on the buttons below for more information on citing multiple works in a parentical citation:

For several sources from the same author(s)

For several sources from different authors

Paraphrasing, Direct Quotations & in-Text Citations:

Test your knowledge

Now that you’ve had a chance to better understand paraphrasing, quoting, and in-text citations, let’s test your knowledge

Start

Paraphrasing

Below is an excerpt from a source. Click the button below to see three attempts at paraphrasing this information. Then select which paraphrasing attempt was the best.

Original: “Students frequently overuse direct quotation in taking notes, and as a result they overuse quotations in the final [research] paper. Probably only about 10% of your final manuscript should appear as directly quoted matter. Therefore, you should strive to limit the amount of exact transcribing of source materials while taking notes (Lester, 1976, pp. 46-47).”

Which paraphrasing attempt was the best?

Click to see the attempts at paraphrasing

Attempt #2

Attempt #1

Attempt #3

Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.). Paraphrasing. Retrieved from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/using_research/paraphrase_exercises/index.html

Oops, try again!

Attempt #1 is in the student's words, however, it misses some of the key concepts!

Return to question

Oops, try again!

Attempt #2 is known as patchwriting. It is essentially the same as the original with a few changes here and there. This is considered plagiarism.

Return to question

Yes, you are correct!

Attempt #3 is completely in the student’s own words and captures all of the key concepts from the original text.

Next Question

Paraphrasing: Try it yourself!

Try to paraphrase the following sentence:

“Improved access to education and widening participation at all levels has led to a significant growth in the number and diversity of students with disabilities who are learning a second or additional language. This includes not only learners with physical disabilities (e.g., hearing or visual impairment) but also those with cognitive or learning difficulties (e.g., Down syndrome or dyslexia)” (Taylor & Chen, 2017, p. 377).

Click here to reveal the answer!

Taylor, L., Chen, N., Tsagari, D., & Banerjee, J. (2016). Assessing Students with Learning and Other Disabilities/Special Needs. In Handbook of Second Language Assessment (pp. 377–396). De Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781614513827-025

Did you...

• Include a proper in-text/narrative citation?
• Narrative: According to Taylor and Chen (2017)...
• Parenthetical: (Taylor & Chen, 2017)
• Put the authors’ ideas in your own words?
• Avoid patchwriting or any other forms of plagiarism

Yes, bring me to the next question

not sure, let me look again

In-text Citations

Look at the following example and decide if it is a proper example of citation or not.

According to LoCastro (2012), “cross-cultural pragmatics (CCP)” (p. 79) is gaining prominence in the linguistics world given the growing number of English speakers from a multitude of first languages and cultures.

Is this proper citation?

Yes it is

No it is not

LoCastro, V. (2012). Pragmatics for Language Educators: A Sociolinguistic Perspective. Routledge.

Yes, you are correct!

The page number is needed at the end given the direct quote of the technical term “cross-cultural pragmatics (CCP)”.

Next example

Oops, try again!

Return to question

In-text Citations

Look at the following example and decide if it is a proper example of citation or not.

In their research focusing on the effects of task type, Shnur & Rubio (2021) found that the genre of a task has a significantly greater effect on lexical density than how complex the task is.

Is this proper citation?

Yes it is

No it is not

Schnur, E., & Rubio, F. (2021). Lexical complexity, writing proficiency and task effects in Spanish Dual Language Immersion. Language Learning & Technology, 25(1), 53–72. https://hdl.handle.net/10125/73425

Yes, you are correct!

When incorporating a source with two authors in a narrative citation, “and” should be spelled out. The “&” sign is only used in a parenthetical citation.

Next question

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Return to question

In-Text Citation: Try it yourself!

Take the following reference entry and create both a parenthetical in-text citation and a narrative in-text citation

Reference entry: Kootstra, G. J., Van Hell, J.,G., & Dijkstra, T. (2012). Priming of code-switches in sentences: The role of lexical repetition, cognates, and language proficiency. Bilingualism, 15(4), 797-819. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S136672891100068X

Click here to reveal the answer!

Did you ...

• Write the parenthetical citation like this:
• (Koostra et al., 2012)
• Write the narrative citation like this:
• According to Koostra et al. (2012)

not sure, let me look again

Yes, bring me back to the home page

03

APA Paper Formatting: Beyond Referencing

Now that you have looked at what comprises an academic violation and how to use APA to cite, paraphrase, and quote, let's look at other aspects of APA formatting. Specifically, let's look at asects of paper formating that are not necessarily related to citations or references.

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APA Paper Formatting

Paragraph

Spacing & font

Headers & Footers

Appendices

Cover Page

Test your knowledge

Spacing & Font

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Here are the APA requirements regarding spacing and fonts:

• You should use the same font throughout your entire paper and choose one that is clear to all readers. 11-point Arial (sans serif font) or 12-point Times New Roman (serif font) are the two most popular font choices.
• Your entire paper should be double spaced
• Your professor may have additional requirements. Check your syllabus and the assignment instructions.

Paragraphs

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Here are the APA requirements regarding paragraphs:

• The beginning of each paragraph needs to be indented. Use the tab feature on your keyboard to achieve this. Doing it manually via the space bar can throw off the formatting when you send it to your professor.

• There is no extra space between paragraphs. The indentation indicates the beginning of a new paragraph.

Cover Page

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Unless stated otherwise by your professor, all academic assignments should include a cover page. The following items should all appear on your title page (unless otherwise stated by your professor)

Click here to see an example of an APA cover page

• Paper title
• Author(s) names
• Department and University
• Course number and name
• Instructor name
• Assignment Due Date
• Page number (your title page is page #1)

Cover page example is taken from: Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.). APA Sample Paper. Purdue Writing Lab. Retrieved from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/apa_sample_paper.html

Headers & Footers

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Here are the APA requirements regarding headers and footers:

• The page numbers should appear right-justified within the header.
• The page number begins with the title page and should run through the very last page of the document, whether that’s a reference list or appendices.
• Be sure to use the automatic page-numbering feature in your word processing software program rather than manually numbering the pages.

Appendices

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Click on the buttons below to have more information on the purpose of appendices and on how to use them.

Purpose of appendices

How to use them

APA Paper Formatting: Beyond Referencing

Test your knowledge

Now that you’ve had a chance to better understand APA paper formatting, let’s test your knowledge

Start

Spacing & Font

Which of the following line spacing is required in APA formating?

Answer options:

Single spaced

Double spaced

1.5 spaced

Yes, you are correct!

Next question

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Return to question

Paragraphs

True or false: An extra space between paragraphs indicates a change of paragraph in APA.

True

False

Yes, you are correct!

Next question

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Return to question

Cover Page

Which of the following are NOT required on an APA cover page:

Author's name

Instructor's name

Paper format

Name of course

Yes, you are correct!

Next question

Oops, try again!

Return to question

Headers & Footers

Which side of the page should the page number appear on an APA paper?

Left

Right

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Return to question

Yes, you are correct!

Next question

Appendices

True or false: Appendices can be used for: materials used in research studies, complex results charts, participant materials,

True

False

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Return to question

Yes, you are correct!

Take me back to the home page

04

APA Reference List Formatting

Now that you have looked at what comprises an academic violation, how to reference within a text, and how to generally format your paper using APA, let's focus on the reference list formatting.

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APA Reference List Formatting

Overview

Basic Rules for Journal Articles

Basic Rules for Most Sources

Most Common Reference Mistakes

Rules for All Other Types of Sources

Test your knowledge

Overview

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Be sure that every source cited in your paper appears in your reference list, and be sure you have cited every listed reference in your paper. It is important to make this a final editing step as sources are often added or deleted in the writing and revision process. A simple verification process will ensure these align. To properly write your reference list using APA, your list must have the following formatting elements:

Click here to see an example of an APA reference list

Hanging Indentations

Alphabetical Order

Reference list example is taken from: Purdue Writing Lab. (n.d.). APA Sample Paper. Purdue Writing Lab. Retrieved from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/apa_sample_paper.html

Basic Rules for Most Sources

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There are four basic elements of every reference, no matter the type: author, date, title, and source.

• Knowing these four elements can help you create a reference even if you cannot find an example to model.

• If any of the information is unknown (often its date or author), you will adjust the entry.

Click on the buttons below for more information on the following aspects:

Punctuation

Author Names

Titles

image from: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/basic-principles

Basic Rules for Journal Articles

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• Given journal articles are the most common source type in academic writing, it's worth taking a few moments to focus on this source type specifically

• The title of the journal should be in italics and have all major words capitalized (note this is different from the title of the article which uses sentence capitalization).

• The journal volume number should also be in italics (but not the issue number nor page numbers)
• Do not enclose titles of articles in quotation marks.
• Sample journal citation:

DOI or URL?

taken from: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/journal-article-references

Basic Rules for all Other Types Sources

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There are many other types of sources you may need to properly cite in your academic writing. While the general rules usually apply, there are some exceptions given the unique characteristics of certain types of sources. Therefore, it is usually best to use one of the APA resource websites available to you through the Concordia library to ensure proper formatting. The official APA website is a great resource for this with examples of almost any reference type you can imagine - even how to cite TikTok videos.

APA Website

Concordia Library APA Resource

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Most Common Reference Mistakes

• Trusting citation generators (from Zotero, the Concordia library and individual websites/databases) - while these are helpful, they almost always contain some errors (mainly improper use of caps and missing italics). It is critical to review these auto-generated citations carefully and revise them as needed to adhere to proper formatting guidelines.
• Improper capitalization of titles. Titles should be capitalized according to sentence case (the first word and proper nouns are the only items capitalized). If there is a colon in the title, the first word after the colon is capitalized.
• Improper use of italics
• For journal references - Improper URLS in the reference and missing journal issue numbers.

APA Reference List Formatting

Test your knowledge

Now that you’ve had a chance to better understand how to properly format a reference list and format the citations within it, let’s test your knowledge.

Start

Reference Formatting: Find the errors!

Take a look at the following journal reference and try to identify the 4 errors in the entry:

Reference entry: KOOTSTRA, G. J., VAN HELL, J.G., DIJKSTRA, T. (2012). Priming of Code-Switches in Sentences: The Role of Lexical Repetition, Cognates, and Language Proficiency. Bilingualism, 15, 797-819. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S136672891100068X

Click here to reveal the answer!

Click here to reveal the correct reference entry

Did you ...

Find these four errors:

1. Improper caps used in article title. Should be sentence capitalization.
2. Improper caps used in author names.
3. Missing ampersand before last author’s name
4. Missing hanging indentation

not sure, let me look again

Yes, bring me to the next question

Reference Formatting: Try it yourself

Use the following information to create a journal reference entry:

Title: Research on Corrective Feedback in ESL/EFL Classrooms Author: Su, Ting; Tian, Jinping Publication title: Theory and Practice in Language Studies; London Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Pages: 439-444, number of pages: 6 Publication date: Feb 2016 Publisher: Academy Publication Co., Ltd. Place of publication: London Country of publication: United States, London DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0602.29

Click here to reveal the answer!

Did you ...

Write a reference that looks like this:Su, T., & Tian, J. (2016). Research on corrective feedback in ESL/EFL classrooms. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 6(2), 439-444. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0602.29

not sure, let me look again

Yes, bring me back to the home page

05

Additional Resources for Students

We know it can be difficult to find reliable resources online.. Click on the button below to access a list of practical APA resources for students. These resources are all reliable sources of information approved by Concordia University.

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APA Resources for Students

Description

Access

Name

Concordia University Library’s Citation and Style Guides Student Success Center Zotero Academic Integrity

A directory of multiple sources to help students properly cite academic work. Includes links to various websites such as the official APA website, Purdue University Online Writing Lab and internal (Concordia) guidelines and examples for proper citation formatting. Free (included in your tuition fees) one-on-one writing assistance available (on-line or in person) The Student Success Center is happy to review your work and offer suggestions for improvements and formatting corrections. Zotero is a desktop application that allows you to:Manage and organize the bibliographic references you find in library catalogues, databases, and on the webPrepare a bibliography or reference list automaticallyInsert and automatically format in-text citations and a bibliography into a paper using Microsoft Word, LibreOffice, Google Docs and other word processors and writing systems Guidelines and official Concordia policy regarding academic integrity, conduct violations, disciplinary process, and resources.