GETTING STARTED WITH APA
"APA Style" refers to guidelines published by the American Psychological Association.
The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition details the organization's rules on how to format a paper, how to document research sources you use, and other matters of writing style. The American Psychological Association released a new edition of the Publication Manual in 2020. You can read about the changes on the APA Style website.
The APA Publication Manual is available at the first floor library reference desk (two-hour checkout, in-library use only) and for purchase, but students can refer to help guides like this for almost any question about APA Style. The American Psychological Association also publishes the Concise Guide to APA Style, Seventh Edition specifically for students.
Why is APA Style so important?
If you don't use a citation style to document the sources you used to help write a research paper, you're in danger of plagiarism.
Even if you don't mean to plagiarize, not citing your sources correctly might make it look as though you're passing someone else's words or ideas off as your own. There are serious consequences for plagiarism at LSC-CyFair.
The best way to protect yourself from plagiarism is to get familiar with APA Style and use it consistently.
