A Pocket Style Manual, APA Version

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Authors

Diana Hacker

Diana Hacker personally class-tested her handbooks with nearly four thousand students over thirty-five years at Prince George’s Community College in Maryland, where she was a member of the English faculty. Hacker handbooks, built on innovation and on a keen understanding of the challenges facing student writers, are the most widely adopted in America. Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin’s, include A Writer’s Reference, Eleventh Edition (2025); A Pocket Style Manual, Tenth Edition (2025); The Bedford Handbook, Twelfth Edition (2023); Rules for Writers, Tenth Edition (2022); and Writer’s Help 2.0, Hacker Version.

Nancy Sommers

Nancy Sommers, who has taught composition and directed composition programs for thirty years, now teaches in Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. She led Harvard’s Expository Writing Program for twenty years, directing the first-year writing program and establishing Harvard’s WAC program. A two-time Braddock Award winner, Sommers is well known for her research and publications on student writing. Her articles “Revision Strategies of Student and Experienced Writers” and “Responding to Student Writing” are two of the most widely read and anthologized articles in the field of composition. Recently she has been exploring different audiences through publishing in popular media. Sommers is the lead author on Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin’s, and editor of Tiny Teaching Stories on Macmillan Learning’s Bits Blog.

Writing Papers in APA Style
1 Writing student papers in APA Style
1a Research paper: Literature review
1b Research paper: Original empirical research
1c Laboratory report
1d Analytical essay
1e Annotated bibliography
1f Administrative report
1g Case study
1h Clinical paper
1i Professional memo
1j Reflective essay
1k Social issue (persuasive) paper

2 Understanding APA conventions
2a Privileging current sources
2b Using appropriate tone and language
2c Avoiding stereotypes, bias, and harmful language
2d Understanding intellectual property
2e Collecting and reporting data
2f Protecting research participants

3 Posing a research question
3a Choosing a focused question
3b Choosing a debatable question
3c Choosing a grounded question

4 Gathering sources
4a Using the library
4b Using the internet
4c Using bibliographies and citations

5 Evaluating sources
5a Evaluating the reliability and usefulness of a source
5b Reading with an open mind and a critical eye
5c Assessing online sources with special care
5d Constructing an annotated bibliography

6 Managing information; taking notes responsibly
6a Maintaining a working bibliography
6b Keeping track of source materials
6c Taking notes responsibly; avoiding unintentional plagiarism

7 Supporting a thesis
7a Forming a working thesis
7b Organizing your ideas
7c Using sources to inform and support your argument

8 Avoiding plagiarism
8a Citing quotations and borrowed ideas
8b Using quotation marks around borrowed language
8c Putting summaries and paraphrases in your own words

9 Integrating sources
9a Using quotations effectively
9b Using summaries and paraphrases effectively
9c Using signal phrases to integrate sources
9d Synthesizing sources

Formatting Papers in APA Style
10 Parts of a paper in APA Style
10a Title page
10b Abstract
10c Introduction
10d Method
10e Results
10f Discussion
10g References
10h Footnotes
10i Headings
10j Appendices
10k Visuals

11 APA paper format
11a Formatting the paper
11b Preparing the list of references

12 Sample pages from papers in APA Style
12a Research paper: Literature review (education)
12b Research paper: Empirical research (psychology)
12c Analytical essay (sociology)
12d Annotated bibliography (economics)
12e Laboratory report (psychology)
12f Administrative report (criminology/criminal justice)
12g Clinical practice paper (nursing)
12h Reflective essay (education)
12i Investigative report (business)
12j Professional memo (business)
12k Social issue paper (composition)

Documenting Sources in APA Style
13 APA in-text citations

14 APA list of references
14a General guidelines for listing authors
14b Articles and other short works
14c Books and other long works
14d Websites and parts of websites
14e Social media
14f Audio, visual, and multimedia sources

15 APA notes
15a Footnotes in the text
15b Notes in tables and figures

Clarity
16 Tighten wordy sentences
16a Redundancies
16b Empty or inflated phrases
16c Needlessly complex structures

17 Prefer active verbs
17a When to replace “be” verbs
17b When to replace passive verbs

18 Balance parallel ideas
18a Items in a series
18b Paired ideas

19 Add needed words
19a Words in compound structures
19b The word “that”
19c Words in comparisons

20 Eliminate confusing shifts
20a Shifts in point of view
20b Shifts in tense

21 Untangle mixed constructions
21a Mixed grammatical structure
21b Illogical connections
21c “Is when,” “is where,” and “reason . . . is because” constructions

22 Repair misplaced and dangling modifiers
22a Misplaced words
22b Misplaced phrases and clauses
22c Dangling modifiers
22d Split infinitives

23 Provide sentence variety
23a Combining choppy sentences
23b Varying sentence openings

24 Find an appropriate voice
24a Jargon
24b Clichés
24c Slang
24d Sexist and noninclusive language

Grammar
25 Make subjects and verbs agree
25a Words between subject and verb
25b Subjects joined with “and”
25c Subjects joined with “or” or “nor”
25d Indefinite pronouns such as “someone”
25e Collective nouns such as “jury”
25f Subject after verb
25g “Who,” “which,” and “that”
25h Plural form, singular meaning
25i Titles, company names, and words mentioned as words

26 Be alert to other problems with verbs
26a Irregular verbs
26b Tense
26c Mood

27 Use pronouns with care
27a Pronoun-antecedent agreement
27b Pronoun reference
27c Case of personal pronouns (“I” vs. “me” etc.)
27d “Who” vs. “whom”

28 Use adjectives and adverbs effectively
28a Adjectives
28b Adverbs
28c Comparatives and superlatives

29 Repair sentence fragments
29a Fragmented clauses
29b Fragmented phrases

30 Revise run-on sentences
30a Revision with a comma and a coordinating conjunction
30b Revision with a semicolon (or a colon or a dash)
30c Revision by separating sentences
30d Revision by restructuring the sentence

31 Consider grammar topics for multilingual writers
31a Verbs
31b Articles (“a,” “an,” “the”)
31c Sentence structure
31d Prepositions showing time and place

Punctuation
32 The comma
32a Before a coordinating conjunction joining independent clauses
32b After an introductory clause or phrase
32c Between items in a series
32d Between coordinate adjectives
32e To set off a nonrestrictive element, but not a restrictive element
32f To set off transitional and parenthetical expressions, absolute phrases, and word groups expressing contrast
32g To set off nouns of direct address, the words “yes” and “no,” interrogative tags, and mild interjections
32h To set off direct quotations introduced with expressions such as “he argued”
32i With dates, addresses, and titles
32j Misuses of the comma

33 The semicolon and the colon
33a The semicolon
33b The colon

34 The apostrophe
34a To indicate possession
34b To mark contractions
34c Conventional uses
34d Misuses of the apostrophe

35 Quotation marks
35a To enclose direct quotations
35b Around titles of short works
35c To set off words used as words
35d Other punctuation with quotation marks
35e Misuses of quotation marks

36 Other punctuation marks
36a The period
36b The question mark
36c The exclamation point
36d The dash
36e Parentheses
36f Brackets
36g The ellipsis mark
36h The slash

Mechanics
37 Capitalization
37a Proper vs. common nouns
37b Titles with proper names
37c Titles of works
37d Special terms
37e First word of a sentence or quoted sentence
37f First word following a colon
37g Abbreviations

38 Abbreviations and numbers
38a Common abbreviations
38b Units of measurement and time
38c Latin abbreviations
38d Plural of abbreviations
38e Ineffective abbreviations
38f Using numerals
38g Using words for numbers

39 Italics
39a Titles of works
39b Key terms and other uses
39c Ships, aircraft, spacecraft
39d Non-English words

40 Hyphenation
40a Compound words
40b Words functioning together as an adjective
40c Suffixes and prefixes
40d Hyphenation at ends of lines

Glossaries
Glossary of usage
Glossary of grammatical terms

Index
List of at a glance and how to boxes
List of sample pages from student papers
Editing marks

Product Updates

Up-to-date APA guidelines, based on The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition (2020), help students with writing, documenting sources, and formatting papers in APA Style.

Expanded advice on avoiding biased and harmful language ensures students are always showing respect for their audience.

“At a glance” boxes point students to quick help on everything from prepositions to signal phrases.

New how-to pages on research writing, with topics including paraphrasing effectively and detecting false or misleading sources, advise students on working with sources.

Authors

Diana Hacker

Diana Hacker personally class-tested her handbooks with nearly four thousand students over thirty-five years at Prince George’s Community College in Maryland, where she was a member of the English faculty. Hacker handbooks, built on innovation and on a keen understanding of the challenges facing student writers, are the most widely adopted in America. Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin’s, include A Writer’s Reference, Eleventh Edition (2025); A Pocket Style Manual, Tenth Edition (2025); The Bedford Handbook, Twelfth Edition (2023); Rules for Writers, Tenth Edition (2022); and Writer’s Help 2.0, Hacker Version.

Nancy Sommers

Nancy Sommers, who has taught composition and directed composition programs for thirty years, now teaches in Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. She led Harvard’s Expository Writing Program for twenty years, directing the first-year writing program and establishing Harvard’s WAC program. A two-time Braddock Award winner, Sommers is well known for her research and publications on student writing. Her articles “Revision Strategies of Student and Experienced Writers” and “Responding to Student Writing” are two of the most widely read and anthologized articles in the field of composition. Recently she has been exploring different audiences through publishing in popular media. Sommers is the lead author on Hacker handbooks, all published by Bedford/St. Martin’s, and editor of Tiny Teaching Stories on Macmillan Learning’s Bits Blog.