Punctuation, Word Choice, & Arrangement

Grammar incorporates many elements, including diction, syntax, punctuation, abbreviation, etc.

Diction & Syntax (Word Choice & Arrangement)

• Voice:  Active voice is highly preferred.
• Economy of Expression: Short words and short sentences are preferred. Also, avoid jargon,wordiness, and redundancy in writing.
• Clarity: Focus on making it clear and understandable by avoiding sentences that are too complex or due to the placement of clauses.
• Person: Use first person pronouns to refer to yourself; use  third person pronouns to refer to others.
• Scientific: Avoid stating opinion or "flowery language." State the facts as objectively as possible!
• Which word should I use: who, that, or which?
  • Who - always use who when talking about humans
  • That - use that for animals and things when the clause is necessary to make a complete sentence (i.e., restrictive clauses)
  • Which - use which for animals and things when the clause only adds to the sentence (i.e., nonrestrictive clauses)

See pages 67, 77-86 of the manual for more information.

Punctuation

• Use two spaces at the end of a sentence.
• Colons: When can I use them?
  • Yes: Use colons between a grammatically complete introductory clause (i.e., one that could stand as a sentence) and a final phrase or clause that illustrates, extends, or amplifies the preceding thought. If the clause following the colon is a complete sentence, it begins with a capital letter. A colon is often used between a title and a subtitle (i.e., Quiet time: A nursing ...).
  • No: Do not use a colon after an introduction that is not an independent clause or complete sentence.

• Semicolons: Use semicolons
  • to separate two independent clauses that are not joined by a conjunction
  • to separate elements in a series that already contain commas
• Quotes: Periods and commas always fall within quotation marks. All other punctuation varies depending on the quote.

See pages 87-88 of the manual for more information. Also, more FAQs here: http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/index.aspx

Common Abbreviations

chap.	chapter
ed.	edition
Rev. ed.	Revised edition
2nd ed.	second edition
Ed. (Eds.)	Editor (Editors)
Trans.	Translators
n.d.	no date
p. (pp.)	Page (pages)
Vol.	Volume (as in Vol. 4)
Vols.	Volumes (as in 4 vols.)
No.	Number
Pt.	Part
Tech. Rep.	Technical Report
Suppl.	supplement

Abbreviation

• Avoid abbreviations that are not already commonly used (see table for some common abbreviations).
• In most cases, write out the complete term or phrase with the abbreviation following in parentheses to continue using the abbreviation throughout the rest of the document.
• Once an abbreviation is used, it must continue to be used throughout.
• Avoid beginning a sentence with an abbreviation, especially those that begin with a lower-case letter.
• Do not use spaces within an abbreviation (e.g., U.S.)

See pages 106-111 of the manual for more information. Also, more FAQs here: http://www.apastyle.org/learn/faqs/index.aspx

See pages 111-114, 117-123 of the manual for more information.

References

American Psychological Association. (2009a). The mechanics of style. In Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (pp. 87-124). Washington, DC:  Author.

American Psychological Association. (2009b). Writing clearly and concisely. In Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (pp. 61-86). Washington, DC:  Author.

Last Updated: Dec 12, 2018 1:08 PM

URL: https://libguides.uta.edu/apa

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Subjects: About Using the Library, Kinesiology, Nursing, Psychology

Tags: 6th edition, american psychological association, apa, cite, citing, how to cite, nursing, psychology

Full content reposted to this website by J. Dick, February 20, 2019.  To access the original content website, visit http://libguides.uta.edu/apa/style .