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Finding your way round the APA manual

What is the manual for?	When it's not in the Index
Finding information in the manual	Using Contents List
How the manual is arranged	Summary key to using manual
Using the Index	Key pages

This document only deals with using the fifth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Page numbers, chapter headings etc relate only to this edition.

You can find copies of the Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.)
in the Auchmuty library in 3 locations:

Short Loans
the Open shelf
in Reference

The call number is 808.06615 PUBL 2001
Copies are also available in the Huxley Library and the Central Coast Campus library Collections.

Using a style manual can be confusing at first. If you have never used one before, be patient.

What is the manual for?

The publication manual has been put together to help people
to conform to the rules for publishing using the APA style.
There is a great deal of useful information on referencing but a lot
of the book is not relevant to you.

The sections which will be most relevant to you are:
Chapter 3 - Reference Citations in Text	3.94 (p. 207)onwards.
Chapter 4 Reference List	4.01-4.16 (pp. 215-281)

How can I find information in the manual?

Style manuals are arranged differently from other books. However,
they have several features to help you find the information you need.

Indexes - which give section numbers and page numbers
Contents tables which give you subsection numbers for information
(but not page numbers).

How the manual is arranged

Style manuals do have page numbers but information is arranged
in sections. Eg. the information on how to write the title of an article in
a bibliography is in 4.10 - that is Chapter 4, section 10 which is on page 226.

Using the Index

The manual also has a very useful index. The Index provides
both page numbers and section numbers.
So, if you look up television programs in the Index (at the back of the book),
you will find this entry:

Television broadcasts and series,
267, 4.16

267 is the page number and 4.16 is the section number.

Looking up what you want in the index should provide you
with both the section number AND the page number.

When you can't find it in the Index

Sometimes it can be hard to find what you are looking for in the Index.
I tried to look up how to write an in-text reference with several different
authors and couldn't find it easily.
(It's in 3.99 which is Chapter 3, section 99 on page 212).

I also tried to find Journal article in press which is on p. 241 in
section 4.16 but again, there is no entry in the Index for it.

If you can't find it in the Index - try the Contents list

Using the Contents List in section 4.16

If you can't find an example of referencing for a reference list or bibliography
use the Contents List in section 4.16.

The Contents List is on pages 232-239

So, if you look up newsletter article in the Contents List, you will find:

A. Periodicals
newspaper article, 9-11.

(The numbers 9-11 refer to sub-sections
and are found on pages 242-243.)

Numbers after each entry in the Contents list are not the page number
but the sub-section in 4.16. These subsections are easy to find so you don't need page numbers.

Browse through the manual, especially the sections which you will need
and see how this system works.

Summary Key to using the APA Manual

First check the Index for what you need
If you can't find it,……
check the Contents pages 232-239 (only for reference list format)
intext referencing examples are listed in the index and can be found at pp. 207-214.

Other key pages

Table of USA states and territories abbreviations	p. 218
Arranging entries in alphabetical order	p. 219
Contents table for 4.16	pp232-239