A similar rule in section 4.29 on page 110 applies to abbreviations. It’s even trickier when you know someone may be reading your paper with a red pen in hand! For example, when pluralizing an acronym, such as “CV” for “curriculum vitae,” all you need to do is add an s to the end, as in “CVs.” This rule also applies to standalone letters, as in “The students all received As.” For abbreviations that end with a period, such as “Ed.” to indicate an editor in a reference list entry, add an s before the period, as in “Eds.” When pluralizing an italicized abbreviation, remember not to italicize the s, as in “ps.” Just don’t add an apostrophe. If the spelled-out version of the term appears in the narrative for the first time, put the abbreviation and the author–date citation in parentheses after it, separated by a semicolon. If there are multiple pages use pp. ** p < .01, two-tailed. Visual: Screen opens to a background image with a person typing on a laptop and a notebook and pencil, along with the Walden University Writing Center logo. An exception to abbreviations in the reference list is when works have been published using abbreviations as part of the author, title, or source. The rules are in blue boxes with large text, and examples for these rules are in small grey boxes to the right of the blue boxes. In this post, I’ll focus on just one possibility: group authors. For example, it is usually easier to read a two-word phrase than it is to remember the meaning of a two-letter abbreviation. In this context, always write out the full words instead. Because of the unwieldy nature of this term, wouldn’t it make more sense to introduce the abbreviation (which is VLCADD) in this case? Abbreviations may be used for long, technical terms that are used frequently within a paper written in APA Style. Examples. If we read this sentence with the abbreviation spelled out, it would read as, “Often English language learners students…” Instead, the repeated noun “students” should be removed. For example, APA 5 style used to say that abstracts had to be self contained. Audio: Abbreviations can take some practice to get used to, so let’s look at a few common errors when using abbreviations. If you have several references by the same group author, you only need to abbreviate the name once (see here for how to handle references with the same author and date). Is the reader familiar with the abbreviation? Comments (54). Some abbreviations are pronounced as words (e.g., RAM), and some abbreviations are pronounced letter-by-letter, which is also called an initialism (e.g., HMO, IQ). It’s even trickier when you know someone may be reading your paper with a red pen in hand! this blog post). People sometimes think there is no need to introduc… | Often ELL students have different experiences they can expose other students to. If you only use a few abbreviations, you don’t need to include a list—follow the guidance below on how to define abbreviations within the text. About APA. (2011). Below are some guidelines to use in citing the most recent edition. On receipt, the journal editor may give the manuscript a preliminary read to ensure that it generally adheres to APA Style, that the content is within the purview of the journal, and that the type of article (e.g., empirical study, theoretical review) is If you’re still concerned, you might discuss your paper and the APA Style guidelines with your teacher or advisor. These are included in the in-text citation. 241–243. Click a question below to jump straight to its answer. In this first example, the way the abbreviation is introduced is switched; the abbreviation should be in parentheses, rather than the other way around. 2. If you do use an abbreviation in a running head, you can use it straightaway without definition. Introduce your abbreviation in parentheses the first time you use it. Punctuation is also covered in more detail on pages 87–96 of the Publication Manual. Go here for information on how to cite it. Can I use abbreviations in the running head? If one page number is being referred to, use the abbreviation p. for page. The email address writingsupport@waldenu.edu appears on the screen. 34-35) How many total abbreviations do you have in the paper? So, what does “as needed” mean? Do not alternate between spelling out the term and abbreviating it. Let’s say you are writing a paper on metabolism disorders, and you need to mention very long-chain acyl-coenzyme A dehydrogenase deficiency just two times. Almost, but there are a handful of exceptions. Posted by Timothy McAdoo at 9:50 AM | Still worried about that red pen? You won’t have to phone a friend each time you consider using an abbreviation. 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