The term "APA" refers to a style of writing and formatting that was created by the American Psychological Association.
A style guide provides a set of rules that govern the format and style of writing, particularly academic or scholarly writing. The purpose of a style guide is to provide uniformity in writing across disciplines, which makes it easier to read and understand academic writing. Using a style guide correctly also lends credibility to the document being written.
There are several different style guides in use today - for example, you may have heard of the APA Style, MLA Style, or Chicago Style. You may also see some of these styles mentioned as you conduct research in one of the library's databases.
The APA style is primarily used in the social, behavioral, and health sciences, and it is ANU's official style.
The APA guidelines put forth in this style guide follow the guidelines found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 7th Edition.
APA standards provide rules on the following:
