Spelling and Hyphenation (Sections 6.11–
6.12): Spelling and hyphenation should match
the Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary or the
APA Dictionary of Psychology. Write words with
prexes and sufxes without a hyphen.
For more information, including the spelling of
common technology terms, see the Spelling
and Hyphenation pages.
Capitalization (Sections 6.13–6.21): Use title
case and sentence case capitalization correctly.
Capitalize proper nouns, including names of
racial and ethnic groups. Do not capitalize
names of diseases, disorders, therapies,
treatments, theories, concepts, hypotheses,
principles, models, and statistical procedures,
unless personal names appear within these
terms.
For more information, including capitalization
to use for specic paper elements, see the
Capitalization pages.
Abbreviations (Section 6.24–6.31): Use
abbreviations sparingly and usually when
they are familiar to readers, save considerable
space, and appear at least three times in
the paper. Dene abbreviations, including
abbreviations for group authors, on rst use.
Do not use periods in abbreviations. Use Latin
abbreviations only in parentheses, and use
the full Latin term in the text. Do not dene
abbreviations listed as terms in the dictionary
(e.g., AIDS, IQ) and abbreviations for units of
measurement, time, Latin terms, and common
statistical terms and symbols.
For more information, including abbreviations
that do not need to be dened, see the
Abbreviations pages.
Numbers (Sections 6.32–6.39): Use words to
express numbers zero through nine in the
text. Use numerals to express numbers 10 and
above in the text. In all cases, use numerals in
statistical or mathematical functions, with units
of measurement, and for fractions, decimals,
ratios, percentages and percentiles, times,
dates, ages, scores and points on a scale, sums
of money, and numbers in a series (e.g., Year 1,
Grade 11, Chapter 2, Level 13, Table 4).
For more information and exceptions, see the
Numbers pages.
Statistics (Sections 6.40–6.45): Include
enough information to allow readers to fully
understand any analyses conducted. Space
mathematical copy the same as words, with
spaces between signs. Use statistical terms in
narrative text: “the means were,“ not “the Ms
were.” Use statistical symbols or abbreviations
with mathematical operators: “(M = 6.62),” not
“(mean = 6.62).”
Lists (Sections 6.49–6.52): Ensure items in
lists are parallel. Use commas to separate items
in simple lists. Use semicolons to separate
items when any items in the list already contain
commas.
For more information, including how to create
lettered, numbered, and bulleted lists, see the
Lists pages.
Tables and Figures
General Guidelines (Sections 7.1–7.7): Include
tables and/or gures if required for your paper
or assignment. When possible, use a standard,
or canonical, form for a table or gure. Do not
use shading or other decorative flourishes.
In the text, refer to each table or figure by its
number. Explain what to look for in that table
or gure by calling out the table or gure in the
text (e.g., “Table 1 lists…” “As shown in Figure
1…”).
Either embed each table or figure in the text
after it is first mentioned or place it on a
separate page after the reference list. If
embedded, place the table or gure at either
the top or the bottom of the page with an extra
double-spaced line between the table or the
figure and any text.
Tables (Sections 7.8–7.21): Use the tables
feature of your word-processing program to
create tables. Number tables in the order they
are mentioned in the text. Include borders only
at the top and the bottom of the table, beneath
column headings, and above column spanners.
Do not use vertical borders or borders around
every cell in the table.
All tables include four basic components:
number, title, column headings, and body.
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