The Importance and Proper Utilization of APA Referencing and Citing as well as Ethics Connected to Plagiarism

The Importance and Proper Utilization of APA Referencing and Citing as well as Ethics Connected to Plagiarism

Introduction

APA or American Psychological Association style is a set of rules for writing as well as formatting manuscripts. This style may be utilized for various kinds of manuscripts, for instance dissertations, theses, empirical studies reports, meta-analyses, literature reviews, theoretical articles, case studies and methodological articles. APA style is depicted expansively and broadly in the APA Publication Manual. This Manual is comprised of recommendations on nonbiased language, grammar and writing style, together with the set of rules for the formatting of manuscripts, like section headings and tables arrangement. The latest edition of APA publication manual was published in the year 2009 whereas the first manual was published in the year 1952. In actual fact, APA style of writing and formatting is the most established and acknowledged style for scholarly books and journals in psychology (APA, 2009). And above all, the utilization of a single style that has been accepted by primary organizations in the field helps students, researchers, and readers in understanding and organizing the presented information (Carver, 1984). On the other hand “Plagiarism” is a word anchored in the Latin language meaning kidnapping, and therefore carries implications of literary theft. In broadly accepted terminologies, plagiarism is the deliberate use of the ideas or words of other people devoid of giving acknowledgments. Thus, in this paper, we will discuss the importance and proper utilization of APA referencing and citing as well as ethics connected to plagiarism.

Discussion

Writing Style

The APA writing style lays emphasis on direct and clear prose (Dunn, 2007). The thoughts or concepts ought to be presented in a logical and orderly way, and writing ought to be as “to the point” and succinct as possible. The general set of rules for clear writing, for instance a topic sentence should be present in each and every paragraph. Preceding research ought to be depicted in either the past tense (for instance: “Arthur and Williams declared”) or the present perfect tense (for instance: “researchers have contended”) (APA, 2009). Past tense must also be utilized to portray the outcomes of an empirical study carried out by the writer (for instance: “self-esteem augmented with time”). Present tense (for instance: “these results show”) must be utilized in interpreting and discussing the results and depicting the conclusions.

Nonbiased Language

The guidelines for APA style of writing suggest that writers keep away from language that is biased in opposition to any specific group. APA offers precise and detailed set of rules for describing gender, age, ethnicity or race, disability status and sexual orientation (Dunn, 2007). Preferred terms vary in due course and can also be discussed within groups; writers ought to seek advice from a present style manual if they are uncertain of the terms that are at present considered disgusting. Writers may also request the participants of the study which term they like better for ...