The IIRP Graduate School uses the latest (7th) edition of American Psychological Association (APA) writing style, or APA Style, for presenting ideas and data, formatting papers, and citing sources in student assignments and scholarly publications. APA Style is the most widely-used writing style in the social sciences.
Key resources
IIRP Graduate School Writing & APA Style Guidelines (PDF).
- This guide is illustrated with examples of references from the literature of restorative practices. It covers the most frequently-asked APA-related style topics requested by IIRP students, faculty and staff, and includes file-naming guidelines for student assignments.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition
- The official, definitive resource for APA writing, citation and paper formatting style; a must-have for all students and scholars in the social sciences. We highly recommend that you obtain this essential item from the bookseller of your choice. | Introduction (PDF)
- Print editions available from American Psychological Association and most major online retailers (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Foyles, etc.) | E-book editions available from VitalSource, RedShelf and Amazon.
Additional tools
Free resources from APA:
Online tutorial: Basics of 7th edition APA Style. Self-paced learning modules cover key components of APA Style.
APA Style and Grammar Guidelines: Information and examples for the most commonly-used elements of APA Style, including:
- Paper format | Student paper set-up guide | Sample papers - Student & Professional
- In-text citations
- References | Examples - Textual works (journals, books, etc.), audiovisual and online media, data sets, and dealing with missing information
- Tables & figures | Headings
- Mechanics of style, including Grammar | Punctuation | Spelling & hyphenation | Capitalization | Numbers | Italics & quotation marks | Abbreviations | Lists
Checklists, quick guides and templates for paper formatting, citations and references, and mechanics of style.
Citing ChatGPT: General guidance for acknowledging ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools. | Generative AI citation guide (2 pages)
Inclusive language guide for reducing bias and promoting equity, diversity and inclusion in academic writing | Quick reference sheet (1 page)
Journal Article Reporting Standards (JARS): Guidelines for article authors and journal editors and reviewers on information to be included in manuscripts, and how to best discuss race, ethnicity and culture:
- JARS-Quant (Quantitative research) | Summary
- JARS-Qual (Qualitative research) | Summary
- JARS-Mix (Mixed-methods research) | Summary
- JARS-RCE (Race, ethnicity and culture) | Summary
APA Style Blog: APA in-house editors provide practical advice and in-depth insights on a wide array of formatting, referencing and writing style subjects. | 6th edition APA Style Blog (archived): Helpful for hard-to-find style information not included in the 7th edition.
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