Editing Tips: Punctuation in APA Style

The APA Publication Manual is one of the principal academic style guides. And if you’re proofreading academic writing, especially in the social and behavioral sciences, you’ll need to know the basics of punctuation in APA style. Here, then, we’ll look at:

1. When to use periods in abbreviations
2. How APA uses the serial (or Oxford) comma
3. When to introduce a vertical list with a colon
4. Semicolons in lists and citations
5. How APA suggests using en dashes and em dashes
6. A few tips about using quotation marks in APA style

To find out more about all the above, read on below.

Periods in Abbreviations

In most respects, APA follows standard conventions for period usage (e.g., using one at the end of a sentence, to go for the most obvious example). But it does have some specific rules about when to use periods in abbreviations. In APA, writers should use periods for:

• Initials in names (e.g., J. R. R. Tolkien or E. B. White)
• The abbreviations U.K. and U.S. when used as adjectives (e.g., The U.K. population…)
• Latin abbreviations, such as e.g., i.e., a.m., p.m., vs., and cf.
• Era designations (i.e., B.C., A.D., B.C.E., C.E.)
• For reference abbreviations (e.g., ed., p., pp., paras.)
• Identity-concealing labels for study participants

But writers should omit periods for the following abbreviations:

• State, province, and territory names (e.g., NY, Washington DC, NSW)
• Capitalized abbreviations (e.g., APA, MLA, BBC, NYU)
• Academic degrees (e.g., MA, PhD, MD)
• Measurements (e.g., cm, hr, min, kg)
• Ways of administering medicine (e.g., iv, icv, ip)

As such, it’s worth keeping an eye out for abbreviations if your client is using APA style.

The Serial Comma

As with periods, APA follows standard comma usage in most cases. But keep in mind that APA recommends using a serial (or Oxford) comma in lists of three or more items:

Punctuation in APA style is designed to be clear, simple, and consistent. ✓

Punctuation in APA style is designed to be clear, simple and consistent. ✗

This applies whether or not the comma is necessary for clarity.

Colons and Vertical Lists

APA only requires a colon before a vertical list when it follows a full sentence:

If the text before a list is not a complete sentence, though, no punctuation is required:

The same applies to in-line lists, but a misplaced colon in these cases is usually more obvious!

Semicolons in Lists and Citations

As well as linking independent clauses, APA suggests using semicolons to separate:

• List items when they already contain commas (e.g., Famous musical trios include Crosby, Stills, and Nash; Emerson, Lake, and Palmer; and Peter, Paul, and Mary)
• Multiple parenthetical citations (e.g., Allen & Young, 2010; Jones et al., 1998; Smith, 2001)

In both cases, the aim is to clearly distinguish each item from those around it.

Em Dash or En Dash?

As with most US-English style guides, APA suggests the following uses for dashes:

• Em Dash – APA uses unspaced em dashes for parentheticals (i.e., to set aside a digression from the main clause in a sentence). It also suggests using em dashes sparingly to preserve the flow of prose, so keep an eye out for overuse in documents you proofread.
• En Dash – In APA, en dashes are used for connecting words of equal weight in a compound adjective (e.g., author–date citations) or numerical ranges (e.g., 1920–1931).

It’s also important to distinguish dashes from hyphens and minus signs.

Quotation Marks (Other than Quotes)

APA suggests following US conventions for quote marks (e.g., using double quote marks rather than inverted commas, placing all periods and commas inside closing quote marks). As a proofreader, though, you may want to take your client’s chosen dialect into account here.

In addition, other than direct quotations, the APA recommends using quote marks for:

• Letters, words, or phrases used as examples of themselves (e.g., The letter “t” is used…)
• Introducing a new word or phrase for the first time, especially slang, labels, neologisms, and words used ironically (quote marks are only required for the first usage)
• Titles of chapters and articles used in the text, but not in the reference list
• Presenting stimuli in the text (e.g., The stimulus words were “go,” “stay,” and “rhubarb”)

Make sure your client does not use quote marks for emphasis, though!

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