Social Work

Quick Guidelines

Quick Guidelines

General Format (p. 43-67):

• Margins     1” on top, bottom, left, and right. 
• Font           No specifics but recommend 12-point Times New Roma, 11-point Georgia.
• Spacing     Double-spaced, hanging indent 0.5 in.
• Header      No running headers are required for student papers.

Writing & Grammar (p. 120-121):

• Singular "they" required in two situations: when used by a known person as their personal pronoun or when the gender of a singular person is not known.

Reference List  (p. 281 - 309):

• The References list should be labeled as "References" capitalized, in bold, and centered. Double-spaced all entries, and each entry should be formatted with a hanging indent of 0.5 inches (p. 39 - 40).
• References generally have four elements: author, date, title, and source (p. 283 - 284).
• Order the reference list entries alphabetically by author. If references have more than one source by the same author, arrange by year of publication. If there is no author information or group or organization, alphabetized the entry by the first significant word of the title, ignoring words like A, An, The (p. 303 - 306).
• Invert all individuals author's name, providing the surname first, followed by a comma and the initials, use a comma to separate an author's initials from additional author names  (p. 286).
• Use italics for titles of books, reports, webpages, periodical titles, and other stand-alone works (p.170).  
• If a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) is listed on either a print or an electronic source, it must be included in the reference. Display DOI as hyperlinks always starting with "https://doi.org/" no period in the end, because it may interfere with link functionality (p. 298 - 301). Make sure you clean up DOI URLs from HPU proxy information.
• For works without DOI from websites (not databases), provide a URL in the reference as long as the URL will work for the reader, no period at the end because it may interfere with link functionality (p. 298 - 301).  For works without DOI from most academic databases, do not include URL or database information in the reference list. Academic database links do not work for the readers who are not affiliated to the institution; cite source as if it was a print source (p. 299).  The exception is ERIC and Cochrane Library; the reference for content that is only accessible thru those databases should include the database name  (p.299). 
• When DOIs or URLs are long or complicated, you may use a short DOIs or shortened URL. For DOI use, the short DOI services from http://shortdoi.org/. Any shortened URL is acceptable in a  reference as long as it checked that the link works (p. 300)
• A reference without a recoverable source cannot be included in the reference list, which includes personal interviews and online sources that are no longer accessible thru the listed URL. Check that all your reference links are active; if the content is not available, look for an archived version of the page on the Internet Archive. 
• The words “Retrieved from” (preceding the URL or DOI) are now only used when a retrieval date is also provided in the citation. However, you should include a retrieval date only when the page's content is likely to change over time. (see example below)

In-Text Citation

APA7 style requires that in-text citations consist of the author(s) and date, in brackets, with a comma in between, eg; (Abbott, 2020).

DOI

DOI stands for digital object identifier and it is a unique alphanumeric string that is used to identify a certain source (typically journal articles).  Not all journal articles or books have DOIs but per APA style if there is a DOI you must use it in the citation. 

APA 7th edition standardizes DOI formatting to begin with https://doi.org/

Most databases provide DOI information, for articles that have them, in the articles' descriptions record. DOI are sometimes placed above or at the top or bottom of an article's first page. 

• DOI Primer

  This post on the official APA Style Blog takes you through the basics.
• DOI and URL Flowchart

  This flowchart from the APA Style Blog can help you determine when to include a DOI or URL in your citation.
• Crossref.org

  If your article's DOI is not readily apparent, to be thorough, you may wish to check crossref.org. (Not all articles have DOIs assigned.)

Artificial Intelligence

The following guidelines is from the American Psychological Association (APA) Style Blog posted on April 7th 2023. Due to the rapid developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) these guidelines may be updated periodically. Please refer to the APA Style Blog, "How to cite ChatGPT"

Quoting or Reproducing Text created by ChatGPT adapted from the template for software in Section 10.10 of the APA Style Publication Manual

• In the case of ChatGPT, provide the descriptor for the tool [Large language model]
• Do not repeat the publisher if the same as the author name
• If you used ChatGPT or other AI tools in your research include this in your Methods section or in your Introduction
• As each ChatGPT response is unique, full-text ChatGPT responses may also be added to the essay as an appendix.