15 APA notes

15a Footnotes in the text

Occasionally, you may use footnotes to provide additional material that is important but
that might interrupt the flow of the paper. Notes should be brief and focused. Use notes
sparingly; if the material will take more than a few sentences, you should consider
integrating the information in the text or placing it in an appendix (see 10j).
In the text of your paper, use a superscript arabic numeral to indicate a note. At the
bottom of the page, place the same superscript numeral and the text of the note. Number
the notes consecutively throughout the paper. (See also “Footnotes” in 11a for more
details.)
TEXT
Now more than nine million children are classified as obese.1
FOOTNOTE
1
Obesity is measured in terms of body-mass index (BMI): weight in kilograms
divided by square of height in meters. An adolescent with a BMI in the 95th percentile
for his or her age and gender is considered obese.

15b Notes in tables and figures

Notes in tables A note at the bottom of a table can provide an explanation of terms used
in the table, such as abbreviations and symbols. If your table contains data from an
outside source or if you have taken or adapted the table from a source, give the source
information directly following any explanation of terms.
If you need to explain specific information within the table, use lettered footnotes
within the table and corresponding letters in the footnotes following the source
information. (See also “Visuals” in 11a.)

TABLE NOTE
Note. The data on sibutramine are adapted from “Behavior Therapy and Sibutramine for
the Treatment of Adolescent Obesity,” by R. I. Berkowitz, T. A. Wadden, A. M.
Tershakovec, & J. L. Cronquist, 2003, Journal of the American Medical Association,
289, pp. 1807–1809. The data on orlistat are adapted from Xenical (Orlistat) Capsules:
Complete Product Information, by Roche Laboratories, December 2003, retrieved from
http://www.rocheusa.com/products/xenical/pi.pdf
a
The medication and/or placebo were combined with behavioral therapy in all groups
over all time periods.

Notes in figures Each figure should have a number and a caption, a brief explanation of
the content of the figure, at the bottom of the figure. If you have taken or adapted the
figure from an outside source, give the source information immediately following the
caption. (See also “Visuals” in 11a.)
FIGURE NOTE
Figure 1. As countries engage in a currency war, the exchange rates against the dollar
can fluctuate widely. Adapted from “Currencies Against the Dollar,” September 30,
2011, The Economist, retrieved from
http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/09/emerging-market-currencies
16 Tighten wordy sentences.

Long sentences are not necessarily wordy, nor are short sentences always concise. A
sentence is wordy if it can be tightened without loss of meaning.

16a Redundancies
Redundancies such as cooperate together, yellow in color, and basic essentials are a
common source of wordiness. There is no need to say the same thing twice.

Daniel is employed at a private rehabilitation center working as a physical therapist

Modifiers are redundant when their meanings are suggested by other words in the
sentence.

Sylvia very hurriedly scribbled her name and

16b Empty or inflated phrases
An empty word or phrase can be cut with little or no loss of meaning. An inflated
phrase can be reduced to a word or two.

In my opinión;our current immigration policy is 

 INFLATED

 along the lines of

 at the present time

 because of the fact that

 by means of

 due to the fact that

 for the reason that

 in order to
  in spite of the fact that

 in the event that

 until such time as

 CONCISE

 like

 now,currently

 because

 by

 because

 because

 to

 although, though

 if

 until

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16c Needlessly complex structures

In a rough draft, sentence structures are often more complex than they need to be.
17 Prefer active verbs.

As a rule, active verbs express meaning more vigorously than their weaker counterparts
—forms of the verb be or verbs in the passive voice. Forms of be (be, am, is, are, was,
were, being, been) lack vigor because they convey no action. Passive verbs lack strength
because their subjects receive the action instead of doing it.
Forms of be and passive verbs have legitimate uses, but choose an active verb
whenever possible.

BE VERB    A surge of power was responsible for the destruction of the pumps.

PASSIVE    The pumps were destroyed by a surge of power.

ACTIVE     A surge of power destroyed the pumps.

17a When to replace be verbs

Not every be verb needs replacing. The forms of be (be, am, is, are, was, were, being,
been) work well when you want to link a
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subject to a noun that clearly renames it or to a vivid adjective that describes it:
Orchard House was the home of Louisa May Alcott. The harvest will be bountiful after
the summer rains.
If a be verb makes a sentence needlessly wordy, however, consider replacing it.
Often a phrase following the verb will contain a word (such as violation or resistant)
that suggests a more vigorous, active verb (violate, resisted).

NOTE: When used as helping verbs with present participles to express ongoing action,
be verbs are fine: She was swimming when the whistle blew. (See 26b.)

17b When to replace passive verbs

In the active voice, the subject of the sentence performs the action; in the passive, the
subject receives the action.

ACTIVE    The committee reached a decision.

PASSIVE     A decision was reached by the committee.

In passive sentences, the actor (in this case, committee) frequently does not appear: A
decision was reached.
Usually, you will want to emphasize the actor, so you should use the active voice.
To replace a passive verb with an active one, make the actor the subject of the sentence.
 The passive voice is appropriate when you wish to emphasize the receiver of the
action or to minimize the
importance of the actor. In the following sentence, for example, the writer wished to
focus on the tobacco plants, not on the people spraying them: As the time for harvest
approaches, the tobacco plants are sprayed with a chemical to retard the growth of
suckers. (See also 2b.)
18 Balance parallel ideas.

If two or more ideas are parallel, they should be expressed in parallel grammatical form.

18a items in a series

Balance all items in a series by presenting them in parallel grammatical form.
18b Paired ideas
When pairing ideas, underscore their connection by expressing them in similar
grammatical form. Paired ideas are usually connected in one of three ways: (1) with a
coordinating conjunction such as and, but, or or; (2) with

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a  pair of correlative conjunctions such as either . . . or, neither . . . nor, not only . . . but
also, or whether . . . or; or (3) with a word introducing a comparison, usually than or as.
 The coordinating conjunction and connects two -ing verb forms: reducing . . .
extending.

The correlative conjunction not only . . . but also connects two noun phrases: a
prolific inventor and a successful entrepreneur.

The comparative term than links two infinitive phrases: to speak . . . to ground.

NOTE: Repeat function words such as prepositions (by, to) and subordinating
conjunctions (that, because) to make parallel ideas easier to grasp.

19 Add needed words.

Sometimes writers leave out words intentionally, without affecting meaning. But the
result is often a confusing or an ungrammatical sentence. Readers need to see at a
glance how the parts of a sentence are connected.

19a Words in compound structures

In compound structures, words are often omitted for economy: Tom is a man who
means what he says and [who]

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says what he means. Such omissions are acceptable as long as the omitted word is
common to both parts of the compound structure.
If a sentence is ungrammatical because an omitted word is not common to both
parts of the compound structure, the word must be put back in.
 Believe . . . by is not idiomatic English.

19b the word that

Add the word that if there is any danger of misreading without it.

Milgram didn’t discover people; he discovered that people were willing to inflict pain
on strangers.

19c Words in comparisons

Comparisons should be between items that are alike. To compare unlike items is
illogical and distracting.

Comparisons should be complete so that readers will understand what is being

compared.

INCOMPLETE    The mice have less energy.

COMPLETE      The mice have less energy than the rats that were fed the same food.

Also, comparisons should leave no ambiguity about meaning. In the following sentence,
two interpretations are possible.

AMBIGUOUS    Kai helped me more than my roommate.

CLEAR    Kai helped me more than he helped my roommate.

CLEAR    Kai helped me more than my roommate did.

20 Eliminate confusing shifts.
20a Shifts in point of view
The point of view of a piece of writing is the perspective from which it is written: first
person (I or we), second person ( you), or third person (he, she, it, one, or they). The I
(or we) point of view, which emphasizes the writer, is a good choice for writing based
primarily on personal experience. The you point of view, which emphasizes the reader,
works well for giving advice or explaining how to do something. The third-person point
of view, which emphasizes the subject, is appropriate in most academic and professional
writing.
Writers who have difficulty settling on an appropriate point of view sometimes
shift confusingly from one to another. The solution is to choose a suitable perspective
and then stay with it. (See also 27a.)

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20b Shifts in tense

Consistent verb tenses clearly establish the time of the actions being described. When a
passage begins in one tense and then shifts without warning and for no reason to
another, readers are distracted and confused.
 Writers often shift verb tenses when writing about literature. The literary
convention is to describe fictional events consistently in the present tense. (See p. 166.)
21 Untangle mixed constructions.

A mixed construction contains sentence parts that do not sensibly fit together. The
mismatch may be a matter of grammar or of logic.

21a Mixed grammar

You should not begin a sentence with one grammatical plan and then switch without
warning to another.

The prepositional phrase beginning with For cannot serve as the subject of the verb
increase. The revision makes drivers the subject.

The coordinating conjunction but cannot link a subordinate clause (Although . . .) with
an independent clause (more than 20% . . .).

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21b Illogical connections
A sentence’s subject and verb should make sense together.

The exemption, not the elderly, will be abolished.

Joe, not his welfare, would not be safe.

21c Is when, is where, and reason . . . is because constructions

In formal English, readers sometimes object to is when, is where, and reason . . . is
because constructions on grammatical or logical grounds.

Anorexia nervosa is a disorder, not a place.

22 Repair misplaced and dangling modifiers.

Modifiers should point clearly to the words they modify. As a rule, related words should
be kept together.

22a Misplaced words

The most commonly misplaced words are limiting modifiers such as only, even, almost,
nearly, and just. They

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should appear in front of a verb only if they modify the verb. If they limit the meaning
of some other word in the sentence, they should be placed in front of that word.

When the limiting modifier not is misplaced, the sentence usually suggests a
meaning that the writer did not intend.

The original sentence means that no black southerners were slaves. The revision
makes the writer’s real meaning clear.

22b Misplaced phrases and clauses

Although phrases and clauses can appear at some distance from the words they modify,
make sure your meaning is clear. When phrases or clauses are oddly placed, absurd
misreadings can result.
 The comedians weren’t performing on the walls; the pictures were on the walls.

The robber, not the mustache, weighed 170 pounds.

22c Dangling modifiers

A dangling modifier fails to refer logically to any word in the sentence. Dangling
modifiers are usually introductory word groups (such as verbal phrases) that suggest but
do not name an actor. When a sentence opens with such a
modifier, readers expect the subject of the next clause to name the actor. If it doesn’t,
the modifier dangles.

DANGLING    Upon entering the doctor’s office, a skeleton caught my attention.

This sentence suggests—absurdly—that the skeleton entered the doctor’s office.

To repair a dangling modifier, you can revise the sentence in one of two ways:
 
1. Name the actor in the subject of the sentence.

2. Name the actor in the modifier.

You cannot repair a dangling modifier simply by moving it: A skeleton caught my
attention upon entering the doctor’s office. The sentence still suggests that the skeleton
entered the doctor’s office.

The framers (not the Constitution itself ) wanted to create checks and balances.

The women (not their access to the priesthood) completed the training. The writer has
revised the sentence by making women (not women’s access) the subject.

22d Split infinitives

An infinitive consists of to plus a verb: to think, to dance. When a modifier appears
between its two parts, an infinitive is said to be “split”: to slowly drive. If a split
infinitive is awkward, move the modifier to another position in the sentence.
 Attempts to avoid split infinitives sometimes result in awkward sentences. When
alternative phrasing sounds unnatural, most experts allow—and even encourage—
splitting the infinitive. We decided to actually enforce the law is a natural construction
in English. We decided actually to enforce the law is not.
23 Provide sentence variety.

When a rough draft is filled with too many samesounding sentences, try to inject some
variety—as long as you can do so without sacrificing clarity or ease of reading.

23a combining choppy sentences

If a series of short sentences sounds choppy, consider combining sentences. Look for
opportunities to tuck some of your ideas into subordinate clauses. A subordinate clause,
which contains a subject and a verb, begins with a word such as after, although,
because, before, if, since, that, unless, until, when, where, which, or who. (See p. 244.)

Also look for opportunities to tuck some of your ideas into phrases, word groups
without subjects or verbs (or both). You will usually see more than one way to combine
choppy sentences; the method you choose should depend on the details you want to
emphasize.
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The revision on the bottom of page 150 emphasizes the significance of the canal
during the Civil War. The first sentence, about the age of the canal, has been made into
a phrase modifying Chesapeake and Ohio Canal.

This revision emphasizes the age of the canal. The second sentence, about its use for
transportation of goods, has become a participial phrase modifying Chesapeake and
Ohio Canal.
When short sentences contain ideas of equal importance, it is often effective to
combine them with and, but, or or.
23b Varying sentence openings
Most sentences in English begin with the subject, move to the verb, and continue to an
object, with modifiers tucked in along the way or put at the end. For the most part, such
sentences are fine. Put too many of them in a row, however, and they become
monotonous.
Words, phrases, or clauses modifying the verb can often be inserted ahead of the
subject.

Participial phrases (beginning with verb forms such as driving or exhausted) can
frequently be moved to the start of a sentence without loss of clarity.
NOTE:In a sentence that begins with a participial phrase, the subject of the sentence must
name the person or thing being described. If it doesn’t, the phrase dangles. (See 22c.)
24 Find an appropriate voice.

An appropriate voice is one that suits your subject, engages your audience, and
conforms to the conventions of the genre in which you are writing, such as analytical
essays, lab reports, research papers, business memos, and so on. (See also 2b and 2c.)
In writing in the social sciences and related fields, certain language is generally
considered inappropriate: jargon, clichés, slang, and sexist language.

24a Jargon
Jargon is specialized language used among members of a trade, profession, or group.
Use jargon only when readers will be familiar with it; even then, use it only when plain
English will not do as well.

JARGON   We outsourced the work to an outfit in Ohio because we didn’t have the
bandwidth to tackle it in-house.

REVISED    We hired a company in Ohio because we had too few employees to do the
work.

Broadly defined, jargon includes puffed-up language designed more to impress

readers than to inform them. The following are common examples from business,
government, higher education, and the military, with plain English translations in
parentheses.
 
 commence (begin)

 components (parts)

 endeavor (try)

 facilitate (help)

 finalize (finish)

 impact (v.) (affect)

 indicator (sign)

 optimal (best)

 parameters (boundaries, limits)

 prior to (before)

 utilize (use)
  viable (workable)

Sentences filled with jargon are hard to read and often wordy.

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24b Clichés
The pioneer who first announced that he had “slept like a log” no doubt amused his
companions with a fresh and unlikely comparison. Today, however, that comparison is
a cliché, a saying that can no longer add emphasis or surprise. To see just how
predictable clichés are, put your hand over the right-hand column below and then finish
the phrases given on the left.
 
 cool as a

 beat around the

  busy as a

 crystal

 light as a

 like a bull

 playing with

 nutty as a

 selling like

 water under the

 white as a

 avoid clichés like the

 cucumber

 bush

 bee, beaver

 clear

 feather

 in a china shop

 fire

 fruitcake

 hotcakes

 bridge

 sheet, ghost

 plague

The solution for clichés is simple: Just delete them. Sometimes you can write
around a cliché by adding an element of surprise. One student who had written that she
had butterflies in her stomach revised her cliché like this:
 If all of the action in my stomach is caused by butterflies, there must be a horde of
them, with horseshoes on.
The image of butterflies wearing horseshoes is fresh and unlikely, not predictable
like the original cliché.

24c Slang
Slang is an informal and sometimes private vocabulary that expresses the solidarity of a
group such as teenagers, rap musicians, or sports fans. Although it does have a certain
vitality, slang is a code that not everyone understands, and it is too informal for most
written work.

24d Sexist language

Sexist language excludes, stereotypes, or demeans women or men and should be
avoided.
In your writing, avoid referring to any one profession as exclusively male or
exclusively female (teachers as women or engineers as men, for example). Also avoid
using different conventions when identifying women and men.

Traditionally, he, him, and his were used to refer generically to persons of either
sex: A journalist is motivated by his deadline. You can avoid such sexist usage in one of
three ways: substitute a pair of pronouns (he or she, his or her); reword in the plural; or
revise the sentence to avoid the problem. Note that the terms he or she and his or her
are inclusive but wordy; fine in small doses, they can become awkward when repeated
throughout a paper. The other two strategies are usually more effective.
 Like he and his, the nouns man and men and related words were once used
generically to refer to persons of either sex. Use gender-neutral terms instead.
 
 INAPPROPRIATE

 chairman

 congressman

 fireman

 mailman

 mankind

 to man

 weatherman

 APPROPRIATE

 chairperson, chair

 representative, legislator

 firefighter

 mail carrier, postal worker

 people, humans

 to operate, to staff
  meteorologist, forecaster

25 Make subjects and verbs agree.

In the present tense, verbs agree with their subjects in number (singular or plural) and in
person (first, second, or third). The present-tense ending -s is used on a verb if its
subject is thirdperson singular; otherwise the verb takes no ending. Consider, for
example, the present-tense forms of the verb give.
  SINGULAR PLURAL
FIRST PERSON I give we give
SECOND PERSON you give you give
THIRD PERSON he/she/it gives they give
Yolanda gives parents give
The verb be varies from this pattern; it has special forms in both the present and
the past tense.
 
 PRESENT-TENSE FORMS OF BE

 I am

 you are

 he/she/it is

 we are

 you are

 they are

 PAST-TENSE FORMS OF BE

 I was

 you were

 he/she/it was

 we were

 you were

 they were

This section describes particular situations that can cause problems with subject-
verb agreement.
25a Words between subject and verb
Word groups often come between the subject and the verb. Such word groups, usually
modifying the subject, may contain a noun that at first appears to be the subject. By
mentally stripping away such modifiers, you can isolate the noun that is in fact the
subject.

The subject is levels, not pollution.

The subject is slaughter, not pandas or pelts.

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NOTE: Phrases beginning with the prepositions as well as, in addition to, accompanied
by, together with, and along with do not make a singular subject plural: The governor as
well as his aide was [not were] on the plane.

25b Subjects joined with and

Compound subjects joined with and are nearly always plural.
EXCEPTION: If the parts of the subject form a single unit, you may treat the subject as
singular: Bacon and eggs is always on the menu.

25c Subjects joined with or or nor

With compound subjects joined with or or nor, make the verb agree with the part of the
subject nearer to the verb.

25d Indefinite pronouns such as someone

Indefinite pronouns refer to nonspecific persons or things. The following indefinite
pronouns are singular: anybody, anyone, anything, each, either, everybody, everyone,
everything, neither, nobody, no one, somebody, someone, something.

A few indefinite pronouns (all, any, none, some) may be singular or plural
depending on the noun or pronoun they refer to: Some of our luggage was lost. Some of
the rocks were slippery. None of his advice makes sense. None of the eggs were broken.

25e Collective nouns such as jury

Collective nouns such as jury, committee, audience, crowd, class, family, and couple
name a group. In American English, collective nouns are usually treated as singular:
They emphasize the group as a unit.

Occasionally, to draw attention to the individual members of the group, a collective

noun may be treated as plural: The class are debating among themselves. Many writers
prefer to add a clearly plural noun such as members: The class members are debating
among themselves.

NOTE: In general, when fractions or units of measurement are used with a singular noun,
treat them as singular; when they are used with a plural noun, treat them as plural:
Three-fourths of the pie has been eaten. One-fourth of the drivers were texting.

25f Subject after verb

Verbs ordinarily follow subjects. When this normal order is reversed, it is easy to be
confused.

The subject, penicillin and tetracycline, is plural.

The subject always follows the verb in sentences beginning with there is or there
are (or there was or there were).

The subject, turtle and snake, is plural, so the verb must be were.

25g Who, which, and that

Like most pronouns, the relative pronouns who, which, and that have antecedents,
nouns or pronouns to which they refer. Relative pronouns used as subjects of
subordinate clauses take verbs that agree with their antecedents.
 Constructions such as one of the students who (or one of the things that) may cause
problems for writers. Do not assume that the antecedent must be one. Instead, consider
the logic of the sentence.

The antecedent of that is things, not one. Several things set us apart from animals.
When the phrase the only comes before one, you are safe in assuming that one is
the antecedent of the relative pronoun.

The antecedent of who is one, not friends. Only one friend lives in the building.

25h Plural form, singular meaning

Words such as athletics, economics, mathematics, physics, politics, statistics, measles,
and news are usually singular, despite their plural form.

EXCEPTION: Occasionally some of these words, especially economics, mathematics,

politics, and statistics, have plural meanings: Office politics often affect decisions about
hiring and promotion. The economics of the building plan are prohibitive.

25i Titles, company names, and words mentioned as words

Titles, company names, and words mentioned as words are singular.