Business Ethics Analysis Assignment Instructions

Criteria Ratings Points

Content/ Analysis

56 to >51.0 pts

Advanced

All issues are addressed and questions answered. Major points are supported by all of the following: • Pertinent, conceptual, or personal examples; • Thoughtful analysis (considering assumptions, analyzing implications, and comparing/contrasting concepts); • At least 3 scholarly sources, in addition to the course materials, cited in current APA format; and • Integration of at least 2 biblical principles with citations.

51 to >46.0 pts

Proficient

Most issues are addressed and questions answered. Major points are supported by most of the following: • Pertinent, conceptual, or personal examples; • Thoughtful analysis (considering assumptions, analyzing implications, and comparing/contrasting concepts); • At least 3 scholarly sources, in addition to the course materials, cited in current APA format; and • Integration of at least 2 biblical principles with citations.

46 to >0.0 pts

Developing

Some issues are addressed and questions answered. Major points are supported by some of the following: • Pertinent, conceptual, or personal examples; • Thoughtful analysis (considering assumptions, analyzing implications, and comparing/contrasting concepts); • At least 3 scholarly sources, in addition to the course materials, cited in current APA format; and • Integration of at least 2 biblical principles with citations.

0 pts

Not Present

Few issues are addressed and questions answered. Little or no analysis of key issues. Or paper is not submitted.

56 pts

Grammar/ Spelling

10 to >9.0 pts

Advanced

Correct spelling and grammar are used throughout the thread. There are 0–2 errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content.

9 to >7.0 pts

Proficient

There are 3–5 errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content.

7 to >0.0 pts

Developing

There are 6–10 errors in grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content.

0 pts

Not Present

There are more than 10 errors in the grammar or spelling that distract the reader from the content OR there is evidence of a complete lack of spell-checking and proofreading.

10 pts

Paper Grading Rubric (1) | BUSI561_D10_202230

Criteria Ratings Points

APA Citation Compliance

10 to >9.0 pts

Advanced

References are cited both in-text and in a reference list. There are 0–2 minor errors in APA format in the required citations.

9 to >7.0 pts

Proficient

References are cited both in-text and in a reference list. There are 3-5 minor errors in APA format in the required citations.

7 to >0.0 pts

Developing

There are more than 5 errors in APA format in the required items and/or required citations are missing.

0 pts

Not Present

Required citations do not exist, or demonstrate no APA formatting or structure.

10 pts

Word Count 4 to >3.0 pts

Advanced

The minimum word count of 800 words of substantive content is met or exceeded.

3 to >2.0 pts

Proficient

Substantive word count is between 600 and 800 words.

2 to >0.0 pts

Developing

Substantive word count is between 400 and 600 words.

0 pts

Not Present

There are fewer than 400 words of substantive content.

4 pts

Total Points: 80

Paper Grading Rubric (1) | BUSI561_D10_202230

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 1

Created by Christy Owen of Liberty University’s Online Writing Center

onlinewriting@liberty.edu; last date modified: November 7, 2021

Sample APA Paper: Professional Format for Graduate/Doctoral Students

Claudia S. Sample

School of Behavioral Sciences, Liberty University

Author Note

Claudia S. Sample (usually only included if author has an ORCID number)

I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Claudia S. Sample.

Email: cssample123456789@liberty.edu

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 2

Table of Contents

(Only Included for Easy Navigation; Hyperlinked for Quick Access)

Sample APA Paper: Professional Format for Graduate/Doctoral Students ……………………………… 6

Basic Rules of Scholarly Writing ……………………………………………………………………………………… 7

Brief Summary of Changes in APA-7 ………………………………………………………………………………… 8

Running Head, Author Note, and Abstract …………………………………………………………………………. 9

Basic Formatting Elements …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10

Font ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10

Line Spacing ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10

Spaces After Punctuation …………………………………………………………………………………….. 11

Footnotes …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 11

Heading Levels—Level 1 ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 11

Level 2 Heading …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 12

Level 3 Heading ………………………………………………………………………………………. 13

Level 4 Heading. Must be bolded and indented ½”. Add a period, one

space, and begin your content on the same line as shown here. ………………………………… 13

Level 5 Heading …………………………………………………………………. 13

Specific Elements of Academic Papers ……………………………………………………………………………. 13

Tables of Contents and Outlines …………………………………………………………………………… 13

Annotated Bibliographies ……………………………………………………………………………………. 14

Appendices ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 3

Crediting Your Sources………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 15

Paraphrasing and Direct Quotes ……………………………………………………………………………. 15

Paraphrasing ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 16

Block Quotes …………………………………………………………………………………………… 16

How Often to Cite Your Source in Each Paragraph ………………………………………………… 17

Rule for Omitting the Year of Publication ……………………………………………………………… 17

Arranging the Order of Resources in Your Citations ………………………………………………. 17

Two Works by the Same Author in the Same Year …………………………………………………. 18

Two Works by Two Different Authors with the Same Last Name ……………………………. 18

Three or More Authors Cited In-Text ……………………………………………………………………. 18

Number of Authors in the Reference List ………………………………………………………………. 19

Numbers ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 19

Displaying Titles of Works in-Text …………………………………………………………………………………. 19

Primary Sources versus Secondary Sources ……………………………………………………………………… 20

Personal Communications ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 20

Resources Canonically Numbered Sections (i.e., the Bible and Plays) …………………………………. 21

Bible and other Classical Works …………………………………………………………………………… 21

Plays …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 22

Lectures and PowerPoints ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 22

Dictionary Entries …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 23

Changes in Reference Entries …………………………………………………………………………………………. 23

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 4

Electronic Sources ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 24

Adding Color ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24

Self-Plagiarism ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 25

Final Formatting Tweaks ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 26

Exhaustive Reference List Examples & Additional Helpful Resources ………………………………… 26

Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 29

References ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 30

Appendix ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 40

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 5

Abstract

Begin your abstract at the left margin. This is the only paragraph that should not be indented.

Unless otherwise instructed, APA recommends an abstract be no more than 250 words. It should

generally not contain any citations or direct quotes. This should be a tight, concise summary of

the main points in your paper, not a step-by-step of what you plan to accomplish in your paper.

Avoid phrases such as “this paper will,” and just structure your sentences to say what you want

to say. The following three sentences exemplify a good abstract style: There are many

similarities and differences between the codes of ethics for the ACA and the AACC. Both include

similar mandates in the areas of —-, —, and —. However, each differs significantly in the areas

of —, —, and —. For more detailed information, see “Writing an Abstract” at

https://www.liberty.edu/casas/academic-success-center/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2019/04/

Writing_an_Abstract_Revised_2012.pdf (note that you would not include any links in your

abstract). This is just now at 168 words, so eyeball how brief your abstract must be. Think of

your paper as a movie you want to sound enticing, and the abstract as the summary of the plot

you would share to draw people’s interest into wanting to come and see your movie. You want to

really hook and intrigue them. What you have to say is important! Remember to stay under 250,

words. Keywords highlight the search terms someone would use to find your paper in a database.

Keywords: main words, primary, necessary, search terms

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 6

Sample APA Paper: Professional Format for Graduate/Doctoral Students

The title of your paper goes on the top line of the first page of the body (American

Psychological Association [APA], 2019, section 2.11). It should be centered, bolded, and in title

case (all major words—usually those with four+ letters—should begin with a capital letter)—see

p. 51 of your Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association: Seventh Edition

(APA, 2019; hereinafter APA-7). It must match the title that is on your title page (see last line on

p. 32). As shown in the previous sentence, use brackets to denote an abbreviation within

parentheses (bottom of p. 159). Write out the full name of an entity or term the first time

mentioned before using its acronym (see citation in first sentence in this paragraph), and then use

the acronym throughout the body of the paper (section 6.25).

There are many changes in APA-7. One to mention here is that APA-7 allows writers to

include subheadings within the introductory section (APA, 2019, p. 47). Since APA-7 now

regards the title, abstract, and term “References” to all be Level-1 headings, a writer who opts to

include headings in his or her introduction must begin with Level-2 headings as shown above

(see section 2.27) for any divisions within the introductory section.

If you do choose to include headings in your introduction section (which is optional), be

sure to include two or more subheadings, since APA (2019) forbids stand-alone heading levels.

A second notable change in APA-7 is that writers are no longer required to cite their source every

single sentence that content from it is mentioned (section 8.1). As demonstrated in this paper,

since all of the content (other than the examples included for illustration and reference-entry

variation purposes) comes directly from the APA-7 itself, citations to the APA-7 are only

included for the first instance in each paragraph. Section and/or page numbers are included

parenthetically throughout for the sake of students who desire to know exactly where the stated

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 7

rule appears in the APA-7 itself. In your academic papers, however, it is critical to include the

required author(s) and year, as applicable, for all citations that are included; this may include

more than one citation for each resource per paragraph, as required to avoid any confusion about

the source of that content.

Basic Rules of Scholarly Writing

Most beginning students have difficulty learning how to write papers and also format

papers correctly using the seventh edition of the APA manual. However, the Liberty University

Online Writing Center’s (OWC) mission includes helping students learn how to be autonomous,

proficient writers. The OWC also provides students with templates to help them with basic

formatting elements, but this sample paper is designed to help graduate and doctoral students

learn to master APA rules and formatting on their own, which will prove helpful as they progress

in their studies and work toward future publication in scholarly journals.

For the purpose of instruction, this paper will use second person (you, your), but third

person (this author) must be used in most student papers. First person (I, me, we, us, our) is not

generally permitted in academic papers. Students should refrain from using first or second person

in college courses (even though the APA manual encourages this in other writing venues) unless

the assignment instructions clearly permit such (as in the case of personal reflection sections or

life histories). If in doubt, students should clarify with their professors.

APA-7 delineates separate rules and guidelines between “student” and “professional”

writers (APA, 2019). Because a primary purpose of graduate and doctoral studies is to prepare

those students to publish professionally, Liberty University has decided to have undergraduate

students follow APA-7’s guidelines for “student papers,” and graduate/doctoral students follow

APA-7’s guidelines for “professional papers.” Separate templates are available for each level.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 8

This sample paper illustrates and discusses the rules and formatting of professional papers, as

required for all Liberty University graduate and doctoral courses using APA-7 style.

Brief Summary of Changes in APA-7

Most of these changes will be discussed in more detail below; this is just a very brief

overview here. APA-7 reverts back to only one space after closing punctuation in the body of the

paper (APA-6 required two spaces; APA, 2019, section 6.1). Student (undergraduate) papers no

longer include a running head or abstract (sections 2.2 and 2.8); professional (graduate/doctoral)

papers require an abstract but the running head is now the same on all pages (the added phrase

“Running head:” from APA-6 has been eliminated; see section 2.8). Title pages are different for

both student and professional formats. The title of a paper is no longer limited to 12 words

(section 2.4).

Citations of all resources with three or more authors now use the first author’s last name

and the term et al. (APA, 2019, section 8.17). Reference entries must name up to the first 19

authors before adding an ampersand and ellipsis (up from APA-6’s six authors; section 9.8).

APA-7 omits the phrase DOI and instead standardizes DOIs to be presented in hyperlink format

(i.e., https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1524838017742386; section 9.35). Formatting guidelines for

annotated bibliographies are included in APA-7 (section 9.51), as well as expanded and

standardized reference entry examples. As discussed above, it is no longer necessary to cite a

source every single time you refer to content gleaned from it as long as it is clear the content

comes from that source (section 8.1); APA-7 also expanded the specific location noted in the

citation to include page, paragraph, section (as used throughout this sample paper, to direct the

student to the exact relevant content), chapter, timestamp, etc. (section 8.13).

APA-7 allows for “self-plagiarism” (clarified and defined below). It also invites writers to

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 9

highlight the most relevant work first, rather than just present all works in alphabetical order

(APA, 2019, section 8.12).

Heading-level formatting has changed, and APA-7 provides more flexibility in font and

line spacing (APA, 2019). The Bible must now be included in the reference list and its citations

must include the editor’s details and year (section 8.28); there are also new rules for dictionary

entries. Publisher city and state details are omitted from all reference entries except those

involving presentations or conferences, as is the phrase “retrieved from.” Hyperlinks should be

live, but they may be either presented as blue underlining or plain black text.

Running Head, Author Note, and Abstract

APA (2019) delineates separate formatting requirements for what it terms “student” and

“professional” papers. Its descriptions for those labels, however, suggests that it regards

undergraduate-level writing to fall within the student purview, and graduate/doctoral-level

writing (including dissertations and theses) to fall within the professional purview. Since a

significant goal in graduate and post-graduate studies is preparing those students to publish in

scholarly journals at and beyond graduation, it makes sense to train those students in the

formatting that is required for professionals. As such, Liberty University has opted to require the

APA-7’s “student” version format for all undergraduate assignments using APA, and its

“professional” version for all graduate and doctoral assignments. To that end, this being the

sample paper for professional formatting, it includes the additional elements required for such: a

running head (same on all pages), an author’s note, and an abstract. Graduate and doctoral

students will use this format. Note that the first “paragraph” under the author’s note is generally

only included if the author has an ORCID number, which most students will not have. However,

it is included in this sample paper and the corresponding template because the purpose of these

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 10

resources is to prepare students to publish manuscripts post-graduation. The student’s full

address, however, is intentionally omitted from the Liberty University template and this sample

paper for privacy and safety reasons, since student papers are often unfortunately published

online and disclosing their home addresses could pose safety risks.

Basic Formatting Elements

Font

APA-7 does not prescribe a specific font or size (APA, 2019, section 2.19) but rather

allows for some choice (e.g., 12-point Times New Romans, 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 11-

point Georgia, or 10-point Lucinda Sans Unicode). Most journals and academic institutions will

have a preference, however, as even APA-7 acknowledges on p. 44. For this reason—and

because font size can easily be changed if an editor interested in publishing a student’s work

prefers a different font—Liberty University recommends that students use 12-point Times New

Romans or 11-point Calibri font for the body text in all academic papers. Data in charts, figures,

and tables should be presented in 8- to 14-point size in either Calibri, Arial, or Lucinda Sans

Unicode font. Students are not permitted to use any fonts such as script, calligraphy, poster,

decorative, or others not found in published scholarly journals. Since APA-7 itself authorizes a

variety of fonts and sizes, assignments will be gauged by word count rather than page count.

Word count constitutes the number of words within the body of the paper, and excludes the title

page, abstract, reference list, appendices, and other supplemental resources.

Line Spacing

APA-7 adds extra/blank lines on the title page (APA, 2019, sections 2.5, 2.7, 2.21). It also

specifies that spacing in tables and figures may be single-, 1-1/2-, or double-spaced; equations

can be triple- or quadruple-spaced. Footnotes, when used at the bottom of a page, should be

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 11

single-spaced (section 2.21).

Spaces After Punctuation

APA-7 reverts back to just one space after closing punctuation in the body of the paper, as

well as in reference entries (APA, 2019, section 6.1). Ordinarily, it would be improper to have a

paragraph with only one sentence, though APA itself asserts that for its purposes “sentences and

paragraphs of any length are technically allowed.”1

Footnotes

This leads to another new rule in APA-7, one allowing the inclusion of footnotes (APA,

2019, section 2.13). Footnotes should be use very sparingly and are appropriate to include

information such as that in the prior section to alert the reader to supplemental material that is

available online for that thought. Though APA-7 authorizes placement of footnote content either

at the bottom of the page (as in this sample paper) or on a separate page after the reference list

(section 2.21), Liberty University recommends that student place them, when used, at the bottom

of the page, as shown here.

Heading Levels—Level 1

This sample paper uses primarily two levels of headings (Levels 1 and 2). APA style,

however, has five heading levels, which will be demonstrated briefly for visual purposes. See

section 2.27 of your APA-7 (APA, 2019) for more details on heading levels and formatting. In

APA-7, all heading levels are now bolded and in title case (capitalize each major word—usually

those with four or more letters, including hyphenated compound words). Do not capitalize

articles (a, an, the) in headings unless they begin a title or follow a colon. Level 1 headings are

centered, with the content falling on the line beneath each, in standard paragraph format.

1 See https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2016/05/index.html

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 12

Many students misunderstand that you progress from Level 1 to Level 2 to Level 3 to

Level 4 to Level 5, but that is not correct. In fact, your paper may have only Level 1 headings, or

just Levels 1 and 2. The rule of thumb is that you must have at least two of each heading level

that you use, otherwise omit that heading level.

Headings are basically styling ways of organizing your paper, without using an outline

format. APA specifies five levels of headings; you would likely never use Level 5 and only very

rarely use Level 4 as a student. Think of each level as the different levels in an outline. Roman

numerals, for example, would be Level 1 headings. Capital letters would be Level 2 headings.

Numerals would be Level 3 headings. Lowercase letters would be Level 4. And lowercase

Roman numerals would be Level 5. You must always have two or more of each subheading, but

you do not need every level. You start with Level 1 and work down from that (but not

consecutive 1-2-3-4-5). Under a Level 1, you would either have two+ Level 2 headings or none

at all (just one big section in paragraphs before the next Level 1 section).

Special note about conclusion sections: Please note that some of the sample papers

published by APA to demonstrate proper APA-7 format (including the “professional” sample on

pp. 50-60 of the APA-7 manual) depict the “Conclusion” section with a Level-2 heading. This is

limited to empirical papers that are being submitted for publication in scholarly journals, as those

conclusions pertain to the “Discussion” sections in such papers and are not conclusions of the

overall papers themselves. Conclusions in academic papers at Liberty University will be Level 1

headings (including dissertations and theses, which are divided by chapters, unlike journal article

manuscripts).

Level 2 Heading

Level 2 headings are left-justified (APA, 2019, p. 48). The supporting information is

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 13

posed in standard paragraph form beneath it. Never use only one of any level of heading. You

must use two or more of any level you use, though not every paper will require more than one

level. The heading levels are simply demonstrated here for visual purposes, but you would

always have two or more of each under a larger heading, as shown throughout all the other

sections of this sample paper.

Level 3 Heading

Level 3 headings are bolded, left-justified, and italicized; the content falls on the line

underneath, as with Levels 1 and 2.

Level 4 Heading. Must be bolded and indented ½”. Add a period, one space, and begin

your content on the same line as shown here.

Level 5 Heading. Same as Level 4, but also italicized. Despite heavy writing experience,

this author has never used Level 5 headings.

Specific Elements of Academic Papers

Tables of Contents and Outlines

APA (2019) does not regulate every type of paper and some elements in various

assignments are not addressed in the APA-7 manual, including outlines and tables of content. In

those cases, follow your professor’s instructions and the grading rubric for the content and

format of the outline or annotations, and use standard APA formatting for all other elements

(such as running head, title page, body, reference list, 1″ margins, double-spacing, permitted

font, etc.). Note that most academic papers will not require a table of contents, nor would one be

appropriate. One was included in this paper simply for ease-of-access so students could go

directly to the content they want to see. Generally speaking, no table of contents would be

necessary for papers less than 20 pages of content, unless otherwise required by your professor.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 14

That being said, when organizing outlines in APA format, set your headings up in the

proper levels (making sure there are at least two subheadings under each level), and then use

those to make the entries in the outline. As discussed above, Level 1 headings become uppercase

Roman numerals (I, II, III), Level 2 headings become capital letters (A, B, C), Level 3 headings

become numbers (1, 2, 3), Level 4 headings become lowercase letters (a, b, c), and Level 5

headings become lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii). Many courses now require “working

outlines,” which are designed to have the bones and foundational framework of the paper in

place (such as title page, abstract, body with title, outline/heading divisions, supporting content

with citations, and references), without the full “meat” that fills out and forms a completed paper.

Annotated Bibliographies

Many Liberty University courses also now require students to prepare and submit an

annotated bibliography as a foundational step to building a research paper. There is significant

merit in these assignments, as they teach students to critique the resources they have found and

rationalize why each is relevant for their paper’s focus. APA (2019) includes a section on

annotated bibliographies (9.51; see the example provided on p. 308). The appendix attached to

this sample paper also includes a sample annotated bibliography.

Appendices

Appendices, if any, are attached after the reference list (APA, 2019, section 2.14). You

must refer to them (i.e., “callout”) in the body of your paper so that your reader knows to look

there (see the yellow-highlighted callouts to Table 1 on p. 54 and to Footnote 1 on p. 55 of your

APA-7 for visuals on how this should appear in your paper). The word “Appendix” is singular;

use it to refer to individual appendices. APA-7 regards it as a Level 1 heading so it should be

bolded. I attached a sample Annotated Bibliography as a visual aid (see Appendix). You will see

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 15

that I included the title “Appendix” at the top of the page and formatted it in standard APA

format beneath that. Because I only included one appendix, it is simply titled as such. If there are

more appendices, assign a letter to each and denote each by that: “Appendix A” and “Appendix

B.”

Crediting Your Sources

Paraphrasing and Direct Quotes

Paraphrasing is rephrasing another’s idea in one’s own words by changing the wording

sufficiently without altering the meaning (remember not to just change a word here or there or

rearrange the order of the original source’s wording). Quoting is using another’s exact words.

Both need to be cited; failure to do so constitutes plagiarism. Include the author(s) and year for

paraphrases, and the author(s), year, and page or paragraph number for direct quotes. APA-7 also

expands this to include figure number, time stamp, etc.—whatever detail is necessary to get the

reader directly to that content. Page numbers should be used for any printed material (books,

articles, etc.), and paragraph numbers should be used in the absence of page numbers (online

articles, webpages, etc.; see APA, 2019, section 8.13). Use p. for one page and pp. (not italicized

in your paper) for more than one (section 8.25). Use para. for one paragraph and paras. (also not

italicized in your paper) for two or more (section 8.28). For example: (Perigogn & Brazel, 2012,

pp. 12–13) or (Liberty University, 2019, para. 8). Section 8.23 of the APA (2019) manual

specifies that it is not necessary to include a page or paragraph number for paraphrases (just for

direct quotes), but writers may choose to do so to help their readers find that content in the cited

resource.

When naming authors in the text of the sentence itself (called a narrative citation), use the

word “and” to connect them. For example, Perigogn and Brazel (2012) contemplated that . . .

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 16

Use an ampersand (&) in place of the word “and” in parenthetical citations and reference lists:

(Perigogn & Brazel, 2012).

Paraphrasing

Only use quotes when the original text cannot be said as well in your own words or

changing the original wording would change the author’s meaning. You cannot simply change

one word and omit a second; if you paraphrase, the wording must be substantially different, but

with the same meaning. Regardless, you would need to cite the resource you took that

information from. For example, Benoit et al. (2010) wrote that “although, a link between

attachment and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms has been established, the

mechanisms involved in this link have not yet been identified” (p. 101). A paraphrase for that

quote might be: A link between dysfunctional attachment and the development of PTSD has

been made, though there is insufficient data to determine exactly how this mechanism works

(Benoit et al., 2010).

Block Quotes

Quotes that are 40 or more words must be blocked, with the left margin of the entire

quote indented ½ inch. Maintain double-spacing of block quotes. APA prefers that you introduce

quotes but note that the punctuation falls at the end of the direct quote, with the page number

outside of that (which is contrary to punctuation for non-blocked quotes). For example, Alone

(2008) claims:2

Half of a peanut butter sandwich contains as much bacteria as the wisp of the planet

Mars. Thus, practicality requires that Mrs. Spotiker nibble one bit at a time until she is

assured that she will not perish from ingesting it too quickly. (p. 13)

2 Note that there are no quotation marks for block quotes, as shown in the example.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 17

Usually quotes within quotes use single quotation marks; however, use double quotation marks

for quotes within blocked quotes, since there are no other quotation marks involved. Also

understand that direct quotes should be used sparingly in scholarly writing; paraphrasing is much

preferred in APA format (APA, 2019, section 8.23), as it demonstrates that you read, understood,

and assimilated other writers’ content into one cohesive whole.

How Often to Cite Your Source in Each Paragraph

As already mentioned above, APA’s (2019) new official rule is that you no longer must

cite your source every single time you refer to material you gleaned from it (section 8.1). It is

now acceptable to cite your source the first time you refer to content from it in your paragraph,

and then not again in that same paragraph unless your phrasing does not make the source of your

content clear. This is demonstrated throughout this sample paper.

Rule for Omitting the Year of Publication

That being said, APA (2019) has clarified its special rule that excludes the year of

publication in subsequent narrative in-text citations (when you name the authors in the text of the

sentence itself), after the first narrative citation in each paragraph. It should continue to appear in

all parenthetical citations (see section 8.16). For example, Alone (2008) portrays imagery of Mrs.

Spotiker. This includes her devouring a peanut butter sandwich (Alone, 2008). Alone conveys

this through the lens of astronomy. Note that the year of publication was omitted from the second

narrative citation (underlined for visual purposes).

Arranging the Order of Resources in Your Citations

If the material you cited was referred to in multiple resources, separate different sets of

authors with semicolons, arranged in the order they appear (alphabetically by the first author’s

last name) in the reference list (i.e., Carlisle, n.d.-a; Prayer, 2015) (APA, 2019, section 8.12).

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 18

APA-7 now invites writers to prioritize or highlight one or more sources as most prominent or

relevant for that content by placing “those citations first within parentheses in alphabetical order

and then insert[ing] a semicolon and a phrase, such as ‘see also,’ before the first of the remaining

citations” (APA., 2019, p. 263)—i.e., (Cable, 2013; see also Avramova, 2019; De Vries et al.,

2013; Fried & Polyakova, 2018). Periods are placed after the closing parenthesis, except with

indented (blocked) quotes.

Two Works by the Same Author in the Same Year

Authors with more than one work published in the same year are distinguished by lower-

case letters after the years, beginning with a (APA, 2019, section 8.19). For example, Double

(2008a) and Double (2008b) would refer to resources by the same author published in 2008.

When a resource has no date, use the term n.d. followed by a dash and the lowercase letter (i.e.,

Carlisle, n.d.-a and Carlisle, n.d.-b; see APA, 2019, section 8.19).

Two Works by Two Different Authors with the Same Last Name

Citations in the body of the paper should include only the last names, unless you have

two or more resources authored by individuals with the same last name in the same year (or are

citing a personal communication). When there are two different authors with the same last name

but different first names who published in the same year, include the first initials: Brown, J.

(2009) and Brown, M. (2009) (APA, 2019, section 8.20).

Three or More Authors Cited In-Text

When referring to material that comes from three or more authors, APA-7 now requires

that all citations name just the first author’s last name followed by the words et al. (without

italics) (APA, 2019, section 8.17). Et al. is a Latin abbreviation for et alii, meaning “and others,”

which is why the word “al.” has a period, whereas “et” does not. Alone et al. (2011) stipulated

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 19

that peacocks strut. Every single time I refer to their material, I would apply APA-7’s rule: Alone

et al. (2011) or (Alone et al., 2011). Since et al. denotes plural authors, the verb must be plural to

match, too: Alone et al. (2011) are… This applies to all citations within the body of the paper

with three or more authors.

Number of Authors in the Reference List

For resources with 20 or fewer authors in the reference list, write out all of the authors’

last names with first and middle initials, up to and including the 20th author (APA, 2019, section

9.8). APA-7 has a special rule for resources with 21 or more authors: Write out the first 19

authors’ last names with initials, insert an ellipsis (…) in place of the ampersand (&), and finish

it with the last name and initials of the last author. See example #4 provided on page 317 of your

APA-7, as well as this paper’s reference list for visuals of these variances (Acborne et al. 2011;

Kalnay et al., 1996).

Numbers

Numbers one through nine must be written out in word format (APA, 2019, section 6.33),

with some exceptions (such as ages—see section 6.32). Numbers 10 and up must be written out

in numerical format (section 6.32). Always write out in word format any number that begins a

sentence (section 6.33).

Displaying Titles of Works in-Text

The names of journals, books, plays, and other long works, if mentioned in the body of

the paper, are italicized in title case (APA, 2019, section 6.17). Titles of articles, lectures, poems,

chapters, website articles, and songs should be in title case, encapsulated by quotation marks

(section 6.7). The year of publication should follow the author’s name, whether in narrative or

parenthetical format: Perigogn and Brazel (2012) anticipated…, or (Perigogn & Brazel, 2012).

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 20

The page or paragraph number must follow after the direct quote. Second (2015) asserted that

“paper planes can fly to the moon” (p. 13). You can restate that with a parenthetical citation as:

“Paper planes can fly to the moon” (Second, 2015, p. 13). Second (2011) is another resource by

the same author in a different year.

Primary Sources versus Secondary Sources

APA (2019) strongly advocates against using secondary sources; rather, it favors you

finding and citing the original (primary) resource whenever possible (section 8.6). On the rare

occasion that you do find it necessary to cite from a secondary source, both the primary (who

said it) and secondary (where the quote or idea was mentioned) sources should be included in the

in-text citation information. If the year of publication is known for both resources, include both

years in the citation (section 8.6). Only the secondary source should be listed in the reference

section, however. Use “as cited in” (without the quotation marks) to indicate the secondary

source. For example, James Morgan hinted that “goat milk makes the best ice cream” (as cited in

Alone, 2008, p. 117). Morgan is the primary source (he said it) and Alone is the secondary

source (he quoted what Morgan said). Only the secondary source is listed in the reference section

(Alone, and not Morgan) because if readers want to confirm the quote, they know to go to page

117 of Alone’s book.

Personal Communications

APA (2019) rationalizes the exclusion of references for information obtained through

personal communication (such as an interview, email, telephone call, postcard, text message, or

letter) in the reference list because your readers will not be able to go directly to those sources

and verify the legitimacy of the material. Instead, these items are cited only in the body of the

paper. You must include the individual’s first initial, his or her last name, the phrase “personal

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 21

communication” (without the quotation marks), and the full date of such communication (section

8.9). As with other citations, such citations may be either narrative or parenthetical. For example,

L. Applebaum advised him to dip pretzel rolls in cheese fondue (personal communication, July

13, 2015). The alternative is that he was advised to dip pretzel rolls in cheese fondue (L.

Applebaum, personal communication, July 13, 2015). Note that there is no entry for Applebaum

in the reference list below.

Resources Canonically Numbered Sections (i.e., the Bible and Plays)

These resources should be cited in book format (APA, 2019, Section 9.42). The Bible and

other religious works are generally regarded as having no author; an annotated version would be

treated as having an editor. Include republished dates as necessary. The OWC will publish a list

of reference entries for various Bible versions on its APA Quick Guide webpage.

Bible and other Classical Works

Works such as the Bible, ancient Greek or Roman works, and other classical works like

Shakespeare must be cited in the body of the paper (APA, 2019, section 8.28). APA-7 now also

requires that they be included in the reference list, too (section 9.42), which is a significant

change from APA-6. Republished dates are included as well (see section 9.41). As such, you

would add a parenthetical phrase at the end of your reference entry with the original publication

details; note that there should be no punctuation following such parenthetical content at the end

of a reference entry (the reference entries depicting this in the reference list below are correctly

punctuated).

Citations for the Bible will include the Bible version’s name in the author’s position (as

an anonymous work), original and republished years, and then the book chapter/verse (spelled

out) in place of the page number (i.e., King James Bible, 1769/2017, Genesis 3:8)—see sections

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 22

8.28 and 9.42. Note that APA (2019) requires book titles to be italicized in every venue,

including citations and reference entries. Because Liberty University is a distinctly-Christian

institution and many of its courses require biblical integration, most if not all of its students will

cite the Bible in virtually every course. The examples provided on pp. 274 and 325 of APA-7 are:

(note the italics in each)

 Narrative citation: King James Bible (1769/2017)

 Parenthetical citation: (King James Bible, 1769/2017, Song of Solomon 8:6)

 Reference entry: King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online.

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work published 1769)

Plays

When citing plays, “cite the act, scene, and line(s), in a single string, separated by

periods. For example, ‘1.3.36-37’ refers to Act 1 Scene 3, Lines 36-37” (APA, 2019, section

8.28; see also example #37 on p. 325).

Lectures and PowerPoints

APA (2019) has expanded and standardized its rules for citations and reference entries in

an effort to best credit the original sources. It now includes rules for crediting content in course

or seminar handouts, lecture notes, and PowerPoint presentations (see #102 on p. 347). When

citing a PowerPoint presentation, include the slide number rather than the page number. For

purposes of Liberty University course presentations and lectures (which are not readily available

to the public), reference each as a video lecture with the URL (if available) for the presentation,

naming the presenter(s) in the author’s position. Include the course number, lecture title, and

enough details for others to identify it within that course, in a sort of book format, naming

Liberty University as publisher. Peters (2012) is an example of this in the reference list of this

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 23

paper. If the presenter for a Liberty University class lecture is not named, credit Liberty

University as the author; see Liberty University (2020) in the reference list below as an example.

Dictionary Entries

In keeping with its efforts to standardize reference entries, APA (2019) now requires

citation and referencing of word definitions from dictionaries to follow the same rules for

chapters in an edited book (see #47 and #48 on p. 328; section 8.13). As such, you will now

name either the individual, group, or corporate author of the dictionary in the author’s place (e.g.,

Merriam-Webster, n.d.). If you searched online, include the retrieval date and the URL to the

exact webpage. If you used a hard copy book, include the publisher details. The in-text citation

in the body of the paper would follow standard author/year format (e.g., Merriam-Webster, n.d.).

Changes in Reference Entries

There are a number of notable changes in APA-7 from past versions. For the most part,

these simplify and unify the formats to be more consistent across the different resource venues.

Some of these have already been discussed above (i.e., naming up to 19 authors’ names before

adding an ellipsis, and crediting authors and editors of classical works and dictionaries). Other

changes include italicizing names of webpages and website resources in the reference list (APA,

2019, section 6.22), as well as book titles even when named in the author’s position (such as

King James Bible). The city and state locations of publishers are no longer required; only include

those details “for works that are associated with a specific location, such as conference

presentations” (p. 297, section 9.31). Issue numbers are required for all journal articles that have

such, regardless of what page number each issue begins with (section 9.25). If two or more

publishers are listed on the copyright page, include all of them in the order listed, separated by

semicolons (section 9.29). Omit the word Author in the publisher’s place when it is the same as

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 24

the author (section 9.24).

Electronic Sources

Note that since the APA 6th edition was published in 2010, great strides have been made

in online and electronic resource accessibility, and APA’s position on electronic resources has

shifted to embrace this. More and more resources are available electronically through the

Internet. The advent of this increased availability has resulted in APA-7’s effort to standardize

the formatting of resources, which in turn simplifies them to some extent. All reference entries

follow the same basic details: Author(s), year of publication, name of resource, and location

details (i.e., either journal name/volume/issue/page numbers, or book publisher, or webpage).

APA (2019) requires inclusion of a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) in the references

whenever available (section 9.34); if not, then a webpage, if available. In keeping with its

unification of resources, APA-7 now standardizes all DOIs and URLs to be presented in

https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1524838017742386 format. The phrase “Retrieved from” is now

excluded except when the content may have changed (such as dictionary entries, Twitter profiles,

Facebook pages; see section 9.16). APA-7 requires all hyperlinks to be active (so your reader can

click on one to go directly to that webpage), but they may appear as either blue-underlined text

or simple black text (section 9.35). There should be no period after any URL. APA-7 no longer

requires authors to break long URLs with soft returns (hold down the Shift key and press the

Enter key) at forward slashes, periods, or underscores to avoid unsightly spacing gaps, but it may

be best to do so in academic papers.

Adding Color

Though APA (2019) authorizes writers to include the use of color in photographs and

figures (section 7.26), Liberty University discourages this in academic papers. It risks becoming

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 25

distracting for both students in their quest to be creative, and professors in their quest to focus on

academic content.

Self-Plagiarism

APA (2019) also invites writers to repurpose some of their work in future papers.

Specifically, APA-7 states that:

In specific circumstances, authors may wish to duplicate their previously used works

without quotation marks or citation …, feeling that extensive self-referencing is

undesirable or awkward and that rewording may lead to inaccuracies. When the

duplicated material is limited in scope, this approach is permissible. (p. 8.3)

APA-7 adds “Do not use quotation marks or block quotation formatting around your own

duplicated material” (p. 256).

Liberty University, however, has stringent rules against self-plagiarism, as do many

scholarly journals. Liberty University students receive grades for their class papers; those who

have received feedback and a grade from a prior professor on a prior paper have an advantage

over their classmates, both in having the benefit of that feedback/grade and in not having to write

a whole paper from scratch during the subsequent class. Student papers are also submitted to

SafeAssign to deter plagiarism. For these reasons, Liberty University expressly forbids students

using significant portions of a prior paper in a subsequent course (either a retake of the same

course or a new class altogether). It is conceivable that students who are building their

knowledge base in a subject matter—particularly at the graduate and post-graduate levels—

would reasonably justify incorporating brief excerpts from past papers into current ones. In such

case, Liberty University authorizes students to utilize APA-7’s disclosure (i.e., “I have previously

discussed”), along with a citation to the prior class paper and a reference entry (i.e., Owen, 2012;

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 26

Yoo et al., 2016). Such self-references and re-use of content from prior papers should be used

sparingly and disclosed fully in the current paper; that content should not constitute a significant

portion of any academic assignment, however.

Final Formatting Tweaks

The templates provided by Liberty University are already formatted with proper spacing,

margins, heading level structure, and hanging indents, as necessary. With the exceptions of the

title page, figures, and equations, papers in APA format should be double-spaced throughout,

with no extra spacing between lines. Academic papers at Liberty University should also be in

one of the accepted fonts throughout (recommended: Times New Romans, 12-point font).

Sometimes when you format your paper or cut-and-paste material into it, things get skewed. One

quick way to ensure that your paper appears correct in these regards is to do a final formatting

tweak after you have completed your paper. Hold down the “Ctrl” button and press the “A” key,

which selects and highlights all of the text in your paper. Then go to the Home tab in Microsoft

Word and make sure that whichever acceptable font/size you choose to use is selected in the Font

box. Next, click on the arrow at the bottom of the Paragraph tab. Set your spacing before and

after paragraphs to “0 pt” and click the “double” line spacing. The extra spacing required on the

title page is already programmed into the template and should not change even when you

complete these actions.

Exhaustive Reference List Examples & Additional Helpful Resources

The reference list at the end of this paper includes an example of a myriad of different

sources and how each is formatted in proper APA-7 format. One example of each of the primary

types of resources will be included in the reference list, as cited in the body of this paper.

Remember that, for purposes of this paper only, many of the sources cited in the body of the

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 27

paper were provided for illustrative purposes only and thus are fictional, so you will not be able

to locate them if you searched online. Nevertheless, in keeping with APA-7 style, all resources

cited in the body of the paper are included in the reference list and vice versa (except for personal

communications, per APA-7’s published exceptions). Be absolutely sure that every resource cited

in the body of your paper is also included in your reference list (and vice versa), excepting only

those resources with special rules, such as personal communications and primary sources you

could not access directly.

The reference list in this paper is fairly comprehensive and will include a book by one

author who also appears as one of many authors in another resource (Alone, 2008; Alone et al.,

2011); chapters in edited books (Balsam et al., 2019; Haybron, 2008; Perigogn & Brazel, 2012;

Weinstock et al., 2003); electronic version of book (Strong & Uhrbrock, 1923); electronic only

book (O’Keefe, n.d.); edited books with and without DOIs, with multiple publishers (Hacker

Hughes, 2017; Schmid, 2017); work in an anthology (Lewin, 1999); journal articles (Andrews,

2016; Carlisle, n.d.-a, n.d.-b; De Vries R. et al., 2013; McCauley & Christiansen, 2019);

newspaper article (Goldman, 2018; Guarino, 2017); online webpages (Liberty University, 2019;

Prayer, 2015); resource with corporate author as publisher (American Psychological Association,

2019); resources by two authors with the same last name but different first names in the same

year of publication (Brown, J., 2009; Brown, M., 2009); two resources by same author in the

same year (Double, 2008a, 2008b; Carlisle, n.d.-a, n.d.-b); two resources by the same author in

different years (Second, 2011, 2015); resource with 20 authors (maximum allowed by APA-7

before special rule applies) (Acborne et al., 2011); resource with 21 or more authors (Kalnay et

al., 1996); dictionary entries (American Psychological Association, n.d.; Graham, 2019;

Merriam-Webster, n.d.); Liberty University class lecture using course details (Peters, 2012);

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 28

PowerPoint slides or lecture notes, not including course details (Canan & Vasilev, 2019); citing a

student’s paper submitted in a prior class, in order to avoid self-plagiarism (Owen, 2012);

unpublished manuscript with a university cited (Yoo et al., 2016); code of ethics (American

Counseling Association, 2014); diagnostic manual (American Psychiatric Association, 2013);

religious and classical works, including the Bible (Aristotle, 350 BC/1994; King James Bible,

1769/2017; Shakespeare, 1623/1995); dissertation or thesis (Hollander, 2017; Hutcheson, 2012);

review of a book (Schatz, 2000); video (Forman, 1975); podcast (Vedentam, 2015); recorded

webinar (Goldberg, 2018); YouTube or other streaming video (University of Oxford, 2018); clip

art or stock image (GDJ, 2018); map (Cable, 2013); photograph (McCurry, 1985); data set (Pew

Research Center, 2018); measurement instrument (Friedlander et al., 2002); manual for a test,

scale, or inventory (Tellegen & Ben-Porah, 2011); test, scale, or inventory itself (Project

Implicit, n.d.); report by a government agency or other organization (National Cancer Institute,

2018); report by individual authors at a government agency or other organization (Fried &

Polyakova, 2018); annual report (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2017); conference

session (Fistek et al., 2017); and webpages (Avramova, 2019; Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, 2018; National Nurses United, n.d.; U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.).

Lastly, below are a few webpages that address critical topics, such as how to avoid

plagiarism and how to write a research paper. Be sure to check out Liberty University’s Online

Writing Center (https://www.liberty.edu/online/casas/writing-center/) for more tips and tools, as

well as its Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/LUOWritingCenter). Remember

that these links are only provided for your easy access and reference throughout this sample

paper, but web links and URLs should never be included in the body of scholarly papers; just in

the reference list. Writing a research paper (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaa-PTexW2E

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 29

or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNT6w8t3zDY and avoiding plagiarism

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeCrUINa6nU).

Conclusion

The conclusion to your paper should provide your readers with a concise summary of the

main points of your paper (though not via cut-and-pasted sentences used above). It is a very

important element, as it frames your whole ideology and gives your readers their last impression

of your thoughts. Be careful not to introduce new content in your conclusion.

After your conclusion, if you are not using the template provided by the Online Writing

Center, insert a page break at the end of the paper so that the reference list begins at the top of a

new page. Do this by holding down the “Ctrl” key and then clicking the “Enter” key. You will go

to an entirely new page in order to start the reference list. The word “References” (not in

quotation marks) should be centered and bolded. Items in the reference list are presented

alphabetically by the first author’s last name and are formatted with hanging indents (the

second+ lines of each entry are indented 1/2” from the left margin). APA authorizes the use of

singular “Reference” if you only have one resource.3 Students would, of course, NOT include

any color-coding or footnotes in their reference entries. However, for the sake of clarity and

ease in identifying what each entry represents, each one included in the reference list of this

sample paper is color-coordinated to its corresponding footnote, with a brief description of what

each depicts.

3 https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/creating-reference-list.pdf

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 30

References

Acborne, A., Finley, I., Eigen, K., Ballou, P., Gould, M. C., Blight, D., Callum, M., Feist, M.,

Carroll, J. E., Drought, J., Kinney, P., Owen, C., Owen, K., Price, K., Harlow, K.,

Edwards, K., Fallow, P., Pinkley, O., Finkel, F., & Gould, P. P. (2011). The emphasis of

the day after tomorrow. Strouthworks. 4

Alone, A. (2008). This author wrote a book by himself. Herald Publishers. 5

Alone, A., Other, B., & Other, C. (2011). He wrote a book with others, too: Arrange

alphabetically with the sole author first, then the others. Herald Publishers. 6

American Counseling Association. (2014). 2014 ACA code of ethics.

https://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center 7

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders

(5th ed.). https://www.doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 8

American Psychological Association. (n.d.). Positive transference. In APA dictionary of

psychology. Retrieved August 31, 2019, from https://dictionary.apa.org/positive-

transference 9

American Psychological Association. (2019). Publication manual of the American Psychological

Association (7th ed.). 10

4 Resource with 20 authors (maximum allowed by APA before special rule applies).

5 Entry by author who also appears as one of many authors in another resource (single author

appears first in list).

6 Multiple authors appear after same single-author resource.

7 Code of ethics.

8 Diagnostic manual.

9 Entry in a dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia, with group author.

10 Resource with corporate author as publisher.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 31

Andrews, P. M. (2016). Congruence matters. Educational Leadership, 63(6), 12-15. 11

Aristotle. (1994). Poetics (S. H. Butcher, Trans.). The internet Classics Archive.

http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics.html (Original work published ca. 350 B.C.E.) 12

Avramova, N. (2019, January 3). The secret to a long, happy, heathy life? Think age-positive.

CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/03/health/respect-toward-elderly-leads-to-long-life-

intl/index.html 13

Balsam, K. F., Martell, C. R., Jones, K. P., & Safren, S. A. (2019). Affirmative cognitive

behavior therapy with sexual and gender minority people. In G. Y. Iwamasa & P. A.

Hays (Eds.), Culturally responsive cognitive behavior therapy: Practice a supervision

(2nd ed., pp. 287-314). American Psychological Association.

https://doi.org/10.1037/0000119-012 14

Benoit, M., Bouthillier, D., Moss, E., Rousseau, C., & Brunet, A. (2010). Emotion regulation

strategies as mediators of the association between level of attachment security and PTSD

symptoms following trauma in adulthood. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 23(1), 101-118.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/10615800802638279

Brown, J. (2009). Ardent anteaters. Brockton.

Brown, M. (2009). Capricious as a verb. Journal of Grammatical Elements, 28(6), 11-12. 15

11 Journal article without DOI, from most academic research databases or print version.

12 Ancient Greek or Roman work.

13 Webpage on a news website.

14 Chapter in an edited book with DOI.

15 Resources by two authors with the same last name but different first names in the same year of

publication. Arrange alphabetically by the first initials.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 32

Cable, D. (2013). The racial dot map [Map]. University of Virginia, Weldon Cooper Center for

Public Service. https://demographics.coopercenter.org/Racial-Dot-Map 16

Canan, E., & Vasilev, J. (2019, May 22). [Lecture notes on resource allocation]. Department of

Management Control and Information Systems, University of Chile. https:// uchilefau.

academia.edu/ElseZCanan 17

Carlisle, M. A. (n.d.-a). Erin and the perfect pitch. Journal of Music, 21(3), 16-17. http:// make-

sure-it-goes-to-the-exact-webpage-of-the-source-otherwise-don’t-include 18

Carlisle, M. A. (n.d.-b). Perfect pitch makes sweet music. Journal of Music, 24(8), 3-6. http://

make-sure-it-goes-to-the-exact-webpage-of-the-source-otherwise-don’t-include

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, January 23). People at high risk of

developing flu-related complications. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/highrisk/index.htm 19

De Vries R., Nieuwenhuijze, M., Buitendijk, S. E., & the members of Midwifery Science Work

Group. (2013). What does it take to have a strong and independent profession of

midwifery? Lessons from the Netherlands. Midwifery, 29(10), 1122-1128.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2013.07.007 20

Double, C. (2008a). This is arranged alphabetically by the name of the title. Peters.

Double, C. (2008b). This is the second (“the” comes after “arranged”). Peters. 21

16 Map.

17 PowerPoint slides or lecture notes.

18 Online journal article with a URL and no DOI; also depicts one of two resources by the same

author with no known publication date.

19 Webpage on a website with a group author.

20 Journal article with a DOI, combination of individual and group authors.

21 Two resources by same author in the same year. Arrange alphabetically by the title and then

add lowercase letters (a and b, respectively here) to the year.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 33

Fistek, A., Jester, E., & Sonnenberg, K. (2017, July 12-15). Everybody’s got a little music in

them: Using music therapy to connect, engage, and motivate [Conference session].

Autism Society National Conference, Milwaukee, WI, United States.

https://asa.confex.com/asa/2017/webprogramarchives/Session9517.html 22

Forman, M. (Director). (1975). One flew over the cuckoo’s nest [Film]. United Artists. 23

Fried, D., & Polyakova, A. (2018). Democratic defense against disinformation. Atlantic Council.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/democratic-defense-

against-disinformation/ 24

Friedlander, M. L., Escudero, V., & Heatherton, L. (2002). E-SOFTA: System for observing

family therapy alliances [Software and training videos] [Unpublished instrument].

http://www.softa-soatif.com/ 25

GDJ. (2018). Neural network deep learning prismatic [Clip art]. Openclipart.

https://openclipart.org/detail/309343/neural-network-deep-learning-prismatic 26

Goldberg, J. F. (2018). Evaluating adverse drug effects [Webinar]. American Psychiatric

Association. https://education.psychiatry.org/Users/ProductDetails.aspx?

ActivityID=6172 27

Goldman, C. (2018, November 28). The complicate calibration of love, especially in adoption.

22 Conference session.

23 Video.

24 Report by individual authors at a government agency or other organization.

25 Measurement instrument.

26 Clip art or stock image.

27 Webinar, recorded.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 34

Chicago Tribune. 28

Graham, G. (2019). Behaviorism. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy

(Summer 2019 ed.). Stanford University.

https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/behaviorism 29

Guarino, B. (2017, December 4). How will humanity react to alien life? Psychologists have some

predictions. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-

science/wp/2017/12/04/how-will-humanity-react-to-alien-life-psychologists-have-some-

predictions/ 30

Hacker Hughes, J. (Eds.). (2017). Military veteran psychological health and social care:

Contemporary approaches. Routledge. 31

Haybron, D. M. (2008). Philosophy and the science of subjective well-being. In M. Eid & R. J.

Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 17-43). Guilford Press. 32

Hollander, M. M. (2017). Resistance to authority: Methodological innovations and new lessons

from the Milgram experiment (Publication No. 10289373) [Doctoral dissertation,

University of Wisconsin-Madison]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. 33

Hutcheson, V. H. (2012). Dealing with dual differences: Social coping strategies of gifted and

lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer adolescents [Master’s thesis, The College

28 Newspaper article without DOI, from most academic research databases or print version

29 Entry in a dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia, with individual author.

30 Online newspaper article.

31 Edited book without a DOI, from most academic research databases or print version.

32 Book chapter, print version.

33 Doctoral dissertation, from an institutional database.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 35

of William & Mary]. William & Mary Digital Archive.

https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539272210/ 34

Kalnay, E., Kanimitsu, M., Kistler, R., Collins, W., Deaven, D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, S.,

White, G., Whollen, J., Zhu, Y., Chelliah, M., Ebisuzaki, W., Higgins, W., Janowiak, J.,

Mo, K. C., Ropelewski, C., Wang, J., Leetmaa, A., … Joseph, D. (1996). The

NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bulletin of the American Meteorological

Society, 77(3), 437-471. http://doi.org/ fg6rf9 35

King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

(Original work published 1769) 36

Lewin, K. (1999). Group decision and social change. In M. Gold (Ed.), The complex social

scientist: A Kurt Lewin reader (pp. 265-284). American Psychological Association.

https://doi.org/10.1037/10319-010 (Original work published 1948) 37

Liberty University. (2019). The online writing center. https://www.liberty.edu/online/casas/

writing-center/ 38

Liberty University. (2020). BIOL 102: Human biology. Week one, lecture two: Name of class

lecture. https://learn.liberty.edu 39

34 Thesis or dissertation, from the web (not in a database).

35 Resource with 21 or more authors. Note the ellipse (…) in place of the ampersand (&).

36 Religious work.

37 Work in an anthology.

38 Online webpage with URL.

39 Liberty University class lecture with no presenter named.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 36

McCauley, S. M., & Christiansen, M. H. (2019). Language learning as language use: A cross-

linguistic model of child language development. Psychological Review, 126(1), 1-51.

https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126 40

McCurry, S. (1985). Afghan girl [Photograph]. National Geographic.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/national-geographic-magazine-50-years-

of-covers/#/ngm-1985-jun-714.jpg 41

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Heuristic. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved 01/02/2020,

from http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/heuristic 42

National Cancer Institute. (2018). Facing forward: Life after cancer treatment (NIH Publication

No. 18-2424). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of

Health. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/life-after-treatment.pdf 43

National Nurses United. (n.d.). What employers should do to protect nurses from Zika.

https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/pages/what-employers-should-do-to-protect-rns-

from-zika 44

O’Keefe, E. (n.d.). Egoism & the crisis in Western values. http:// www. onlineoriginals.com/

showitem.asp?itemID-135 45

40 Typical journal article with doi.

41 Photograph.

42 Dictionary entry.

43 Report by a government agency or other organization.

44 Webpage on a website with no date.

45 Electronic only book.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 37

Owen, C. (2012, Spring). Behavioral issues resulting from attachment have spiritual

implications [Unpublished manuscript]. COUN502, Liberty University. 46

Perigogn, A. U., & Brazel, P. L. (2012). Captain of the ship. In J. L. Auger (Ed.) Wake up in the

dark (pp. 108-121). Shawshank Publications. 47

Peters, C. (2012). COUN 506: Integration of spirituality and counseling. Week one, lecture two:

Defining integration: Key concepts. Liberty University.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-integration-key-

concepts/id427907777?i=1000092371727 48

Pew Research Center. (2018). American trend panel Wave 26 [Data set].

https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/dataset/american-trends-panel-wave-26 49

Prayer. (2015). http:// www exact-webpage 50

Project Implicit. (n.d.). Gender–Science IAT. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implici/taketest.html 51

Schatz, B. R. (2000, November 17). Learning by text or context? [Review of the book The social

life of information, by J. S. Brown & P. Duguid]. Science, 290, 1304.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.290.5495.1304 52

Schmid, H.-J. (Ed.). (2017). Entrenchment and the psychology of language learning: How we

reorganize ad adapt linguistic knowledge. American Psychological Association; De

46 Citing a student’s paper submitted in a prior class, in order to avoid self-plagiarism.

47 Chapter from an edited book.

48 Liberty University class lecture using course details.

49 Data set.

50 Online resource with no named author. Title of webpage is in the author’s place.

51 Test, scale, or inventory itself.

52 Review of a book.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 38

Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1037/15969-000 53

Second, M. P. (2011). Same author arranged by date (earlier first). Journal Name, 8, 12-13.

Second, M. P. (2015). Remember that earlier date goes first. Journal Name, 11(1), 18. 54

Shakespeare, W. (1995). Much ado about nothing (B. A. Mowat & P. Werstine, Eds.).

Washington Square Press. (Original work published 1623) 55

Strong, E. K., Jr., & Uhrbrock, R. S. (1923). Bibliography on job analysis. In L. Outhwaite

(Series Ed.), Personnel research series: Vol. 1, Job analysis and the curriculum (pp. 140-

146). https://doi.org/10.1037/10762-000 56

Tellegen, A., & Ben-Porah, Y. S. (2011). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2

Restructured Form (MPI-2-RF): Technical manual. Pearson. 57

U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). U.S. and world population clock. U.S. Department of Commerce.

Retrieved July 3, 2019, from https://www.census.gov/popclock 58

U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (2017). Agency financial report: Fiscal year 2017.

https://www.sec.gov/files/sec-2017-agency-financial-report.pdf 59

University of Oxford. (2018, December 6). How do geckos walk on water? [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm1xGfOZJc8 60

53 Edited book with a DOI, with multiple publishers.

54 Two resources by the same author, in different years. Arrange by the earlier year first.

55 Shakespeare.

56 Electronic version of book chapter in a volume in a series

57 Manual for a test, scale, or inventory.

58 Webpage on a website with a retrieval date.

59 Annual report.

60 YouTube or other streaming video.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 39

Vedentam, S. (Host). (2015-present). Hidden brain [Audio podcast]. NPR. https://www.npr.org/

series/423302056/hidden-brain 61

Weinstock, R., Leong, G. B., & Silva, J. A. (2003). Defining forensic psychiatry: Roles and

responsibilities. In R. Rosner (Ed.), Principles and practice of forensic psychiatry (2nd

ed., pp. 7-13). CRC Press. 62

Yoo, J., Miyamoto, Y., Rigotti, A., & Ryff, C. (2016). Linking positive affect to blood lipids: A

cultural perspective [Unpublished manuscript]. Department of Psychology, University of

Wisconsin-Madison. 63

61 Podcast.

62 Chapter in an edited book without a DOI, from most academic research databases or print

version.

63 Unpublished manuscript with a university cited.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 40

Appendix

Annotated Bibliography

Cross, D. & Purvis, K. (2008). Is maternal deprivation the root of all evil? Avances en

Psycologia Latinoamericana, 26(1), 66-81.

Weaving spiritual applications throughout the article, the authors incorporate a plethora

of references to substantiate that maltreatment has a direct connection to attachment

disorders. They provide articulate and heavily-supported reasoning, detailing the specific

causes of maternal deprivation individually and then incorporating them in a broader

sense to answer the article’s title in the affirmative.

Feldman, R. (2007), Mother-infant synchrony and the development of moral orientation in

childhood and adolescence: Direct and indirect mechanisms of developmental continuity.

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77(4), 582-597.

This longitudinal study tracked 31 Israeli children from ages 3 months to 13 years

(infancy to adolescence). There were direct parallels noted between increased

attachment/coherence and the child’s moral cognition, empathy development, and verbal

IQ. Toddlers who were able to regulate their own behavior later proved to excel in lead-

lag structures and language skills.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 1

Created by Christy Owen of Liberty University’s Online Writing Center

onlinewriting@liberty.edu; last date modified: February 7, 2022

Sample APA Paper: Professional Format for Graduate/Doctoral Students

Claudia S. Sample

School of Behavioral Sciences, Liberty University

Author Note

Claudia S. Sample (usually only included if author has an ORCID number)

I have no known conflict of interest to disclose.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Claudia S. Sample.

Email: cssample123456789@liberty.edu

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 2

Table of Contents

(Only Included for Easy Navigation; Hyperlinked for Quick Access)

Sample APA Paper: Professional Format for Graduate/Doctoral Students ……………………………… 6

Basic Rules of Scholarly Writing ……………………………………………………………………………………… 7

Brief Summary of Changes in APA-7 ………………………………………………………………………………… 8

Running Head, Author Note, and Abstract …………………………………………………………………………. 9

Basic Formatting Elements …………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10

Font ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 10

Line Spacing ……………………………………………………………………………………………………… 10

Spaces After Punctuation …………………………………………………………………………………….. 11

Footnotes …………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 11

Heading Levels—Level 1 ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 11

Level 2 Heading …………………………………………………………………………………………………. 12

Level 3 Heading ………………………………………………………………………………………. 13

Level 4 Heading. Must be bolded and indented ½”. Add a period, one

space, and begin your content on the same line as shown here. ………………………………… 13

Level 5 Heading …………………………………………………………………. 13

Specific Elements of Academic Papers ……………………………………………………………………………. 13

Tables of Contents and Outlines …………………………………………………………………………… 13

Annotated Bibliographies ……………………………………………………………………………………. 14

Appendices ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 14

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 3

Crediting Your Sources………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 15

Paraphrasing and Direct Quotes ……………………………………………………………………………. 15

Paraphrasing ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 16

Block Quotes …………………………………………………………………………………………… 16

How Often to Cite Your Source in Each Paragraph ………………………………………………… 17

Rule for Omitting the Year of Publication ……………………………………………………………… 17

Arranging the Order of Resources in Your Citations ………………………………………………. 17

Two Works by the Same Author in the Same Year …………………………………………………. 18

Two Works by Two Different Authors with the Same Last Name ……………………………. 18

Three or More Authors Cited In-Text ……………………………………………………………………. 18

Number of Authors in the Reference List ………………………………………………………………. 19

Numbers ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 19

Displaying Titles of Works in-Text …………………………………………………………………………………. 19

Primary Sources versus Secondary Sources ……………………………………………………………………… 20

Personal Communications ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 20

Resources Canonically Numbered Sections (i.e., the Bible and Plays) …………………………………. 21

Bible and other Classical Works …………………………………………………………………………… 21

Plays …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 22

Lectures and PowerPoints ………………………………………………………………………………………………. 22

Dictionary Entries …………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 23

Changes in Reference Entries …………………………………………………………………………………………. 23

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 4

Electronic Sources ………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 24

Adding Color ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. 24

Self-Plagiarism ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 25

Final Formatting Tweaks ……………………………………………………………………………………………….. 26

Exhaustive Reference List Examples & Additional Helpful Resources ………………………………… 26

Conclusion …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 29

References ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. 30

Appendix ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… 40

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 5

Abstract

Begin your abstract at the left margin. This is the only paragraph that should not be indented.

Unless otherwise instructed, APA recommends an abstract be no more than 250 words. It should

generally not contain any citations or direct quotes. This should be a tight, concise summary of

the main points in your paper, not a step-by-step of what you plan to accomplish in your paper.

Avoid phrases such as “this paper will,” and just structure your sentences to say what you want

to say. The following three sentences exemplify a good abstract style: There are many

similarities and differences between the codes of ethics for the ACA and the AACC. Both include

similar mandates in the areas of —-, —, and —. However, each differs significantly in the areas

of —, —, and —. For more detailed information, see “Writing an Abstract” at

https://www.liberty.edu/casas/academic-success-center/wp-content/uploads/sites/28/2019/04/

Writing_an_Abstract_Revised_2012.pdf (note that you would not include any links in your

abstract). This is just now at 168 words, so eyeball how brief your abstract must be. Think of

your paper as a movie you want to sound enticing, and the abstract as the summary of the plot

you would share to draw people’s interest into wanting to come and see your movie. You want to

really hook and intrigue them. What you have to say is important! Remember to stay under 250,

words. Keywords highlight the search terms someone would use to find your paper in a database.

Keywords: main words, primary, necessary, search terms

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 6

Sample APA Paper: Professional Format for Graduate/Doctoral Students

The title of your paper goes on the top line of the first page of the body (American

Psychological Association [APA], 2019, section 2.11). It should be centered, bolded, and in title

case (all major words—usually those with four+ letters—should begin with a capital letter)—see

p. 51 of your Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association: Seventh Edition

(APA, 2019; hereinafter APA-7). It must match the title that is on your title page (see last line on

p. 32). As shown in the previous sentence, use brackets to denote an abbreviation within

parentheses (bottom of p. 159). Write out the full name of an entity or term the first time

mentioned before using its acronym (see citation in first sentence in this paragraph), and then use

the acronym throughout the body of the paper (section 6.25).

There are many changes in APA-7. One to mention here is that APA-7 allows writers to

include subheadings within the introductory section (APA, 2019, p. 47). Since APA-7 now

regards the title, abstract, and term “References” to all be Level-1 headings, a writer who opts to

include headings in his or her introduction must begin with Level-2 headings as shown above

(see section 2.27) for any divisions within the introductory section.

If you do choose to include headings in your introduction section (which is optional), be

sure to include two or more subheadings, since APA (2019) forbids stand-alone heading levels.

A second notable change in APA-7 is that writers are no longer required to cite their source every

single sentence that content from it is mentioned (section 8.1). As demonstrated in this paper,

since all of the content (other than the examples included for illustration and reference-entry

variation purposes) comes directly from the APA-7 itself, citations to the APA-7 are only

included for the first instance in each paragraph. Section and/or page numbers are included

parenthetically throughout for the sake of students who desire to know exactly where the stated

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 7

rule appears in the APA-7 itself. In your academic papers, however, it is critical to include the

required author(s) and year, as applicable, for all citations that are included; this may include

more than one citation for each resource per paragraph, as required to avoid any confusion about

the source of that content.

Basic Rules of Scholarly Writing

Most beginning students have difficulty learning how to write papers and also format

papers correctly using the seventh edition of the APA manual. However, the Liberty University

Online Writing Center’s (OWC) mission includes helping students learn how to be autonomous,

proficient writers. The OWC also provides students with templates to help them with basic

formatting elements, but this sample paper is designed to help graduate and doctoral students

learn to master APA rules and formatting on their own, which will prove helpful as they progress

in their studies and work toward future publication in scholarly journals.

For the purpose of instruction, this paper will use second person (you, your), but third

person (this author) must be used in most student papers. First person (I, me, we, us, our) is not

generally permitted in academic papers. Students should refrain from using first or second person

in college courses (even though the APA manual encourages this in other writing venues) unless

the assignment instructions clearly permit such (as in the case of personal reflection sections or

life histories). If in doubt, students should clarify with their professors.

APA-7 delineates separate rules and guidelines between “student” and “professional”

writers (APA, 2019). Because a primary purpose of graduate and doctoral studies is to prepare

those students to publish professionally, Liberty University has decided to have undergraduate

students follow APA-7’s guidelines for “student papers,” and graduate/doctoral students follow

APA-7’s guidelines for “professional papers.” Separate templates are available for each level.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 8

This sample paper illustrates and discusses the rules and formatting of professional papers, as

required for all Liberty University graduate and doctoral courses using APA-7 style.

Brief Summary of Changes in APA-7

Most of these changes will be discussed in more detail below; this is just a very brief

overview here. APA-7 reverts back to only one space after closing punctuation in the body of the

paper (APA-6 required two spaces; APA, 2019, section 6.1). Student (undergraduate) papers no

longer include a running head or abstract (sections 2.2 and 2.8); professional (graduate/doctoral)

papers require an abstract but the running head is now the same on all pages (the added phrase

“Running head:” from APA-6 has been eliminated; see section 2.8). Title pages are different for

both student and professional formats. The title of a paper is no longer limited to 12 words

(section 2.4).

Citations of all resources with three or more authors now use the first author’s last name

and the term et al. (APA, 2019, section 8.17). Reference entries must name up to the first 19

authors before adding an ampersand and ellipsis (up from APA-6’s six authors; section 9.8).

APA-7 omits the phrase DOI and instead standardizes DOIs to be presented in hyperlink format

(i.e., https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1524838017742386; section 9.35). Formatting guidelines for

annotated bibliographies are included in APA-7 (section 9.51), as well as expanded and

standardized reference entry examples. As discussed above, it is no longer necessary to cite a

source every single time you refer to content gleaned from it as long as it is clear the content

comes from that source (section 8.1); APA-7 also expanded the specific location noted in the

citation to include page, paragraph, section (as used throughout this sample paper, to direct the

student to the exact relevant content), chapter, timestamp, etc. (section 8.13).

APA-7 allows for “self-plagiarism” (clarified and defined below). It also invites writers to

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 9

highlight the most relevant work first, rather than just present all works in alphabetical order

(APA, 2019, section 8.12).

Heading-level formatting has changed, and APA-7 provides more flexibility in font and

line spacing (APA, 2019). The Bible must now be included in the reference list and its citations

must include the editor’s details and year (section 8.28); there are also new rules for dictionary

entries. Publisher city and state details are omitted from all reference entries except those

involving presentations or conferences, as is the phrase “retrieved from.” Hyperlinks should be

live, but they may be either presented as blue underlining or plain black text.

Running Head, Author Note, and Abstract

APA (2019) delineates separate formatting requirements for what it terms “student” and

“professional” papers. Its descriptions for those labels, however, suggests that it regards

undergraduate-level writing to fall within the student purview, and graduate/doctoral-level

writing (including dissertations and theses) to fall within the professional purview. Since a

significant goal in graduate and post-graduate studies is preparing those students to publish in

scholarly journals at and beyond graduation, it makes sense to train those students in the

formatting that is required for professionals. As such, Liberty University has opted to require the

APA-7’s “student” version format for all undergraduate assignments using APA, and its

“professional” version for all graduate and doctoral assignments. To that end, this being the

sample paper for professional formatting, it includes the additional elements required for such: a

running head (same on all pages), an author’s note, and an abstract. Graduate and doctoral

students will use this format. Note that the first “paragraph” under the author’s note is generally

only included if the author has an ORCID number, which most students will not have. However,

it is included in this sample paper and the corresponding template because the purpose of these

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 10

resources is to prepare students to publish manuscripts post-graduation. The student’s full

address, however, is intentionally omitted from the Liberty University template and this sample

paper for privacy and safety reasons, since student papers are often unfortunately published

online and disclosing their home addresses could pose safety risks.

Basic Formatting Elements

Font

APA-7 does not prescribe a specific font or size (APA, 2019, section 2.19) but rather

allows for some choice (e.g., 12-point Times New Romans, 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 11-

point Georgia, or 10-point Lucinda Sans Unicode). Most journals and academic institutions will

have a preference, however, as even APA-7 acknowledges on p. 44. For this reason—and

because font size can easily be changed if an editor interested in publishing a student’s work

prefers a different font—Liberty University recommends that students use 12-point Times New

Romans or 11-point Calibri font for the body text in all academic papers. Data in charts, figures,

and tables should be presented in 8- to 14-point size in either Calibri, Arial, or Lucinda Sans

Unicode font. Students are not permitted to use any fonts such as script, calligraphy, poster,

decorative, or others not found in published scholarly journals. Since APA-7 itself authorizes a

variety of fonts and sizes, assignments will be gauged by word count rather than page count.

Word count constitutes the number of words within the body of the paper, and excludes the title

page, abstract, reference list, appendices, and other supplemental resources.

Line Spacing

APA-7 adds extra/blank lines on the title page (APA, 2019, sections 2.5, 2.7, 2.21). It also

specifies that spacing in tables and figures may be single-, 1-1/2-, or double-spaced; equations

can be triple- or quadruple-spaced. Footnotes, when used at the bottom of a page, should be

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 11

single-spaced (section 2.21).

Spaces After Punctuation

APA-7 reverts back to just one space after closing punctuation in the body of the paper, as

well as in reference entries (APA, 2019, section 6.1). Ordinarily, it would be improper to have a

paragraph with only one sentence, though APA itself asserts that for its purposes “sentences and

paragraphs of any length are technically allowed.”1

Footnotes

This leads to another new rule in APA-7, one allowing the inclusion of footnotes (APA,

2019, section 2.13). Footnotes should be use very sparingly and are appropriate to include

information such as that in the prior section to alert the reader to supplemental material that is

available online for that thought. Though APA-7 authorizes placement of footnote content either

at the bottom of the page (as in this sample paper) or on a separate page after the reference list

(section 2.21), Liberty University recommends that student place them, when used, at the bottom

of the page, as shown here.

Heading Levels—Level 1

This sample paper uses primarily two levels of headings (Levels 1 and 2). APA style,

however, has five heading levels, which will be demonstrated briefly for visual purposes. See

section 2.27 of your APA-7 (APA, 2019) for more details on heading levels and formatting. In

APA-7, all heading levels are now bolded and in title case (capitalize each major word—usually

those with four or more letters, including hyphenated compound words). Do not capitalize

articles (a, an, the) in headings unless they begin a title or follow a colon. Level 1 headings are

centered, with the content falling on the line beneath each, in standard paragraph format.

1 See https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2016/05/index.html

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 12

Many students misunderstand that you progress from Level 1 to Level 2 to Level 3 to

Level 4 to Level 5, but that is not correct. In fact, your paper may have only Level 1 headings, or

just Levels 1 and 2. The rule of thumb is that you must have at least two of each heading level

that you use, otherwise omit that heading level.

Headings are basically styling ways of organizing your paper, without using an outline

format. APA specifies five levels of headings; you would likely never use Level 5 and only very

rarely use Level 4 as a student. Think of each level as the different levels in an outline. Roman

numerals, for example, would be Level 1 headings. Capital letters would be Level 2 headings.

Numerals would be Level 3 headings. Lowercase letters would be Level 4. And lowercase

Roman numerals would be Level 5. You must always have two or more of each subheading, but

you do not need every level. You start with Level 1 and work down from that (but not

consecutive 1-2-3-4-5). Under a Level 1, you would either have two+ Level 2 headings or none

at all (just one big section in paragraphs before the next Level 1 section).

Special note about conclusion sections: Please note that some of the sample papers

published by APA to demonstrate proper APA-7 format (including the “professional” sample on

pp. 50-60 of the APA-7 manual) depict the “Conclusion” section with a Level-2 heading. This is

limited to empirical papers that are being submitted for publication in scholarly journals, as those

conclusions pertain to the “Discussion” sections in such papers and are not conclusions of the

overall papers themselves. Conclusions in academic papers at Liberty University will be Level 1

headings (including dissertations and theses, which are divided by chapters, unlike journal article

manuscripts).

Level 2 Heading

Level 2 headings are left-justified (APA, 2019, p. 48). The supporting information is

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 13

posed in standard paragraph form beneath it. Never use only one of any level of heading. You

must use two or more of any level you use, though not every paper will require more than one

level. The heading levels are simply demonstrated here for visual purposes, but you would

always have two or more of each under a larger heading, as shown throughout all the other

sections of this sample paper.

Level 3 Heading

Level 3 headings are bolded, left-justified, and italicized; the content falls on the line

underneath, as with Levels 1 and 2.

Level 4 Heading. Must be bolded and indented ½”. Add a period, one space, and begin

your content on the same line as shown here.

Level 5 Heading. Same as Level 4, but also italicized. Despite heavy writing experience,

this author has never used Level 5 headings.

Specific Elements of Academic Papers

Tables of Contents and Outlines

APA (2019) does not regulate every type of paper and some elements in various

assignments are not addressed in the APA-7 manual, including outlines and tables of content. In

those cases, follow your professor’s instructions and the grading rubric for the content and

format of the outline or annotations, and use standard APA formatting for all other elements

(such as running head, title page, body, reference list, 1″ margins, double-spacing, permitted

font, etc.). Note that most academic papers will not require a table of contents, nor would one be

appropriate. One was included in this paper simply for ease-of-access so students could go

directly to the content they want to see. Generally speaking, no table of contents would be

necessary for papers less than 20 pages of content, unless otherwise required by your professor.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 14

That being said, when organizing outlines in APA format, set your headings up in the

proper levels (making sure there are at least two subheadings under each level), and then use

those to make the entries in the outline. As discussed above, Level 1 headings become uppercase

Roman numerals (I, II, III), Level 2 headings become capital letters (A, B, C), Level 3 headings

become numbers (1, 2, 3), Level 4 headings become lowercase letters (a, b, c), and Level 5

headings become lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii). Many courses now require “working

outlines,” which are designed to have the bones and foundational framework of the paper in

place (such as title page, abstract, body with title, outline/heading divisions, supporting content

with citations, and references), without the full “meat” that fills out and forms a completed paper.

Annotated Bibliographies

Many Liberty University courses also now require students to prepare and submit an

annotated bibliography as a foundational step to building a research paper. There is significant

merit in these assignments, as they teach students to critique the resources they have found and

rationalize why each is relevant for their paper’s focus. APA (2019) includes a section on

annotated bibliographies (9.51; see the example provided on p. 308). The appendix attached to

this sample paper also includes a sample annotated bibliography.

Appendices

Appendices, if any, are attached after the reference list (APA, 2019, section 2.14). You

must refer to them (i.e., “callout”) in the body of your paper so that your reader knows to look

there (see the yellow-highlighted callouts to Table 1 on p. 54 and to Footnote 1 on p. 55 of your

APA-7 for visuals on how this should appear in your paper). The word “Appendix” is singular;

use it to refer to individual appendices. APA-7 regards it as a Level 1 heading so it should be

bolded. I attached a sample Annotated Bibliography as a visual aid (see Appendix). You will see

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 15

that I included the title “Appendix” at the top of the page and formatted it in standard APA

format beneath that. Because I only included one appendix, it is simply titled as such. If there are

more appendices, assign a letter to each and denote each by that: “Appendix A” and “Appendix

B.”

Crediting Your Sources

Paraphrasing and Direct Quotes

Paraphrasing is rephrasing another’s idea in one’s own words by changing the wording

sufficiently without altering the meaning (remember not to just change a word here or there or

rearrange the order of the original source’s wording). Quoting is using another’s exact words.

Both need to be cited; failure to do so constitutes plagiarism. Include the author(s) and year for

paraphrases, and the author(s), year, and page or paragraph number for direct quotes. APA-7 also

expands this to include figure number, time stamp, etc.—whatever detail is necessary to get the

reader directly to that content. Page numbers should be used for any printed material (books,

articles, etc.), and paragraph numbers should be used in the absence of page numbers (online

articles, webpages, etc.; see APA, 2019, section 8.13). Use p. for one page and pp. (not italicized

in your paper) for more than one (section 8.25). Use para. for one paragraph and paras. (also not

italicized in your paper) for two or more (section 8.28). For example: (Perigogn & Brazel, 2012,

pp. 12–13) or (Liberty University, 2019, para. 8). Section 8.23 of the APA (2019) manual

specifies that it is not necessary to include a page or paragraph number for paraphrases (just for

direct quotes), but writers may choose to do so to help their readers find that content in the cited

resource.

When naming authors in the text of the sentence itself (called a narrative citation), use the

word “and” to connect them. For example, Perigogn and Brazel (2012) contemplated that . . .

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 16

Use an ampersand (&) in place of the word “and” in parenthetical citations and reference lists:

(Perigogn & Brazel, 2012).

Paraphrasing

Only use quotes when the original text cannot be said as well in your own words or

changing the original wording would change the author’s meaning. You cannot simply change

one word and omit a second; if you paraphrase, the wording must be substantially different, but

with the same meaning. Regardless, you would need to cite the resource you took that

information from. For example, Benoit et al. (2010) wrote that “although, a link between

attachment and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms has been established, the

mechanisms involved in this link have not yet been identified” (p. 101). A paraphrase for that

quote might be: A link between dysfunctional attachment and the development of PTSD has

been made, though there is insufficient data to determine exactly how this mechanism works

(Benoit et al., 2010).

Block Quotes

Quotes that are 40 or more words must be blocked, with the left margin of the entire

quote indented ½ inch. Maintain double-spacing of block quotes. APA prefers that you introduce

quotes but note that the punctuation falls at the end of the direct quote, with the page number

outside of that (which is contrary to punctuation for non-blocked quotes). For example, Alone

(2008) claims:2

Half of a peanut butter sandwich contains as much bacteria as the wisp of the planet

Mars. Thus, practicality requires that Mrs. Spotiker nibble one bit at a time until she is

assured that she will not perish from ingesting it too quickly. (p. 13)

2 Note that there are no quotation marks for block quotes, as shown in the example.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 17

Usually quotes within quotes use single quotation marks; however, use double quotation marks

for quotes within blocked quotes, since there are no other quotation marks involved. Also

understand that direct quotes should be used sparingly in scholarly writing; paraphrasing is much

preferred in APA format (APA, 2019, section 8.23), as it demonstrates that you read, understood,

and assimilated other writers’ content into one cohesive whole.

How Often to Cite Your Source in Each Paragraph

As already mentioned above, APA’s (2019) new official rule is that you no longer must

cite your source every single time you refer to material you gleaned from it (section 8.1). It is

now acceptable to cite your source the first time you refer to content from it in your paragraph,

and then not again in that same paragraph unless your phrasing does not make the source of your

content clear. This is demonstrated throughout this sample paper.

Rule for Omitting the Year of Publication

That being said, APA (2019) has clarified its special rule that excludes the year of

publication in subsequent narrative in-text citations (when you name the authors in the text of the

sentence itself), after the first narrative citation in each paragraph. It should continue to appear in

all parenthetical citations (see section 8.16). For example, Alone (2008) portrays imagery of Mrs.

Spotiker. This includes her devouring a peanut butter sandwich (Alone, 2008). Alone conveys

this through the lens of astronomy. Note that the year of publication was omitted from the second

narrative citation (underlined for visual purposes).

Arranging the Order of Resources in Your Citations

If the material you cited was referred to in multiple resources, separate different sets of

authors with semicolons, arranged in the order they appear (alphabetically by the first author’s

last name) in the reference list (i.e., Carlisle, n.d.-a; Prayer, 2015) (APA, 2019, section 8.12).

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 18

APA-7 now invites writers to prioritize or highlight one or more sources as most prominent or

relevant for that content by placing “those citations first within parentheses in alphabetical order

and then insert[ing] a semicolon and a phrase, such as ‘see also,’ before the first of the remaining

citations” (APA., 2019, p. 263)—i.e., (Cable, 2013; see also Avramova, 2019; De Vries et al.,

2013; Fried & Polyakova, 2018). Periods are placed after the closing parenthesis, except with

indented (blocked) quotes.

Two Works by the Same Author in the Same Year

Authors with more than one work published in the same year are distinguished by lower-

case letters after the years, beginning with a (APA, 2019, section 8.19). For example, Double

(2008a) and Double (2008b) would refer to resources by the same author published in 2008.

When a resource has no date, use the term n.d. followed by a dash and the lowercase letter (i.e.,

Carlisle, n.d.-a and Carlisle, n.d.-b; see APA, 2019, section 8.19).

Two Works by Two Different Authors with the Same Last Name

Citations in the body of the paper should include only the last names, unless you have

two or more resources authored by individuals with the same last name in the same year (or are

citing a personal communication). When there are two different authors with the same last name

but different first names who published in the same year, include the first initials: Brown, J.

(2009) and Brown, M. (2009) (APA, 2019, section 8.20).

Three or More Authors Cited In-Text

When referring to material that comes from three or more authors, APA-7 now requires

that all citations name just the first author’s last name followed by the words et al. (without

italics) (APA, 2019, section 8.17). Et al. is a Latin abbreviation for et alii, meaning “and others,”

which is why the word “al.” has a period, whereas “et” does not. Alone et al. (2011) stipulated

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 19

that peacocks strut. Every single time I refer to their material, I would apply APA-7’s rule: Alone

et al. (2011) or (Alone et al., 2011). Since et al. denotes plural authors, the verb must be plural to

match, too: Alone et al. (2011) are… This applies to all citations within the body of the paper

with three or more authors.

Number of Authors in the Reference List

For resources with 20 or fewer authors in the reference list, write out all of the authors’

last names with first and middle initials, up to and including the 20th author (APA, 2019, section

9.8). APA-7 has a special rule for resources with 21 or more authors: Write out the first 19

authors’ last names with initials, insert an ellipsis (…) in place of the ampersand (&), and finish

it with the last name and initials of the last author. See example #4 provided on page 317 of your

APA-7, as well as this paper’s reference list for visuals of these variances (Acborne et al. 2011;

Kalnay et al., 1996).

Numbers

Numbers one through nine must be written out in word format (APA, 2019, section 6.33),

with some exceptions (such as ages—see section 6.32). Numbers 10 and up must be written out

in numerical format (section 6.32). Always write out in word format any number that begins a

sentence (section 6.33).

Displaying Titles of Works in-Text

The names of journals, books, plays, and other long works, if mentioned in the body of

the paper, are italicized in title case (APA, 2019, section 6.17). Titles of articles, lectures, poems,

chapters, website articles, and songs should be in title case, encapsulated by quotation marks

(section 6.7). The year of publication should follow the author’s name, whether in narrative or

parenthetical format: Perigogn and Brazel (2012) anticipated…, or (Perigogn & Brazel, 2012).

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 20

The page or paragraph number must follow after the direct quote. Second (2015) asserted that

“paper planes can fly to the moon” (p. 13). You can restate that with a parenthetical citation as:

“Paper planes can fly to the moon” (Second, 2015, p. 13). Second (2011) is another resource by

the same author in a different year.

Primary Sources versus Secondary Sources

APA (2019) strongly advocates against using secondary sources; rather, it favors you

finding and citing the original (primary) resource whenever possible (section 8.6). On the rare

occasion that you do find it necessary to cite from a secondary source, both the primary (who

said it) and secondary (where the quote or idea was mentioned) sources should be included in the

in-text citation information. If the year of publication is known for both resources, include both

years in the citation (section 8.6). Only the secondary source should be listed in the reference

section, however. Use “as cited in” (without the quotation marks) to indicate the secondary

source. For example, James Morgan hinted that “goat milk makes the best ice cream” (as cited in

Alone, 2008, p. 117). Morgan is the primary source (he said it) and Alone is the secondary

source (he quoted what Morgan said). Only the secondary source is listed in the reference section

(Alone, and not Morgan) because if readers want to confirm the quote, they know to go to page

117 of Alone’s book.

Personal Communications

APA (2019) rationalizes the exclusion of references for information obtained through

personal communication (such as an interview, email, telephone call, postcard, text message, or

letter) in the reference list because your readers will not be able to go directly to those sources

and verify the legitimacy of the material. Instead, these items are cited only in the body of the

paper. You must include the individual’s first initial, his or her last name, the phrase “personal

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 21

communication” (without the quotation marks), and the full date of such communication (section

8.9). As with other citations, such citations may be either narrative or parenthetical. For example,

L. Applebaum advised him to dip pretzel rolls in cheese fondue (personal communication, July

13, 2015). The alternative is that he was advised to dip pretzel rolls in cheese fondue (L.

Applebaum, personal communication, July 13, 2015). Note that there is no entry for Applebaum

in the reference list below.

Resources Canonically Numbered Sections (i.e., the Bible and Plays)

These resources should be cited in book format (APA, 2019, Section 9.42). The Bible and

other religious works are generally regarded as having no author; an annotated version would be

treated as having an editor. Include republished dates as necessary. The OWC will publish a list

of reference entries for various Bible versions on its APA Quick Guide webpage.

Bible and other Classical Works

Works such as the Bible, ancient Greek or Roman works, and other classical works like

Shakespeare must be cited in the body of the paper (APA, 2019, section 8.28). APA-7 now also

requires that they be included in the reference list, too (section 9.42), which is a significant

change from APA-6. Republished dates are included as well (see section 9.41). As such, you

would add a parenthetical phrase at the end of your reference entry with the original publication

details; note that there should be no punctuation following such parenthetical content at the end

of a reference entry (the reference entries depicting this in the reference list below are correctly

punctuated).

Citations for the Bible will include the Bible version’s name in the author’s position (as

an anonymous work), original and republished years, and then the book chapter/verse (spelled

out) in place of the page number (i.e., King James Bible, 1769/2017, Genesis 3:8)—see sections

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 22

8.28 and 9.42. Note that APA (2019) requires book titles to be italicized in every venue,

including citations and reference entries. Because Liberty University is a distinctly-Christian

institution and many of its courses require biblical integration, most if not all of its students will

cite the Bible in virtually every course. The examples provided on pp. 274 and 325 of APA-7 are:

(note the italics in each)

• Narrative citation: King James Bible (1769/2017)

• Parenthetical citation: (King James Bible, 1769/2017, Song of Solomon 8:6)

• Reference entry: King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online.

https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/ (Original work published 1769)

Plays

When citing plays, “cite the act, scene, and line(s), in a single string, separated by

periods. For example, ‘1.3.36-37’ refers to Act 1 Scene 3, Lines 36-37” (APA, 2019, section

8.28; see also example #37 on p. 325).

Lectures and PowerPoints

APA (2019) has expanded and standardized its rules for citations and reference entries in

an effort to best credit the original sources. It now includes rules for crediting content in course

or seminar handouts, lecture notes, and PowerPoint presentations (see #102 on p. 347). When

citing a PowerPoint presentation, include the slide number rather than the page number. For

purposes of Liberty University course presentations and lectures (which are not readily available

to the public), reference each as a video lecture with the URL (if available) for the presentation,

naming the presenter(s) in the author’s position. Include the course number, lecture title, and

enough details for others to identify it within that course, in a sort of book format, naming

Liberty University as publisher. Peters (2012) is an example of this in the reference list of this

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 23

paper. If the presenter for a Liberty University class lecture is not named, credit Liberty

University as the author; see Liberty University (2020) in the reference list below as an example.

Dictionary Entries

In keeping with its efforts to standardize reference entries, APA (2019) now requires

citation and referencing of word definitions from dictionaries to follow the same rules for

chapters in an edited book (see #47 and #48 on p. 328; section 8.13). As such, you will now

name either the individual, group, or corporate author of the dictionary in the author’s place (e.g.,

Merriam-Webster, n.d.). If you searched online, include the retrieval date and the URL to the

exact webpage. If you used a hard copy book, include the publisher details. The in-text citation

in the body of the paper would follow standard author/year format (e.g., Merriam-Webster, n.d.).

Changes in Reference Entries

There are a number of notable changes in APA-7 from past versions. For the most part,

these simplify and unify the formats to be more consistent across the different resource venues.

Some of these have already been discussed above (i.e., naming up to 19 authors’ names before

adding an ellipsis, and crediting authors and editors of classical works and dictionaries). Other

changes include italicizing names of webpages and website resources in the reference list (APA,

2019, section 6.22), as well as book titles even when named in the author’s position (such as

King James Bible). The city and state locations of publishers are no longer required; only include

those details “for works that are associated with a specific location, such as conference

presentations” (p. 297, section 9.31). Issue numbers are required for all journal articles that have

such, regardless of what page number each issue begins with (section 9.25). If two or more

publishers are listed on the copyright page, include all of them in the order listed, separated by

semicolons (section 9.29). Omit the word Author in the publisher’s place when it is the same as

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 24

the author (section 9.24).

Electronic Sources

Note that since the APA 6th edition was published in 2010, great strides have been made

in online and electronic resource accessibility, and APA’s position on electronic resources has

shifted to embrace this. More and more resources are available electronically through the

Internet. The advent of this increased availability has resulted in APA-7’s effort to standardize

the formatting of resources, which in turn simplifies them to some extent. All reference entries

follow the same basic details: Author(s), year of publication, name of resource, and location

details (i.e., either journal name/volume/issue/page numbers, or book publisher, or webpage).

APA (2019) requires inclusion of a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) in the references

whenever available (section 9.34); if not, then a webpage, if available. In keeping with its

unification of resources, APA-7 now standardizes all DOIs and URLs to be presented in

https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1524838017742386 format. The phrase “Retrieved from” is now

excluded except when the content may have changed (such as dictionary entries, Twitter profiles,

Facebook pages; see section 9.16). APA-7 requires all hyperlinks to be active (so your reader can

click on one to go directly to that webpage), but they may appear as either blue-underlined text

or simple black text (section 9.35). There should be no period after any URL. APA-7 no longer

requires authors to break long URLs with soft returns (hold down the Shift key and press the

Enter key) at forward slashes, periods, or underscores to avoid unsightly spacing gaps, but it may

be best to do so in academic papers.

Adding Color

Though APA (2019) authorizes writers to include the use of color in photographs and

figures (section 7.26), Liberty University discourages this in academic papers. It risks becoming

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 25

distracting for both students in their quest to be creative, and professors in their quest to focus on

academic content.

Self-Plagiarism

APA (2019) also invites writers to repurpose some of their work in future papers.

Specifically, APA-7 states that:

In specific circumstances, authors may wish to duplicate their previously used works

without quotation marks or citation …, feeling that extensive self-referencing is

undesirable or awkward and that rewording may lead to inaccuracies. When the

duplicated material is limited in scope, this approach is permissible. (p. 8.3)

APA-7 adds “Do not use quotation marks or block quotation formatting around your own

duplicated material” (p. 256).

Liberty University, however, has stringent rules against self-plagiarism, as do many

scholarly journals. Liberty University students receive grades for their class papers; those who

have received feedback and a grade from a prior professor on a prior paper have an advantage

over their classmates, both in having the benefit of that feedback/grade and in not having to write

a whole paper from scratch during the subsequent class. Student papers are also submitted to

SafeAssign to deter plagiarism. For these reasons, Liberty University expressly forbids students

using significant portions of a prior paper in a subsequent course (either a retake of the same

course or a new class altogether). It is conceivable that students who are building their

knowledge base in a subject matter—particularly at the graduate and post-graduate levels—

would reasonably justify incorporating brief excerpts from past papers into current ones. In such

case, Liberty University authorizes students to utilize APA-7’s disclosure (i.e., “I have previously

discussed”), along with a citation to the prior class paper and a reference entry (i.e., Owen, 2012;

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 26

Yoo et al., 2016). Such self-references and re-use of content from prior papers should be used

sparingly and disclosed fully in the current paper; that content should not constitute a significant

portion of any academic assignment, however.

Final Formatting Tweaks

The templates provided by Liberty University are already formatted with proper spacing,

margins, heading level structure, and hanging indents, as necessary. With the exceptions of the

title page, figures, and equations, papers in APA format should be double-spaced throughout,

with no extra spacing between lines. Academic papers at Liberty University should also be in

one of the accepted fonts throughout (recommended: Times New Romans, 12-point font).

Sometimes when you format your paper or cut-and-paste material into it, things get skewed. One

quick way to ensure that your paper appears correct in these regards is to do a final formatting

tweak after you have completed your paper. Hold down the “Ctrl” button and press the “A” key,

which selects and highlights all of the text in your paper. Then go to the Home tab in Microsoft

Word and make sure that whichever acceptable font/size you choose to use is selected in the Font

box. Next, click on the arrow at the bottom of the Paragraph tab. Set your spacing before and

after paragraphs to “0 pt” and click the “double” line spacing. The extra spacing required on the

title page is already programmed into the template and should not change even when you

complete these actions.

Exhaustive Reference List Examples & Additional Helpful Resources

The reference list at the end of this paper includes an example of a myriad of different

sources and how each is formatted in proper APA-7 format. One example of each of the primary

types of resources will be included in the reference list, as cited in the body of this paper.

Remember that, for purposes of this paper only, many of the sources cited in the body of the

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 27

paper were provided for illustrative purposes only and thus are fictional, so you will not be able

to locate them if you searched online. Nevertheless, in keeping with APA-7 style, all resources

cited in the body of the paper are included in the reference list and vice versa (except for personal

communications, per APA-7’s published exceptions). Be absolutely sure that every resource cited

in the body of your paper is also included in your reference list (and vice versa), excepting only

those resources with special rules, such as personal communications and primary sources you

could not access directly.

The reference list in this paper is fairly comprehensive and will include a book by one

author who also appears as one of many authors in another resource (Alone, 2008; Alone et al.,

2011); chapters in edited books (Balsam et al., 2019; Haybron, 2008; Perigogn & Brazel, 2012;

Weinstock et al., 2003); electronic version of book (Strong & Uhrbrock, 1923); electronic only

book (O’Keefe, n.d.); edited books with and without DOIs, with multiple publishers (Hacker

Hughes, 2017; Schmid, 2017); work in an anthology (Lewin, 1999); journal articles (Andrews,

2016; Carlisle, n.d.-a, n.d.-b; De Vries R. et al., 2013; McCauley & Christiansen, 2019);

newspaper article (Goldman, 2018; Guarino, 2017); online webpages (Liberty University, 2019;

Prayer, 2015); resource with corporate author as publisher (American Psychological Association,

2019); resources by two authors with the same last name but different first names in the same

year of publication (Brown, J., 2009; Brown, M., 2009); two resources by same author in the

same year (Double, 2008a, 2008b; Carlisle, n.d.-a, n.d.-b); two resources by the same author in

different years (Second, 2011, 2015); resource with 20 authors (maximum allowed by APA-7

before special rule applies) (Acborne et al., 2011); resource with 21 or more authors (Kalnay et

al., 1996); dictionary entries (American Psychological Association, n.d.; Graham, 2019;

Merriam-Webster, n.d.); Liberty University class lecture using course details (Peters, 2012);

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 28

PowerPoint slides or lecture notes, not including course details (Canan & Vasilev, 2019); citing a

student’s paper submitted in a prior class, in order to avoid self-plagiarism (Owen, 2012);

unpublished manuscript with a university cited (Yoo et al., 2016); code of ethics (American

Counseling Association, 2014); diagnostic manual (American Psychiatric Association, 2013);

religious and classical works, including the Bible (Aristotle, 350 BC/1994; King James Bible,

1769/2017; Shakespeare, 1623/1995); dissertation or thesis (Hollander, 2017; Hutcheson, 2012);

review of a book (Schatz, 2000); video (Forman, 1975); podcast (Vedentam, 2015); recorded

webinar (Goldberg, 2018); YouTube or other streaming video (University of Oxford, 2018); clip

art or stock image (GDJ, 2018); map (Cable, 2013); photograph (McCurry, 1985); data set (Pew

Research Center, 2018); measurement instrument (Friedlander et al., 2002); manual for a test,

scale, or inventory (Tellegen & Ben-Porah, 2011); test, scale, or inventory itself (Project

Implicit, n.d.); report by a government agency or other organization (National Cancer Institute,

2018); report by individual authors at a government agency or other organization (Fried &

Polyakova, 2018); annual report (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, 2017); conference

session (Fistek et al., 2017); and webpages (Avramova, 2019; Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention, 2018; National Nurses United, n.d.; U.S. Census Bureau, n.d.).

Lastly, below are a few webpages that address critical topics, such as how to avoid

plagiarism and how to write a research paper. Be sure to check out Liberty University’s Online

Writing Center (https://www.liberty.edu/online/casas/writing-center/) for more tips and tools, as

well as its Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/LUOWritingCenter). Remember

that these links are only provided for your easy access and reference throughout this sample

paper, but web links and URLs should never be included in the body of scholarly papers; just in

the reference list. Writing a research paper (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaa-PTexW2E

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE/DOCTORAL STUDENTS 29

or https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNT6w8t3zDY and avoiding plagiarism

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VeCrUINa6nU).

Conclusion

The conclusion to your paper should provide your readers with a concise summary of the

main points of your paper (though not via cut-and-pasted sentences used above). It is a very

important element, as it frames your whole ideology and gives your readers their last impression

of your thoughts. Be careful not to introduce new content in your conclusion.

After your conclusion, if you are not using the template provided by the Online Writing

Center, insert a page break at the end of the paper so that the reference list begins at the top of a

new page. Do this by holding down the “Ctrl” key and then clicking the “Enter” key. You will go

to an entirely new page in order to start the reference list. The word “References” (not in

quotation marks) should be centered and bolded. Items in the reference list are presented

alphabetically by the first author’s last name and are formatted with hanging indents (the

second+ lines of each entry are indented 1/2” from the left margin). APA authorizes the use of

singular “Reference” if you only have one resource.3 Students would, of course, NOT include

any color-coding or footnotes in their reference entries. However, for the sake of clarity and

ease in identifying what each entry represents, each one included in the reference list of this

sample paper is color-coordinated to its corresponding footnote, with a brief description of what

each depicts.

3 https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/creating-reference-list.pdf

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 30

References

Acborne, A., Finley, I., Eigen, K., Ballou, P., Gould, M. C., Blight, D., Callum, M., Feist, M.,

Carroll, J. E., Drought, J., Kinney, P., Owen, C., Owen, K., Price, K., Harlow, K.,

Edwards, K., Fallow, P., Pinkley, O., Finkel, F., & Gould, P. P. (2011). The emphasis of

the day after tomorrow. Strouthworks. 4

Alone, A. (2008). This author wrote a book by himself. Herald Publishers. 5

Alone, A., Other, B., & Other, C. (2011). He wrote a book with others, too: Arrange

alphabetically with the sole author first, then the others. Herald Publishers. 6

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https://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center 7

American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders

(5th ed.). https://www.doi.org/10.1176/appi.books.9780890425596 8

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psychology. Retrieved August 31, 2019, from https://dictionary.apa.org/positive-

transference 9

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Association (7th ed.). 10

4 Resource with 20 authors (maximum allowed by APA before special rule applies).

5 Entry by author who also appears as one of many authors in another resource (single author

appears first in list).

6 Multiple authors appear after same single-author resource.

7 Code of ethics.

8 Diagnostic manual.

9 Entry in a dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia, with group author.

10 Resource with corporate author as publisher.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 31

Andrews, P. M. (2016). Congruence matters. Educational Leadership, 63(6), 12-15. 11

Aristotle. (1994). Poetics (S. H. Butcher, Trans.). The internet Classics Archive.

http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/poetics.html (Original work published ca. 350 B.C.E.) 12

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behavior therapy with sexual and gender minority people. In G. Y. Iwamasa & P. A.

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Benoit, M., Bouthillier, D., Moss, E., Rousseau, C., & Brunet, A. (2010). Emotion regulation

strategies as mediators of the association between level of attachment security and PTSD

symptoms following trauma in adulthood. Anxiety, Stress, and Coping, 23(1), 101-118.

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Brown, J. (2009). Ardent anteaters. Brockton.

Brown, M. (2009). Capricious as a verb. Journal of Grammatical Elements, 28(6), 11-12. 15

11 Journal article without DOI, from most academic research databases or print version.

12 Ancient Greek or Roman work.

13 Webpage on a news website.

14 Chapter in an edited book with DOI.

15 Resources by two authors with the same last name but different first names in the same year of

publication. Arrange alphabetically by the first initials.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 32

Cable, D. (2013). The racial dot map [Map]. University of Virginia, Weldon Cooper Center for

Public Service. https://demographics.coopercenter.org/Racial-Dot-Map 16

Canan, E., & Vasilev, J. (2019, May 22). [Lecture notes on resource allocation]. Department of

Management Control and Information Systems, University of Chile. https:// uchilefau.

academia.edu/ElseZCanan 17

Carlisle, M. A. (n.d.-a). Erin and the perfect pitch. Journal of Music, 21(3), 16-17. http:// make-

sure-it-goes-to-the-exact-webpage-of-the-source-otherwise-don’t-include 18

Carlisle, M. A. (n.d.-b). Perfect pitch makes sweet music. Journal of Music, 24(8), 3-6. http://

make-sure-it-goes-to-the-exact-webpage-of-the-source-otherwise-don’t-include

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018, January 23). People at high risk of

developing flu-related complications. https://www.cdc.gov/flu/highrisk/index.htm 19

De Vries R., Nieuwenhuijze, M., Buitendijk, S. E., & the members of Midwifery Science Work

Group. (2013). What does it take to have a strong and independent profession of

midwifery? Lessons from the Netherlands. Midwifery, 29(10), 1122-1128.

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Double, C. (2008a). This is arranged alphabetically by the name of the title. Peters.

Double, C. (2008b). This is the second (“the” comes after “arranged”). Peters. 21

16 Map.

17 PowerPoint slides or lecture notes.

18 Online journal article with a URL and no DOI; also depicts one of two resources by the same

author with no known publication date.

19 Webpage on a website with a group author.

20 Journal article with a DOI, combination of individual and group authors.

21 Two resources by same author in the same year. Arrange alphabetically by the title and then

add lowercase letters (a and b, respectively here) to the year.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 33

Fistek, A., Jester, E., & Sonnenberg, K. (2017, July 12-15). Everybody’s got a little music in

them: Using music therapy to connect, engage, and motivate [Conference session].

Autism Society National Conference, Milwaukee, WI, United States.

https://asa.confex.com/asa/2017/webprogramarchives/Session9517.html 22

Forman, M. (Director). (1975). One flew over the cuckoo’s nest [Film]. United Artists. 23

Fried, D., & Polyakova, A. (2018). Democratic defense against disinformation. Atlantic Council.

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/report/democratic-defense-

against-disinformation/ 24

Friedlander, M. L., Escudero, V., & Heatherton, L. (2002). E-SOFTA: System for observing

family therapy alliances [Software and training videos] [Unpublished instrument].

http://www.softa-soatif.com/ 25

GDJ. (2018). Neural network deep learning prismatic [Clip art]. Openclipart.

https://openclipart.org/detail/309343/neural-network-deep-learning-prismatic 26

Goldberg, J. F. (2018). Evaluating adverse drug effects [Webinar]. American Psychiatric

Association. https://education.psychiatry.org/Users/ProductDetails.aspx?

ActivityID=6172 27

Goldman, C. (2018, November 28). The complicate calibration of love, especially in adoption.

22 Conference session.

23 Video.

24 Report by individual authors at a government agency or other organization.

25 Measurement instrument.

26 Clip art or stock image.

27 Webinar, recorded.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 34

Chicago Tribune. 28

Graham, G. (2019). Behaviorism. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy

(Summer 2019 ed.). Stanford University.

https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2019/entries/behaviorism 29

Guarino, B. (2017, December 4). How will humanity react to alien life? Psychologists have some

predictions. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-

science/wp/2017/12/04/how-will-humanity-react-to-alien-life-psychologists-have-some-

predictions/ 30

Hacker Hughes, J. (Eds.). (2017). Military veteran psychological health and social care:

Contemporary approaches. Routledge. 31

Haybron, D. M. (2008). Philosophy and the science of subjective well-being. In M. Eid & R. J.

Larsen (Eds.), The science of subjective well-being (pp. 17-43). Guilford Press. 32

Hollander, M. M. (2017). Resistance to authority: Methodological innovations and new lessons

from the Milgram experiment (Publication No. 10289373) [Doctoral dissertation,

University of Wisconsin-Madison]. ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. 33

Hutcheson, V. H. (2012). Dealing with dual differences: Social coping strategies of gifted and

lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer adolescents [Master’s thesis, The College

28 Newspaper article without DOI, from most academic research databases or print version

29 Entry in a dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia, with individual author.

30 Online newspaper article.

31 Edited book without a DOI, from most academic research databases or print version.

32 Book chapter, print version.

33 Doctoral dissertation, from an institutional database.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 35

of William & Mary]. William & Mary Digital Archive.

https://scholarworks.wm.edu/etd/1539272210/ 34

Kalnay, E., Kanimitsu, M., Kistler, R., Collins, W., Deaven, D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, S.,

White, G., Whollen, J., Zhu, Y., Chelliah, M., Ebisuzaki, W., Higgins, W., Janowiak, J.,

Mo, K. C., Ropelewski, C., Wang, J., Leetmaa, A., … Joseph, D. (1996). The

NCEP/NCAR 40-year reanalysis project. Bulletin of the American Meteorological

Society, 77(3), 437-471. http://doi.org/ fg6rf9 35

King James Bible. (2017). King James Bible Online. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/

(Original work published 1769) 36

Lewin, K. (1999). Group decision and social change. In M. Gold (Ed.), The complex social

scientist: A Kurt Lewin reader (pp. 265-284). American Psychological Association.

https://doi.org/10.1037/10319-010 (Original work published 1948) 37

Liberty University. (2019). The online writing center. https://www.liberty.edu/online/casas/

writing-center/ 38

Liberty University. (2020). BIOL 102: Human biology. Week one, lecture two: Name of class

lecture. https://learn.liberty.edu 39

34 Thesis or dissertation, from the web (not in a database).

35 Resource with 21 or more authors. Note the ellipse (…) in place of the ampersand (&).

36 Religious work.

37 Work in an anthology.

38 Online webpage with URL.

39 Liberty University class lecture with no presenter named.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 36

McCauley, S. M., & Christiansen, M. H. (2019). Language learning as language use: A cross-

linguistic model of child language development. Psychological Review, 126(1), 1-51.

https://doi.org/10.1037/rev0000126 40

McCurry, S. (1985). Afghan girl [Photograph]. National Geographic.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/national-geographic-magazine-50-years-

of-covers/#/ngm-1985-jun-714.jpg 41

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Heuristic. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved 01/02/2020,

from http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/heuristic 42

National Cancer Institute. (2018). Facing forward: Life after cancer treatment (NIH Publication

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Health. https://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/life-after-treatment.pdf 43

National Nurses United. (n.d.). What employers should do to protect nurses from Zika.

https://www.nationalnursesunited.org/pages/what-employers-should-do-to-protect-rns-

from-zika 44

O’Keefe, E. (n.d.). Egoism & the crisis in Western values. http:// www. onlineoriginals.com/

showitem.asp?itemID-135 45

40 Typical journal article with doi.

41 Photograph.

42 Dictionary entry.

43 Report by a government agency or other organization.

44 Webpage on a website with no date.

45 Electronic only book.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 37

Owen, C. (2012, Spring). Behavioral issues resulting from attachment have spiritual

implications [Unpublished manuscript]. COUN502, Liberty University. 46

Perigogn, A. U., & Brazel, P. L. (2012). Captain of the ship. In J. L. Auger (Ed.) Wake up in the

dark (pp. 108-121). Shawshank Publications. 47

Peters, C. (2012). COUN 506: Integration of spirituality and counseling. Week one, lecture two:

Defining integration: Key concepts. Liberty University.

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-integration-key-

concepts/id427907777?i=1000092371727 48

Pew Research Center. (2018). American trend panel Wave 26 [Data set].

https://www.pewsocialtrends.org/dataset/american-trends-panel-wave-26 49

Prayer. (2015). http:// www exact-webpage 50

Project Implicit. (n.d.). Gender–Science IAT. https://implicit.harvard.edu/implici/taketest.html 51

Schatz, B. R. (2000, November 17). Learning by text or context? [Review of the book The social

life of information, by J. S. Brown & P. Duguid]. Science, 290, 1304.

https://doi.org/10.1126/science.290.5495.1304 52

Schmid, H.-J. (Ed.). (2017). Entrenchment and the psychology of language learning: How we

reorganize ad adapt linguistic knowledge. American Psychological Association; De

46 Citing a student’s paper submitted in a prior class, in order to avoid self-plagiarism.

47 Chapter from an edited book.

48 Liberty University class lecture using course details.

49 Data set.

50 Online resource with no named author. Title of webpage is in the author’s place.

51 Test, scale, or inventory itself.

52 Review of a book.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 38

Gruyter Mouton. https://doi.org/10.1037/15969-000 53

Second, M. P. (2011). Same author arranged by date (earlier first). Journal Name, 8, 12-13.

Second, M. P. (2015). Remember that earlier date goes first. Journal Name, 11(1), 18. 54

Shakespeare, W. (1995). Much ado about nothing (B. A. Mowat & P. Werstine, Eds.).

Washington Square Press. (Original work published 1623) 55

Strong, E. K., Jr., & Uhrbrock, R. S. (1923). Bibliography on job analysis. In L. Outhwaite

(Series Ed.), Personnel research series: Vol. 1, Job analysis and the curriculum (pp. 140-

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Tellegen, A., & Ben-Porah, Y. S. (2011). Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2

Restructured Form (MPI-2-RF): Technical manual. Pearson. 57

U.S. Census Bureau. (n.d.). U.S. and world population clock. U.S. Department of Commerce.

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U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (2017). Agency financial report: Fiscal year 2017.

https://www.sec.gov/files/sec-2017-agency-financial-report.pdf 59

University of Oxford. (2018, December 6). How do geckos walk on water? [Video]. YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qm1xGfOZJc8 60

53 Edited book with a DOI, with multiple publishers.

54 Two resources by the same author, in different years. Arrange by the earlier year first.

55 Shakespeare.

56 Electronic version of book chapter in a volume in a series

57 Manual for a test, scale, or inventory.

58 Webpage on a website with a retrieval date.

59 Annual report.

60 YouTube or other streaming video.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 39

Vedentam, S. (Host). (2015-present). Hidden brain [Audio podcast]. NPR. https://www.npr.org/

series/423302056/hidden-brain 61

Weinstock, R., Leong, G. B., & Silva, J. A. (2003). Defining forensic psychiatry: Roles and

responsibilities. In R. Rosner (Ed.), Principles and practice of forensic psychiatry (2nd

ed., pp. 7-13). CRC Press. 62

Yoo, J., Miyamoto, Y., Rigotti, A., & Ryff, C. (2016). Linking positive affect to blood lipids: A

cultural perspective [Unpublished manuscript]. Department of Psychology, University of

Wisconsin-Madison. 63

61 Podcast.

62 Chapter in an edited book without a DOI, from most academic research databases or print

version.

63 Unpublished manuscript with a university cited.

SAMPLE APA-7 PAPER FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS 40

Appendix

Annotated Bibliography

Cross, D., & Purvis, K. (2008). Is maternal deprivation the root of all evil? Avances en

Psycologia Latinoamericana, 26(1), 66-81. https://doi.org/10.1037/0002-9432.77.4.582

Weaving spiritual applications throughout the article, the authors incorporate a plethora

of references to substantiate that maltreatment has a direct connection to attachment

disorders. They provide articulate and heavily supported reasoning, detailing the specific

causes of maternal deprivation individually and then incorporating them in a broader

sense to answer the article’s title in the affirmative.

Feldman, R. (2007). Mother-infant synchrony and the development of moral orientation in

childhood and adolescence: Direct and indirect mechanisms of developmental continuity.

American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 77(4), 582-597.

This longitudinal study tracked 31 Israeli children from ages 3 months to 13 years

(infancy to adolescence). There were direct parallels noted between increased

attachment/coherence and the child’s moral cognition, empathy development, and verbal

IQ. Toddlers who were able to regulate their own behavior later proved to excel in lead-

lag structures and language skills.

Where Were the Auditors and Attorneys during the Sustainability Charade?

IN BRIEF The effects of corporate scandals can reverberate for years. Volkswagen, whose conspiracy to hide the emissions of its diesel engine vehicles was first uncovered in 2015, is still trying to repair its reputation. The damage will be felt for some time to come. The authors raise a question that has not been asked throughout this case: Did the company’s auditors and attorneys miss opportunities to prevent the scandal?

By Daniel Jacobs and Lawrence P. Kalbers

InFocus

The Volkswagen Diesel Emissions Scandal and Accountability

Another high mileage mark is now in the Guinness World Records book … an impressive 81.17 mpg. Starting out from VW’s American headquarters in Herndon, Virginia on June 22 and returning July 7 … the record-setting 2015 Golf TDI covered 8,233.5 miles in traversing the 48 contiguous states while burning 101.43 gallons of Shell diesel that costs a total of $294.98. —Bob Nagy, “VW Golf TDI Sets Fuel

Economy Record,” Kelley Blue Book website, Jul. 8, 2015, http://bit.ly/2I6KD6k

W hile the Volkswagen Golf TDI diesel was traversing the country in the summer of 2015, so were Volkswagen engineers, to meet with Environmental Protection Agency

(EPA) and California Air Resources Board (CARB) officials. The regulators wanted to know why real-time emissions monitoring conducted on Volkswagen diesel vehicles on the open road had revealed up to 35 times the amount of pollution recorded when the same cars were monitored in a government testing facility. On September 18, 2015, the EPA issued a Notice of

Violation to Volkswagen after determining that the com-

pany had manufac- tured and installed software (known as “defeat devices”) that substantially reduced the effectiveness of the emissions control system of the diesel vehicles when on the open road. The violations spanned the course of six consecutive model years (2009–15). Signed by Phillip Brooks, director of the EPA’s Air Enforcement Division, the letter was addressed to various Volkswagen and Audi corporate enti- ties and copied to Volkswagen’s outside counsel.

16 JULY 2019 / THE CPA JOURNAL

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Volkswagen should have seen it com- ing days, months, or even years before. The day before the Notice of Violation, EPA and Volkswagen officials exchanged emails scheduling a high-level conference call the next morning at 9:00 a.m. The previous evening, Brooks, a veteran of the Justice Department’s Environmental Enforcement Section, sent Volkswagen an ominous follow-up to ensure its general counsel would be on the call: “Please note that this is a call that Mr. [David] Geanacopolus would probably want to make a priority.”

During the call, the general counsel learned of the Notice of Violation.

This was just the first in an extraordi- nary series of events that ultimately would lead to costly litigation and criminal charges against Volkswagen and its CEO.

In 2016, Volkswagen was the defen- dant in a consolidated nationwide con- sumer class action and government civil enforcement action that resulted in a $15 billion settlement. In 2017, the company was fined $2.8 billion for criminal violations in the United States, and in 2018, it was fined the equivalent of $1.2 billion in Germany. By the end of the second quarter of 2019, Volkswagen’s costs associated with the

scandal were over $32 billion and mounting as various legal proceedings continued around the world. Pending lit- igation includes charges filed by the SEC for defrauding bond investors and an unprecedented class action lawsuit in Germany.

These costs were incurred because Volkswagen engaged in an elaborate fraud that included the installation of software in diesel vehicles to fool gov- ernment emissions tests, false certifica- tion to government authorities that the vehicles were compliant, deceptive mar- keting of the vehicles to consumers as “clean diesel,” and a brazen cover-up.

17JULY 2019 / THE CPA JOURNAL

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18 JULY 2019 / THE CPA JOURNAL

This conspiracy was not a victimless crime. Published research spearheaded by MIT scientists predicts that the excess particulate matter (PM) and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions pro- duced by the fake clean diesel vehicles will lead to some 60 premature deaths in the United States and 1,200 in Europe (Steven Barrett et al., “Impact of the Volkswagen Emissions Control Defeat Device on U.S. Public Health,” Environmental Research Letters, Oct. 29, 2015, http://bit.ly/2WyLLIP; Guillaume P. Chossière et al., “Public Health Impacts of Excess NOx Emissions from Volkswagen Diesel Passenger Vehicles in Germany,” Environmental Research Letters, Mar. 3, 2017, http://bit.ly/2KGpdyk). To date, none of the auditors and

lawyers associated with Volkswagen has been publicly identified as being the subject of any investigation con- nected with the scandal. Did any of them miss opportunities to help prevent it? This article provides a background sketch of the scandal; touches upon the state of Volkswagen’s corporate cul- ture, governance, risk management, and sustainability practices at the time (i.e., its corporate DNA); and explores what standards applied to the auditors and lawyers based on the facts as reported to date. (To be clear, a review of the actions of VW’s auditors and lawyers is beyond the scope of this article.)

Background Environmental statutes such as the

Clean Air Act (CAA) are largely pred- icated on protecting human health rather than the environment per se. Indeed, in a landmark unanimous opin- ion written by Justice Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court construed the CAA as mandating the EPA to solely con- sider human health and welfare—and barring it from considering industry implementation costs—in promulgat-

ing national ambient air quality stan- dards (NAAQS) for pollutants such as PM and NOx [Whitman v. American Trucking Associations, 531 U.S. 457, 473 (2001)]. Tighter air quality standards such as

those upheld in American Trucking, together with increased enforcement authority and tools, have enabled the federal government, with the help of the states, to significantly reduce air pollution in recent years [Daniel Jacobs, “The Federal Enforcement

Role in Controlling Ozone,” in McKee, D. (Ed.), Tropospheric Ozone: Human Health and Agricultural Effects, CRC Press, 1994]. Enforcement is critical to protecting human health, especially in major metropolitan areas such as Los Angeles, which sits in the most heavily polluted air basin in the country (American Lung Association, State of the Air 2018, http://bit.ly/2I6gtQp). Controlling emissions from automo-

biles is an important means of reducing air pollution, especially in large cities. Since its creation in 1970, the EPA has been under a congressional mandate to promulgate regulations designed to reduce automobile emissions. In 1990, Congress enacted new emissions laws

known as Tier 1 standards and required the EPA to review whether further reductions were necessary and techno- logically feasible to help states meet the NAAQS. In 2000, the EPA finally issued more stringent Tier 2 standards, including for NOx and PM, which were phased in gradually in automo- biles and were in full force beginning with model year 2007. Thus, the new emissions require-

ments were designed to protect peo- ple’s health; they evolved over time, giving automobile manufacturers both ample notice and time to comply; and they were based on available technol- ogy. In other words, they were neces- sary, reasonable, and achievable. But they posed a dilemma for Volkswagen if it was to achieve its ambition of becoming the leading automobile man- ufacturer in the world. In 2007, with a new CEO at the

helm, Volkswagen launched “Strategy 2018,” an aggressive new initiative with goals such as doubling annual vehicle sales (Stefan Schmid and Phillip Grosche, “Managing the International Value Chain in the Automotive Industry,” Bertelsmann Stiftung, 2008, https://bit.ly/2It0RHW). A key part of that strategy was to vast- ly expand diesel vehicle sales in the United States (Jack Ewing, Faster, Higher, Farther: The Volkswagen Scandal, W.W. Norton & Company, 2017). To that end, in 2008 Volkswagen rolled out a new technol- ogy that it claimed would achieve high fuel economy and performance while meeting the strict new emissions stan- dards—a technology that seemed to require “magical thinking,” at least in engineering circles (Dune Lawrence et al., “How Could Volkswagen’s Top Engineers Not Have Known?” Bloomberg Businessweek, Oct. 26, 2015, https://bloom.bg/2F298zk). Volkswagen solved its dilemma by

engaging in an elaborate fraud. By

InFocus

To date, none of the audi- tors and lawyers associat- ed with Volkswagen has been publicly identified as being the subject of any investigation connected with the scandal. Did any of them miss opportuni- ties to help prevent it?

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Volkswagen’s estimation, complying with the rules meant increased costs and lower fuel economy and road per- formance, which would potentially detract from sales. So, Volkswagen took it upon itself to use defeat devices to cheat—programming the vehicles so that their emission control systems sat- isfied emission limits only when in test mode. When on the road, the systems were disabled. Knowing that the diesel vehicles

would evade U.S. emissions standards, Volkswagen misrepresented them for years in order to get EPA and CARB certifications that allowed the vehicles to be sold in the U.S. When EPA and CARB finally began to catch on, Volkswagen equivocated until regula- tors threatened to withhold certifica- tion of its 2016 model year diesels. Once it became clear that its number was up, Volkswagen destroyed evi- dence of the fraud.

Volkswagen’s Corporate Culture and Governance, Sustainability, and the Six Capitals During the years it perpetrated this

fraud, Volkswagen consistently por- trayed itself as having an ethical cul- ture, good corporate governance, effective risk management, and a strong commitment to sustainability. There is evidence to the contrary. For example, Fortune has reported that Volkswagen has “a history of scandals and episodes in which it skirted the law” (Geoffrey Smith and Roger Parloff, “Hoaxwagen,” Mar. 7, 2016, https://for.tn/1R2T4iX). Volkswagen’s ownership and governance structures, including voting rights and the make- up of its supervisory board, were not a recipe for good corporate governance (Charles Elson et al., “The Bug at Volkswagen: Lessons in Co- Determination, Ownership, and Board Structure,” Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, December 2015,

http://bit.ly/2wLsJ2z), and the Volkswagen CFO apparently did not play the role of “Chief Value Officer,” as envisioned by Mervyn King (“Commonsense Principles of Corporate Governance,” The CPA Journal, July 2017, https://bit.ly /2MljRq4). Volkswagen’s own internal auditors—after the fact—recommend- ed 31 measures to improve governance and compliance (Volkswagen Group Annual Report 2016, http://bit.ly/ 2WsF7in). Meanwhile, all three pillars of sustainability—economic, social, and environmental—collapsed under the diesel fraud, as costs mounted,

stakeholders were alienated, and the air was polluted. By the measure of the six capitals

of integrated reporting—financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social and relationship, and natural— that have gained favor in recent years, Volkswagen also suffered dearly (Jane Gleeson-White, Six Capitals, or Can Accountants Save the Planet? W.W. Norton & Company, 2014; Barry Melancon, Keynote Address from 1st Annual NYSSCPA Hedge Fund Roundtable

Sustainability Investment Leadership Conference, The CPA Journal, June 2016, https://bit.ly/2NJl4bg). The diesel fraud exposed Volkswagen to huge tangible and intangible risks, and the consequences significantly depleted tangible financial capital (over $30 billion in costs, significant drop in stock price); social and rela- tionship capital (diminished brand name and trust, damaged stakeholder relations), and natural capital (increased pollution, associated mor- bidity and mortality).

Audited Financial Statements and Potential Warning Signs As a publicly traded company,

Volkswagen’s annual financial state- ments are subject to independent audit. Several standards of the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board (IAASB) may be particularly relevant as to whether any of the annu- al audits conducted during the period of the fraud could have detected poten- tial warning signs (2016-17 Handbook of International Quality Control, Auditing, Review, Other Assurance, and Related Services Pronouncements, http://bit.ly/2wO1rIM). International Accounting Standard

(IAS) 315, Identifying and Assessing the Risks of Material Misstatement through Understanding the Entity and Its Environment, requires auditors to evaluate whether “management, with the oversight of those charged with governance, has created and main- tained a culture of honesty and ethical behavior” (para. 14). Furthermore, auditors must gain an understanding of the company’s “relevant industry, regulatory, and other external fac- tors,” “its operations,” and “its own- ership and governance structures” (para. 11). Awareness of a toxic cor- porate culture and poor ownership and corporate governance structures might prompt the auditor to consider

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Volkswagen took it upon itself to use defeat

devices to cheat—pro- gramming the vehicles so that their emission control systems satisfied emis- sion limits only when in

test mode.

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how those factors could affect busi- ness practices and controls, and potentially lead to fraud. ISA 240, The Auditor’s Responsi bilities

Relating to Fraud in an Audit of Financial Statements Auditors, states that auditors are “responsible for obtaining reasonable assurance that the financial statements taken as a whole are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or error” (para. 5). Fraudulent finan- cial reporting includes “misrepresentation in, or internal omission from, the financial statements of events, transactions, or other significant information” (para. A3). Auditors should also keep in mind the three points of the fraud triangle: incen- tive or pressure, opportunity, and ratio- nalization (para. A1). Auditing standards also require

auditors to consider a company’s legal and regulatory environment (ISA 250, Consideration of Laws and Regulations in an Audit of Financial Statements), including “undertaking specified audit procedures to help identify noncompliance with those laws and regulations that may have a material effect on the financial state- ments” (para. 7). Application of these standards to

the Volkswagen scandal raises a num- ber of questions. Should the auditors have exercised additional scrutiny under the circumstances—which included a history of poor ethical cor- porate culture, weak corporate gover- nance, an aggressive new sales strategy, and bold claims of techno- logical advances? Might they have focused more heavily on assessing the control environment and fraud risk factors? Did the members of the audit team have sufficient industry expertise to assess business and audit risk, given the negative consequences that the nondetection of fraud can have, not just for the company and its stake- holders, but also for the audit firm?

Sustainability Reports and Limited Assurance The two most common assurance

frameworks used for sustainability reports are ISAE 3000 and AA1000AS (Sunita Rao, “Current State of Assurance on Sustainability Reports, The CPA Journal, June 2017, https://bit.ly/2m4Eewu). ISAE 3000 is used more often by CPA firms (pri- marily the Big Four), and AA1000AS

is used more often by “specialist assur- ance providers/technical experts” (Rao 2017). ISAE 3000 allows for “moder- ate” or “limited” assurance [ISAE 3000 (Revised), 2013, para. 6], while AA1000AS allows for “high” or “moderate” assurance (AA1000AS, 2008, p. 10). From 2008 to 2013, Volkswagen’s

sustainability reports, prepared by the same firm that performed the finan- cial audits, contained independent assurance reports that were conduct- ed under both AA1000AS and ISAE 3000, whereas for 2014 and 2015,

they were conducted only under ISAE 3000. Starting with the 2015 sustainability report, the auditor makes clear that its assurance, even though limited, should not be relied upon by stakeholders: “The report is not intended for any third parties to base any [financial] decision thereon. We do not assume any responsibility towards third parties.” In the 2017 report, the sentence “Our responsibil- ity lies only with the Company” was added to the report between the two sentences above. Thus, the independent assurance

provided for Volkswagen’s sustain- ability reports became increasingly more limited over time. Would soci- ety and stakeholders be better served by sustainability reports at higher levels of assurance that are designed to more fully inform stakeholder decisions? Could greater scrutiny, in the form of more proactive and com- prehensive inspections and assess- ments by the sustainability report assurance firm, have detected the use of the defeat device, to the ultimate benefit of Volkswagen and its stake- holders? Would it have been benefi- cial to have different firms conduct the audits of the financial reports and sustainability reports, or did the use of the same firm actually provide a greater opportunity to discover the fraud? These questions and many others might be addressed more definitively with greater access to records that Volkswagen has yet to make publicly available.

The Lawyers As in earlier corporate debacles

where the role of the company’s lawyers has come into question (such as the Enron accounting scandal and the General Motors ignition switch case), observers might ask: what duty, if any, did Volkswagen’s lawyers have

InFocus

Should the auditors have exercised additional scrutiny under the

circumstances—which included a history of poor ethical corporate culture, weak corporate gover-

nance, an aggressive new sales strategy, and bold claims of technological

advances?

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JULY 2019 / THE CPA JOURNAL 21

to report the fraud if they knew of it? It is possible that what Volks –

wagen’s lawyers knew and when they knew it has been addressed by Jones Day, the powerhouse law firm VW hired after the fact to conduct an inter- nal investigation of the fraud. To date, however, the Jones Day information, which was provided to the Justice Department as part of a successful effort to win a reduction in Volkswagen’s criminal fine of over $3 billion, otherwise remains secret, requests notwithstanding. (German authorities searched the law firm’s offices in Munich to seize the infor- mation, an action that was subse – quently upheld by Germany’s Constitutional Court.) The duties of lawyers are discussed

in the canons of ethics that generally govern the legal profession (each juris- diction is different), which were revised after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (Cramton et al., Legal and Ethical Duties of Lawyers After Sarbanes-Oxley, 49 Villanova Law Review, January 2004, http://bit.ly/2WDcHqw). Under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct adopted by the American Bar Association (ABA), a lawyer may not ethically facilitate conduct that he knows to be illegal or fraudulent (ABA Model Rule 1.2). The rules reflect, however, a distinct tension between the client’s right to confiden- tiality with the lawyer and the lawyer’s ethical obligations, with confidentiality generally weighing more strongly in the balance. Thus, under the Model Rules, a lawyer may—but is not required to—report to the authorities the unlawful conduct of a client “to the extent that the lawyer reasonably believes necessary … to prevent the client from committing a crime or fraud that is reasonably certain to result in substantial injury to the finan-

cial interests or property of another and in furtherance of which the client has used or is using the lawyer’s ser- vices” [ABA Model Rule 1.6(b)(2)]. Comments to the ABA Model

Rules reflect that the scenario is “especially delicate” when the lawyer has been representing a client with the understanding that the conduct was legal, but then discovers the criminal or fraudulent conduct mid-

stream. The lawyer may not assist the client in such conduct and must with- draw at that stage (Comment 10 to Model Rule 1.2). The Model Rules also contain pro-

visions that relate specifically to cir- cumstances where a lawyer is representing an organizational client, such as a corporation. If the lawyer knows of a violation of law that is likely to result in substantial injury to the corporation, the lawyer must act in the corporation’s best interest (i.e., not necessarily in the best interest of

its individual officers and employees), including by reporting the matter up the corporate ladder [Model Rule 1.13 (b)]. In some jurisdictions, if reporting up the ladder does not result in the matter being addressed appropriately, the lawyer may—but is not obligated to—report a clear violation to the authorities if it is reasonably certain to result in substantial injury to the cor- poration [Model Rule 1.13(c)]. Thus, the applicable obligations

generally can be summarized as fol- lows, based on what the lawyer knew and when: ■ The lawyer never knew about the illegal or fraudulent conduct: No legal or ethical violations ■ The lawyer knew about the illegal or fraudulent conduct and helped per- petrate it: ethical violation (and poten- tially legal violation) ■ The lawyer learned about the ille- gal or fraudulent conduct midstream: must withdraw and report internally, and may report externally if suffi- ciently serious.

No Clear Answers Volkswagen engaged in a massive

fraud with dire consequences for the company and its stakeholders alike. Its corporate culture facilitated both the conception and perpetuation of the charade. It remains an open ques- tion, however, whether Volkswagen’s auditors and lawyers might have missed opportunities to prevent the scandal. ❑

Daniel Jacobs, JD, is a clinical asso- ciate professor of management at the College of Business Administration of Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, Calif. Lawrence P. Kalbers, PhD, CPA, is the R. Chad Dreier Chair in Accounting Ethics and the associate dean, faculty and academic initiatives at Loyola Marymount.

Would society and

stakeholders be better

served by sustainability

reports at higher levels

of assurance that are

designed to more fully

inform stakeholder

decisions?

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