The publication manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) sets the standard for writing in psychology and has also become the standard for writing in many other behavioral and social sciences disciplines such as education, nursing, and business. The sixth edition of the manual was published in 2009.

The guidelines set forth in the APA manual address how to communicate complex scientific writing, including writing style and the mechanics for formatting a paper. Writing in APA format involves two different tasks. The first of these is style, or the quality of the prose, and the second is the mechanics that includes requirements such as margin size, section headings, and how to give proper credit to others. This entry discusses APA guidelines for style and mechanics and ...