What is the point of having to use APA?
• There are several purposes in using APA (or any style system). First, a main goal is to make clear for the reader what contributions, ideas, and words in the paper are yours, versus what elements belong to sources upon which you are drawing. Part of establishing this clarity is consistency in citing and formatting. • Second, this same care in attributing words and ideas to the proper source will ensure you are not accused of plagiarism (which, incidentally, includes poor paraphrasing, where a few words may have been changed, while the original sentence structure remains!). • Third, effective in-text citing will easily lead a reader to your reference list; effective reference entries will easily lead your reader to the actual sources you have read. • Finally, when you use an established format and style, this allows your reader to feel well situated. Moreover, your attention to detail speaks well of your professionalism and credibility.
