The most common system of documentation used in the social sciences is the author-date system of the American Psychological Association (APA).

• Alphabetize. Author's last name first, followed by comma and initials. Do not use full names.
• Indent author's name to paragraph tab on first line; subsequent lines flush with left margin.
• Use "&" to join names of two or more authors. Do not write out "and."
• Date of publication in parentheses follows the author's name.
• Italicize book titles. Capitalize only the first word (except for proper nouns).
• Use a colon between the place of publication and the publisher.
  
• Place periods between major divisions and at the end.
  
• Single-space within entries; double-space between entries.

      Jones, A., & Smith, B. (1995). Title of the work. Boston: Nonesuch Press.

• Alphabetize, author's last name first or first word of article (excluding "a," "an," "the") if no author.
  
• Indent author's name to paragraph tab on first line; subsequent lines flush with left margin.
  
• Place year in parentheses after author (title, if no author).
  
• Do not put titles of articles in quotation marks; capitalize only the first word.
  
• Italicize journal/magazine title. Capitalize all major words, followed by volume number and inclusive pages, all of which are separated by commas.
  
• Italicize the volume number.
  
• Give all page numbers.
  
• Single-space within entries; double-space between entries.

      Slick, G. (1995). Title of the work. Monthly Journal, 21, 105-12.

            Devine, J. (1988). Models of reading and writing strategies. Paper presented at TESOL 1988; Chicago, March 1988.

            Elbow, P. & Belanoff, P. (1989). A community of writers. New York: Random House.

      Flavell, J. H. (1976). Metacognitive aspects of problem solving. In L. B. Resnick (Ed.), The nature of intelligence (pp. 231-35). Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.

      Flavell, J. H. (1979). Metacognition and cognitive monitoring: A new era of cognitive-developmental inquiry. American Psychologist, 34, No. 10, 906-11.

      Garner, R. (1987). Metacognition and reading comprehension. Norwood, N.J.: Ablex Publishing Company.

      Wellman, H. M. (1985). Knowledge of the interaction of memory variables: A developmental study of metamemory. Developmental Psychology 14, 24-29.

      Wellman, H. M., Collins, J. & Glieberman, J. (19 8 1). Understanding the combination of memory variables: Developing conceptions of memory limitations. Child Development, 52, 1313-1317.