How to Format an Epigraph in APA

Merriam-Webster's Dictionary defines "epigraph" as "a quotation set at the beginning of a literary work or one of its divisions to suggest its theme." Though unusual in formal research papers in American Psychological Association format, finding the perfect epigraph to introduce your research can immediately set the tone for the reader and make your paper stand out from the rest. Since epigraphs are not common in APA format, there are no special directions for formatting them; rather they should be formatted just like standard short quotes.

Instructions

    • 1

      Start a new line after your center-aligned title. Change the format to left-alignment and indent to start a new paragraph.

    • 2

      Write your quote, with quotation marks on both sides of it, capitalizing only the first word and proper nouns. Do not yet add other punctuation at the end. Example:

      "As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being"

    • 3

      Put the quote's author's last name in parentheses, followed by a comma, followed by the year the quote's source was published, followed by "p." and the page number it appeared on, if applicable. After the parentheses, put the quote's ending punctuation. For example:

      "As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being" (Jung, 1995, p. 326).

    • 4

      Write a citation for the source of the quote in proper APA format in the references section of your paper. This is the proper format for a quote from a book:

      Author, A. A. (Year of publication). "Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle". Location: Publisher.

      In our example:

      Jung, C.G. (1995). "Memories, Dreams, Reflections". New York: Fontana HarperCollins.

Learnify Hub © www.0685.com All Rights Reserved