APA Fact of the Week: Nouns Followed by Numerals of Letters

APA Editing

APA Style lists various style formats to follow when writing a dissertation, some of which may not seem obvious or necessary. In addition, these formatting requirements ensure consistency and bring your writing to a more academic standard. For example, the use of nouns followed by numerals or letters.

In particular, APA6 states to, “capitalize nouns followed by numerals or letters that denote a specific place in a numbered series” (4.17, p. 103). Examples include:

On Day 2 of Experiment 4

Figure 2 and Table 3 present

In the school, Grade 8 students

during Trial 5

*Note that numbers preceding these nouns are presented as numerals, not expressed as words (APA6, 4.31, p. 112).

Two exceptions to the rule pertain to common items and nouns that precede a variable. For nouns that refer to common parts of a table or book, do not capitalize the noun. Examples include:

page iv

row 3

column 5

In addition, for nouns that precede a variable, do not capitalize the noun. Examples include:

trial n and item x

but

Trial 3 and Item b

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