APA Fact of the Week: Parentheses
When writing your dissertation, it is necessary to understand APA’s basic mechanics of style. Regarding parentheses, writers may find it difficult to decipher how, when, and where to use them. The APA Manual details the general use of parentheses in Section 4.09 (APA6, pp. 93–94). Outlined below are a few common examples students experience when writing their dissertations.
- to set off structurally independent elements
Ex. The participants’ demographics were diverse (see Table 2).
Discover How We Assist to Edit Your Dissertation Chapters
Aligning theoretical framework, gathering articles, synthesizing gaps, articulating a clear methodology and data plan, and writing about the theoretical and practical implications of your research are part of our comprehensive dissertation editing services.
- Bring dissertation editing expertise to chapters 1-5 in timely manner.
- Track all changes, then work with you to bring about scholarly writing.
- Ongoing support to address committee feedback, reducing revisions.
2. to set off citations in the text
Ex. Creswell (2011) identified…
Ex. … is one of the fastest growing illnesses (Belbase, Khan, & Jalan, 2013), and
Ex. The researchers found… (O’Neil et al., 2014).
*Inside, citations are organized alphabetically.
The most common errors in dissertations are back-to-back parentheses and nested parentheses.
3. Avoid back-to-back parentheses
Correct Ex. (e.g., defensive pessimism; Horem & Cantor, 1986)
Incorrect Ex. (e.g., defensive pessimism) (Horem & Cantor, 1986)
4. Avoid nested parentheses
Correct Ex. (the Beck Depression Inventory )
Incorrect Ex. (the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI))