APA Style & Circle Social

Purdue University's Online Writing Lab tells us

"APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This resource, revised according to the 7^th edition of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page. For more information, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (7^th ed.)."

At Circle Social, we use APA style as a general guide for our writing style. If you're unfamiliar with this style, you can access a full training here .

Things to Keep An Eye Out For

Commas save lives. We use that Oxford, Harvard, or Serial comma here. I like cooking, my family, and my pets. No one is saying you have to be vegetarian, but commas can help keep loved ones and furry friends off the menu.

Bulleted lists are quirky. If the line leading into the list is a full sentence, it gets a colon as a prize! Yay! If it’s just a fragment, no colon is used.

Free Typically, this word is avoided. Nothing here is free. Possibly complimentary or no-cost… but not free. Free makes it sound cheap and of no value.

Abuse, Clean, Junkie, etc. The idea behind avoiding these words is that they sound judgmental and dehumanize the person with the disorder. If someone is using it in a quote, it stands. Otherwise, find another word to use.

Press Advantage Rules for Press Releases

"Must Be Newsworthy

Releases must be news. The title/headline and the entire body of the release must revolve around something that is a recent development.

These could include new announcements of new products or services, organizational milestones/anniversaries, awards given or received, or even a reaction to a current newsworthy event. The possibilities are endless, are long as it's news.

Announcing that a product is "now" available for sale online is not acceptable.

The body should read like a news piece, not an encyclopedic article.

If you need help coming up with ideas, please read our 107 Reasons To Submit a Press Release report.

Clear Source And Fully Authorized

The release must make clear who is announcing the news. You must have the authority to speak on behalf of the releasing organization. That means you either need to be a representative or officer of that organization/company or you must have an acceptable agreement with them defining you as an appropriate press contact.

In the case of distributor relationships, franchises, multi-level-marketing or other arrangements where a local branch may not necessarily be allowed to speak for the corporate brand, we reserve the right to attempt to gain written confirmation from a company officer.

Written in Proper Press Release Style

Releases should be 100% objective and free of hype, big claims, exclamation points, uppercase letters, and sales messages. Releases using the words "I," "You," or other non-third-person styles will not be accepted. Neither the headline nor the body copy should include any questions. Grammar and spelling should be 100% correct. Body copy should not have the effect of selling a product or service. Do not devote entire paragraphs to positive attributes of a product or service.

Releases should be written as if they could appear verbatim in a newspaper. To get used to the way news should be written, just check out any quality paper (such as the New York Times or Washington Post.)

Proper Length

Your release should land somewhere between 300-800 words.

One Link Maximum per 150 Words

Don't over-do it with links. Too many links can make a release look like bait for Google, rather than a news article.

Content Should Be 100% Original

We do not accept releases which contain content that is either duplicate or highly similar to other publicly released information. Do not plagiarize or misappropriate text. Submitting a Release using "Spun Content" is grounds for termination of your entire account.

No References to Inappropriate, Illegal or Sexually Explicit Material

News organizations are highly professional, and if they wouldn't be allowed to print it as a front-page story, it doesn't belong in a press release.

The following is a partial list of topics that are banned:

health and beauty products of any kind, including supplements, pharmaceuticals, creams, lotions, weight loss, or any release making efficacy claims of any kind
discounts, price reductions, or sales
mortgage, payday, cash, short-term or long-term loan services
sexually explicit/adult
escort services
sexual enhancement products or supplements
radical or political opinion/view
radical religious opinion/view
intent to harm or defame or enact revenge
use of the words "scam", "fraud", etc.
stock ticker symbols in any form
online gambling
psychic services
electronic cigarettes, alcohol, tobacco
advertisements
personal opinions, blog posts, or opinion pieces

Anything that seems inappropriate along the lines of what is mentioned above will also likely be rejected."

Some Specialty Edits & Common Mistakes

Its vs. It's

"Its" shows ownership, as in "When looking at a detox program, someone should consider its stance on medication-assisted treatment."

"It's" is a contraction of the phrase "it is," as in "It's important to know whether someone is comfortable with 12 step programs before enrolling here."

Whose

This word showcases ownership. The contraction "who's" generally means "who is" but this should not be used too often. Mostly a writer may mistake "who's" as a way to establish ownership since adding an apostrophe and s to most words or names is a way to ascribe ownership.

Example: "Whose choice was it to build the bridge?" rather than "Who's choice was it to build the bridge?" The second is wrong.

Year abbreviations

If we are going to abbreviate a year we do it with the last two digits, like so: '21. We want to avoid confusion between 1921 and 2021, but most often the context of the text will make it easier to know. If someone is writing a piece that references the early 1900s then we absolutely should write out the whole date to specify the year.

Also, notice that there is no apostrophe used when referring to a group of years: '90s or 00s. The apostrophe is not needed because it indicates ownership and we are not ascribing any ownership to those years, merely stating that there were multiple years involved.

That

This word is often added unnecessarily. A good way to understand its use is to read the Merriam-Webster definition, which is here. It's much easier to examine a piece of writing afterward and read for clarity. Our writing style is informed by conversation and a slightly less professional voice, but we should avoid padding pieces with words serving no other purpose. We tend to use "that" colloquially and as a filler word.

For example:

"The doctors told her that she was going to need physical therapy for a significant time."

vs.

"The doctors told her she was going to need physical therapy for a significant time."

While the first is not wrong, necessarily, we can clean the sentence up and make it read a little quicker, while also losing none of its meaning.

NOTE: This does not mean avoiding the word "that" in all circumstances. When used to indicate a specific object or moment it is serving a purpose in the sentence. Avoiding its overuse will help us refine our writing style.

Editing & Proofing