There are two types of journals in the academic world. These are American Psychological Association (APA) and American Sociological Association (ASA). These two journals are similar in many ways. But one is meant for psychologists and the other is meant for sociologists. The purpose of this article is to explain the difference between APA and ASA.
APA and ASA have a lot of similarities, such as their journals, titles, style, etc. However, there are some differences between them. This article will help you understand these differences.
| APA | ASA |
| Doesn’t have to follow alphabetical order. | References must be arranged in alphabetical order. |
| Including abstract after the title page. | No need to include abstract after the title page. |
| Publishes psychology-related journals. | Publishes sociology-related journals. |
Difference Between APA and ASA: What Are Their Different Names?
APA: It is an organization that publishes all kinds of journals related to psychology like American Psychologist, American Journal of Psychology, etc. This journal publishes articles on topics related to psychology every month.
There are more than 250 members in this organization who publish articles on psychology in their journals and they also vote for changes that can be made in this journal’s name.
But one thing you should know about this organization is that it has a big role to play when it comes to publishing psychological studies about the work done by psychologists around the world. In fact, it has a reputation of being the “leading authority on psychological science”.
ASA: It is an organization that publishes all kinds of journals related to sociology like American Sociological Review, American Journal of Sociology, etc. This journal publishes articles on topics related to sociology every month.
There are more than 200 members in this organization who publish articles on sociology in their journals and they also vote for changes that can be made in this journal’s name.
But one thing you should know about this organization is that it has a big role to play when it comes to publishing sociological studies about the work done by sociologists around the world. In fact, it has a reputation of being the “leading authority on social science research”.
For format, it is required that all titles, including the author’s name, the title of the paper, and the deadline for submitting the work be written in APA style. ASA style writing requires that the author and the institution should be listed in the center of the title page.
It is required that you include a brief abstract in the APA style. But, under the ASA style, an abstract is not necessary. The writer should include the abstract based on the need of the writer.
The page number that is used in APA format is always on the right side of the first page. There are two sets of numbers in the ASA that are flush on the left side of the first page.
The American Psychological Association has created a prescribed writing style and format for academic papers. For instance, the APA style determines the formats for footnotes, citing sources, using references, and more. APA is used by journals, universities, libraries, publishers, and colleges.
Conversely, the American Sociological Association (ASA) has created an editorial style and format for academic papers in the sociology field. ASA has created guidelines for organizing information, including bibliographical citations, tables of contents, appendices, figures, illustrations, and more.
On the first line, the word abstract is printed at the center of the page. There is no additional formatting for the word Abstract in APA. After writing a summary, in the five spaces that are indented, insert in the italics the key words related to the proposal of research. In ASA it is possible to have an abstract after the title page but that is not required in such format.
APA format highly recommends that the title of a document not exceed 12 words, but writers are not obliged to make that claim. Under the APA approach to writing, the author is specified by its name and the year that the work was published. After the parentheses are closed, the author must specify the name of the author and the year of publication. ASA style references must be arranged in alphabetical order, but in APA there is no such rule.
When it comes to author names, APA style requires authors to put their names at the end of the paper, in a separate section. If there is more than one author, the first author’s name is shown first, and other authors are listed alphabetically by their last names.
On the other hand, in the ASA style, authors must put their names at the beginning of their papers. All of the author’s information is found at the top of the paper. In addition, multiple authors list their names alphabetically by last name, with no punctuation between them.
In the APA style, the last and first names of the author are used. However, in ASA, the first and middle names are used unless these were abbreviated from the beginning.
ASA offers guidelines for running heads or footers at the top or bottom of each page. These must be identified specifically as part of the manuscript. However, they are not shown in published articles.
In addition, APA stipulates that in-text citations should include the last name and page number, and a summary of the idea written by another source. One example is a direct quote from another source. If you paraphrase another author’s idea, this information must be included.
ASA uses a note style for citations.
