View of the Chicago Skyline - Location of the School of Business and Nonprofit Management at North Park University

Colleges and Schools

APA Style Requirement and Resources

Use of APA Publication Manual

The School of Business and Nonprofit Management requires students to utilize the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) as the standard format for all written assignments in business and nonprofit management courses. This requirement helps students and professors to not only improve the writing skills of students, but also creates a standardization across all coursework that emphasizes the importance of paper mechanics, grammatical constructs, and the necessity of proper citations.

If you are unfamiliar with the requirements of the APA Manual, we recommend that you purchase the reference manual and/or consult one or more of the suggested resources below. It is your responsibility to learn the specifics of the APA Manual and to ensure that all written work is formatted accordingly.

Suggested Online Resources

Many students find that Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) is especially beneficial, and includes a wide range of APA-specific resources, including a general orientation to APA basics and this sample paper formatted according to APA standards with explanatory comments.

You can also consult the APA style manual online.

Suggested Print Resources

  • Hacker, D. (2009). Rules for writers. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
  • Barnet, S., Bellanca, P., & Stubbs, M. (2008). A short guide to college writing. New York: Pearson Longman. 
  • American Psychological Association (2010). Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington D.C.: American Psychological Association.