Effective Writing Strategies for Social Work Professionals

APA 7

th

 Edition 

Indiana University School of Social Work – South Bend

Andrea Tamburro, MSW, Ed.D.

November 2020

Scholarly and Professional Writing



Provide a clear explanation



Use accurate punctuation



Spell accurately – use spell check in

Word



Use correct grammar – use grammar

check in Word



Analyze critically



Support your arguments with evidence



Make sure your data is accurate



Give credit 

to avoid plagiarism

National Association of

Social Workers Code of Ethics



Code of Ethics identify several types of reports that are

written by social workers:



Reports to courts and police in the case of abuse,

neglect, risk of self-harm, or harm to others.



Case records, which can be examined by clients

and subpoenaed by courts.



Reports and records must be written clearly,

accurately.



Descriptions must be complete.



(NASW Code of Ethics,  2017. 

http://www.naswdc.org/

)

Steps: Write, Then Proofread, Then Edit

1.

Review the instructions

2.

Research, research, research 

academic peer-reviewed resources

3.

Start 

writing

 your assignment 

several days ahead 

of the due date.

Write a 

draft.

4.

Let it sit, get an editor, read aloud.

5.

Check the content 

– review the instructions. Look for gaps!

6.

Proofread

 – Make sure the sentences are clear and complete.

7.

Do your sentences and paragraphs support or disconfirm the

arguments made in your research? [include both confirming and

disconfirming evidence]

8.

Will a reader understand your arguments?

9.

Look for information that will fill the gaps and find support for

information that needs confirmation.

10.

Final Edit 

– look for typos, grammatical errors. When we revise

sentences, sometimes words from the original sentence remain.

Plagiarism Policy IUSSW



Plagiarism is a form of cheating and is grounds for

failing the course and possible dismissal from the

program and/or university.



Plagiarism is defined as presenting someone else’s

work, including the work of other students, as one’s

own.



Any ideas or materials taken from another source

for either written or oral use must be fully

acknowledged, unless the information is common

knowledge. What is considered “common

knowledge” may differ from course to course.

More of the Plagiarism Policy IUSSW



A student must not adopt or reproduce ideas, opinions, theories, formulas,

graphics, or pictures of another person without acknowledgment. A

student must give credit to the originality of others and acknowledge

indebtedness whenever:



1.

Directly quoting another person’s actual words, whether oral or

written;



2.

Using another person’s ideas, opinions, or theories;



3.

Paraphrasing the words, ideas, opinions, or theories of others, whether

oral or written;



4.

Borrowing facts, statistics, or illustrative material; or



5.

Offering materials assembled or collected by others in the form of

projects or collections without acknowledgment.



6. 

Self-plagiarism: A student must not submit substantial portions of the

same academic work for credit or honors more than once without the

permission of the instructor or program to whom the work is being

submitted.

You need to know it, but do not

need to buy it



Here is a link to some of

the changes.



https://apastyle.apa.org/

Starting with the Basics – APA Template



Formatting



Order of pages



Title Page



Font



Header



Line Spacing



Margins



Paragraph Alignment and Indentation



Headings



Sample Papers



Accessibility



https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format

Use Only a Few Quotes



You are conveying 

your

 ideas and supporting

them with data from other sources.



Use your writing voice.



Explain how the quote relates to your topic.



Quote . . . 



when reproducing an exact definition (see Section 6.22

of the 

Publication Manual

),



when an author has said something memorable or

succinctly, or



when you want to respond to exact wording, such as

something someone said.



This information is quoted from the following site: 

https://apastyle.apa.org/

Effective Paraphrasing –

Avoid Plagiarism

1.

Read and reread the original section of the

document to understand the information.

2.

Cover the original document and write your

summary.

3.

Above your summary, write 

key words 

or a

phrase to identify the topics.

4.

Make notes, including citation, with the

paraphrase reminding yourself how you plan to

use this information.  [Perhaps use brackets.]

5.

(Purdue OWL, 2007)

Effective Paraphrasing 

5. 

Next compare your summary to the

original to ensure your version reflects

accurately the essential ideas and

information.

6. 

Italics

 (not quotation marks)

can be

used highlight 

unique terms or phrases

that you have used from the original

source.

7. 

Note the source, including the page

number, next to your summary 

so you

can cite the information. 

(Purdue OWL, 2007)

Quoting and Paraphrasing

Quote:

Karger and Stoesz (2010)

 indicated that,

“

[p]

overty is a fluid 

. . . 

process for most Americans. The

University of Michigan’s Panel Study of Income Dynamics

 . . .

followed 5,000 families for almost 10 years (1969 – 1978) and

found that 2 percent of families were persistently poor

throughout the entire period” 

(p. 112).



Example paraphrase:



Karger and Stoesz (2010) cited a University of Michigan

study which indicated that most families in the 1970s were

only poor “temporarily.”

Paraphrase this Block Quote

A number of authors indicated that,

[a]lthough beginning practitioners often think that methods,

approaches, or skills are the critical factors in achieving good client

outcomes, clients surveyed in many research studies reported that

the relationship qualities of warmth, respect, genuineness,

empathy, and acceptance were most important (Beutler,

Machado, & Allstetter-Neufelt, 1994; Flaskas, 2004; Krupnick et al.,

1996; Metcalf, Thomas, Duncan, Miller, & Hubble, 1996; Smith et al.,

2004). (Chang, et al., 2009, p. 49)

Comment: Note, Chang, Scott, and Decker are the authors of the quote.

Citations

In-Text:

Parenthetical (in parentheses)citation

integrated in the sentence

References

listed at the end

Why Are In-Text Citations Needed?

Reasons Why In-Text Citations

Are Needed



Help reader find the information



Identify authors who provided evidence to

support your ideas.



Support your statements – if several authors

made similar statement, it lends credibility.



Provide credit



Acknowledge the intellectual property of

others



Avoid plagiarism

When to Cite



Cite quotations and paraphrased information



Cite sources to document all facts and 

figures

 that you mention that are not

common knowledge.



Cite information you have read and ideas you have incorporated



Include only citations needed to support your immediate point.



Cite 

primary sources 

when possible and cite secondary sources only when

necessary.



To cite a specific part of a source, provide an author–date citation for the

work plus information about the specific part.



Cite personal communications in the text of the paragraph (According to Dr.

Johnson, the Director of Health Services, at Apex Health Care . . .

Comment: The above information is quoted from the following site:

https://apastyle.apa.org/

In-Text Citations



Each in-text citation must correspond to only one reference list

entry.



Do not include suffixes such as “Jr.” in the in-text citation.



For works with an unknown author (see Section 9.12), include the

title and year of publication in the in-text citation.



In parenthetical citations, the author’s last name and publication

date appear in parentheses.



In narrative citations, the author’s last name is incorporated into the

text as part of the sentence and the year follows in parentheses.



When multiple references have an identical author (or authors)

and publication year, include a lowercase letter after the year.



⁠If the first authors of multiple references share the same surname

but have different initials, include the first author’s initials in all in-text

citations, even if the year of publication differs.

More about In Text Citations

Based on information from the following site: 

https://apastyle.apa.org/

In-Text Citations – Example 1

Example below:



To provide effective services, social work

students need to be better prepared to

work with Indigenous peoples, families,

and communities (Weaver, 

1997

b

, 

2005

).



Explanation

: 

The date 

1997b

 was used because the author

of the paragraph has cited two articles by Weaver written in

1997. The first article cited is listed 

1997

a

 and the second

article cited is listed as 

1997b

 in the in-text citation and in the

references.

In Text Citations – Example 2



Research has demonstrated that

writing is an essential skill that

undergraduate students in social work

need to develop 

(

A

lter & Adkins, 2001,

2006; 

H

orton & Diaz, 2011; 

W

aller, 2000)

.



Explanation: notice the authors are in 

alphabetical

order

, not ordered by date.

Examples 3 of In Text Citations



Baskin (2005b) stated that 

“[t]

here is much

anecdotal evidence from Aboriginal helpers

on how current social work education does

not represent them, their world views 

[sic] 

or

the situations in their communities” (p. 2).



Explanation: [sic] is a Latin word used in older texts. It

indicates a style or error. It means the person writing the

quote thinks the reader of the quote could think it was

misquoted.

Citing Multiple Authors and Sources



Twenty years after a study by Shaughnessy

and Brown (1979), Weaver (

1999

) conducted

a similar study. Weaver surveyed 62 U.S. social

workers and social work students who were

Native American. 

Weaver identified the

“knowledge, skills, and values [were found to

be] necessary for culturally competent

service provision to Native American clients”

(p. 218).



Explanation: Note the words “were found to be” were

inserted into the quote. 

Brackets indicate your

insertion.

In Text Citations for Quotations –

Add Page Numberss



According to 

Tamburro and Harris (2016),

“[d]ecades of research demonstrates that many

social work undergraduate students need to

develop more effective writing skills (Alter & Adkins,

2001, 2006; Horton & Diaz, 2011; Waller, 2000)” (p.

51).



“Decades of research demonstrates that many

social work undergraduate students need to

develop more effective writing skills (Alter & Adkins,

2001, 2006; Horton & Diaz, 2011; Waller, 2000)”

(Tamburro & Harris, 2016, p. 51).

In-Text Citations for Quotations if There Are No

Page Numbers



“Webpages, include the heading or section name, paragraph

number, combine section name and paragraph number”

(

https://apastyle.apa.org/

). 

Example: “

People planning for retirement need more than just money—

they also ‘need to stockpile their emotional reserves’ to ensure

adequate support from family and friends (Chamberlin, 2014, para. 1)”

(

https://apastyle.apa.org/

). 



If there is no page number, include “canonically numbered sections.”

Example: 

The National Association of Social Workers Code of Ethics

Section 2 explains social worker’s ethical responsibilities to colleagues.

2.01

 Respect states “(a) Social workers should treat colleagues with

respect and should represent accurately and fairly the qualifications,

views, and obligations of colleagues.”

In-Text Citations with 3 or More Authors



The 

first citation and subsequent citations 

of three more

authors now includes the 

first (primary author) and et al

. 

Et al.

is a Latin abbreviation for et alia, which means “and others”.



Repeating a citation



Include the author(s) and year for every parenthetical in-

text citation.



Do not repeat the year for narrative in text citations the

second and subsequent times they appear in a 

single

paragraph

. Follow this guideline with each new paragraph

(i.e., include the year in the first narrative citation in a new

paragraph).



https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/basic-principles/author-

date#parenthetical-narrative

In-Text Citation for the 

First Citation and

Subsequent Citations 

of three more authors

Example:



Chang et al. (2019), provide some guidance about asking

questions.  They suggest that leading questions are a subtle

form of giving advice and should be avoided, at least until

the client has established concrete goals (Baxter et al.,

2013).  Also, clients may feel interrogated if the practitioner

asks questions without exploring the meaning of the answers

(Chang et al.). In addition, Chang et al. indicated that

asking more than one question at the same the same time

can be confusing.

In-Text Citations Repeating a Citation



Cite 

multiple works

by using the same author or authors,

regardless of the publication years, 

include the date in

every in-text citation 

to prevent ambiguity.



Explanation: 

Gonzales and Brown (2017) and Gonzales

and Brown (2019), include the year with every citation,

even when one of the references is cited multiple times in

a single paragraph.

Example:



Although advice is often given in ordinary conversations, according

to Chang et al. (2014) and Chang et al. (2019), 

it is not helpful social

workers to offer advice. They suggest helping clients sort out their

own decisions, because giving advice can reinforce the

practitioner’s power and authority.  Also, offering excuses and

reassuring is generally inappropriate(

Chang et al., 2009; Chang et

al., 2019)

.  

Quotations



For quotations of 

fewer than 40 words [not including the

citation]

, add 

quotation marks around the words 

and

incorporate the quote into your own text—there is no

additional formatting needed.

Example:

Effective teams can be difficult to describe because “high

performance along one domain does not translate to high

performance along another” (Ervin et al., 2018, 

p. 470

).



Place a parenthetical citation either immediately after the

quotation or at the end of the sentence.

Paraphrased Quotation



For a narrative citation, include the author and year in the

sentence and then place the page number or other

location information in parentheses after the quotation.

Example:



According to Ervin et al. (2018), effective teams can be

difficult to describe because “high performance along one

domain does not translate to high performance along

another” (

p. 470

).

Quoting a quote in a

Secondary Source



“A survey of social workers reveals tremendous

diversity in perspectives guiding social work

practice” (Norlin and Chess (1997), 

as cited in

Miley et al., 2011

, p. 25).



Explanation: 

Miley et al. (2011) quoted Norlin

and Chess and you quoted Miley et al. Note the

page number for the Norlin & Chess is not

provided.



Reference Miley, O’Meila, and Dubois in the

references at the end.

Block Quotes – 40 or  more words



Do not use quotation marks to enclose a block quotation.



Start on a new line and indent the whole block 0.5 in. from the left

margin.



Double-space the entire block quotation. Do not add extra space

before or after it.



If there are additional paragraphs within the quotation, indent the first

line of each subsequent paragraph an additional 0.5 in.

(a)

cite the source in parentheses after the quotation’s final punctuation 

or

(b)

cite the author and year in the narrative before the quotation and

place only the page number in parentheses after the quotation’s final

punctuation.



Do not add a period after the closing parenthesis in either case.

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations/quotations#with-page-

numbers

Block Quote Instructions

Quotations of 40 or more words 

–



To count the words of a quote, copy and paste it into

Word. (Microsoft Word shows word count at the bottom

left of the screen.)



Double Space.



Place a period 

at the 

end of the quote 

not at the end of

the citation.



For a quotation inside the block quote, use double

quotation marks.



Indent using the Home – Paragraph Tab

Block Quote Exercise

A number of authors indicate that,

[a]lthough beginning practitioners often think that methods,

approaches, or skills are the critical factors in achieving good client

outcomes, clients surveyed in many research studies reported that

the relationship qualities of warmth, respect, genuineness,

empathy, and acceptance were most important (Beutler,

Machado, & Allstetter-Neufelt, 1994; Flaskas, 2004; Krupnick et al.,

1996; Metcalf, Thomas, Duncan, Miller, & Hubble, 1996; Smith et al.,

2004

). (

Chang, et al., 2009, p. 49)

Exercises – Block Quote



Open Microsoft Word



Practice formatting a block quote

from the previous slide.

Web Citation Example 1



APA

 in-text web citation style uses the

author's last name and the year of

publication, for example: (Field, 2005).



For direct quotations, include the page

number as well, for example: (Field, 2005,

p. 14).



For sources such as 

websites

 and e-books

that have no page numbers, use a

paragraph number.

Web Citation Example 2

In text citation of a webpage that

you have paraphrased (written in

your own words):



The National Association of Social

Workers suggested that it was

necessary for social workers to

take care of themselves

(

https://www.socialworkers.org/assets/secured/documents/s

ections/atod/newsletters/2017%20ATOD%20Spring%20-

%20Summer%20Issue.pdf

).

Web Citation Parenthetical Format

In text citation 

of a webpage that you have

paraphrased (written in your own words):



Social workers’ writing demonstrates their

professionalism (National Association of Social

Workers

, 2011).

Reference

:



National Association of Social Workers (2011)

Strengthening your writing skills: An essential

task for every social worker.

https://careers.socialworkers.org/documents/WritingSkillsLL.pdf

Web Citation Narrative Format



The National Association of Social

Workers (NASW) provides tips for

professional writing in their

webpage, 

Strengthening your

writing skills: An essential task for

every social worker 

(2011). They

suggest that a social worker’s writing

demonstrates her or his

professionalism to others.

Web Citations – Quotes



The National Association of Social

Workers (NASW) cautions

professionals to “[b]e aware that

everything you write reflects on you

as a professional” (NASW, 2011, para.

16).

Webpage with Author’s Name

Example:



Ferrer (n.d.) identified the major role that  social

workers have played in advancing the rights of

people and reforms to change policies which

oppressed people. These changes include health

care, laws protecting children, equality with regard

to gender, sexual orientation, race, and ethnicity.

Reference:



Ferrer, D. (n.d.). “

23 defining moments that every

social worker should know

”.

https://thebestschools.org/magazine/23-defining-

moments-of-social-work/

.

In Text Citation - Quote



Effective writing “enables you to

communicate your message succinctly and

persuasively” (NASW, 2011, para. 3)

Web Citation – Quote



The NASW, 2011 webpage

Strengthening your writing skills

,

suggests that as social workers, you

must “[m]ake a practice of

reviewing your own work for errors

in spelling, grammar, and style.

One effective technique is to read

your work aloud” (para. 7).

Always include sources cited

within the document

in references at the end.

List at the end with dates first in chronological

order, then in alphabetical order.

The reference page is called:

References

References



You 

no longer need to include the location of the

publisher

.



Surnames and initials for up to 20 authors 

(instead

of 7) should be provided in the reference list.



Digital Object Identifiers are formatted the same

as URLs.  Omit DOI label.



New DOI Format

:

https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2018.1560449

Reference List



Author:

Who

 is responsible for this work?



Date:

When

 was this work published?



Title:

What

 is this work called?



Source:

Where

 can I retrieve this work?

References - 

Book



Author(s) (Publication Date). 

Title of the

publication. 

Name of the Press.



Example: 

Young, D. (2014). 

The writer’s

handbook: A guide for social workers. 

Writer’s

Toolkit Publishing LLC.



Example of a book chapter:



Tamburro, A. (2014). Literature Review. In D.

Young (Ed.), 

The writer’s handbook: A guide for

social workers

. (pp. 51-76). Writer’s Toolkit

Publishing LLC.

References - 

Journals

Author(s) (Publication Date). Title of the article. 

Title

of the Publication, Volume # 

(Issue #), page #s

.

doi

. 

(older articles may not have a doi)

Examples:

Falk, D. S., & Ross, P. G. (2001). Teaching social work

writing. 

The Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work, 6

(2),

125-142.

Graham, S., & R. Harris, K. (2000). The role of self-

regulation and transcription skills: In writing and writing

development. 

Educational Psychologist, 35

(1), 3-12.

https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2018.1560449

Journal Reference: Include DOI but Not Title

Macdonald, R., & Carroll, J. (2006). Plagiarism—a

complex issue requiring a holistic institutional

approach. 

Assessment & Evaluation in Higher

Education

, 

31

, 233–245. 10.1080/02602930500262536

Johnstone, K. M., Ashbaugh, H., & Warfield, T. D.

(2002). Effects of repeated practice and

contextual-writing experiences on college students’

writing skills. 

Journal of Educational Psychology

, 

94

,

305–315. 10.1037/0022-0663.94.2.305

References - Website

National Association of Social Workers. (2011).

Strengthening your writing skills: An essential 

task for

every social worker. 

Retrieved from 

http://careers.

socialworkers.org/documents/WritingSkillsLL.pdf

American Psychological Association. (2011).

Learning APA Style. 

Retrieved from

http://www.apastyle.org/ learn/index.aspx

Check your links to make sure they work before

turning in the assignment. 

Format the following text for

bibliography/reference page



Title of book: American social

welfare policy: A pluralistic

approach.



The quote from the text is on page

15.



Written by Howard Jacob Karger

and David Stoesz.



Published in 2010 by Allyn and

Bacon in Boston, MA.

Correct Format for Karger and Stoez Text

Karger, H.J., &  & Stoez, D. (2010). 

American social

welfare policy: A pluralistic approach. 

Allyn and

Bacon.

Format the following Journal Article



Authors: Andrea G. Tamburro and Marshelia Harris



Date: 2016



Title: Enhancing Social Work Writing Skills Using

Project-Based Learning.



Publication: Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work



Location information: Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 51-61.



DOI: 

doi:10.18084/1084-7219.21.1.51

Correct format of journal article from

previous slide



Tamburro, A., & Harris, M. D. (2016). Enhancing

social work writing skills utilizing project-based

learning. 

Journal of Baccalaureate Social Work,

21

(1), 51-61. 10.18084/1084-7219.21.1.51

Avoiding Biased Language – be specific

Remember, people first:



He was diagnosed with depression.



Children with disabilities were interviewed.



African Americans who lived in rural areas were surveyed.



When gender is unknown, 

it is okay to use singular 

they

.



Example: 

The person who wrote the statement was

anonymous; they wanted to keep their identity private.



Participants or subjects in a research project.



Capitalize racial and ethnic terms (Black people, White,

Hispanic, Indigenous.

Style



Do not use “I”, “we”,  “me”.



One space between a period or other punctuation and

the next sentence.



Example 

– James and Johnson (2017) did a pilot study

on forms of treatment for depression. Subsequently, in

2018, James and Jones expanded the study to include

500 more people.



Review the 13 Comma Rules



Example

 - Based on the research by James and Jones

(2019), three things can impact depression: Talk therapy,

medication, and change of circumstances.

Italics



Italicize key terms

Example:



According to A. Smith and B. Smith (2006a), 

social location

 is . . .



An article by A. Smith and B. Smith (2006a), entitled “Social

Location,” studied the various aspects of identifying social

location in counseling sessions. After meeting with a counselor for

the first time, participants in the study were asked to rate which

aspects of their social location was “very important to the

experience,” “somewhat important,” “neither important or

unimportant.”

Formatting – Font



Sans serif fonts: 

11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or 10-point Lucida Sans

Unicode



Serif fonts: 

12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or normal (10-

point) Computer Modern (the default font for LaTeX)



Use the same font throughout your paper, with the following exceptions:



Figures: Within figure images, use a sans serif font with a type size between 8 and

14 points.



Computer code: To present computer code, use a monospace font such as 10-

point Lucida Console or 10-point Courier New.



Footnotes: When inserting footnotes with the footnotes function of your word-

processing program, use the default font settings. The footnote font might be

smaller than the text font (and have different line spacing), and it is not

necessary to change it.

This information is quoted from the following site: 

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-

grammar-guidelines/paper-format/font

Organization: Headings,

Paragraphs and Sentences



Thesis statement or question 

is included in

introduction and conclusion.



Headings provide 

essential

 structure.



Paragraphs are grouped together under

themed 

headings

 that provide a logical flow.



Each paragraph 

has a 

topic sentence 

and at

least four related and explanatory sentences.



See the APA template for the use of APA

headings.

Formatting –

Heading Levels

Same as APA 6



Insert image

https://apastyle.apa.org/

Heading Levels



Identifies Sections of the document and the content subsections.



Introduction – level 1 heading

 Write an introduction about child abuse



First Main Topic level 1

 Heading style: Definitions



Subsection 

definitions of physical abuse 

use 

level 2 heading



Subsection 

definitions of sexual abuse 

use 

level 2 heading



Subsection 

definitions of emotional abuse 

use 

level 2 heading



Next Main Topic level 1 

Heading style: Signs of abuse



Subsection 

signs of physical abuse 

use 

level 2 heading



Subsection 

signs of sexual abuse 

use 

level 2 heading



Subsection 

signs of emotional abuse 

use 

level 2 heading



Next Main Topic level 1 heading: 

Interventions



Subsection 

legal interventions 

use 

level 2 heading



Subsection 

treatment interventions 

use 

level 2 heading

This information is from the following site: 

https://apastyle.apa.org/

Title Page



Title of the paper



Authors



Affiliation



Course Name and Number



Instructor’s Name



Assignment Due Date (spell out month)



Header only page number for student papers top right corner on all

pages.



Check with instructor, for example, APA does not require a running head,

but an instructor might.



Explanation 

quoted from 

https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/student-title-page-guide.pdf



Example

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/title-page

Format



Double space, except tables, figures, footnotes and

equations 



Margins 1 inch unless otherwise specified.



Left Margin: Indent first sentence of paragraph .5 inch. Then,

align sentences to the left margin.



 Right margin leave uneven (use 

align left 

not 

justify.



Block quote: indent the whole quote .5 inch leave right

margin uneven.



Sample documents: 

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-

format/sample-papers

This information is quoted from the following site

:

https://apastyle.apa.org/