APA Style Refresh: Composing Elements in a Series

When I consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (let’s call it The APA Manual from here) it’s usually not for mastering the correct formatting for title pages, making sure I have the comma in the correct location in my reference entries, or listing the correct terminology for a figure or a table. Instead, I am curious about the style recommendations that help readers follow along with the ideas being presented. The style recommendations throughout The APA Manual are indispensable, helpful, and thoughtful. 

Perhaps the most-common recommendation I make to writers using APA style in their scholarly writing is to check out Section 3.23 in The APA Manual: The section on writing elements in a series. According to this section, elements in a series should be presented parallel to enhance readers’ ease of comprehension. In other words, each element in the series should be constructed using the same word forms and sentence structures. 


A series, also known as a list, is comprised of three or more elements. It’s important to format the elements coherently because it helps the reader focus on the ideas being presented. When readers can move through a series with ease, it is more likely that they will focus on the content of the list, which is the goal of the scholarly writer. However, if readers’ comprehension is muddled and they must slow down to parse a series, their focus strays from the meaning.
 
Let’s take a look at this sample series and break down how I constructed each element in the series:

The steps for replacing siding on one’s garage are to remove deteriorated boards, to insert new boards into place, to nail or screw boards to the studs of the garage wall, and to hope that nothing terrible happens in the process.

The first thing to notice is where each element of the series begins and ends. In this case, each step to replacing siding on a garage begins with “to.” This is a helpful cue to readers because they know immediately when the next step is beginning in the sentence.

Also notice the form of the verb and where it comes in the element. All of the verbs (“remove” “insert” “nail” and “hope”) immediately follow “to” and are conjugated using the same verb form. This is another way to help guide your reader through your series. Changing word orders, word forms, and word tenses is a surefire way to complicate your sentence and make your reader strain to understand your meaning.

A final, important tip is to separate each element in the series with a comma. Yes, APA style favors the serial comma (also known as the Oxford Comma) because it contributes to clearer communication between writer and reader. One little comma can make the difference between a reader fully understanding what each element in your list is doing and being confused where the final element of the series begins.

As you continue to develop and practice your scholarly writing skills, I recommend that you embrace the rigidity of The APA Manual’s recommendations for writing a series. Once you have developed strong control over writing complex sentences like this, then you can start to experiment with sentences that are written using near-parallel structure. In a near-parallel list, you may tweak small elements of the elements of your series to add some variety for the reader. However, these are extremely tricky to do well, and I recommend you practice the basics first.

Here are some sentences containing series that are written in non-parallel ways. I challenge you, dear reader. Can you rewrite one or all of these sentences in the comments box below so they adhere to parallel construction?

The dog’s favorite activities are fetching the ball, the stick, and running around chasing butterflies.

I love all of the items that I harvest from my garden but I especially love the green beans, the way they taste better than the summer squashes, and harvesting kale by the armload.

To become a better writer, according to my Writing Instructor, I need to work on crafting parallel lists, evidence, and when I consult the Writing Center’s resources, I need to pay attention to the details.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Max Philbrook is a writing instructor and the coordinator of social media resources at the Walden Writing Center. He believes in the power of APA style to provide structure and guidance for scholarly writers at all levels. Max's favorite summer pastimes are swimming, harvesting produce in the garden, and throwing a ball for Zoie the dog.  

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