The guidelines were developed to aid reading comprehension in the social and behavioral sciences, for clarity of communication, and for 'word choice that best reduces bias in language'.
It is described in the style guide of the American Psychological Association (APA), which is titled the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. It is commonly used for citing sources within the field of behavioral and social sciences.
APA style is a writing style and format for academic documents such as scholarly journal articles and books.
