(A modified American Psychological Association style; all page references are to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th ed., 2010.)

Manuscript Preparation

• Use 12-pt type Times New Roman and double space (and no more than double space) everything: abstract, text (including indented quotations), headings, references, and tables.. Do not use boldface or ALL CAPS. (Italicize rather than boldface level 2 and 3 headings.)
• Manuscripts should be limited to 30-35 pages total, including title page (p. 1), abstract (p. 2), text, references, tables, figures, and any appendices. Use 1-inch (2.54 cm) margins at the top, bottom, left, and right of every page (p. 229).
• Use left justification in the text (i.e., the right edge is ragged).
• Number pages, beginning with the title page, in the upper-right-hand corner.
• Title length is < 12 words, abstracts < 150 words. Include the N and the data source in the abstract. Include a running head (i.e., short title) of < 50 characters and spaces (if accepted, the running ahead will appear at the top of every other page of the published article). Place the running head at the top of the first page (not in the header). The running head for a comment or reply should specify that it is a comment or reply.
• Below the abstract, list up to six key words, in alphabetical order, by which a published article may be indexed. Choose key words from JMF's ScholarOne website.

• Manuscripts should have the following major headings (all upper case and centered): METHOD (no s), RESULTS or FINDINGS, DISCUSSION, and REFERENCES; no heading for INTRODUCTION. There may also be one (and only one) major heading prior to METHOD, for example BACKGROUND or THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK. In addition to these major headings, the manuscript may have sub-headings.

• Except for author acknowledgements, JMF publishes neither footnotes nor endnotes. Please incorporate any essential material into the text.

Method and Data

• The background needs to justify all variables, including control variables.
• In the Method section, specify when, where, and how data were collected. Provide both n and (%) of cases deleted due to each sample inclusion (or exclusion) criterion, attrition, or missing data. For interview-based studies, describe questions that were asked. Delineate how data were analyzed. It is insufficient to say simply that a quantitative or qualitative software program was employed. In qualitative studies, as well as studies relying on content analysis, all phases of coding should be spelled out and related to the goals of the project.
• Analyses (or other information) that are not essential to the printed article, but that may be of interest to readers can be submitted as appendices and published in the online version of the article on Wiley Interscience. Supporting material such as additional tables or expanded reference lists should be prepared as appendices and authors should indicate in the manuscript that they intend for this material to be published as online supporting material. Author guidelines on how to prepare supporting material, including acceptable formats and file sizes, are available at http://authorservices.wiley.com/bauthor/suppmat.asp

Brief Reports

In brief reports, the background presents a brief description of the theoretical framework and prepares the reader for the sample, the measures, and the analytic strategy. It includes a succinct review of only the literature directly relevant to these points. Readers should get to the method by page 5 or 6 (title page is p. 1, abstract is p. 2). The method and results sections are not much different from a full-length manuscript. Rather than a discussion, however, research notes have a conclusion summarizing the major findings. Limitations, of course, are included. The manuscript ends with a brief statement of the study's contribution. Generally, the conclusion runs around 3 pages. The reference list should not exceed 4 pages. Brief reports appear in the front of the issue

Numbers and Statistics

• Use figures, not words, for dates; ages; sample, subsample, or population size; exact sums of money; numbers that represent time; and scores and points on a scale. (See pp. 111 - 114.)

• In text and tables, treat numbers as you would treat words. Type all operators (e.g., <, =) with a space before and after. Use numerals for all numbers 10 and above and when comparing to numbers 10 or above (e.g., 12, 11, and 6 months). Number over 999 (other than page numbers) should include commas (e.g., N=3,850; p. 1211).
• One fifth (noun) versus one-fifth (adjective).
• Italicize scoring systems (tables, too) as follows, 1 = yes, 5 = strongly agree, 1 = no effect.
• Greek leters are set in regular type; statistical symbols in italic type, and symbols for matrices and vectors in boldface type. (See pp. 118-119.)
• Expand all statistical or technical terms on first use (e.g., goodness of fit, GFI thereafter). See common statistical abbreviations and symbols in Table 3.9 (pp. 119-123).
• Italicize statistical symbols in text and tables (e.g., F, Fs, SD, M, N, n, p, r, R2, t). Use symbols (e.g., 29% not 29 percent or twenty-nine percent; α not Cronbach's alpha).

• Capitalize Model 1, Table 2, Hypothesis 3, Wave 1, Figure 1, Column 2, Level 1, and so on.

• Use N for the total sample and n for any and all subsamples (tables, too). Note the italics.
• In tables and text, use zero before a decimal point in a number less than 1 if a statistic could exceed 1. Do not use a zero before a decimal point where a statistic could not exceed 1. (See pp. 113-114.) Examples of statistics that cannot exceed 1 are: a, B, p, and correlation coefficients. Examples of statistics that can exceed 1 are: b, CI, df, eb, effect sizes, %, OR, SD, and SE.

General and APA-specific Grammar and Usage Rules

General:

• Strive for economy of expression.
• Use while and since only in reference to time (alternatives: although, whereas, but, because).
• JMF follows Strunk and White in not beginning a sentence with however, which usually means "in whatever way" or "to whatever extent." Often nevertheless or but is a good substitute for however.
• Include a comma before and in a series (e.g., red, blue, and yellow). Use commas (not semicolons) in a series unless an element within the series contains commas: Flags were blue, red, and yellow; lavender, white, and apricot; or orange, green, and black.
• Generally, close quotation marks after periods and commas, "like this." Other punctuation marks are within quotations only when they are part of the quoted material. (See pp. 91-92.)
• Use which for information that is parenthetical in nature and set off this material with commas; for information essential to the meaning of the sentence, use that (e.g., the table, which appears in Appendix A; a variable that is measured). (See p.83.)
• The word data is plural. See p. 96 for plurals of common words of Latin or Greek origin.
• Use e.g., i.e., etc., and vs. in parentheses only. Otherwise, use for example, that is, etcetera, and versus. Follow e.g. and i.e. with commas (e.g., i.e.,).
• Ellipses require spaces before and after each period, like this: . . ., not ...Ellipses may also need to include an ending period before or after the ellipses.

APA-specific:

• Expand all acronyms on first use, no matter how commonly used (e.g., Dyadic Adjustment Scale, DAS). Abbreviate only terms commonly used in JMF, not EST. (See pp. 106 - 107.)
• The following prefixes should not require a hyphen: after, anti, bi, co, counter, equi, extra, infra, inter, intra, macro, mega, meta (but meta-analysis), micro, mid, mini, multi, non, over, post, pre, pro, pseudo, re, semi, socio, sub, super, supra, ultra, un, and under. Retain hyphens before a numeral, an all-caps abbreviation (pre-TANF), and a capitalized letter (e.g., non-Hispanic). Retain hyphens if word could be misunderstood or misread (e.g., re-pair, anti-intellectual). Hyphenate all self words. (See the table on p.  98 for more instructions concerning gyphenation.) Commonly used nouns: caregiving, childbearing, child care, child rearing, database, data set, e-mail, fixed effects, life course, long-standing, pooled time series, random effects, website.
• Hyphenate compound adjectives when they modify nouns; for example, middle-class families but families in the middle class. Terms for race and ethnicity do not include hyphens (e.g., African American families). Well-being is always hyphenated. Use an en dash between two units of equal weight (e.g., parent-child relationships).
• Emphasis and irony are best conveyed with words; do not use italics for emphasis. (For more information, see pp. 105-106). Use quotation marks for in-text quotations of fewer than 40 words and to indicate ironic comments or invented expressions (e.g., the division of labor is "fair"), not for emphasis. Quotation marks around ironic expressions are dropped after the first occurrence.
• Italicize new, technical, or key terms or labels but only at first occurrence. Italicize words used as words (e.g., "Often nevertheless or but is a good substitute for however.")
• Avoid one-sentence paragraphs. Avoid contractions.
• Review the literature in the past tense.
• Use letters, not numbers, in parentheses for a series: (a) first, (b) second, and (c) third; not (1), (2), (3); nor 1), 2), 3); nor a), b), c).
• Capitalize the first word after a colon if it begins a complete sentence. Capitalize both words when a capitalized word is a hyphenated compound.
• Capitalize racial groups: Black, White, non-White, Mexican American, European American.
• Use female or male only as adjectives; girls or women, boys or men as nouns. Rewrite the sentence to avoid language such as he/she and him or her (see p. 74). Use gender, not sex. Use sex for behavior.
• Avoid slash construction in (a) simple and/or constructions (use a phrase instead); (b) for simple comparisons or items of equal weight (use a hyphen instead); and (c) more than once to express compound units (use centered dots and parentheses to avoid ambiguity). (See pp. 95 - 96.)

Tables

• Construct tables in Microsoft Word. Place asterisks indicating p values in the same cell as the value they modify, use the decimal tab in the ruler to align decimals.
• Consult our JMF table websitefor sample tables in PDF and in Word; the latter may be downloaded for use as a template. Delete all vertical and most horizontal lines as per the examples on the web. Double space all tables. However, if double-spacing means that a table requires two pages, and the table can be printed on one page with single-spacing; this is acceptable.
• Craft brief but clear and explanatory table titles. Use title case (capitalize major words, all words of four or more letters, and both words of a hyphenated compound) and italicize.
• Align headings and column entries. Align decimal points within columns (see our table website). Use separate columns for each item (e.g., standard errors). Use only two decimal places unless there is a compelling reason to provide three decimal places.
• Except for statistical symbols, do not italicize column headings or variable names. Boldface is reserved for unique statistical symbols.
• Tables should stand alone, without the need to go to the text for interpretation. Explain the meaning of scales, numbers, and variables with table notes or figure legends. If using acronyms or special punctuation, define them (e.g., YR = youth report; all bolded terms are weighted to U.S. norms). Include the N and ns in all tables.
• Table notes:
  • First level: General table notes, together in a first paragraph, are relevant to the table as a whole. No space between Note and :. Format is:

Note: All values are weighted. N = 230 couples.

• Second level: Specific notes-together in a second paragraph-are used for information relevant to a particular row, column, or cell entry. There is no space between the superscript and the cell entry and between the superscript and the note. Format is:

 a1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree. bCenter for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale.

• Third level: Probability notes-together in a third paragraph-indicate the results of tests of significance. Use asterisks only. Use periods to punctuate probability notes. No space between * and the cell entry and between * and p in the note. Italicize p. In the rare instance when it is appropriate, use a dagger (†) to indicate a trend as in †p < .10. * indicates the same p value from table to table within a paper. All p-value notes go on a single line. Insert spaces before and after <. Format is:

 *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.

Reference and Parenthetical Citations in Text (pp. 174 -179)

• Citations in the text not enclosed in parentheses should list the date of the work in parentheses after the author's name, as in Jones (2002).

• List parenthetical citations in alphabetical order (Benton & Mays, 1999, Results section, para. 3; Chan, 1998; Farmer, 1999a, 1999b; Jones, 1992, 1999; Jones, Armstrong, & Hayes, 2001; Zindel et al., 2001).
• For a single work, use a comma between the author and the date (Jones, 1990).
• In parentheses, link authors' names with an ampersand (Bruce & Smith, 1996); use and in the text: Bruce and Smith (1996). In the case of three or more authors, both & and and are preceded by a comma: Franz, Cox, Smythe, and Queen (1989) or (Franz, Cox, Smythe, & Queen, 1989).

• List different publications by the same author in chronological order. Do not repeat the author's name (Bruce, 1990, 1992a). Commas separate the dates of different publications by the same author; semicolons separate that author's work from that of other authors' (Jones, 1990, 1987; Bruce, 2000).
• Works by the same first author but different coauthors are alphabetized by the last name of the second (or, if necessary, later) author. (See p. 182.)
• Once a work with three or more authors has been cited in full, subsequent citations should list the first author (no comma) followed by et (no period) al., (period and comma), as in (Smith et al., 1988); works with six or more authors follow this convention on first occurrence.
• Cite a single page number using p. and multiple page numbers using pp. (e.g., Jones, 1992, pp. 10 - 12). Put a space between p. or pp. and the number.
• Use commas to separate citation dates in parenthetical material (see Jones et al., 2001, for an example).

Reference List (pp.180-192)

• Begin the reference list on a new page. Double space (and no more than double space) within and between all end references. Each new entry begins flush left; set subsequent lines with hanging indents using the ruler, no the Enter key and tabs, to create the indents.

• Alphabetize entries in the same manner as within-text citations (above).
• The reference list includes all references and only those references cited in the text.
• Entries with multiple authors should include the names of all authors in the reference list.
• Use authors' and editors' last names and first and second initials (Gutman, A. S., & Smith, R. T.) Initials appear before surnames only for editors (e.g., A. S. Gutman). Space between initials.
• Italicize book titles, and the names and volume numbers of journals. Page numbers are required for book chapters. (See p. 204.)
• If a source is available most readily online, provide a URL. Avoid using a period after a URL. For example: Kreider, R.M. (2003, October). Adopted children and stepchildren: 200. Census 2000 Special Reports. Washington, DC: U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved from http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/censr-6.pdf
• Where  possible, include DOI's (digital object identifiers) in the reference list. For example: Biblarz, T. J., & Stacey, J. (2010). How does the gender of parents matter? Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 3-22. DOI:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2009.00678.x
• Include state's postal code (e.g., DC not D.C.) or the country to avoid confusion or if the city is not well known for publishing: Cambridge, MA; Cambridge, UK. These U.S. cities can stand alone: Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and San Francisco. These international cities can stand alone: Amsterdam, Jerusalem, London, Milan, Moscow, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Tokyo, and Vienna.
• Give publishers in as brief a form as possible; remove The, Publishers, Co., or Inc., but retain Books and Press. For example, Basic Books, Blackwell, Erlbaum, Macmillan, Sage, Wiley.
• Journal of Marriage and the Family prior to 2001; Journal of Marriage and Family from 2001 forward.