apa paper writing guidelines

apa paper writing guidelines

Guidelines for Writing an APA-Style Research Paper

1. Introduction to APA Style

APA style is the most common style used for writing in psychology and universities use it for academic writing as well. However, the basic layout is always the same, irrespective of the format of the APA paper. It contains front matter (such as the introduction), the body of the paper (left-aligned and non-justified), and references, appendices, footnotes, tables, and endnotes (right-aligned). Citations, from the Latin word which means to quote, are used in the APA paper. Most university students have difficulty in knowing exactly what to write as well as how to use citations in their documents. APA instructions will aid learners in understanding how to write citations and references for title pages, abstracts, and papers.

APA stands for the American Psychological Association, which recently published the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition. Because APA style is the most utilized style in scientific writing, this paper provides some basic guidelines on how to write in APA style. This paper particularly explains some formatting basic features that are needed for writing a research paper like page numbers, margins, spacing, use of headings, capitalization, and writing titles. This paper also links the APA style to the structure of a research paper, giving an introduction for a research paper, and some audience and purpose statements. The style also clarifies how to do in-text citations, how to write references at the end of your paper, the writing style that is needed for a research paper, some common APA errors, and some tips to be a successful writer.

2. Formatting Basics

The page headers using the title above the shortened title should be in brown, 12pt., utilizing a maximum of 50 characters, with every page containing the head or title of the paper as well as “Page #” flushed right and in the header. Only the title and not the word “Running head:” should appear on the title portion of the page, with titles longer than 50 characters reduced in length with an ellipse, not a hyphen or other punctuation type. Pagination specifics include consecutive Arabic numerals in the top right corner and the title of the paper left-aligned with the title of the page number. Using optional text elements depends on if your paper contains the text, such as footnotes and citations. Tables and figure elements are used in order and details of the information appear before the tables and figures in any appendices or footnotes.

The first step in writing an APA-style research paper is formatting your work according to APA guidelines, which involve setting up basic features such as page margins, line spacing, font style, and any extra structural components included in your paper. Research papers typically include these structural pieces of information: a title page, abstract, introduction, methods and results sections, a discussion, figure(s), and table(s), references, footnotes, and appendices. The paragraph structure is more detailed and involves formatting the body of the paper: text is flush left, and paragraphs should be indented a half an inch. The first line of every paragraph should be indented approximately one half inch (0.49″). Right margin justification should not be used. Other standard formatting specifics involve margins of 1 inch on all sides in landscape format, with a portrait orientation that uses margins of 1 inch on the top, bottom, and sides. 12 pt. font. Evenly double spaced text, and flush left on separate page with bold type. Level two, third level, and fourth level headings are also required to be bold and flush left in italics, and only level headings that contain a single line of text use the standard paragraph structure of bold, flush left, in italics, with a period at the end.

3. In-Text Citations and References

References: Once the in-text citations have been correctly formatted and placed, the references section is listed at the end of the paper. All works (citations) listed in the references section must correspond to at least one in-text citation within the work. Begin the reference section on a new page, with the word “References” centered at the top of the page. Afterwards, follow with reference entries in alphabetical order. Keep in mind that for the most part, authors’ names are written as indicated in the work. The year of publication should also be included after the authors’ names, with the most recent publication first in the reference list on the References page. If the items are not dated, they are placed in ascending alphabetical order prefixed by “n.d.” to indicate “no date”.

In-text Citations: When you quote or paraphrase another author’s words (or research findings), it is important to introduce the quotation or paraphrase followed by the author’s last name and the date of publication in parentheses. If you refer to the author by name within your sentence narrative (e.g., “As Argos et al. (1998) posited…”), begin the sentence as follows: Argos, Edwards, and Taylor (1998) posited…; if not, simply use Argos et al. (1998) in the parentheses. A quotation of fewer than 40 words should be enclosed in double quotation marks and should be incorporated into the text. If the quote is more than 40 words, it should be displayed in a freestanding, indented block of text and should be introduced with a signal phrase, usually followed by a colon, to set the quote off from the rest of the text. Note that when setting off trade publications, the specific page number for direct quotes must also be provided. However, page numbers must be stated in alternating order (i.e., first and last page numbers) for all periodicals.

4. Writing Style and Language

APA Style also discourages the unnecessary use of adjectives and adverbs, particularly weak, vague or untrustworthy ones. For example, a scholarly author might replace the word interesting with informative, complex, clear, or important. Regarding verbs, try to use action verbs rather than passive ones. English teachers have been preaching their virtues for decades: the person who does the action should be mentioned first in a sentence, followed by the action, followed by the recipient of the action – or the one who experiences it. This style adds power to your writing. Standard APA notes to use “active voice, not passive voice (e.g., “our study demonstrated,” not “it was demonstrated by our study”).” Use the word not rather than the word don’t or other contractions. In general, contractions are considered casual forms of speech and writing, inappropriate in formal writing. In file names, students and professors should avoid using symbols such as #, /, % or abbreviations in Latin, and instead use a dash, underscore, or hyphen both in APA-writing and submission. APA requires all submissions to be in a universally accepted encoded format. APA demonstrates succinct, professional, powerful writing. Keep in mind: powerful writing is achieved as much by observing standards as by avoiding errors, so being able to place quotes and references in the proper location accomplishes some of your objective.

Use a professional and fair-minded tone. Written work should be considered serious, thoughtful, and careful. Do not be disrespectful or use humor or colloquialisms. Do not exaggerate or speculate. Objectivity is maintained by using evidence and explaining your conclusions. If your information is current, thoroughly researched, researched by others, or supported in other ways, your audience will consider it objective.

Academic language follows the conventions of office memo writing. Choose words that are technical, specific, generally well-known, and direct. Present information in an organized and logical manner. Objective and Formal Tone

APA is a concise, scientific, and accurate way to write about research. The standard vocabulary, use of headings, and references make reading and understanding academic work more predictable and, therefore, more efficient. Professional Writing

Guidelines provided by the American Psychological Association (APA, 2020) that pertain to language usage, clarity, the objectivity of tone, and the need for concise professional writing are worth your attention. APA 101

5. Common Errors and Tips for Success

The following represent some “quick hits” for ensuring your success in writing a paper in APA Style: • Proofread your paper, and then proofread it again before submitting it. • Follow the checklist for writing APA-formatted manuscripts. • Use the APA Manual, 7th Edition, as your source of reference material. • Visit the APA website. • Pay attention to the formatting of statistics and paragraphs. • Do not use a space before hitting the Enter key. • Use capital letters properly (i.e., APA, not Apa). • Use italics for the titles of books, blogs, the names of species, the cases in a legal reference, and spiritual works. Items in double quotation marks are for the titles of articles, chapter titles in a book, web pages, podcasts, reports, and brochure item titles.

• A misspelling, a misused word, or a typographical error: Use the spelling checker, but be aware of its limitations, as it will not catch everything. In fact, if the word is spelled correctly but used incorrectly, the spelling checker will not flag it. • A grammar error: Remember, we have a Diagnostic Writing Exam service on campus to help you catch grammar errors in writing before they are submitted. • Missing a quotation mark. Simple but found frequently. • Improperly incorporating a direct quotation into your narrative. A direct quotation should always form part of the sentence or sentences that involve it. • Failing to provide a page number for a direct quotation. • Using the word “this” in your papers: See our document on Writing Your Research Paper. • Using abbreviations such as etc., Dr., or Prof. in your formal writing. • Direct quotations with quotation marks but no punctuation such as a comma or period following the quotation.

The following represent some of the most common errors encountered in writing a research paper in APA Style.