writing an essay in apa format

writing an essay in apa format

Guidelines and Best Practices for Writing an Essay in APA Format

1. Introduction to APA Format

If you are taking a psychology class, it is very likely that your instructor will ask you to write an APA paper at some point. What exactly is an APA paper? It is simply a written paper that follows APA format, the official writing format of the American Psychological Association. If you’ve never written an APA paper before, the formatting rules and guidelines can seem daunting and difficult at first. You might be used to writing papers in another format such as MLA or Chicago style, so it might take some time to get the hang of writing in APA format. While your instructor may have other specific formatting requirements for you to follow, here are some general guidelines for how to write an APA paper.

In this chapter, you will learn how to use APA style, the documentation and formatting style followed by the American Psychological Association, as well as MLA style, from the Modern Language Association. There are a few major formatting styles used in academic texts, including AMA, Chicago, and Turabian. While all the formatting and citation styles have their own use and applications, in this chapter we focus our attention on the two styles you are most likely to use in your academic studies: APA and MLA.

2. Key Components of an APA-Style Essay

APA introductions should provide the problem, the motivation for writing the paper, and the reason for studying the subject. This section is not typically named “statement of the problem” because this might vary depending on the paper. However, it can be part of the introduction when utilized. Topics that will be covered in the body of the article or research paper should also be mentioned in the introduction.

Statement of the Problem:

In theoretical papers, the main component consists of concepts and propositions, definitions, and theoretical frameworks. When empirical research is used, this section should be written in APA format but can be illustrated, while referencing should be done with APA in-text citation. A summary of the key ideas presented in the theoretical or conceptual part of the article and a brief description of the next steps must be provided.

Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Theoretical/Conceptual Framework, Statement of the Problem, Hypotheses/Relationships, Research Questions/Central Questions, Definition of Terms, Limitations, Theoretical/Conceptual Importance, Methodology, Discussion, Future Research, References, Appendices, Footnotes.

Key Components:

Unless otherwise stated, the following guidelines are unique to writing theoretical papers in APA style. For other types of papers, note relevant sections of this guide.

3. Citing Sources and References in APA Format

In contrast to how it may seem at first, it does not take a lot of time to write an essay in APA format. The understanding of the nuances of this format can significantly improve the quality of the essay. Each essay can differ from the others and as a result, the guidelines for writing APA formatted essays can differ. This article will delve into the specifics of using the APA format to write an APA styled essay. The reference section contains a complete list of all the sources referred to in an essay and should be top-aligned, as in any other style. Basic rules when formatting the essay should be used, as well. All documents following the APA essay format are left-aligned and single-spaced with a double space between paragraphs. All documents should also be typed using only two spaces after their punctuation and after a colon. This is another rule that is vastly used in documents the world over.

Include a running head consisting of a shortened title and page number. The entire essay should be typed double-spaced. Citing sources and references is crucial in avoiding plagiarism and affirming one’s overall credibility as a writer. When creating a citation that contains more than one line, you may use hanging indentation, in which you indent the entire paragraph, but the first line. All sources used should be included as a new page titled “References” following the conclusion of the essay. In the reference section, authors are arranged alphabetically according to their last names. They should also be listed by the first name; middle names are omitted. To many, the APA format is something dull and overly complicated. Yet, once a writer becomes familiar with this format, it becomes exceptionally easy to write long, complex essays following the APA essay format without any issue.

4. Formatting Guidelines for Headings, Margins, and Fonts

When you are typing the heading for a particular level, make sure that the font that you use is indicated by the Manual. Your heading text should be bold. Also, make sure you are strictly consistent in your usage of APA formatting for all headings, whether they be Levels 1, 2, 3, or 4. Inconsistency is the mark of the amateur and is a major red flag for the person reading the essay.

Heading text for Level 3 (A second-level heading in your essay.)

The sixth edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association presents guidelines for the proper formatting of “levels” of headings in an APA-style essay. As given in section 3.03 of the Manual, the “levels” are as follows: Level 1 is the largest and boldest, Level 2 is not as large or bold as Level 1, and so on down to Level 5, which is the smallest and least bold. In your essay, each of these levels is separated from the other (as well as from the body text) by a type of separator line. An example of a sample Level 3 heading is given below.

4.1 Headings

5. Tips for Writing and Editing an APA-Style Essay

2. Typing and Spacing A requirement for APA-style essays is to either type all of the text in the essay manually or set the spacing at double. This ensures readability and proper spacing for instructors when they are checking your essays, which is especially important if they prefer to write on the hardcopy.

1. Margins The margins are the four sides on every page of your paper. The standard margins for an APA-style essay are one inch. The easiest way to make sure that your margins are correct is to make sure that if you are typing your essay manually or editing a pre-written one, it is an 8.5″ x 11″ size document and that you have set the margins to one inch on all sides.

Your paper is almost finished! You should make sure that you have followed all of the essential guidelines for writing an APA-style essay, as these rules can be easy to overlook, especially after all the hard work you’ve done creating an essay. Here, you will find a useful summary of the most common things to look for and check in your essay before turning it in. Happy editing!