Format and Style of an APA Paper

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1 Office of Student Success (Fax) One University Place Shreveport, LA Format and Style of an APA Paper APA FORMAT: GENERAL GUIDELINES Format 1) All margins must be 1 inch. 2) Use 12-point Times New Roman font. 3) Double-space entire document. No extra space after paragraphs. Organization An APA-style paper typically includes a title, abstract, body, and reference section, though students are encouraged to follow any specific directions given to them by their instructor. Title Page The title page which unsurprisingly makes up the first page of the paper includes four elements that should be centered in the middle of the page: title, author (you, hopefully), university followed by the class prefix and number, and the date of submission. The title page is where you set up your page header, which includes the running head and the page number. The running head an abbreviated title that is a maximum of fifty characters should appear aligned to the far left in all uppercase letters in the header on all pages. Page numbers should appear in the header as well, aligned to the far right. Abstract The abstract covers the main points of the paper and is not always required in all writing assignments. Read any assignment instructions carefully to determine whether or not the paper requires an abstract. 1) The abstract typically makes up the second page of the assignment. 2) The word Abstract should be centered at the top of the page. 3) The abstract should generally not exceed 120 words. 4) Do not indent the abstract paragraph. Body The body will contain all of the author s main points as well as detailed and documented support for those ideas. 1

2 1) The body begins on its own page generally on page three if there is an abstract and page two if there is not. 2) The title of the paper should be centered at the top of the first page of the body, in initial caps. 3) The introduction follows the title, but is not labeled. It should present the problem that the rest of your paper seeks to address. 4) Headings are sometimes though not always used to separate the sections of the paper. Headings are centered and bolded with each word of four letters or more capitalized (see template for example). Subheadings can be used to further organize the area under a heading into related subsections. If they are included, they are formatted just like headings, except aligned to the left instead of centered. APA style dictates that subheadings are unnecessary and should therefore be avoided unless the section marked by the heading contains at least two potential subsections. References The reference page contains a list of all the sources cited in the paper. 1) This should start its own page usually at the end of the entire paper. 2) The word References (no italics, bolding, or quotation marks) should be centered at the top of the page. 3) It should include only sources that were actually used and cited within the paper. 4) The sources should be arranged in alphabetical order by the author s last names. 5) To see how to properly cite a source for the References section, look at REFERENCE EXAMPLES or the SAMPLE PAPER. 2

3 APA FORMAT: STYLE, PUNCTUATION, AND MECHANICS General Write in the first and second person sparingly, or, better yet, not at all. This means avoiding the use of I, we, you, us, etc. Instead, use third person: he, she, they, one, etc. Do not use contractions. For emphasis, use italics (not quotation marks, ALL CAPS, or bold). Numbers 1) Use numerals: for numbers 10 and above; for any numbers grouped for comparison (ex. 1 in 5 dentists); for times, dates, ages, and measurements; for statistics and percentages; and for numbers denoting a specific place in a series, book, or table (ex. Table 3, Group 5, Chapter 4). 2) Spell out numbers: below 10; at the beginning of a sentence, title, or heading; common fractions; and approximations of time (ex. about three days, months, or years ago). Acronyms Acronyms must be spelled out in their entirety the first time they appear in a paper, immediately followed by their abbreviated acronym set off in parenthesis. After their initial appearance, they may be referred to using only this abbreviation. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) made a Pokémon parody game called Pokémon: Black and Blue. PETA used the game to accuse the Pokémon franchise of promoting violence towards animals. Punctuation 1) Use only one space after punctuation marks at the end of sentences. 2) Use ellipses when omitting material within a quote. 3) Place a comma after the penultimate word in a series (the Oxford Comma). Ex. Ryan, Rachel, and Lucian flew to the moon on the back of a magical talking walrus. Initial Capitalization 1) Capitalize all words of four or more letters in titles (books, articles, etc.) used in text. This rule does not apply to the references section. 2) Capitalize proper nouns and names, as usual. 3

4 In-text Citations In-text citations are used in the body of a paper to show which sources a student used to support their argument. When you use material from a source whether paraphrasing, summarizing, or directly quoting you need to document that source by using an in-text citation which corresponds to a source in your reference section. All paraphrases, summaries, and quotes must be cited and referenced. If they are not, then your use of the material is considered plagiarism which, of course, can have SERIOUS ACADEMIC CONSEQUENCES. Rules for In-Text Citation 1) In-text citations should include the author s name, if available, and the year of publication. 2) Cite the last name of the author first followed by the year of publication. Do this each time you use any material from that author (in the form of a paraphrase, summary, direct quote, etc). This citation can be placed at the end of a sentence, or it can be incorporated into the grammatical structure of the sentence. Examples: Thorough research has concluded that working out is a super fun way to spend an afternoon (Sanders, 2016). According to researcher Ryan Sanders (2016) working out is a super fun way to spend an afternoon. 3) For a work by two authors, cite both last names followed by year on every reference. Examples: (Sanders & Hoffnung, 2016) According to Sanders and Hoffnung (2016)... 4) For a work by three to five authors, cite all the last names followed by year on the first reference, and the first author's last name followed by et al and then year on every subsequent in-text citation. Examples: (Sanders, Hoffnung, & Hammond 2016) 4

5 (Sanders et al., 2016) 5) For a work by six or more authors, cite the last name of the first author followed by et al. and the year for all your in-text citations. Examples: (Sanders et al. 2016) According to Sanders et al. (2016)... 6) If no author exists for the source, use the first few words of the title for your in-text citations. Examples: Research shows that statistically, he who works out probably has, in fact, being on a diet ( Diet Daily, 2016) 7) If the material is a direct quote, the page or paragraph number of the source should immediately follow. Examples: I think every girl s dream is to find a boy at the right time, when he doesn t want to be a bad boy anymore (Hitler, 1939, p. 376). Responding to criticism that her music panders to emotionally susceptible, hormonally volatile teenage girls, Taylor Swift (2014) famously responded He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future (para. 3). 8) Quotations with 40 or more words should be in block format. A) Do not put a block quote in quotation marks. B) Start a block quote on a new line. C) Indent the ENTIRE block 0.5 inches from the left margin (in the same position as a new paragraph). D) Additional paragraphs within a block quote should have the first line indented an additional 0.5 inches. E) The in-text citation for a block quote is placed outside the final punctuation at the very end of the quote. F) Double space, just like the rest of the paper. 5

6 APA: REFERENCES The reference list should appear at the end of the paper. It provides the information necessary for a reader to locate and retrieve any source you cite in the body of the paper. Each source you cite in the paper must appear in your references; contrariwise, if a source appears in your references, it must also appear in the body of your paper. Your references should begin on a new page after the body. Label this page References (no quotation marks, underlines, italics, etc) centered at the top of the page. The reference page is double spaced just like the rest of your essay. 1) All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented one-half inch from the left margin. This is called a hanging indention. 2) Authors names are inverted surname first, then first and middle initials. Do this for up to seven authors (Author, A. A., Author B. B., Author C. C., etc). When authors number eight or more, include the first six authors names, then insert three ellipses, and add the last author s name. Potter, H. J., Weasley R. B., Granger H. J., Malfoy, D. L., Lovegood, L., Longbottom, N.,...Hagrid, R. (1998). Dealing with Sadness from Cedric to Snape. How to Defeat the Sadness in One Books, 6, doi: / ) In reference notes for journal articles, include both the volume and the issue numbers if each issue of the journal is paginated separately (that is, if each new section starts over with the page one). If the journal paginates continuously throughout the volume, then use the volume number in the reference note. 4) Reference list entries must be alphabetized by the surname of the first listed author of each work. 5) If you have more than one article by the same author, list the separate articles in order by the year of publication starting with the earliest and ending with the latest. 6) When referring to any work that is NOT a journal such as a book, article, or webpage title capitalize only the first letter of the first word of a title and subtitle, the first word after a colon or a dash in the title, and proper nouns. 6

7 REFERENCE EXAMPLES: BOOKS, REFERENCE BOOKS, AND CHAPTERS Entire Book Print Version Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (year). Title of work. Location of Publication: Publisher. Sanders, R. J. (2026). The art of creative drawing: how to draw in a wall and make it pretty. Baton Rouge, LA: Hopkins. Electronic Version of a Print Book Author, A. A. (year). Title of work. Retrieved from Sanders, R. J. (2021). Strange things I ve found under my bed. Retrieved from Author, A. A. (year). Title of work. doi: Coelho, P. (2008). Reflections of the warrior of the light. doi: / Electronic-Only Book Author, A. A. (year). Title of work. Retrieved from Sanders, R. J. (2025). Life over and over again Retrieved from 7

8 Edited Book Editor, A. A. (year). Title of work. Location of Publication: Publisher. Sanders, R. J. (2026). Horror-terrors. Salem, MA: Blackwood Press. Chapter in a Book Format (Print): Author, A. A., & Author B. B. (year). Title of chapter or section. In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xxx-xxx). Location of Publication: Publisher. Example (Print): Sanders, R. J. (2026). Finding Modern Architecture. In J.K. Lovecraft & B. H. Blackwood (Eds.), Modernist (pp ). Fullerton, CA: Blackwood Press. Format (Online): Author, A. A., & Author B. B. (year). Title of chapter or section. In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xxx-xxx). Retrieved from Example (Online): Sanders, R. J. (2021). Different varieties. In C. Hammond & R. Hoffnung (Eds.), Reflections of the warrior of the light (pp ). Retrieved from Format (Online with DOI): Author, A. A., & Author B. B. (year). Title of chapter or section. In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of book (pp. xxx-xxx). doi:xxxxxxxx Example (Online with DOI): Sanders, R. J. (2026). Architecture. In J.K. Lovecraft & B. H. Blackwood (Eds.), Modernist (pp ). doi: /

9 Multiple Editions of a Book Author, A. A. (year). Title of work. (xx ed.). Location of Publication: Publisher. Sanders, R. J. (2084). The revolution: the true (3rd ed.). Buffalo, NY: SSC Publishers. Entry in an Online Reference Work (Dictionary, Encyclopedia, etc.) Byline Author, A. A. (year). Title of entry. In A. A. Editor & B. B. Editor (Eds.), Title of reference work (xx ed.). Retrieved from Sanders, R. J. (2016). The Day. In R. Hoffnung (Ed.), Dictionary of Day and Time (Summer 2019 ed.). Retrieved from Entry in an Online Reference Work No Byline Title of entry. (year). Title of reference work (xx ed.). Retrieved from The Day. (1996). Dictionary of Day and Time. Retrieved from Entry in Reference Work No Byline Title of entry. (year). In A. Editor (Ed.), Title of reference work (xx ed., Vol. xx, pp. xxx-xxx). Location of Publication: Publisher. The Day. (1996). In R. Sanders (Ed.), Dictionary of Day and Time (5th ed., Vol 1, pp ). Bossier City, LA: SCC Publishers. 9

10 Book Written and Published by an Organization Organization. (year). Title of work. Location of Publication: Publisher. The Earth. (2019). Arguments for a flat earth from scientists around the World. Washington DC: Author. In this case, Author is written in place of the publisher because the organization (in this case the Flat Earth Society) are also the ones who published the work. 10

11 REFERENCE EXAMPLES: PERIODICALS Journal Article With DOI Author, A. A. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume (issue), xxx-xxx. doi: xxxxxxxx Sanders, R. J. (2018). The Day. Journal of the Day Sciences, 13 (6), doi: Journal Article Without DOI Internet Author, A. A. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume (issue), xxx-xxx. Retrieved from Sanders, R. J. (2018). Tutors. Journal of the Helpers, 13 (6), Retrieved from Journal Article Without DOI Print Author, A. A. (year). Title of article. Title of Journal, Volume (issue), xxx-xxx. Sanders, R. J. (2018). Great Tutors. Journal of the Helpers, 13 (6), Article in a Magazine Print Author, A. A. (year, Month). Title of article. Title of Magazine, Volume (issue), xxx-xxx. Flow, A. (2016, June). No, I m not upset! Women s Mood, 333 (36),

12 Article in a Magazine Online Author, A. A. (year, Month). Title of article. Title of Magazine, Volume (issue). Retrieved from Flow, A. (2016, September). No, I m not upset! Women s Mood, 333 (39). Retrieved from Article in a Newspaper Print Author, A. A. (year, Month day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper, pp. xx, xx. Sanders, R. J. (2078, November 23). Polar bears. The Success Times, pp. A3, A6. Article in a Newspaper Online Author, A. A. (year, Month day). Title of article. Title of Newspaper. Retrieved from Sanders, R. J. (2079, April 13). Polar bears. The Success Times. Retrieved from Report from University or Government Organization Organization. (year). Title of report. (Publication No. xx). Retrieved from 12

13 International Student Association. (2016). International Students at LSU Shreveport. (Publication No ). Retrieved from Report from Nongovernmental Organization Author, A. A. (year). Title of report. (Research Report No. xx). Retrieved from Agency Name website: Human, N. M. (2017). Tutors. (Research Report No. 11.2). Retrieved from Equal Rights for Tutors website: 13

14 REFERENCE EXAMPLES: WEB PAGES (GENERAL) Author Known Author, A. A. (year). Title of work. Retrieved from Sanders, R. J. (2029). The Day. Retrieved from Author Unknown Title of work. (year). Retrieved from The Day. (2016). Retrieved from 14