American Psychological Association (APA) style is a format commonly used for college-level research papers. APA style, typically used in the social sciences and sciences, specifies how the essay should be structured and the citations formatted. For any paper in APA style, certain conventions must be observed, particularly when quoting and citing information from sources. Other stylistic elements, such as cover pages, page numbers, titles, capitalization and treatment of numbers, are also important.
Instructions
1. Begin the paper with a title page. Include the following information, centered in the top half of the page: the full title of the paper, your full name, the name of the institution for which the paper is being written and the date. Other information, like the course name and the professor's name, can also be listed.
2. Include a running header that will appear on each page of the paper, including the title page. The header should include the first couple of words of the title and, along with the page number, should be in the upper right corner of the page.
3. Write an abstract for the paper. An abstract is a short summary paragraph of the paper. Place the title "Abstract" above this paragraph on the page; center the title. The abstract should be on a page by itself, immediately after the title page.
4. Start the paper with an introduction that introduces the point of the paper. It should clearly state the paper's purpose, main hypothesis or main idea.
5. Follow the introduction with several body paragraphs. Each body paragraph should directly relate to the purpose or hypothesis of the paper.
6. Use in-text citations throughout the body of the paper each time information is directly quoted or paraphrased from a source. In-text citations should include the author's (or authors') names, the date the source was published and a page number, if it is a direct quotation. Use the link in the Resources section for more information about APA in-text citations.
7. End the paper with a concluding paragraph that sums up the paper's main points.
8. Include a list of references for the essay. The list should begin on a separate page and include the title, "References," centered at the top of the page. The list should be arranged alphabetically by the author's last name and include other required information, depending on the type of source. Use the links in the Resources section for more information about the APA list of references and APA style guidelines generally.
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