APA Series Part Two: APA Paper Format
Our editors break up just how to write an APA paper
Into the article that is first of American Psychological Association (APA) series, we talked about APA style and formatting basics. This short article will discuss just how to write an APA-styled paper, tackling essay components just like the title page, abstract, and body.
Title page
The title page of an APA paper should include a concise title, the writer’s name and affiliation that is institutional an author’s note, and a running head for publication. A head that is running an abbreviated title of a maximum of 50 characters, you start with the words “Running head,” followed by a colon, one space, and an abbreviated title—all in capital letters. Part Four of your APA series provides an APA title page example for your reference.
All pages in a header should be included by an APA paper. Into the header, are the head that is running, accompanied by the page number, which should be right-justified. When page numbering is properly set up utilising the Headers and Footers function in Microsoft Word, the pc will automatically handle the consecutive numbering.
The Abstract, typically a component that is crucial of APA paper, should summarize this issue and must accurately state the explanation and fundamental nature associated with the paper by such as the main ideas and major points.
We advise students to mention just the most important findings or implications. The word count limit of an varies that are abstract journal to journal, and that can cover anything from 150 to 250 words. The Abstract should proceed with the title page, on a separate page titled with the centered word “Abstract.”
This section is not labeled. The text is contained by it for the APA paper divided in to Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion. All these sections should naturally stick to the other, this means they don’t necessarily begin write my essay on a new page. A title is required by each section centered on the page. And remember, you have to follow APA reference guidelines to ensure all of your citations are accurate and properly formatted.
Introduction
The development of an APA paper has to start on a page that is new following the Abstract. Because its position in it is made by the paper easily identifiable, the Introduction does not require a heading. Instead, are the title for the paper at the top of the page, in upper and lower case, accompanied by the text. Our editors typically seek out the items that are following an APA Introduction:
- Background information on the topic
- A description of why the subject is significant
- A summary of relevant literature
- A discussion associated with hypothesis
- The way the author promises to address the situation
- Information on the paper’s organization
The Introduction must be well organized and will contain headings to really make the APA paper more understandable. Stay away from jargon since it shall only confuse your reader.
This section describes the research and just how it had been conducted. The method is vital because it concerns the reproducibility of this research. Reproducibility, one of the most significant principles for the Scientific Method, refers to the ability of a test or experiment to be replicated by independent researchers.
We try to find the following subsections in the strategy portion of an APA paper: participants (or subjects), measures, and procedures (the latter two tend to be combined in one single subsection). These subheadings ought to be left-justified. The “participants” subsection should describe the subjects (including number that is total their basic demographic information) and how they were selected and categorized. It should also explain why some subjects are not included.
The subsection for measures and procedures should specify the apparatus and materials used in the experiment, including any questionnaires or surveys. This section must also describe at length the way the research was conducted.
The outcomes element of an APA paper presents the findings. This section should summarize the data collected in addition to statistical or treatments that are analytical. Tables, figures, graphs, charts, drawings, and photographs may be included, however it is important to keep them as facile as it is possible. Clearly label each visual with an Arabic numeral (e.g., Table 1, Table 2, etc.) and a title. The label plus the title should appear flush left on separate lines over the table. Make every effort to include any source details underneath the table.
Discussion
The Discussion section is an evaluation and interpretation for the findings. The author should address the issues raised in the Introduction in this section, based on the findings discussed in the results section. This is not simply a reiteration of the total results or points previously made.
