Sample
APA Paper
Abstract
APA
6th edition has specific requirements for all parts of a paper. A word processor will put in a superscript
for ordinal numbers such as 6th (like this: 6th), which is not
allowed. This can be corrected by
highlighting the superscript and going to the toolbar. Click on the x with a
superscript (i.e., x2) that will be highlighted, and the superscript
will be removed. Notice how there is
double spacing after each sentence. An
abstract must be 150-250 words in length.
Note that the word abstract is
capitalized, centered, and not bolded.
Note that the content of the abstract is flush with the left
margin. This is the only place in APA
that does not indent paragraphs. The
content of the abstract does not contain general introductory information for the
paper. It contains specific information
of what is found in the paper (American Psychological Association,
2010). A good idea is to go by the
grading rubric for the particular paper and incorporate into the abstract every
topic to be covered in the paper. Insert
a page break after the last character of the last line so that the next page
does not creep up onto this page. Hit
Enter after the last punctuation, and then insert the page break so centering
on the next page does not center the last paragraph of this page.
Sample
APA Paper
On the first page of text, the exact same
title used on the cover page must be placed at the top and centered with the
main words capitalized. It is not bold
because it is the title of the paper and not a heading (American
Psychological Association, 2010). All
paragraphs must be more than three sentences in length and no longer than a
half page.
The first couple of
paragraphs of the paper are for introductory information about the topic.
It is the introduction, but it should not have a title of
introduction. Notice that all paragraphs
are indented, a function that is set in the toolbar of the Word program. After the introductory information, headings
are used, which have specific requirements.
There are no extra spaces anywhere between paragraphs or headings. The entire paper is double spaced, including
the reference list, and margins all around the paper are 1 inch (American
Psychological Association, 2010).
Headings
The
use of headings organizes the paper.
Think of the topics for headings as if the topics were in outline
form. An outline breaks the information
to be discussed into parts, with each part having subparts. The main topics will be Level 1 headings, and
the subtopics will be Level 2 or lower headings. Level 2 subtopics may be broken down further,
if needed, but most papers will only require Level 1 and Level 2 headings.
Headings
should only have a few words to indicate the content. An excellent method of organizing the paper
is to use the topics from the criteria in the grading rubric. The rubric specifies exactly what must be
covered in the paper. Using each general
element of the rubric will provide the Level 1 headings for the paper. Additional information required within each
element will be the Level 2 headings.
Level 1 headings are centered, bolded,
and have the main words capitalized.
Level 2 headings are flush left, bolded, and have the main words
capitalized (American Psychological Association, 2010). Refer to the APA Manual for additional
levels. A heading at the bottom of a
page with no text under it is called an orphan.
All headings must have at least two lines of text under them, so the
heading should be moved to the next page by hitting enter until the heading is
positioned properly on the next page.
Grammar
It is a requirement of APA that good
grammar be used in writing. The first
few pages of the manual are devoted to correct grammar. Good grammar encompasses many rules usually
learned by the eighth grade, such as only capitalizing proper nouns, subject
and verb agreement, noun and pronoun agreement, and sentence structure. This is basic to APA format and academic
writing.
Seriation
Seriation is the listing of
information, and there are specific rules to follow. There are four methods of listing information
that are acceptable. Specific rules for
the types of seriation can be found on p. 63 of the manual.
1. Numbers are used with the first word after
each number capitalized and a period at the end.
2. Bullets may be used with the first word
capitalized in each entry and a period at the end.
3. Information may also be written in a sentence
as (a) good, (b) bad, and (c) ugly in the text itself.
4. Items may be listed in a sentence, but three
or more items require commas separating each item. If any of the items contain a comma, the
separating punctuation becomes a semi-colon.
Numbers
Numbers less than 10 are spelled
out. Numbers 10 and higher are written
as numerals. There are exceptions,
however. Numbers relating to time, age,
percentages, and money are some examples of when to use the numeral, no matter
how small the quantity; basically, use numerals for anything that can be
measured. When writing a plural number,
such as the 1980s, no apostrophe is used (American
Psychological Association, 2010). If a
number is the first word of a sentence it should be written out, but try not to
start a sentence with a number.
Citations
Citations
are required any time information that does not originate completely with the
writer is discussed in a paper, or to support original ideas that grow out of
reading the literature. Using
information from any source without citing where it came from, whether from a
conversation, website, journal, or book, is called plagiarism. A good writer
uses information from other sources and credits the source through the use of a
citation. Citations are used at the end
of any information from another source.
It is not necessary to cite after each sentence, but it is necessary to
cite at the end of the information before other information from another source
is used. The standard citation goes at
the end of the information and before the punctuation, which goes after the
citation (American Psychological Association,
2010).
There
are many different types of citations.
Each citation must have a corresponding entry in the reference list at
the end of the paper. Each entry of the
reference list must also have a corresponding citation in the body of the
paper. The reference list is done in
alphabetical order. Always keep the APA
Manual next to the computer when writing a paper. There are specific rules that must be
followed in writing a citation and there are samples of all of the different
types in the APA Manual.
Quotations
A
quotation of less than 40 words can be used in the body of the paragraph and
has double quotation marks around it. A
citation is required directly after the information that is in quotation
marks. A quotation of 40 words or more
must be in a block of text, on a new line, double spaced, indented a half inch
without a paragraph indent for the first paragraph, and with no quotation
marks. This is called a block quotation. Information directly quoted must include the
page number or paragraph number in the citation (American
Psychological Association, 2010).
Nonparenthetical Citations
Nonparenthetical
means not in parentheses. “If the name
of the author appears as part of the narrative, cite only the year of
publication in parentheses” (American Psychological
Association, 2010, p. 174). An example
is: According
to Makhombe (2009), leadership is a matter
of style.
Parenthetical Citations
Parenthetical means in
parentheses. Parenthetical citations are
used when the information must be credited, but the author’s name is not used
as part of the text. This is the best
way to cite as it does not intrude into the meaning of the sentence and focuses
on the topic and not the author.
There are rules that must be followed
and are based on the number of authors in the reference. For two authors, both names and the year must
be used every time. For three, four, or
five authors, all authors must be used in the first citation in the text, but
after the first citation, only the name of the first author is used followed by
et al. and the year (American
Psychological Association, 2010). Note
the period after the word al.; it is a Latin abbreviation and needs that
period.
The following is an example of five
authors in a citation for the first use in-text: Endicott appears to exhibit the
transformational leadership style, which formulates
a clear vision that allows employees to see the big
picture and enhance their understanding of where they fit in (Nielsen, Yarker,
Brenner, Randall, & Borg, 2008). All
subsequent citations for this reference would look like this: (Nielsen et al.,
2008). Notice the period and the comma
after the word al. There are exceptions to this rule and rules
for six or more authors, so the manual must be consulted for exactly how it
should appear in the paper (American Psychological Association,
2010).
Referencing
After
all the text of the paper is written, a page break must be inserted to force
the reference list to begin on a fresh page.
Every paper must have a reference list at the end of the paper. Every citation used in the text of the paper
must have a corresponding reference included in the reference list. Conversely, every reference listed must be
cited in the paper. A reference list
contains only what is read and used; a bibliography, which APA does not use, would list everything read, whether or not
it is used in the actual paper.
The heading References, or
Reference, if there is just one entry, is centered and not bolded. The reference list is double spaced, just as
the entire paper is double spaced, with no extra spaces inserted anywhere. The entries are listed alphabetically by the
first author’s last name. Hanging
indents must be formatted for this page so the second line of each reference is
indented (American
Psychological Association, 2010).
Hanging indents are formatted by clicking on page layout, paragraph,
indents and spacing, special, and hanging.
There are very specific rules for the order of information in a
reference, so the APA Manual must be consulted.
Pay special attention to the use of italics, punctuation,
capitalization, and superscript. Do not
double space after periods in the reference list.
There will always be something
italicized in a reference. It will be a
book title, an article title, or a journal name and volume number. Use the group name if no specific author is
given. Use the title of an article in
the author’s place before the year element, if no author is listed. A period is required after all elements in a
reference unless the ending information is a website. Always put a space between the first name
initials of an author and do not use suffixes, such as degrees or titles. The edition of a book must be written in a
certain format, the volume of a journal is italicized, and the issue is in
parentheses but not italicized. If no
date is given for the information, n.d. is placed in the date position. Consult the APA Manual for samples of
reference citations for each type.
Conclusion
Always include a conclusion in a
paper. A conclusion tells us what the
point of the paper was, what was learned, and such. It is not a summary, which is a short version
of the paper. APA has very
specific requirements about writing.
Contractions are not allowed.
Only certain words can have quotation marks around them such as words
used in an ironic expression, slang, or coined words. Abbreviations are only allowed if they are
used a minimum of four times in the paper, and each abbreviation must be
spelled out the first time it is used, unless it is recognized in Webster’s
Dictionary as an abbreviation (American Psychological Association, 2010). An example of one such abbreviation found in
Webster’s is RN (RN, 2010).
This document provides some valuable
information to help write a paper in APA format. This paper can be used as a template for
writing all papers; this is highly recommended.
To use this paper as a template, save it to your computer. Every time a paper has to be written, pull up
this paper and begin typing in the new information. Do not erase all the existing information
until typing in some of the new information, or the formatting will be erased. By using this paper as a template, new
margins, spacing, hanging indents, and headers will not have to be formatted
since they are already set.
References
American
Psychological Association. (2010). Publication
manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC:
Author.
Makhombe, D. (2009). No perfect
leader. Nursing Update, 33(2), 40. Retrieved from
http://www.healthcare-events.co.uk/newsletter/
Nielsen, K., Yarker, J., Brenner,
S., Randall, R., & Borg, V. (2008). The importance of transformational
leadership style for the well-being of employees working with older people. Journal
of Advanced Nursing, 63(5), 465-475. doi:
10.1111/j.1365-2648.2008.04701.x
RN. (2010). In Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary. Retrieved from
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/RN
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