APA STYLE


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Navpreet Hehar

In the field of health sciences, APA is the the most commonly used format to write a paper.  APA (American Psychological Association) has many guidelines which must be followed when writing a paper.  Listed below in the correct order are sections that a paper must include:
1. Title Page - This should contain the title of the paper, the authors name and the institutuion their associated with.  This page also contains a page header and a running head.
2.  Abstract-  On a seperate page, titled "Abstract" write about the main points in your research.  This is basically a summary of what is discussed in the paper.  According to The Owl the abstract is usually 150-250 words.
3.  Body- On a new page (separate from abstract) begin writing your paper.

In my field, the next section would be the introduction where the author introduces the topic and tries to get the readers attention.  This section could also include the literature review.  Once this is stated, the materials and methods of the experiment are stated.  The procedure in this section is very detailed to allow others to replicate the experiment.  The next section is the results section.  Here, the author discusses only what they observed, not why or how they achieved their results.  The last section of a paper is the Discussion section.  In the discussion, the author explains the significance of his/her results and tries to give reasons for why these findings were observed.  Previous findings are usually mentioned to give support or provide new ideas.  When citing in text one must follow guidelines of APA style. 

Once the body of the paper is completed, the references, annotations and appendices are included.  To get a better understanding of APA style, visit the Owl website: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/


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Jaspreet Hehar

The American Psychological Association, APA, offers guidance on how to write papers for individuals in many fields.  When writing in this style, the paper is divided into eight different sections.  The title page includes a header with a shortened version of the papers title, and is written in capital letters.  The running head is placed a few spaces below, with the title being the same as the header.  This is also written in capital letters.  In the middle of the page is the title of the paper, the author, and the author’s affiliation.  The next section of the paper is the abstract.  The purpose of this section is to basically give the reader a summary of the topic you will be discussing in your paper.  After the abstract comes the introduction, which is a more detailed paragraph discussing the background of your topic.  Next is the methods section, which is written in the present tense.  If you are writing about an experiment or a proposal of an experiment, this section is used to discuss the participants, materials and procedure required for the research.  Following this section is the results, which is written in the past tense.  This portion of the paper reports what data you have collected and nothing more.  The discussion section is used to discuss your findings in detail, and describes why you got the results you did.  The last section includes the references, which is a list of the sources you used in your paper.  An appendices section may also be included if you used any forms or extra information.

When writing in this style, use Times New Roman or Arial font, size 12.  Double space each section, including the references.  Align the text to the left-hand margin, and include one inch margins on each side.  Although all these guidelines may be a bit confusing at first, they become easier to follow with practice.  The following website is an excellent source that describes the rules of the APA style of writing in greater detail: http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/index.htm


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Kathleen Beydoun

APA is a form of writing that is used for essays that are concerned with the topics of social sciences. Most essays that are written in APA format are done in a manner that is un-biased and un-opinionated. These essays basically state the facts of articles, journals, web pages, and other essays. There are general APA guidelines that one must follow. The essay must be typed and double spaced with 1 inch margins and use Times New Roman font in size 12. Every essay must include a title page, an abstract, the main body of the essay, and any references used. On the title page, there must be a running head that includes the title of your essay, and centered should be the title of the essay again, the name of the author, and the affiliated institution. The abstract consists of a summary of what you will be discussing in your essay, and it should be between 150 to 250 words in the form of a paragraph without indentations. The actual essay itself should properly refer to any sources and should summarize the research that was done and any conclusions that were made. The reference page should list any sources used in the proper format.



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Ernada doko
Understanding and utilizing the APA format correctly is essential when writing in the biological field. In order to use this format in your writing, a few important guidelines have to be considered when composing the piece of work. The paper should be double-spaced, standardized and having a font of 12. Every page should have a page header at the top with the title of the work. According to The Owl at Purdue, “The essay should include four sections, Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References."

     -The title page should have the authors name, title, and the all associations, a page header with a page number located to the left of the paper.
     -The abstract should have a page header, and should have a title on the top center titled "Abstract." As for the content, the abstract should summarize the main points discussed in the paper by addressing the research topic, participants, methods, results, and discussion. The abstract should be between 150 words to 250 words.
     -The main body consists of the methods, results and discussion. All these areas elaborate on the experiment or study conducted.
     - The references should be at the end of the essay.The first line should be indented and the last name of the author should precede the first. All sources collectively should be alphabetized and journal titles should be italicized.The references vary among which databases and sources were used.  More detailed information can be found at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource.

Mazen Zein

           The APA format is the most commonly used guidelines when citing sources and forming a paper within the social sciences. There are many different guidelines when following an APA format. The essay should be typed, doubled spaced and a standard sized paper with one inch margins on all sides. A font of 10-12 pt with either Times New Roman or Arial should be used. A page header at the top of every page should include the title of the paper flush left and page numbers flush right. The paper itself should consist of a title page, abstract, main body and references. The title page should contain the title of the paper, the author's name, and the institutional affiliation. The abstract should be a detailed concise summary of the key points of one's research and should be between 150 and 250 words. The body paragraphs should go through and explain the information needed. The references should be on a separate page in alphabetical order according to the last name of the authors, and should follow the APA format for the different types of sources such as journals, web, and books.

Michael Osman

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An essay should be typed, double-spaced on standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11") with 1" margins on all sides. You should use 10-12 pt. Times New Roman font or a similar font.

Include a page header at the top of every page. To create a page header, insert page numbers flush right. Then type "TITLE OF YOUR PAPER" in the header flush left.

Your essay should include four major sections: the Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References.

Title Page
The title page should contain the title of the paper, the author's name, and the institutional affiliation. Include the page header flush left with the page number flush right at the top of the page.

Abstract
On the first line of the abstract page, center the word “Abstract” (no bold, formatting, italics, underlining, or quotation marks).Beginning with the next line, write a concise summary of the key points of your research. (Do not indent.) Your abstract should contain at least your research topic, research questions, participants, methods, results, data analysis, and conclusions. Your abstract should be a single paragraph double-spaced. Your abstract should be between 150 and 250 words.

References
All lines after the first line of each entry in your reference list should be indented
Authors' names are inverted.
Give the last name and initials for all authors of a particular work unless the work has more than six authors. If the work has more than six authors, list the first six authors and then use et al. after the sixth author's name to indicate the rest of the authors.
Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work.
Capitalize all major words in journal titles.
Italicize titles of longer works such as books and journals.
Do not italicize, underline, or put quotes around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles or essays in edited collections.

Ex:
Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Date of publication).
            Title of document. Retrieved from http://Web address

In-Text Citation
When using APA format, follow the author-date method of in-text citation. (Jones, 1998).
Always capitalize proper nouns, including author names and initials: D. Jones.

If you refer to the title of a source within your paper, capitalize all words that are four letters long or greater within the title of a source.

Capitalize the first word after a dash or colon.

Italicize or underline the titles of longer works such as books or movies.

Put quotation marks around the titles of shorter works such as journal articles.

Ex:
She stated, "Students often had difficulty using APA style," but she did not offer an explanation as to why (Jones, 1998, p. 199).

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/