HEALTH BEHAVIOR CHANGE PROJECT/ APA PAPER

Abstract

Title of Your Paper

The body of the paper begins on a new page, which would be page three if there is an abstract. The title of the paper (in uppercase and lowercase letters) is centered on the first line below the running head. The title of your paper should be centered. The title of your paper is not to be confused with a level one heading which is in bold.

Follow the title with an introduction to your paper including your thesis. Remember to double space and use twelve point Times New Roman font throughout the paper. Some papers use heading to make it easy for the reader to navigate and know the importance of different sections of the paper. However, headings are not required for all papers. APA uses five levels of headings which can be found on page sixty-two for the Publication Manual (American Psychological Association, 2010).

Level One Heading

Level Two Heading

Level one headings are centered, bold, and in uppercase and lower case. Level two headings are flush left, bold and use uppercase and lowercase.

Level three heading. Level three headings use different punctuation, indentation, and capitalization than the previous two headings.

Citing the sources you use will be a crucial part of your paper. To avoid plagiarism, make sure you properly paraphrase, quote, and cite any ideas that are not your own. When adding an in text citation you will need to provide the author and the publication year when available. When an author is not available you will provide the beginning of the citation, which is usually the title of the source. Remember that organizations, associations, government entities, and companies can be considered authors. When the date is not available replace it with a lowercase n and a lower case d for no date (n.d.). You can have all of the citation information in parenthesis like this example (American Psychological Association, 2010). According to the American Psychological Association (2010) you can also refer to the author in the single phrase, directly followed by the publication year in parenthesis.

When using a direct quote “always provide the author, year, and specific page citation or paragraph number for nonpaginated material” (American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 171). You can use pp. for multiple pages or para. for paragraphs . If a nonpaginated source has sections headings you can also include the section name in the in text citation (Author, 2013, example section, para 2). If you use a quote of forty words or more use a block quote.

Start a block quote with an introductory sentence:

Block quotes are forty words or more. Block quotes are indented half an inch throughout. If there is more than one paragraph, indent the first line of each additional paragraph half an inch. Quotation marks are not used for block quotes. Block quotes place the citations after the last punctuation mark. (American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 171)

The reference page will follow the body of your text. With the exception of personal interviews or correspondence (i.e. emails), you will provide a reference citation for citation used in the text. Start the reference page with the word reference capitalized and centered at the top of the paper. Then order your references alphabetically. It is suggested that tables and figures follow the reference page but some professors will allow you to use them in text. Appendices follow the references pages and any tables or figures included at the end of the text.

References

American Psychological Association. (2010). The publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Cornwell, D. (2013, April 3). APA resource center. Retrieved from http://palmbeachstate.libguides.com/apa

Degelman, D. (2009). APA style essentials. Retrieved from http://www.vanguard.edu/faculty/ddegelman/index.aspx?doc_id=796