Week 2 Assignment
salel.rgpl3
APAFormat.pptxAPA Format
Basics to be reviewed in all student papers
Cover Page
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A running head is placed at the top of the page .5” from the top. On page 1 only it begins with the words, “Running head:”. An abbreviated title follows in all caps. This abbreviated title includes words taken from the full title. The running head is placed 1” from the left and the page number 1 is placed 1” from the right. The running head is 50 characters or less including spaces and punctuation and should fit on one line.
The Title, Author’s Name, and Walden University follow. No other information is included. This content falls in the upper part of the cover page and IS NOT centered from top to bottom, only left to right.
Abstract
An abstract is NOT required as a general rule; however, you may require one.
The word Abstract is centered at the top of page 2.
There is no indent on the abstract
The abstract is NOT an introduction
The abstract tells what is in the paper
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First Page of Paper
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The header on pages 2 through the end of the document is in all caps and is only the content after the colon on page 1. The header is 1” from the left, .5” from the top, and the page numbers are 1” from the right.
The Title is repeated exactly as it was typed on page 1. It is not bolded. The title is printed 1” from the top of the page. Note all margins should be set at 1”.
An introduction comes first. The heading Introduction is never typed as it is assumed under the title. The introduction should have a sentence or two clarifying what the paper is about.
If headings are used, and there is one level, the headings are centered, bolded, and upper/lower case.
Conclusion
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All papers should end with a conclusion. This is typically one paragraph summarizing what was covered in the paper. The heading Conclusion is centered and bold.
References
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The reference page begins on a new page and has the heading “References”. This word is not bolded.
The references are listed in alphabetical order by last name of first author. Initials of first and middle names only are provided, never first names.
In journal publications the title of the article is lower case (except for first word, proper nouns, and the first word following a colon) and the journal title and volume are italicized. The journal title is upper/lower case. The issue (provided for non-paginated journals) is provided in parens and not italicized after the volume. There is no p or pp for pages, just the numbers of the actual pages.
References continued
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For an online journal, include the article’s DOI (provide the URL for the journal homepage if no DOI is available). The retrieval date and database information are not needed for scholarly articles retrieved from online sources.
For book references, students commonly mix up the order of city, state: publisher. The publisher comes last. I will send examples of common references to assist.
Finally, a hanging indent format is used and all references are double spaced as shown.
Common Errors
1. Incorrect placement of the header. It is always .5” from the top
2. Capitalizing the word Head in Running head – this is old APA format.
3. Not changing the header on pages 2 through the end and keeping the words Running head throughout. These words are only on page 1.
4. Centering the title, name, affiliation from top to bottom – this material is now in the top half of the paper.
5. Bolding the title. The title is never in bold.
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Common Errors (continued)
6. Using the Abstract as an introduction.
7. Forgetting to repeat the title on the first page of their paper.
8. Having the paragraph settings with spacing before or after not set at zero. Equal space should be found between lines and between paragraphs.
9. Headings placed to the left, not bolded, etc. If only one level is used, they are centered, bolded, and upper/lower case. If a second level is used, then the subheading is flush left and bolded.
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Common Errors (continued)
10. A paragraph needs 3 sentences.
11. Writing in incorrect tense. ALWAYS use past tense (e.g., James (2008) stated…).
12. Omitting the comma in a series. APA requires a comma before the and or the or in a series (apples, bananas, or peaches… green, blue, and yellow).
13. Citing only the first author. All authors must be cited in the first citation (unless there are 6 or more authors).
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Common Errors (continued)
14. Only citing the first author when there are 2 or more authors. If two authors, always cite both names, if 3 – 5 authors, cite all names the first cite and then use et al., if 6 or more, use first author and et al. for all citations.
15. Incorrectly punctuating et al. Correct punctuation in text is Smith et al. (2011). In parens (Smith et al., 2011).
16. Using the reference page as a bibliography. Only cited works go on the reference page.
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Common Errors (continued)
17. Dropping the year from a citation used more than one time in a paragraph. Old format allowed this. New format only allows the dropping of the year if the first cite was in text (not in parens). For example… Simpson (1989) wrote…. Later in the same paragraph…Simpson added….
18. Adding a colon to the word References. There is never a colon after the word References.
19. Using the word Reference in singular format. The APA manual states to use the word References as the heading. In no location does it indicate using the word Reference singular. This is very unclear, so we are going to go with References plural for MHC papers and discussions.
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Common Errors (continued)
20. Citing resources found in text or articles as if they had the resource instead of using “as cited in”.
21. Forgetting the page number when quoting.
22. Forgetting to use quotation marks when quoting.
23. Not quoting word for word yet still listing the entire content as a quote.
24. Forgetting to use the block quote format for longer quotes (40 words or more).
25. Using a font other than Times New Roman 12.
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Common Errors (continued)
26. Adding initials in a citation. Only authors’ last names and the year.
27. Periods come at the end of the sentence and never before the citation.
28. Citing a book editor and not the author of a chapter.
29. Using the word feel when the actual word is think or believe.
30. Including a quote citation within the “” marks. The quotation marks come before the citation.
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Common Errors (continued)
31. They and Their are plural. Correct format “Counselors would need to determine what they think is best” OR “A counselor would need to determine what he or she thinks is best”
32. Not writing out abbreviations first time introduced. For example, “The American Counseling Association (ACA)…”
33. Using “&” in text or “and” in parenthetical citations. James and Walters (2008) argued…. (Jackson & Parson, 2013).
Remember to visit the Writing Center for more assistance.
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