Research Paper Outline

APA Formatting Checklist (An EasyGuide to APA Style, 3e)

General Formatting:

 Font: Times New Roman, 12 pt (p. 176-177)

 Margins: 1 inch all around (p. 198)

 Pagination: Upper right hand corner, title page is 1 (p. 176)

 Line Spacing: double spaced throughout (p. 199)

 Character Spacing: one space after final punctuation at the end of a sentence

Title Page:

 Alignment: centered (p. 176)

 Title: 12 words or less, not bold (p. 183)

 Running head: Only on title page, flush left, capital “R”, lowercase “h” (p. 178 and p. 201)

 Shortened title: On all pages, all caps, no more than 50 first characters of full title, including spaces

(p. 201-203)

 Pagination: Title page is always page 1 (p. 176)

Abstract:

 Title: “Abstract” centered, not bold

 Paragraph: not indented

 Word limit: 150-250 words

 Includes: main points, important data, and findings (no opinions)

 Running head: only the shortened title appears in all caps (p. 178)

 Keywords: include below the abstract, indented ½”, keywords in italics (p. 232, 256)

Body:

 Title of paper: the title of the paper appears centered on the first page after the abstract (p. 204)

 Indent: ½” at the beginning of each paragraph (p. 177)

 Headings: Level 1: bold, centered, sentence case; Level 2: bold, flush left, sentence case (p. 179)

Citations: (p. 105-113)

 Example of in-text citation from a book or journal, 1 author: (Last name, year)

 Example of in-text citation from a book or journal, 2 authors: (Last name 1 & Last name 2, year)

 And: In text: “and”; in citation and references: use symbol “&”

 Block quotes: (for direct quotes of 40 words +), indent ½” on left, no quotation marks, final

punctuation goes before citation, 40 words +

 Punctuation for in-text citations: Preceding reference: “Place periods and commas . . .” (APA, 2009,

p. 92).

 Example of in-text citation when quoting from a book or journal, 1 author: (Last name, year, p. #)

 Example of in-text citation when quoting from a book or journal, 2 authors: (Last name 1 & Last

name 2, year, p. #)

Reference Page: (p. 161-162)

 Indent: Hanging, ½”

 Title: “References,” centered, not bold

 Order: Alphabetical by author, use date if two works by one author

 Period: Period after books and periodicals, not after URL

 Italics: Titles of books and journals