project

Keywords: APA, formatting

Table of Contents Comment by Chuck Bane: This My requirement not APA.

This is a simple paper designed to show you the basics of an APA formatted paper as well as serve as a template, but it is no substitute for the style guide. The first printing of the 6th edition of the APA style guide had considerable errors and there appear to still be some inconsistencies with the second printing and examples posted at the APA web site. As best as I can determine, at this time this is my understanding of how a simple term paper written for college should look.

Normally the first part of the paper is assumed to be the introduction and no heading is required. Also, the title is repeated on the third page but is not in bold type. Notice that everything is double-spaced and there is one space after each period. Also we use what is called a serif font. This is a sans serif font and is incorrect, and is only being used here for illustrative purposes. Sans serif does not have the little decorations on the letters. This is a nine point font which is too small although it is a serif font, and this is 14 point which is too big although it too is a serif font. Now we are back to the font you are required to use. The ideal, and safe size, for your font is twelve point Times New Roman just like this.

Headings are basically mini-chapter titles providing a way of logically dividing up your paper and organizing complex information in such a way that it easier for the reader to understand. Level one headings are centered, in boldface, and uses both upper and lowercase letters as depicted above. Most papers can get by with one level of heading. However, if you are the adventurous sort, or just want to try to impress your professor (although it will probably not work unless they have just started teaching) you can use two.

Do not use level two headings unless you are told it is necessary. A level two heading is flush left, boldface, while using upper and lowercase letters. There are three more levels, for a total of five, but they are not likely to be used for an undergraduate paper, or even for most graduate ones.

Any time you provide the user with information that is not common knowledge you need to have a reference for it. For example, you could say that France is located in Europe, and probably even get away with saying that it is a member of the European Economic Community without giving a source for that information. But, you cannot say that France has a lower incidence of alcoholism than the United States without providing evidence for that deceleration by providing one or more citations to back you up. Anytime you cite something you are either paraphrasing it or quoting directly. A paraphrase does not require quotation marks but a direct quote does. Anytime you provide a source you must provide the author and the year of publication.

References must contain the author, and the date of publication. There are several different ways to do this and the three most common are: According to Perkins (2009), it was odd that he purchased a new APA manual in 2009 while the publication date was listed as 2010. Another way of writing that same information would be: One noted scholar found it odd that he was able to purchase an APA manual in 2009 when the publication date in the book was listed as 2010 (Perkins, 2009). In 2009 Perkins noted that he was able to purchase a style manual which already had the publication date of 2010. Now we will see how to handle a direct quote.

Another method is to just quote what the author said directly. Using the example we started out with above a direct quote would look like this: According to one author “among the many mysterious things about APA is that I was able to buy the new manual in 2009 even while the publication date was listed as 2010” (Perkins, 2009, p. 10). There is one other type of quote, a block quote that you also need to know but is not covered in this short tutorial.

This is a basic introduction to an APA format paper and there is still a lot for you to learn. The APA style is used in social work and human services programs to provide consistency and promote disciplined scholarly work. Graduate programs in many fields (such as psychology, counseling, education, human services, social work, and many others) require that you know how to write an APA paper and expect you will know how to do it when you get there. Why not learn how to do it now?

Remember, you are accountable for what you write with the double responsibility to do so clearly and with integrity. As odd and vexing as it is, the discipline of APA writing will help you to do so.

This is not a real reference, but rather a note to alert you to the style we use for references which is called a hanging indent. The first line is not indented as in a regular paragraph while the second and subsequent lines are.

Perkins, M. (2009). Stupid APA tricks; making it much harder than it should be. American Journal of Common Sense, 15, 8-74.