How To Write A Research Paper - APA Style Guidelines

The American Psychological Association has created a formatting style for papers that many schools use as a formatting style that their students have to put all of their papers into. It is a way of ensuring that all students’ papers look somewhat the same so that nobody is graded on their style choices. Also, this format has been chosen because it is easy to read. You have to write one paper and your teacher has to read and grade thirty. After about the fifteenth one, it becomes harder to read and this format makes it as easy as possible. Plus, if you write a paper that is written well enough to get published, all of the papers will look the around the same.

Here are some guidelines that can help you write this paper in the right format. You should obtain a copy of the formatting guide to get a complete idea of how this format is used. This will however give you the key ideas so that you have the right idea.

  1. Title page

    2. Your paper will need to have a title page that lists a header with the page number flush right and the title flush left. In the dead center, you will give your title, your name, your instructor’s name, your school’s name, and the date. There are some teacher’s that want you to put the class number and name information in there as well, so consult your assignment notes for complete details.

  2. Paper formatting

    3. You will double space the text and use a white, typed, standard sheet of paper with one inch margins on all sides. If you are quoting a large source, the text will be indented and single spaced. Be sure to indent the first line of every paragraph and to keep the title page and any other end pages separate from the body of the paper.

  3. Citations

    4. It is best to utilize your actual guide for citation information because there are so many different sources. However, check your resource library because most resource libraries will cite the information for your and all you have to do is copy and paste. Be sure to choose the right style and edition and you will be all set. The in-text citations will be in parentheses with the author or authors name and the date of publication.

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