APA Sample Paper HOW TO

The abstract of a paper should be between 150-250 words. There should be no paragraph indentation when writing your abstract nor should the word (\"abstract) be in bold.

- Always use 12 font Times New Roman. - Margins should be 1\" on all slides - The paper should be double spaced throughout. - \"tab\" is used to indent paragraphs - The running head and page number should be in the header section of the paper.

- the words \"running head\" must be included in the 1st page of the report followed by \":\" and the actual running head. - On the rest for the pages the running head must also be included with the exception of the words \"running head\" being there. This should be seen on the top left. - The running head described prior should be included on all pages along with the page number on the opposite side of the page.

The title page should be included in the center of the page, one third of the page down.

The Title of the paper should be on the 1st page of the body of the paper.

- A paragraph should be 3 or more sentences long. - There must be 2 spaces after any punctuation mark ending a sentence.

- The reference page is after the body of the paper. - This must be a page by itself( no matter how long the length) - References used throughout the paper must be listed on this page. - The reference must be in alphabetical order by author's last name or the 1st word of the reference entry.

- Most common mistakes are found in: title page, citations, and reference page. - common mistake in title page= the header and the numbers are not included. Page #1 begins on the title page of the paper. - the spacing= Papers should all be double spaced. - Common mistakes in the body of the paper= the body of the paper should have the title centered on the top of the page and the paragraphs must be indented. - Punctuation= periods and commas should be within the quotation marks. - All direct quotes require a page number in the citation.

- Grammar and Usage= Avoid using teh words \"that\" and \"which\". - Check basic spelling - Do not rely on spell check! - Do not use contractions in academic papers - Before using an abbreviation the word must be spelled out correctly followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis. - Reference times correctly - When using numbers, words should be used for numbers below 10; Above 10 can be written numerically. Exceptions to this rule are numbers 111-124.

- Citations include: Author(s) [always], year(s) [always], page number [only for a direct quote]. - ONLY use the author's last name [no initials, no 1st name for in-text citations]. - If there is a citation in the body of the paper, it must be listed in the reference page.

- the authors citation may begin or end the sentence. - When a direct quote is utilized a page number must be included within the citation.

- All authors must be included when citing them along with the year. - The word \"and\" must be included when citing more than 1 author. - When multiple authors are being used, all numbers must be included within the 1st citation...any other citation after that should inclue the name of the 1st author followed by \"et al\" and the year.

- The title of the Reference Page should be \"References\" not \"Bibliography\" or \"Works Cited\". - Must be in Hanging index format. - In the reference list, only author's last name and and initials should be listed. - Alphabetize the reference page by Author's last name or the 1st word of the entry. if there are multiple Authors, utilize the 1st author that appears as you letter to alphabetize.

- When citing an entire book, the format requires the author's last name, publisher or doi. - The title of the book should be in italic with only the 1st letter of the title being capitalized, letter of the subtitle, and any other proper nouns.If the titled includes a colon, then the 1st letter which follows the colon must be capitalized.

- When citing a jorunal article, the format requires: -- the author's last name and initial -- year -- title of the article -- title of the journal -- volume -- issue -- page number -- doi (if available) - The issue is directly after the volume (no space) in parenthesis and not italicized.