Sunteți pe pagina 1din 10

UTT LIBRARIES

APA STYLE
FORMATTING

A Brief Guide

Revised October 2010

UTT LIBRARIES
BRIEF GUIDE TO FORMATTING A RESEARCH PAPER USING THE APA STYLE

As part of the course requirements at tertiary level , students must submit essays or research papers using a citation and formatting style which has been selected by the institution to
which they are affiliated. Once a particular style has been selected, it must be carefully followed
as it provides specific guidelines for the layout of the paper and the formatting of the references.
This document provides a brief outline of the APA style which is one of the recommended styles
of the University of Trinidad and Tobago.

GENERAL GUIDELINES
Paper:
Font:
Line spacing:
Margins:
Page Numbers:
Paragraphs:

Standard size 8 x 11 inches


12 point Times New Roman
Double spaced
2.54 cm on all sides
Number all pages consecutively beginning with the title page
Indent the first line of every paragraph except the abstract.
Do not justify the document.

MAJOR PAPER SECTIONS


The research paper should include the following sections where applicable:

Title page
Table of Contents
List of Tables and Figures
Abstract
Main Body
References
Appendices

TITLE PAGE

The actual running head must be


capitalized and should not exceed
50 characters including spacing
and punctuation.

The phrase Running head is inserted


only on the title page. It must always
be positioned flush left .

Running head: SAMPLE PAPER IN APA

Sample Paper
The title should be placed
in the centre of the upper
half of the page . Do not
bold, italicize or underline.

Authors name

using the American Psychological


Association (APA) Referencing Style

John Smith
The University of Trinidad and Tobago

Institutional Affiliation

Pages must be numbered


consecutively beginning
with the title page. The
page number must always
be placed on the top right
hand side of the page

ABSTRACT

Running Head to be
included on each page

The word
Abstract is typed
in the centre of the
upper part of the
page. Do not
bold , italicize

Consecutive Page Number

SAMPLE PAPER IN APA

Abstract

The abstract is a summary of the paper between


150 an 250 words, no more than one paragraph
in length. It should be accurate, concise and
Do not indent the first
line of the abstract

specific thereby allowing readers to quickly and


precisely understand the purpose of the paper.

Do not justify
right margin or
hyphenate words
at the ends of the
line.

THE MAIN BODY GENERAL STRUCTURE

The following sequence is followed when putting together the main body of the research paper.
The sections which will be included in your paper will depend on the nature of the research being
done.
Introduction
This section is not labeled as its location at the start of the paper is self explanatory. The title of
the research paper is placed at the top centre of the page before the opening paragraph.
The introduction sets out what the paper is about, the approaches taken and how the subject matter
is treated. It includes the hypothesis or thesis statement.
Literature review
The literature review examines research which has already been done on the topic. The purpose
is to demonstrate an awareness of your subject area, as well as show how your research may contribute to this body of knowledge.
Methodology
This will vary according to the type of research. Issues treated in this section would include the
approaches used to collect the information for the research and the design of the data collection
instrument best suited for these.
Results
This involves a presentation of the results of the data collected. If the research undertaken was not
extensive then it is generally considered more useful to combine the Results section with the Discussion section.
Discussion
The findings of your research are analyzed in relation to the issues highlighted in the introduction.
Indicate whether your results support or disprove your hypothesis and what factors may have affected your results.

THE MAIN BODY first page example

Running Head

Consecutive Page Number

SAMPLE PAPER IN APA

Sample Paper
using the American Psychological
Association (APA) Referencing Style
The introductory paragraph presents the main
idea, hypothesis or thesis statement of your research
paper. Unlike the abstract, it starts with an indentation.
Sections of text are placed directly after each
other without a break; do not start a new page when
using a new heading.

The main body of


the research paper
begins with the title
which should be
centred at the top of
the page. It should
not be underlined,
italicized or put in
bold

THE MAIN BODY FORMATTING ELEMENTS

Quotations
Short quotations of less than 40 words.
Include in double quotations marks as part of the sentence.
E.g.
Individuals need to make themselves more marketable by engaging in continuous professional development as it is now quite usual for employers to ask candidates at job interviews
about the steps they have taken to identify and address their own development needs. (Cottrell,
2003, p.3)

Long quotations of 40 words or more.


Include as a block while still maintaining the double spacing . Indent 5-7 spaces from the left margin in keeping with previous paragraphs. Do not enclose in quotation marks.
E.g.
In discussing the potential impact of tertiary education on students, Cottrell (2003) has
pointed out that University life and study can be very challenging to our way of seeing the
world. Many would argue that it should be and that a university education should stretch
students and make them re-evaluate their core beliefs and ways of thinking. The challenge
can be difficult to manage at first.(p.81)

THE MAIN BODY FORMATTING ELEMENTS

Headings
APA has identified five levels of heading which can be used to organize the layout of the
research paper. These headings which must be used in sequence are :
APA Headings
LEVEL
1
2
3
4
5

FORMAT

Centered Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading


Left- aligned, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.
Indented, bold, italicised, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a
period.
Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period

The number of headings used will depend on the complexity of your paper.
An example of a layout to be used in a research paper will be as follows :
Engineering in the Twentieth Century (Level 1)
The Impact of Engineering on Society
Urbanization.
Town and country planning.
City Layout.

(Level 2)
(Level 3)
(Level 4)
(Level 5)

Voice and Tone


Use the third person point of view rather than the first
The study showed that

Not

I found out that

Use the active voice rather than the passive voice:


The participants responded

Not

The responses provided by the participants...

References
Always start the list of
references on a new page

Running Head

Consecutive Page Number

SAMPLE PAPER IN APA


Type the first line
in an entry flush
left. Indent 5 spaces if entry continues into another
line

References
American Psychological Association. (2010)
Publication manual of the American
Psychological Association (6th ed.)

Type the word


References in
the top centre of
the page. Do not
capitalize, underline or italicize.

Washington DC: Author.


Curtin University Library. (2009) APA referencing.
Use double line
spacing

Retrieved from
http://library.curtin.edu.au/local/docs/
referencing/apa.pdf

List all entries in


alphabetical order
ignoring a, an,
the if they are the
first words in the
citation.

Kirszner, L. G., & Mandell, S. R. (2005). The


Wadsworth handbook (5th ed.) . Australia:
Thomson.
The Owl at Purdue. (2010). APA formatting and style
guide. Retrieved from
http:// owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/
resource/560/01/

Further information can be obtained from UTT Libraries webpage http://www.u.tt/library .

10

APPENDIX

These are generally used for supplementary material not included in the body of the research
paper for example a copy of a questionnaire or a blueprint.
Each appendix must begin on a separate page.

Consecutive Page Number

Running Head

The word Appendix


is inserted at the top
centre of the page If

there is more than


one, a capital letter
is used to distinguish them

SAMPLE PAPER IN APA

Appendix A
Survey pertaining to the proper use of information
1. Do you generally list your sources at the end of your
research paper ?
Yes

The body of the


text must begin
flush left.

No

2. Are you familiar with referencing styles?


Yes No
If yes please indicate which one.
MLA APA

Chicago

Harvard

Each appendix
must have a
title which
must be
placed in the
top centre using upper and
lower case.

S-ar putea să vă placă și