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Purdue Owl Apa Formatting and Style Guide

This document summarizes the general format for APA style papers, including guidelines for title pages, abstracts, headings, citations, and references. It explains that APA style is mostly used in social sciences. The document provides instructions on setting up title pages, running heads, abstracts, and reference sections, as well as citing sources in-text. It also includes an example of how to cite the Purdue OWL resource in an APA style paper.

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534 views

Purdue Owl Apa Formatting and Style Guide

This document summarizes the general format for APA style papers, including guidelines for title pages, abstracts, headings, citations, and references. It explains that APA style is mostly used in social sciences. The document provides instructions on setting up title pages, running heads, abstracts, and reference sections, as well as citing sources in-text. It also includes an example of how to cite the Purdue OWL resource in an APA style paper.

Uploaded by

api-272055202
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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5/1/2017 PurdueOWL:APAFormattingandStyleGuide

GeneralWritingResearchandCitationTeachingandTutoringSubjectSpecificWriting
JobSearchWritingESL
ThispageisbroughttoyoubytheOWLatPurdue(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/).Whenprintingthis
page,youmustincludetheentirelegalnoticeatbottom.

GeneralFormat
Summary:

APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesourceswithinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,

revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprintingoftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearch
papers,intextcitations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsultthePublicationManualof

theAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).

Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,KristenMoore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,
AllenBrizee,RussellKeck
LastEdited:2016051312:06:24

PleaseusetheexampleatthebottomofthispagetocitethePurdueOWLinAPA.

Toseeasidebysidecomparisonofthethreemostwidelyusedcitationstyles,includingachartofallAPAcitationguidelines,see
theCitationStyleChart.

YoucanalsowatchourAPAvidcastseriesonthePurdueOWLYouTubeChannel.

GeneralAPAGuidelines

Youressayshouldbetyped,doublespacedonstandardsizedpaper(8.5"x11")with1"marginsonallsides.Youshouldusea
clearfontthatishighlyreadable.APArecommendsusing12pt.TimesNewRomanfont.

Includeapageheader(alsoknownasthe"runninghead")atthetopofeverypage.Tocreateapageheader/runninghead,
insertpagenumbersflushright.Thentype"TITLEOFYOURPAPER"intheheaderflushleftusingallcapitalletters.The
runningheadisashortenedversionofyourpaper'stitleandcannotexceed50charactersincludingspacingandpunctuation.

MajorPaperSections
Youressayshouldincludefourmajorsections:theTitlePage,Abstract,MainBody,andReferences.

TitlePage

Thetitlepageshouldcontainthetitleofthepaper,theauthor'sname,andtheinstitutionalaffiliation.Includethepageheader
(describedabove)flushleftwiththepagenumberflushrightatthetopofthepage.Pleasenotethatonthetitlepage,yourpage
header/runningheadshouldlooklikethis:

Runninghead:TITLEOFYOURPAPER

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ 1/4
5/1/2017 PurdueOWL:APAFormattingandStyleGuide

Pagesafterthetitlepageshouldhavearunningheadthatlookslikethis:

TITLEOFYOURPAPER

AfterconsultingwithpublicationspecialistsattheAPA,OWLstafflearnedthattheAPA6thedition,firstprintingsamplepapers
haveincorrectexamplesofRunningheadsonpagesafterthetitlepage.ThislinkwilltakeyoutotheAPAsitewhereyoucanfind
acompletelistofalltheerrorsintheAPA's6theditionstyleguide.

Typeyourtitleinupperandlowercaseletterscenteredintheupperhalfofthepage.APArecommendsthatyourtitlebenomore
than12wordsinlengthandthatitshouldnotcontainabbreviationsorwordsthatservenopurpose.Yourtitlemaytakeuponeor
twolines.Alltextonthetitlepage,andthroughoutyourpaper,shouldbedoublespaced.

Beneaththetitle,typetheauthor'sname:firstname,middleinitial(s),andlastname.Donotusetitles(Dr.)ordegrees(PhD).

Beneaththeauthor'sname,typetheinstitutionalaffiliation,whichshouldindicatethelocationwheretheauthor(s)conductedthe
research.

ImageCaption:APATitlePage

Abstract
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ 2/4
5/1/2017 PurdueOWL:APAFormattingandStyleGuide

Beginanewpage.Yourabstractpageshouldalreadyincludethepageheader(describedabove).Onthefirstlineoftheabstract
page,centerthewordAbstract(nobold,formatting,italics,underlining,orquotationmarks).

Beginningwiththenextline,writeaconcisesummaryofthekeypointsofyourresearch.(Donotindent.)Yourabstractshould
containatleastyourresearchtopic,researchquestions,participants,methods,results,dataanalysis,andconclusions.Youmayalso
includepossibleimplicationsofyourresearchandfutureworkyouseeconnectedwithyourfindings.Yourabstractshouldbea
singleparagraphdoublespaced.Yourabstractshouldbebetween150and250words.

Youmayalsowanttolistkeywordsfromyourpaperinyourabstract.Todothis,indentasyouwouldifyouwerestartinganew
paragraph,typeKeywords:(italicized),andthenlistyourkeywords.Listingyourkeywordswillhelpresearchersfindyourworkin
databases.

ImageCaption:APAAbstractPage

PleaseseeourSampleAPAPaperresourcetoseeanexampleofanAPApaper.YoumayalsovisitourAdditionalResources
pageformoreexamplesofAPApapers.

HowtoCitethePurdueOWLinAPA

IndividualResources

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ 3/4
5/1/2017 PurdueOWL:APAFormattingandStyleGuide

Contributors'namesandthelastediteddatecanbefoundintheorangeboxesatthetopofeverypageontheOWL.

Contributors'names(Lastediteddate).Titleofresource.Retrievedfromhttp://Web
addressforOWLresource

Angeli,E.,Wagner,J.,Lawrick,E.,Moore,K.,Anderson,M.,Soderlund,L.,&
Brizee,A.(2010,May5).Generalformat.Retrievedfrom
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ 4/4

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