How to Write an APA Essay Format?

Writing guide
Posted on December 10, 2021

Before writing the report in APA format, it is better to familiarize yourself in advance with the requirements of the APA and understand how to distribute the information in the document.

1. Add and Structure the Information on the Title Page

The first thing we pay attention to when we open the Microsoft Word Document file is the title page. About the introduction, we can conclude that you need to follow all the instructions required by the APA because it is to some extent a portrait of the whole research, and it should make a pleasant first impression. The first sheet should contain the title of the article, the name of its author, and information about institutional affiliation, which means the place of the study.

By the way, the selection of the title should be approached responsibly, it should be concise and at the same time convey the main idea and content of the work. Of course, if this is done by a student, then you should put on the title page the course number, the name of the teacher, and the deadline for submission if there are indicated ones.

Please, note that you do not need to indicate your degree and surname in the first line. Note that a student APA article should not contain an author’s note. Don’t forget the author’s note at the bottom of the title page, where you need to describe important information about you, such as the ORCID ID symbol and the URL of the ORCID.

The main requirement and goal of the APA-style writing style is integrity. Therefore, set the general settings for the entire document by setting the margins on the 1-inch page. The indent of each first line of the paragraph should be 0.5 inches. Make a double interval for all your work.

Also, do not forget about the page numbering, which must be done on each page. It is best to do this in the right upper corner.
If you need to write certain information in an abstract, select a separate page and put it in 200 words.

2. Set Microsoft Word Document

For the APA paper format, it is not important which font you choose, the main thing is that it should be without exacerbations and be easily perceived by the reader. Essay writers usually choose Times New Roman, Calibri, Arial, Lucida Sans Unicode, Modern, because they are classic, versatile, and do not have an over-saturated design, which can not distract teacher or reader from the evaluation of written work. The best option is to choose one of the proposed fonts, then there will be no problems with the unlicensed font. It is recommended to set its size to 11, but if you use Times New Roman it is better to choose 12. The font is used for the main text and the headings.

3. Write the Summary of the APA Paper

APA style requires the creation of an annotation, which is created to fully summarize all the information presented in the work. It is also important to focus on discussing the issues raised, rather than relying on the literature used. You need to place it on page 2 and limit yourself to 250 words. Do not forget about the keywords that must be used in the annotation. It is significant that in this case you should not indent and write everything in one paragraph.

4. Add the Citations

Now we will answer the common question «How to write APA citation?». You need to work carefully on the design of quotations because a competent approach to this stage will make your writing neat and structured. This must also be done so as not to face the problem of plagiarism.

Most likely, if you want to publish your work on the Internet or in a magazine, you need to check the text for uniqueness. That is why this step is extremely important and will save you from unpleasant situations with the authors of articles in which you borrowed information.

When making quotations, the following requirements must be observed: mention 3 points in parentheses at the end of the line with duplicate information. The first is the author of the quote, the second is the year of writing publication, then it goes adding the last page number from which you took a piece of text. Suppose the source is, for example, a presentation, then we indicate the slide we used. If you have paraphrased or added your conclusions to your work, you may have created a summary, but you can not add the last point.
All the sources and references you used in the research should be gathered on a separate page at the end of the APA research.

5. Highlight the Quotations

There is such a thing as a quote block. This means that APA-style quotation marks should not be used if the 40-word direct citation limit is exceeded. Only at the end, you need to indicate the relevant information in parentheses.

One of the features of the APA is that the author’s name must be specified without initials.
Be sure to make a list of links and include them from all work. Quotes should be placed in order from beginning to end. This will help your colleagues to better navigate the document.
You should pay attention to all mentioned above to achieve great results.

Do not neglect this stage of development of your research, because it will give you an idea of how to differentiate information into sections. It is not necessary to duplicate the information which has already been described above, and if necessary, simply to list the facts, without writing them down. The main thing is to remember the information that deserves attention and draw conclusions based on the work done. If you suffer from a lack of information on the correct formatting, you can ask for help from your teacher or supervisor. He can give you useful advice to facilitate the working process.

There are also many templates on the Internet. You can use the sample or review them for better apprehension of the structure and requirements. This will help you to calmly and thoughtfully approach the preparation of the direct study, and then not be distracted by the choice of font or line spacing. You will not forget to specify anything, and you will get a good result.

APA Quiz: Test Your Knowledge of APA Style

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