In writing academic papers, it is vital to know and understand what style to use. While there can be a lot of writing styles available here and there, your teacher might direct you to create one in APA style.
The APA stands for American Psychological Association. It is one of the most influential associations composed of professional psychologists in the world with 150 thousand members. They have developed guidelines of format for academic works in social sciences and is now also an acceptable stander for publications for numbers of academic education. They have released a Publication Manual that contains recommendations on paper formalization, documentation of footnotes, citations, fonts, tables, and the structure of the research.
Below is the APA style of making a research paper.
· GUIDELINES FOR THE GENERAL DOCUMENT
The paper has an inch margin in all sides – left, right, top and bottom. Use 12 pt for the font size and font style can either be Times new Romans or Courier. Also, write it with double space and flush left for the alignment. Indention in paragraphs is in spaces of 5 to 7. The page number should be placed one inch of the paper except for figures, and beginning with the title.
For the manuscript header, the first two or three words of the paper title must place five spaces to the left of the page number. It must be on all pages. Also, remember not to use passive voice sentences. The APA style article must always have sentences in active voice. Also include on your checklist that the order of the sheets should start from (1) Title Page, (2) Abstract, (3) Body, (4) References, (5) Appendixes, (6) Footnotes, (7) Tables, (8) Figure Captions, (9) Figures.
· TITLE PAGE
The key elements of the page consist of the paper title, author or authors, author affiliations, and running head. The title page is the first one of the whole paper.
It must be in upper and lowercase letters, and place on the center of the sheet. The authors' names are also in upper and lower case letters, and place on the center of the line following the title. The author's affiliations are placed on the center of the line following the author names with upper and lowercase letters as well.
The running head is the short title that appears at the top pages of the paper. It is in upper case, typed flush left following the word “Running head:” on the line below the manuscript header. It must not be more than 50 characters, including punctuation and spacing.
· ABSTRACT
The abstract is a self-contained summary of the essential elements of the paper. It has only one paragraph.
The abstract begins on a new sheet, and its heading is centered on the first line below the manuscript paper header. It is a block format. It starts on the line following the abstract heading and is not more than 120 words. The numbers on the abstract are typed as digits rather than in words.
· BODY
The body of the paper starts on a new sheet, but its subsections don’t start on new pages. The title of the article is in upper and lowercase letters, centered on the first line below the manuscript header.
The introduction is not labeled and begins on the line following the title of the paper. Also, bear in mind that the document should be organized using headings and subheadings. The main heading is in upper and lowercase letters, and the subtitles are in upper and lowercase letters, italicized, and use flash left.
· CITATION AND REFERENCE
Reference is the detailed alphabetical list of citation. It is placed at the end of the paper, double-spaced, indented half inch from the left margin. The alphabetical arrangement of the references is based on the author’s last name then the initial of their first name (e.g., Poe, E.A.). It then is followed by the book’s year of publication enclosed in parenthesis. Then cite the name of the reference followed by volume or page numbers of the referenced materials placed within a parenthesis. Lastly, indicate the reference’s source.
Writing format with APA requires a lot of editing. It may consume a big part of your time, but everything is worth the effort. Other students who don’t have the time choose to buy a research paper from writing services. The writing service providers may sometimes be on sale or provide a discount on their products or services.