APA Style: Formatting Your Research Paper
The American Psychological Association (APA) style guide is commonly used for citing references in student papers, particularly in science, technical, and social science courses. When writing an APA formatted research paper, you will need to pay close attention to the structure, style, and formatting of your document. While some of the guidelines may seem arbitrary, following them will ensure your paper gets taken seriously by your professor. In this article, we’ll go over how to properly reference sources for an APA style paper, including journal articles, books, web pages, etc. Proper citations and formatting are key to avoiding plagiarism and demonstrating your credibility as a researcher.
The Basic Structure
In general, APA reference papers use one-inch margins, are double spaced, and use 12-point Times New Roman font. The first page includes a running head, the title of your paper centered about halfway down, and your name and affiliation below the title. The page number appears in the upper right-hand corner on all subsequent pages. A reference page is always included at the end of the paper and lists all sources used in your research in alphabetical order by the first author’s last name.
Writing clearly and concisely is key with APA papers. Your introduction should grab the reader’s attention and clearly state the purpose and structure of the paper. Separate the body into clear and logical paragraphs with topic sentences introducing each idea. Your conclusion should summarize the main points without introducing any new information.
Citing Sources Within Your Text
Any source used in your paper needs to be cited in the body of the text, usually with an in-text citation. This consists of the author’s last name and year of publication in parentheses. If quoting directly, also include the page number. For example: (Smith, 2020, p. 5). If omitting author’s name in sentence, put citation at end: “This theory has been disproven (2020).”
For references with two authors, use “and” between names: (Johnson & Smith, 2018). For three to five authors, list all names the first time and use “et al.” thereafter: (Brown et al., 2005). For sources with no named author, cite the title in italics: (“Title of Work,” year). Organization as author: (American Psychological Association [APA], n.d.). When referencing authors with the same last name, use their first initial: (J. Smith, 2020; M. Smith, 2018).
Formatting Reference Entries
References are listed alphabetically by the first author’s last name at the end of the document. References start on a new page with the label “References” centered and not bolded or underlined. All lines after the first line of each entry should be indented half an inch from the left margin, also known as hanging indentation. Here are the basic formats for common types of references:
Book:
Last name, First initial. (Year published). Title of work. Publisher.
Example: Smith, J. (2020). Writing your psychology paper. Custom Publishing.
Journal article with DOI:
Last name, First initial., & Last name, F.I. (Year). Article title. Journal Name, volume(issue), page range. https://doi.org/XXXX
Example: Johnson, A., & Smith, B. (2018). The effects of stress on academic performance. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12(3), 456-465. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge000001
Journal article without DOI:
Same format as above, but omit the DOI and substitute the journal homepage URL if a DOI is not provided.
Newspaper article:
Last name, First initial. (Year, Month Date). Article title. Newspaper, Page(s).
Example: Smith, J. (2020, May 23). Local school bans cell phones. The New York Times, p. A1.
Website:
Last name, First initial. or Organization Name. (Year, Month Date of Last Update). Title of page. URL
Example: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020, September 22). School closing guidance. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/schools.html
Be sure to double check that all elements are formatted exactly as shown in the Publication Manual of the APA, 7th edition. Both in-text citations and reference list are key to avoiding plagiarism and granting credit to original authors whose work contributed to your understanding of the topic.