The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is owned and copyrighted by the American Psychological Association, and contains extensive guidelines for writing research papers and citing sources in APA Style. The Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) provides a helpful summary of the key elements of APA style research papers including the overall paper formatting, in-text citations, and reference list guidelines. Let’s take a deeper look at the specific APA requirements.
For the overall paper formatting, APA style states that papers should be typed, double-spaced on standard sized paper (8.5″ x 11″) with 1″ margins on all sides. Additionally, the paper should include a running head and page numbers in the top right corner. The running head is a shortened version of the paper title in all capital letters that displays on each page. Page numbers begin on the title page with the number 1 and continue in sequential order all the way through to the final page of references.
When it comes to the actual content of the paper, APA format dictates a very specific order that should always be followed. The standard sections of an APA style paper, in sequence, are the title page, abstract, introduction, method, results, discussion, and references. The title page should contain the title of the paper, author name, and school affiliation. The abstract provides a brief summary of the paper – around 150-250 words. The introduction presents the research problem/question and provides background and context for the reader.
In the method section, the specific procedures or participants are described to allow for replication of the research. The results section concisely presents and summarizes the data findings without interpretation. The discussion section is where the meaning of the results is explored in depth without repeating information verbatim. This section also explains the significance and implications, considers alternative explanations, highlights limitations, and offers areas for potential future research. And finally, the references page(s) compiled at the end contains the full list of sources cited within the paper.
Regarding in-text citations, any reference used to support ideas and arguments that are not the author’s own must be appropriately cited in APA format. In-text citations involve briefly identifying the source within parentheses by author’s last name and year of publication. For quotes or paraphrases, a page number is also included. Only the surname/year citation is needed when sources have two authors. When sources have three, four, or five authors, cite all authors the first time and use et al. in subsequent citations. For sources with six or more authors, use et al. every time the source is cited in text. When referring to personal communications such as emails or interviews, cite the communicator’s last name and approximate date within parentheses.
The reference list appears at the end of the paper on its own page with the title “References” centered and not bolded, underlined or italicized at the top. All references should be double-spaced, with hanging indent format, meaning the first line of each entry is at the left margin and subsequent lines are indented five spaces. Entries are alphabetized by authors’ last names or title if there is no author. Each entry begins with the author’s last name, then initial(s) followed by publication year in parentheses. The title of the article, chapter or other source is then presented. Titles of journals, magazines, newspapers and books are italicized, while titles of articles, chapters and webpages are placed in quotation marks. URLs or DOIs end each reference, if a digital object is available online.
By thoroughly following these APA format guidelines from the Purdue OWL on paper structure, in-text citations, and references, researchers and students can be sure that their writing adheres to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association’s standards of scholarly communication. Understanding and implementing all aspects of APA style is crucial for academic success. The Purdue OWL’s detailed explanations and examples make the format easy to interpret and replicate regardless of a researcher or student’s discipline or experience level. When students take the time to learn APA citation rules, they be able to produce high quality papers that accurately cite sources and avoid plagiarism concerns.