To achieve academic success, you need to work very hard. To write a proper research paper, you need to be familiar with the rules and regulations of different writing styles. If your research paper is written in APA format, then you are definitely going to get an edge over other students. How to do APA Style Citation?
APA is popular worldwide for its referencing and formatting styles. In order to avoid plagiarism, APA helps to provide proper credit to the authors and sources. It helps to avoid any type of plagiarism with the help of APA citations. This helps to improve the comprehension of the writers and readers because it focuses more on the content than the presentation. According to the suggestions of educational and research analysts, the APA guidelines are updated. This APA style makes the paper organized and readable.
Read to know more about SEO Content Writing: A Descriptive Guide To SEO Content Writing
Table of Contents
What is APA Format?
To enable a better reading experience and proper events organizations while writing literature, a set of rules and regulations are followed which is known as the APA format. The term APA was coined by the American Psychological Association to be used as a language in academic research papers. To prevent errors and plagiarism, it’s better to follow APA citations and APA references in the bibliography section. When someone uses this style, it means that they have the expertise to express other words and give credit to them. The art of learning APA referencing is very crucial. It helps you a lot in your research paper writing journey.
Currently, the 7th edition of the APA style is being used while writing. Changes were made to keep this up to date. Many changes were made and the improved version is there for public use. New and better cover pages were designed in this new version for students, and professional people. The changes and modifications made in APA format help to make your research paper look presentable.
Requirements for APA Format:
To follow the APA format for your research paper, there are certain requirements that need to be followed. Your research paper should revolve around the following details.
Length of the paper
The content should be precise and to the point. It includes topics related to scientific research. The language which should be used is professional language as it leaves a good impression on the readers. You should pinpoint the main ideas on the paper. All types of irreverent details should be avoided. The length of the research paper should be minimum and should cover all important details regarding the topic.
Requirements of margin
A specific paper of 8.5 inches and 11 inches is required while formatting the APA rules. Across all 4 sides, there should be double space and a 1-inch margin. A proper font should be used, which is usually visible to the naked eye. I would suggest you use the Times New Roman. If guidelines regarding your research paper assignment are not specified by your professor, you ought to follow the above-mentioned standards.
Components of Title Page
There are different APA title pages for students and professional ones. If a student is writing a research paper, it must include the title of the research paper, the name of the author, the affiliation by the institute, the name of the course, the instructor’s name, and the last date of the assignment. A two lines long, centered, and bold titles are favored. While writing the title, incorporate uppercase and lowercase letters. Abbreviations should be avoided while writing the title. The title should be catchy and bold. In a nutshell, the title page should include all the important aspects of your research.
Know what is Website Content Writing: WHAT IS WEBSITE CONTENT WRITING
Running Heads
These are popular among professional research papers. Students’ research papers don’t include running heads. The word limit of running heads should be 50 characters with punctuation marks.
Content Table
As the name suggests, the content table would obviously include the list of all the topics of your research paper. It provides a complete road map of your entire research paper. APA doesn’t support the content table. However, it is advisable to use content tables for papers that are lengthy. The style of writing and the font should remain the same for writing the content. The content table will allow the readers to access the page that they want to read. The page should be marked with numbers for proper serialization. The main feature of this APA format allows smooth navigation for the readers.
Outline
The outline is the building block of your research paper. It forms the basis of your research paper. You can divide the APA paper into three parts, i.e. the introduction of your research paper, the main body of your research paper, and the conclusion of your research paper. You must have heard the term thesis. You will find this thesis in the introduction part of the research paper. The main body of the research paper includes facts, data, and arguments to support your thesis statement.
Don’t forget to add the abstract section before the introduction of your research paper. For a strong research paper, add a reference section at the end which is known as APA referencing. Do keep one point in your mind while writing your research paper that the guidelines provided are general. In case the guidelines are provided in your assignment, then follow those guidelines.
Suggested Read: Effortless With Quality: How Content Writing Services Simply Content Curation
Abstract
This plays a vital role while writing your research paper. It serves as the gist of the research paper. Inculcate this after the introduction of your research paper. This part will give the readers an idea about the overview of the research paper. Whenever you write the extract of your research paper, make sure to write it in block format in just one paragraph. The sentence and words should be impactful to the audience. Do not exceed the word limit of 150-200 words. Use this section to provide all relevant details of your research paper and treat this as one of the most important parts of your paper.
Body
This is the main part of your research paper. So, please be careful while writing this part. This section will be responsible for urging people to read your research paper. The first line of your body will decide whether the readers are going to continue with your research paper or not. Explain your topic in detail in your research paper.
Reference Page
In this section, you will give credits to the sites and authors. You need to list the sites and sources which you have used in your entire paper. In order to avoid plagiarism, referencing is a must. When you reference a particular line or data in your paper, it means that you are using their content to highlight the facts and figures.
Read out to start Content Writing with Pro tips: START CONTENT WRITING WITH THESE PRO TIPS
Guidelines for APA Format
There are specific rules which are to be followed for APA format. Here, I am providing the list of guidelines for APA format. Check out the section given below.
APA Style References
The referencing part of APA is divided into two major parts, i.e. reference list and in-text citation. There are many elements of the APA referencing which are author rules, date rules, title rules, publisher rules, and the URL of the online source. To give the reference, first, you need to mention the last name of the author followed by the author’s initial name separated by a comma. Before the last author’s name, you should use an ampersand. Mention the date of publication at the end. If the date is not specified, mention n.d at the end. This process is known as the author-date method.
Abbreviations Rules
Don’t use too many abbreviations in your research paper. Using a lot of abbreviations would make your paper look uninteresting. People would avoid reading your research paper which would be negative for you. Whenever you use an abbreviation less than 3 times, ensure to expand it every time. To ensure easy flow of language in APA format, use abbreviations judiciously.
Numbering in APA
There’s a very interesting rule while numbering in APA format. Whenever you have been provided with a number less than 10, write it in text. But, mention the number in numerical if it’s greater than 10. While mentioning numbers in mathematical calculations, it’s advisable to write numbers in text form. This is usually done to improve the consistency of your research paper.
Punctuation Rules
There are some specific and important punctuation rules which should be kept in mind while writing the research paper. It is mandatory to put a space after punctuation marks. Oxford comma is allowed in the APA format. There shouldn’t be any space after em-dashes. It is strictly prohibited in the APA format. Normal punctuation and grammar rules are most favored in all the APA formats.
Suggested Blog: Creating With Computerization: The Top AI Content Writing Tool
APA Style Citation:
With the help of this blog, you are all ready to start writing your research paper. Follow the guidelines provided in this blog, and you will definitely achieve great heights. It might be a tiring process, but you will really enjoy the fruits of your success.
WhatsApp