How To Use APA Style Format In Academic Paper?

Many colleges or universities ask students to use APA for referencing and citation purposes. You will also require using APA citation style when you are taking help from someone’s work to develop your assignment. This format is considered to be the official style of the American Psychological Association.

As a first-timer, you might have little knowledge of using the citation style in your assignment. A basic understanding of the use of APA format in your writing will help you cite all sources. Learn where you need to add the citation style to get a plagiarism-free essay.
Your paper will have 4 major sections, title page, abstract, main section and reference list. The basic guideline will help you understand how you can add the APA style in your paper.

1. Title page
The title page should have a title, name of author, institution, course, instructor and date. You must make sure that everything is centre aligned. This is the first page, so make sure it error-free.
Here is a list of elements required for a well-APA formatted title page-
• Title of the paper
• Name of the author/writer
• Running head
• Page number
• School affiliation of the author

The title should not be more than 12 words. The running head should be located in upper left-hand corner. Every page must have a page number in the top right-hand corner. The title, name and school name should be at the centre of the page and must be double spaced.

2. Abstract
The abstract is a summary of the topic. It consists of one paragraph which tells the overview of the whole paper. As per APA format, it should generally be 150 to 250 words. However, word limit may vary depending on your professor’s requirements. This is the first section the reader will read. So it should look appealing to make the readers interested to read the whole thing.
Few tricks to write abstract:
 Use the final draft to guide you to write the abstract of the topic.
 Begin the abstract on page two.
 Use a new page to write the abstract. Keep the abstract at the top of the page, and it should be bold.
 You may look up to other professional’s abstract. Notice the way the author chooses the main points to write in brief of the whole thing.

3. Main body
The main body of the research or thesis paper will have the main content. According to APA format, the page should have the following:
 Page number on every page
 1-inch margin
 Double spaced
 Using Times New Roman font with 12-points
 Bold and center the headings capitalizing major words
 Bold the sub-headings with capitalizing major words

4. References
Start the reference page on a fresh new page. The word ‘References’ should be in centre alignment at the top of the page. It should be double spaced and format it with using a hanging indent.

The APA style format will help you to structure your paper properly. Using this guideline, you will learn how to apply this style in your paper.