The Aspects of an APA Style Research Paper
The odds that you will have to write at least one APA style research paper during your academic career are quite high. The APA format is one of most commonly used citation styles, right up there with MLA. The APA acronym stands for the American Psychological Association. As you might therefore imagine, the style is especially popular in psychology classes, along with sociology courses and anthropology courses, among a number of others. A lot of it really depends on your professors’ individual preferences, but in general, you will find that the aforementioned classes rely on APA, while English and literature classes rely on MLA.
Usually, the separate research paper styles are divided by the category of classes. So, the APA style research paper is most common in any classes – or with any papers – which involve research, especially of the scientific type. This is because this particular format is very clean, concise, and understandable, which is vital when presenting any type of research.
For that reason, this type of research paper format is also very common in undergraduate classes. Generally, the essays and research papers you write in high school are done in a basic MLA style. So, once you get to college, you are not precisely accustomed to really intensive writing. Writing an APA style research paper is a good place to start when you do get there, because it is so easy to understand. You should check some good research paper examples before starting to write.
For example, the format for APA essays and research papers, technically speaking, involves using double spacing and a 12 point font which is easy to read, such as Arial or Times New Roman. The paper margins need to be one inch on all four sides. You need to stay away from any first person speech – i.e., you really should not use “I,” “me,” “mine,” et cetera. Abbreviations should be spelled out the first time you use them and you should not use contractions. When writing numbers, you need to spell out numbers zero (0) to nine (9); when writing numbers 10 or more, you can use the numerals. In APA research paper format, the title should be somewhere between ten to twelve words, and is used to summarize the primary idea of the paper. The first two or three words of the title are used when numbering the pages as well; they go right before the page number in the upper right hand corner of all the pages. To get a better idea, feel free to check out a research paper template or two which exhibits this particular format.
These are just a few rules used in an APA style research paper, but have no fear. You will not be expected to know how to cite a research paper in this format with no foreknowledge. Generally, your first year English professor will either require you to purchase a reference book containing information on all the main research paper styles, or else he or she will tell you where to get one. If your professor does simply suggest that you buy such a book, definitely take him or her up on it. You will be able to use it well into graduate school, and it will make it much easier for you to write any type of paper. Want to find some good sample papers? Just follow the link!
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