APA research paper format

The APA research paper format was developed by the American Psychological Association to create writing standards within the social and behavioral sciences community. Most psychology and educational papers require that you follow the APA guidelines for grammar and language usage.  An APA research paper format will follow key specifics regarding punctuation, abbreviations, tables, headings, citations, and statistics, just to name a few.  Here are some of the specifics to follow when writing your paper using the APA research paper format.

Unlike an MLA research paper, the APA research paper format requires that you include a separate title. The title will not go at the top of the page but will be on a separate page prior to the entire research paper. The APA research paper format will need to include an abstract. An abstract is a brief over-view of the entire report. In movie or film terms, the abstract it the trailer or preview and should be detailed but short. Most abstracts are no longer than one short paragraph.

The cited sources page, following the APA research paper format, is referred to as a “References Page.”  There are many citation guidelines that you must follow, be sure to refer to your teacher and handbook for more details about the References Page. When citing a page number from one of your sources in an APA research paper format, you will write as (p. #) rather than the MLA style with just the page number (#). These tiny differences may seem trivial but each institution sets the standards for their publications and you must follow the rule if you want to pass or be published.
One other note on the APA research paper format for you to consider is the numbering of each page. At the top of the page you will not have your last name listed prior to the page number, instead you will display the title of the paper before the page number.

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