APA Paper Formatting Guide: Southern States University

APA 7.0 General Paper Formatting Southern States University

What is APA? Why do I need to What is APA? Why do I need to know it? know it? APA is method of writing papers with a consistent style. It affects the entire document: structure, layout, content, and citations. APA 7 provides two levels of guidance: students and professional. APA is used for student writing assignments at Southern States University and is the most common writing style in the social sciences. This presentation covers general guidance for overall paper layout.

Where can you learn APA style? PRINT SOURCES AVAILABLE IN THE LIBRARY: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7thedition) Mastering APA Style. Students Workbook and Training Guide (7thedition) Aaron, J.E. (2010). The little, brown essential handbook (7thedition). Boston, MA: Longman

You can also use reliable Internet sources to find answers to your questions about APA citation style: https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids Internet Sources about APA Citation Style https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citati on/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.html

Paper Structure Papers will have several sections to them. They should be organized in this order Title page Main text of paper References Tables (if not included within the paper) Figures (if not included within the paper) Appendices

Setting up your paper in APA Use 8 by 11 white paper, with margins of 1 all the way around. Page numbers in the header in the right-hand corner. Standard line spacing should be double spaced, with no extra between paragraphs. Font should be Times Roman 12-point. First line of a new paragraph should have a 0.5" indent. Text alignment should be left aligned text lines up on the left margin and is ragged/uneven on the right margin Sample Paragraph

Title Page The first page is the title page. It has A header with the page number top right 3-4 lines down from the top The title of your paper IN BOLD A blank line Your name Southern States University Course number and course name The professor's name The assignment due date

Level 1 Centered, Boldface, Title Case Heading Text begins as a new paragraph using the normal 1st line indent and left aligned text. Level 2 Flush left, Boldface, Title Case Heading Text begins as a new paragraph using the normal 1st line indent and left aligned text. Headings Throughout Paper Level 3 Flush Left, Boldface Italic, Title Case Heading Text begins as a new paragraph. using the normal 1st line indent and left aligned text Level 4 Indented, Boldface Title Case Heading Ending With a Period. Paragraph text continues on the same line and continues as a regular paragraph. APA allows for 5 levels of headings to organize your paper. Level 5 Indented, Boldface Italic, Title Case Heading Ending With a Period. Paragraph text continues on the same line and continues as a regular paragraph.

Figures and Tables A figure is an image / graph / screenshot / photograph. A table is a dataset. Figures and Tables are formatted the same in APA 7.0. Placement At the top of a page within the paper and a blank line after it At the bottom of a page within the paper and a blank line before it OR each on its own page located after the References section In all cases, the item should be placed AFTER it is mentioned in the paper. Order of items Number (in bold) -- Figure 1, Table 1 Title (in italics and title case) - This is a Title for a Figure or a Table The figure or table itself Optional note describing what is in the item Note. Here we see two examples of these items. Notice that the word note is in italics.