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ThispageisbroughttoyoubytheOWLatPurdue(https://owl.english.purdue.edu/).Whenprintingthis
page,youmustincludetheentirelegalnoticeatbottom.
GeneralFormat
Summary:
APA(AmericanPsychologicalAssociation)styleismostcommonlyusedtocitesourceswithinthesocialsciences.Thisresource,
revisedaccordingtothe6thedition,secondprintingoftheAPAmanual,offersexamplesforthegeneralformatofAPAresearch
papers,intextcitations,endnotes/footnotes,andthereferencepage.Formoreinformation,pleaseconsultthePublicationManualof
theAmericanPsychologicalAssociation,(6thed.,2ndprinting).
Contributors:JoshuaM.Paiz,ElizabethAngeli,JodiWagner,ElenaLawrick,KristenMoore,MichaelAnderson,LarsSoderlund,
AllenBrizee,RussellKeck
LastEdited:2016051312:06:24
PleaseusetheexampleatthebottomofthispagetocitethePurdueOWLinAPA.
Toseeasidebysidecomparisonofthethreemostwidelyusedcitationstyles,includingachartofallAPAcitationguidelines,see
theCitationStyleChart.
YoucanalsowatchourAPAvidcastseriesonthePurdueOWLYouTubeChannel.
GeneralAPAGuidelines
Youressayshouldbetyped,doublespacedonstandardsizedpaper(8.5"x11")with1"marginsonallsides.Youshouldusea
clearfontthatishighlyreadable.APArecommendsusing12pt.TimesNewRomanfont.
Includeapageheader(alsoknownasthe"runninghead")atthetopofeverypage.Tocreateapageheader/runninghead,
insertpagenumbersflushright.Thentype"TITLEOFYOURPAPER"intheheaderflushleftusingallcapitalletters.The
runningheadisashortenedversionofyourpaper'stitleandcannotexceed50charactersincludingspacingandpunctuation.
MajorPaperSections
Youressayshouldincludefourmajorsections:theTitlePage,Abstract,MainBody,andReferences.
TitlePage
Thetitlepageshouldcontainthetitleofthepaper,theauthor'sname,andtheinstitutionalaffiliation.Includethepageheader
(describedabove)flushleftwiththepagenumberflushrightatthetopofthepage.Pleasenotethatonthetitlepage,yourpage
header/runningheadshouldlooklikethis:
Runninghead:TITLEOFYOURPAPER
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ 1/4
5/1/2017 PurdueOWL:APAFormattingandStyleGuide
Pagesafterthetitlepageshouldhavearunningheadthatlookslikethis:
TITLEOFYOURPAPER
AfterconsultingwithpublicationspecialistsattheAPA,OWLstafflearnedthattheAPA6thedition,firstprintingsamplepapers
haveincorrectexamplesofRunningheadsonpagesafterthetitlepage.ThislinkwilltakeyoutotheAPAsitewhereyoucanfind
acompletelistofalltheerrorsintheAPA's6theditionstyleguide.
Typeyourtitleinupperandlowercaseletterscenteredintheupperhalfofthepage.APArecommendsthatyourtitlebenomore
than12wordsinlengthandthatitshouldnotcontainabbreviationsorwordsthatservenopurpose.Yourtitlemaytakeuponeor
twolines.Alltextonthetitlepage,andthroughoutyourpaper,shouldbedoublespaced.
Beneaththetitle,typetheauthor'sname:firstname,middleinitial(s),andlastname.Donotusetitles(Dr.)ordegrees(PhD).
Beneaththeauthor'sname,typetheinstitutionalaffiliation,whichshouldindicatethelocationwheretheauthor(s)conductedthe
research.
ImageCaption:APATitlePage
Abstract
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ 2/4
5/1/2017 PurdueOWL:APAFormattingandStyleGuide
Beginanewpage.Yourabstractpageshouldalreadyincludethepageheader(describedabove).Onthefirstlineoftheabstract
page,centerthewordAbstract(nobold,formatting,italics,underlining,orquotationmarks).
Beginningwiththenextline,writeaconcisesummaryofthekeypointsofyourresearch.(Donotindent.)Yourabstractshould
containatleastyourresearchtopic,researchquestions,participants,methods,results,dataanalysis,andconclusions.Youmayalso
includepossibleimplicationsofyourresearchandfutureworkyouseeconnectedwithyourfindings.Yourabstractshouldbea
singleparagraphdoublespaced.Yourabstractshouldbebetween150and250words.
Youmayalsowanttolistkeywordsfromyourpaperinyourabstract.Todothis,indentasyouwouldifyouwerestartinganew
paragraph,typeKeywords:(italicized),andthenlistyourkeywords.Listingyourkeywordswillhelpresearchersfindyourworkin
databases.
ImageCaption:APAAbstractPage
PleaseseeourSampleAPAPaperresourcetoseeanexampleofanAPApaper.YoumayalsovisitourAdditionalResources
pageformoreexamplesofAPApapers.
HowtoCitethePurdueOWLinAPA
IndividualResources
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ 3/4
5/1/2017 PurdueOWL:APAFormattingandStyleGuide
Contributors'namesandthelastediteddatecanbefoundintheorangeboxesatthetopofeverypageontheOWL.
Contributors'names(Lastediteddate).Titleofresource.Retrievedfromhttp://Web
addressforOWLresource
Angeli,E.,Wagner,J.,Lawrick,E.,Moore,K.,Anderson,M.,Soderlund,L.,&
Brizee,A.(2010,May5).Generalformat.Retrievedfrom
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ 4/4