APA Style Essentials
Helpful Hints for
Writing Your Paper!
Outline
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Must be ONE FULL PAGE - typed
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The title should be above the outline,
centered and underlined.
The title is most likely the name of the
career you are researching.
Expectations
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Follow the typical outline expectations:
Use Roman Numerals (I, II, III, IV)
for main topics, As and Bs for
subtopics of Roman Numerals, 1s and
2s for subtopics of As, Bs, and Cs, and
so on…
Note:
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You CANNOT have an A without a
B, or a 1 without a 2!
Example:

I. Teaching
A. Education needed
1. Bachelor’s degree
B. Salary
Topic or Sentence Format

Make sure you do EITHER a topic or a
sentence format - do not combine
them!
Capitals
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Begin each topic and subtopic with a
CAPITAL LETTER! That is the ONLY
part that gets capitalized (unless there’s
a proper noun).
Last thing…
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Your outline will essentially be turning
into your rough draft - so make sure
that you include EVERYTHING you’re
going to need for your paper in your
outline!
General Document Guidelines
Margins: One inch on all sides (top, bottom,
left, right).
Font Size and Type: 12-pt. font (Times
New Roman).
Spacing: Double-space throughout the
paper, including the title page.
General Document Guidelines
Alignment: Flush left (creating
uneven right margin).
Paragraph Indentation: 5-7
spaces, or tab.
General Document Guidelines
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Pagination
The page number appears on the top right
corner of every text page - your title page
is NOT numbered, and the first page of
text starts as page 2!
 The only pages that are not numbered are
pages of artwork or a full page with a
diagram/picture.
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Page Numbers in MS Word
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Go to Insert
Click on Page Numbers
Position: Top of Page (header)
Alignment: Right
UNCLICK the check box which says
“Show page number on first page”
Title Page

Key Elements: On three separate lines have:
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1. Paper title 2. Your name, 3. Perkin’s Paper.
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In the bottom right hand corner on four
separate lines have:
1. Full shop name 2. Shop teacher’s full name.
3. Mrs. Lea Scott 4. The date written out.
Body/Text of the Paper

APA style spacing: Single space after periods.

Title: The title of the paper (in uppercase and
lowercase letters) is centered & underlined on the
first line of the first page of text.

Introduction: The introduction (which is not
labeled) begins on the line following the paper
title.
Headings

Can be used to organize the document and
reflect the relative importance of sections.
Headings

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Should be in all capital letters, shifted all the
way to the left. The next paragraph is
immediately below it.
SALARY
Salary for teachers varies. In Pennsylvania the
average teacher makes $40,000 a year. Etc,
etc, etc.
Direct Quotes
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Should be used sparingly to avoid copyright
issues and for flow of paper
Quotes less than 40 words use double (“”)
quotes in text
Quotes 40+ words are set in block form
ALWAYS be sure to include the page
number
Avoid using secondary sources
Citations and References


Citations are cited in the paper itself. It
tells where you got it from the guys
who wrote the stuff.
References are on the references page
(duh). They are the guys who wrote the
stuff you’re using.
Text Citations
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Source material MUST be documented in the
body of the paper by citing the author(s) and
date(s) of the sources.
The ideas and words of others MUST be
formally acknowledged.
The reader (me!) can then obtain the full
source citation from the list of references.
Text citations
Authors’ Names in Text

Example
Wirth and Mitchell (1994) found that although
there was a reduction in insulin dosage over a
period of two weeks in the treatment condition
compared to the control condition, the difference
was not statistically significant.
Text Citations
Authors’ Names in Parentheses

“&” is used when multiple authors are
identified in parenthetical material.
In the automobile industry in 1990,
100,000 cars were made by Ford alone
(Wirth and Mitchell, 1994).
Wirth and Michell’s full reference will be on
the reference page!
Referencing tips
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(author’s last name, year).
or
(website/title, year).
YOU MUST CITE AT LEAST ONCE A PARAGRAPH
(usually at the end of the paragraph).
References


The References section begins on a
new page.
The word “References” should be
centered on the first line below the
page header
References

The references (with hanging indent)
begin on the line following the
“References” heading.

Entries are organized alphabetically by
last names.
Reference Components
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Listing
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Listed in the same order as specified in the
source, using last names and initials.
If no author is identified, the title of the
document begins the reference!
NO NUMBERS or BULLETS ARE USED ON A
REFERENCE PAGE!
www.citationmachine.net

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Click on APA on the left side
In almost every case, click on NonPrint
Web Page

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Ex. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2009,
December 17). Teachers postsecondary. Retrieved from
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos066.htm
They also tell you how it will look when used as a citation!
(Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2009).
Reference Components

Year of Publication

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In parentheses following authors, with a
period following the closing parenthesis.
If no publication date is identified then
skip it.
Reference Components

Reference Source

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Includes title, journal, volume, pages (for
journal article), city of publication,
publisher (for book).
Italicize titles of books, titles of periodicals,
and periodical volume numbers.
Reference Examples

Books
3rd edition, jr. in name
Mitchell, T. R., & Larson, J. R., Jr. (1987).
People in organizations: An introduction to
organizational behavior (3rd ed.) New York:
McGraw Hill.
Periodical Reference Examples

2 authors
Kilmonski, R., & Palmer, S. (1993). The ADA and
the hiring process in organizations. Consulting
Psychology Journal: Practice and Research,
45(2), 10-36.
Last little things…
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No “HowThingsWork.com”
No Wikipedia.com
You need AT LEAST THREE references
for your paper as a sophomore.
Questions? :)