1 Sample Paper Organized Without Headings in APA Format Christina R. Student Criminal Justice, ECPI University COM115: Principles of Communication Instructor John Q. Smith January 20, 2021 2 Sample Paper Organized Without Headings in APA Format The first paragraph of your paper immediately follows the title. The title appears at the top of the page in title case, bold, and centered. The first part of your paper is referred to as the “Introduction” section, yet it does not have a heading that actually says “Introduction.” This introductory paragraph should include your thesis statement. APA Style does use a layered system of headings to organize sections within a paper. Sometimes, brief student papers, like this one, do not require headings. To determine whether your research paper will require section headings, you should consult the assignment guidelines or check with your instructor. As your paper develops, you will be quoting, paraphrasing, and/or summarizing from a variety of sources. Sometimes you will use direct quotations that “duplicate an original source word for word” (Davis & Cunningham, 2018, p. 54). Other times, you will be restating ideas from your research into your own words, and that paraphrased or summarized material is cited in-text but without quotation marks (Gilmore et al., 2016). At the end of your paper, you will list all of your sources, excluding personal communication and classical works, in a reference list. All references cited in-text should appear in your reference list, and all items in the reference list should be cited in the text of your paper. The American Psychological Association (2020) lists the correct way to cite many resources. The reference list begins on a new page with “References” bold and centered at the top of the page. Reference list entries are organized alphabetically with hanging indent. To learn more about APA Style, please consult ECPI University’s APA Style Guide. The APA Style Guide is a LibGuide designed by ECPI University librarians to help students with APA formatting, in-text citations, and references. ECPI University’s APA Style Guide provides 3 generalized information with examples on style and formatting based on standard 7th edition APA guidelines. When using APA Style in research papers and presentations, students should carefully review assignment guidelines and check with their instructor regarding any special style requirements. Remember to wrap up the paper with a summary of the main points. This section should not contain any new information. Therefore, unlike the paragraphs in the rest of the paper, the conclusion does not need an in-text citation. 4 References American Psychological Association. (2020, February). Sample webpage title. https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/references/examples/webpage-websitereferences Davis, A. B., & Cunningham, C. D. (2018). Sample print book title. Publisher. Gilmore, E., Schwartz, F., Force, G. H., & Lee, I. (2016). Sample title: Of an invented journal article. Periodical, 27(3), 72-84. https://doi.org/10.1056/j.cit.2016.08.034
