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Paper Title
Your First and Last Name
Rogers State University
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SHORT VERSION OF PAPER TITLE (*Do not type “Running head” on subsequent pgs.)
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Abstract
Your entire paper should be formatted with Times New Roman, 12 point font, and double
spacing. This page will begin the Abstract section of your paper. The word “Abstract” will be the
title of this page and should be centered, just like it is above. Your abstract should be between
150 and 250 word and does not need to be indented. According to the Purdue OWL advice about
APA abstracts, your abstract should contain at least your research topic, research questions,
participants, methods, results, data analysis, and conclusions. You may also include possible
implications of your research and future work you see connected with your findings.
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Type the Entire Title of Your Paper Here
This is the main body of your paper and you will begin your introduction here. The
introduction presents your main topic and is intended to grab the reader’s attention in some
interesting way. Remember to always include a thesis statement at the end of the introduction
unless your professor says otherwise. Your thesis statement should encompass the purpose and
ideas of your paper directly.
Headings and Organization
Note that APA Style promotes the use of headings within research papers and
scholarship. If you use headings within your paper, they should be centered just like your title at
the top of this page. There’s no need to provide a heading for an introduction, according to APA
Style. Any sub-headings should be flush with the left margin. For further information about
levels of headings, please consult the APA Manual (6th ed.) pages 62-63. You should know that
most APA research papers are organized into sections like these: introduction, research methods,
results, discussion, and conclusions/recommendations. Your professor’s assignment sheet and
course texts will help you understand how best to organize the paper you’re working on.
Developing Paragraphs
Remember to indent your body paragraphs. Also, remember to use topic sentences and
concluding sentences that make it clear what the “job” of each paragraph is and how it relates to
the thesis statement. Explain your reasoning, and support claims with evidence in the form of
details from real life or from legitimate sources. Cite all paraphrases and quotations, unless your
professor says otherwise. Note that while essay paragraphs must have at least three sentences,
most academic writing features paragraphs of five to eight sentences. This gives you room to
explain your ideas clearly and in detail—not to BS or try to “fluff up” the paper—explaining
ideas clearly and in detail is crucial to showing your professor that you understand the class
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material and are able to engage with it in a mature fashion. Although I’ve used first and second
person pronouns and contractions in this example, you should avoid doing that unless your
professor says it’s all right.
This paragraph will model how to integrate and cite evidence in APA Style. Remember
to start paragraphs with your own words in a topic sentence, rather than starting with evidence.
This keeps your voice in charge and keeps the paper organized, focused, and unified. What
follows are some tips about quoting, paraphrasing, and citing. In this sample paraphrase,
AuthorLastName (YearGoesHere) reported that there are two ways to cite in-text in APA Style.
That was one of them—placing the year next to the author’s name. Quotes are different. As
AuthorLastName (YearGoesHere) found, “Quotes require that you cite the page number as well”
(p. PageNumber). Another way that you could incorporate quotes “is by placing them in the
middle or at the end of the sentence followed by the author’s last name and page number in
parenthesis” (AuthorLastName, YearGoesHere, p. PageNumber). If you want to incorporate a
longer quote that is 40 words or more then there is a different process. The proper way to cite
block quotes is as follows:
Indent twice so that the quote is not inline as a separate paragraph, but instead is
within the same paragraph. Indent twice all subsequent lines so that the statement
fits in a “block.” Block quotes are different from regular in text citations because
you do not need to use quotes and at the end you can place a period before the
parenthesis. Inside the parenthesis place the author’s last name and the page
number. (AuthorLastName, YearGoesHere, p. PageNumber)
You could incorporate the author’s name before the block quote if you want, as well. If you
choose to do this then in the parentheses you will only need to place the page numbers of the
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work that you are using. Do remember to place the year next to the author’s name if you mention
the name in the sentence rather than citing in parentheses at the end of the sentence.
As you cite from other sources, make sure that you are able to explain them,
incorporating your own ideas into the work. Make sure that your evidence (and your explanation
of it) aligns with your thesis; do not just incorporate a long excerpt to fill up the page. Remember
to end body paragraphs on your own words, not with a quote or paraphrase. Concluding
sentences, will keep your voice in charge and keep the paper organized, focused, and unified. For
further in-text citation help, please consult the APA Manual (6th ed.) pages 174-179, the
Everyday Writer (5th ed.) pages 464-467, or the Purdue Online Writing Lab at this link.
Conclusion
You should end the paper in a way that is most helpful to readers. It’s best to closely
examine the assignment sheet, sample papers, course reading, and grading rubric to look for
clues about how exactly your professor wants you to structure the paper. However, if s/he
doesn’t specify, then you should default to formal style and content choices. Better safe than
sorry. As always, remember to plan time to proofread your entire paper several times (5 or
more!), so you can review the paper in layers, making sure the paper meets all the requirements
and specifications by searching for them one at a time. If you need help, contact the Writing
Center!
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References
AuthorLastName, AuthorInitials. (PublicationYear). Book title goes here: Subtitle goes here.
CityOfPublication, CountryOrStateAbbreviation: Publisher.
AuthorLastName, AuthorInitials. (PublicationYear). Title of entry in encyclopedia or dictionary.
In (Insert Title of Reference Work Here)(pp. #). CityOfPublication,
CountryOrStateAbbreviation: Publisher.
AuthorLastName, AuthorInitials. (PublicationYear). Title of article from database goes here:
Subtitle goes here. Periodical Title Goes Here, VolumeNumber(IssueNumber), Page
Numbers. doi: DOIGoesHere. [If no doi, then put Retrieved from URLGoesHere.]
AuthorLastName, AuthorInitials. [If author name is not available, just start with the title of the
webpage.] (PublicationYear). Title of work on website: Subtitle goes here. Website Title
Goes Here. Retrieved from URLGoesHere.
Citing online sources is very difficult because there is often missing information. For questions
about how to cite sources, consult The Everyday Writer (5th ed.) APA section, your APA
Manual (6th ed.), or the Purdue Online Writing Lab APA webpages.