APA style is a writing style and format for academic documents such as scholarly journal articles and books. It is commonly used for citing sources within the field of behavioral and social sciences, including sociology, education, nursing, psychology, anthropology, and other fields. APA style provides a foundation for effective scholarly communication because it helps writers present their ideas in a clear, precise, and inclusive manner. The guidelines for paper format apply to both student assignments and manuscripts being submitted for publication to a journal. Some of the key features of APA style include:
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In-text citations: These use the authors name and the date within the research paper and refer back to the reference page at the end, which lists all the sources that may have been used in the research paper.
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Reference page: This lists all the sources that may have been used in the research paper.
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Title page: This includes the title of the paper, the authors name, and the institutional affiliation.
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Running head: This is a shortened version of the papers title and cannot exceed 50 characters including spacing and punctuation.
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Font: APA style requires that the chosen font be accessible (i.e., legible) to all readers and that it be used consistently throughout the paper.
APA style is widely used, either entirely or with modifications, by hundreds of other scientific journals, in many textbooks, and in academia (for papers written in classes). The current edition is its seventh revision. The APA Style website and APA Style blog provide help with APA style and answer common questions.
