- Published: November 15, 2021
- Updated: November 15, 2021
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APA Essay Format – Most Commonly Used Citations
Full APA Referencing and Formatting Guide for College Students
What is APA Referencing Style using APA Essay Format?
TheAPA referencing stylerefers to the American Psychological Association format that is used in colleges and universities around the worlds for writing essays, dissertations, and coursework. It is more common college writing formats innursingcolleges, business-related, or social sciences courses. The latest guide of APA essay format is the 6th edition, and has strict rules on citing a research paper sources, formatting reference lists, and creating chapters, sub chapters, and figures. Below, you will learn how to format your APA essay format using 6th edition and list your sources.
General Rules of APA 6th Style
The main parts of your APA paper are:
Title page
Abstract (if required)
Body of the essay
References
List of figures (if required)
List of tables (of required)
Appendices (if required)
Title Page in APA Referencing Style
In APA style, you will need to include a title page that includes the following APA headings section:
Title of the paper
The author’s name
Institution
On the title page, you will need to format your header differently than the rest of the paper as follows: “ Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER” on the top right corner of the page. On the rest of the paper, you will only have to include the title, without the “ Running head”. For additional details, you can review a title page template right here:
What is an abstract page and how to write good Abstract APAAPA Essay Format
The abstract of your essay needs to include the page header, and the keywords along with a short synopsis of the essay, in 150-250 words.
How to Format Your APA Paper – Essay Body
The main body of the APA paper has to include headings to correctly format the content.
Level 1 headings are centred, bold, and title case.
Level 2 headings are aligned left and bold.
Level 3 headings are bold, indented, and lowercase, with a full stop at the end.
Indent all new paragraphs when introducing a new idea. Do not add extra space between paragraphs.
References: APA Bibliography Format
You always have to include your references in your APA style paper. The general rules of referencing are as follows:
Reference all authors consulted writing the paper.
List your sources in an alphabetical order
Use the following format:
APA in text Citation – Referencing Style
General APA referencing rules
Provide the page number for all direct quotes, and use quotation marks
If direct quotations are longer than 40 words, use a ? inch indentation for the entire quote
If you are paraphrasing a statement made by an author, always include the page number. If there are no page numbers as you are citing a website, use the paragraph number instead in the following format: “ para. 1”.
Citing more than one source
If you would like ot know how to cite more than one source in a sentence apa then remember that you shoudl list all the sources separated by “;”.
Referencing work with one author
When referencing a work with one author, you simply use their surname. For two authors, connect the two names with a “&” sign.
Referencing multiple authors
When mentioning the work of three to five authors, mention all of their surnames the first time, and only write the first author’s name when you mention the same work again, followed by the “ et al.” abbreviation. Make sure that you do not put a period after the “ et”. For six or more authors, always use “ et al.” after the first author’s name from the first instance.
Referencing an unkown author
When referencing a work from an unknown author, use the title of the paper instead. If the paper is written by an author identified as “ Anonymous”, use this instead of the surname.
Referecning personalcommunication
If you are referring to personal communication, reference it with the name, followed by “ personal communication”, and the exact date.
Reference Page APA 6th Referencing Guide
When writing your reference page, make sure you keep an alphabetical order based on the last name of the authors. If you quote multiple sources from the same author, list the references in chronological order. The name of the authors in APA 6th referencing is inverted, therefore, you list the surname first, and the first name second.
Use a hanging indentation for each reference, with no indent on the first line and indentation for the following lines that belong to the same source.
See an some APA citation examples and reference list below:
Listing Special Sources
Motion Pictures APA Referencing
List the name of the directors and producers followed by “(director)” and “(producer)”, followed by the production date. the title of the movie in Italics, and the location of the file, DVD, online resource, or tape.
MusicRecordings APA Citation
Use the songwriter’s and the singer’s name followed by the year and title, format, and location of the recording. If the recording has a publisher, list this, as well as the city where the music was publisted,
Online Periodicals APA Essay format
Use the same APA Essay format for listing the source as normal journal articles, however, if there is a DOI assigned, this is required in the reference. If there is no DOI, you must list the url where the article is available, after adding “ Retrieved from”.
Word of Caution when Using APA Bibliography Format
When citing longer works, such as journals or books, use italics for the title.
Do not use quotes for titles, or italicise the title of shorter works.
Never abbreviate the name of the journal: always list it as full, with title case.
In APA Essay Format 6th edition, not all online journal articles need a URL address, and if you can locate the DOI number, you need to use this instead.
Make sure that when you list unpublished manuscripts, you state this in your APA reference list.
Check the special requirements for each paper before starting to write your APA paper.
Where to Get More Help on How to Write an APA essay?
There are so many resources on the web that goes into a lot of detail about APA format. We feel that students struggle the most with time or in the case of dissertation writing, they struggle with coming up with Dissertation Topics. From that point onwards, students can either manage OR for more precise help they can reach out to one of our site qualified writers. Just to give you an example Owl at purdue and their writing lab has done a lot of work to provide good resources. You can check it out by reviewing Owl at Purdue link provided here.
In some cases, APA referencing and formatting can be challenging for students, and they come across sources they are not sure how to reference. While Cite This for Me is a good tool, it does not include all types of APA references. our site has several qualified and experiencedacademicwriters, researchers, and guides who are happy to answer your questions. Submit your query on the our site website and get help with APA referencing and formatting. Our friendly writers and support staff are happy to assist you.
Related Articles – https://our site. com/journal/2013/03/how-to-use-references-in-your-essays/
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APA Essay Format
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Learn how to use APA style to reference using most commonly used sources.
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