Components of an APA formatted academic paper

¶ … American Psychological Association recommends a particular format for writing manuscripts in the fields of nursing and business, and in the social sciences. It is colloquially referred to as APA format. APA format is a widely recognized and valuable tool to be used by those who are interested in having their manuscripts to appear formal, professional, unbiased, and easy to read. There are four major sections to an APA formatted manuscript: Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References.

The Title Page of an APA formatted manuscript is the reader's first impression of the document, and as such it should appear neat and attractive. A title page that contains too many words, irregular line spacing, or large photos or graphics can appear confusing or cluttered. Because of this, APA format requires three mere lines of text: the title of the paper, the author's name, and the institutional affiliation. These three pieces of information are to be centered on the page, starting about a third of the way down from the top margin. The APA format is concerned with precision, which is demonstrated in the recommendation that titles be no longer than 12 words, and that they do not contain any abbreviations or unnecessary words. The title of the paper is the only item on the title page that may take up more than one line, but it should not take up more than two lines (Purdue University Online Writing Lab, 2010).

The title page also needs to establish the consistency of the paper. The information on the title page needs to be double spaced, as does the rest of the paper in its entirety. A header is required that numbers the pages and establishes the title that will be used on the top of every page, called a running head. The running head is to be an abbreviated version of the title of the paper, and should be placed within the Header, flush with the left margin while the page number is flush with the right margin. The running head must be established with the words "running head," followed by a colon, then the abbreviated title in all caps (Purdue University Online Writing Lab, 2010).

The second section of an APA paper is the Abstract. The Abstract is a concise summary of the key points of the research that was performed in producing the paper. The Abstract should include the research topic, relevant research questions, participants in the research, methods used, results, a data analysis, and conclusions. Potential implications of the research and possible future connections with the paper may also be included, but they are not required. The Abstract of the paper should be between 150 and 250 words. It should be double spaced, just like everything else in an APA paper (American Psychological Association, 2010).

The Abstract must begin on a new page, and it should be the only thing on the page. The word 'Abstract' must be centered at the top of the page. It must not have any special text formatting, such as bold or italics. Under the centered title of the page should be an un-indented block of text, which is the actual Abstract itself (American Psychological Association, 2010).

The purpose of the Abstract is to summarize the content of the paper, giving readers the opportunity to decide early on whether or not they want to commit themselves to reading the entire manuscript. Falling in line with this purpose is the optional inclusion of keywords. APA format writers have the option of including key words at the end of the Abstract. If a writer is to do this, they keywords should be centered, which separates the keywords from the rest of the Abstract text. The keywords should also be introduced with the word "keywords" at the beginning of the line. Keywords and the Abstract both help readers who are unfamiliar with the writer to have a better idea of what the paper is about, thus giving them a clear option as to whether or not to read it (American Psychological Association, 2010).

The Abstract is an optional part of the APA format paper. In many academic settings, teachers instruct their students that they may omit the Abstract from their papers. The reason for this is that the paper will not go to any databases that will be searched based on the research conducted in the paper or the keywords listed in the Abstract. For papers that are for specific classes and for specific instructors, the Abstract is not a necessary component (American Psychological Association, 2010).

The third section of an APA paper is the main body. This is the largest section of the manuscript. It begins on a fresh page, the text remains indented, and it follows the typical rules of an essay, including indenting of paragraphs and normal capitalization rules. The main body of an APA paper is assisted in its organization by the use of headings. APA format outlines the specific way in which headings should be applied, based on whether it is a heading or a sub-heading. There are five levels of headings that should be used in order, with the broadest heading coming first and the narrowest heading coming fifth. The five levels are: 1. Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Headings 2. Left-aligned, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading 3. Indented, boldface, lowercase heading with period. 4. Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase heading with period. 5. Indented, italicized, lowercase heading with period. The five levels of headings make APA papers easier to follow because of the high level of organization they provide (American Psychological Association, 2010).

Another critical portion of the main body of an APA manuscript is in-text citation. It is absolutely necessary that writers give credit to the sources from which they received the factual information for the paper that is not considered to be common knowledge. This is to be done through parenthetical references. For a short quotation, i.e. A quotation shorter than 40 words in length, the quote should be incorporated into the text and enclosed by double quotation marks. At the end of the sentence, before the period, the parenthetical citation should be given. It should include the author's last name, the date the source was published, and the page number. In the event of multiple authors for the same volume, the writer should list the first five author's last names on the first occasion of the citation. Thereafter, the first author's name and "et al." should be used if there are three or more authors. If there are more than six authors for the volume, the first author's last name should be used and "et al." On every occasion of that particular parenthetical reference (McAdoo, 2010).

If there is a long quote, i.e. A quote longer than 40 words, the quote should be separated from the primary text of the manuscript. It should be displayed in a free-standing, double spaced block of text that is indented five spaces from the original margin. The quoted paragraph should not appear within quotations marks in the case of a long quote, and it should not be indented further as a normal paragraph would be. If the quotation is longer than one paragraph, then the second and subsequent paragraphs of the quotation should be indented an additional five spaces. Long quotes also need a parenthetical reference at the end of the quote, but the reference should be give after the final period (McAdoo, 2010).

If information is given in the manuscript but not directly quoted from its source, a parenthetical reference is still required. If an entire paragraph is take from one source and there are no quotes, the appropriate in-text citation may be given at the end of the paragraph. Otherwise, the citation must be given at the end of the sentence that contains the cited information (McAdoo, 2010).