The APA (American Psychological Association) format is one of the most popular referencing formats. The rules and regulations guiding the use of the APA format in publications and academic writing are in the APA publication. This publication is constantly revised, with the current edition being the 7th.
The APA style format can be used for manuscripts, academic journals, research papers, reports, and related material. The APA format is not limited to psychologists; it is also used in education, economics, social sciences, and the natural sciences.
APA Formatting is used by university students and even postgraduate students when writing their theses; it is also used by reputable journals, businesses, writers, and so on.
Citations are a crucial part of writing a research paper in APA format. A citation is a reference to a particular piece of information used when writing a paper.
Citations are important because they help the reader understand and verify information used in your paper. Citations are important because they help the reader understand and verify information used in your paper.
Citation when using APA format usually occurs in two ways. The first type, the in-text citation, is brief and only contains the author’s last name and the year of publication (enclosed in brackets) and is found within the body of the work.
The paper's end has a complete list of authors, publication date, the title of work, and source.
The APA Style Citation Guide provides detailed information about citing sources when writing a paper in APA format. A standard research paper has sections different from those in an APA paper.
There are three main sections in the APA format;
Google Docs is a versatile writing tool that helps simplify your writing process. You can use various formats when using Google Docs, and the APA format style is included in it.
If you are wondering how to do APA format on Google Docs, follow the following steps.
Alternatively, you can set up the APA format manually. To do so, follow these steps.
The title and header are essential parts when using the APA writing format. The header is usually in the top margin on every page. The page number is the only thing that should be in the header for undergraduate or student research papers.
The running head and page number are usually found in the header for professional papers.
The running head is the shortened version of your paper’s title. It can also be the full title of your paper (if the title is short). The running head is usually unnecessary or required for students unless otherwise stated by the instructor or teacher.
However, according to the APA formatting rules, the running head is necessary for professional papers or journals.
There are several rules guiding how to write an APA paper running head. Some of them are;
In an APA format paper, the "works cited" page is also referred to as the reference page. It is essential to list all the sources you have used or cited in your work. It is usually started on a new page immediately after the body of your work.
You must follow some rules to write your reference page according to APA format requirements correctly. Some of them are;
Citation is essential when writing a college APA format paper. Proper citation is done to avoid plagiarism, which is using someone's words, ideas, or thoughts without giving credit to them. In APA, for every in-text citation, there must be a corresponding citation on the reference page.
When citing a reference, you write the authors' names, followed by their initials in capital letters. In a bracket, the year of publication is followed by the full title, the journal that published it (in italics), the volume, and the page number.
An APA format example is given below.
David, P. V., Rawling, S. O., and Maya, T. N. (2023). Teaching children the area of public speaking. Journal of Child Social Development, 20 (6), 122-130.
Akeelah, E. (2018, July 10). Social media consumption may increase depression by decreasing positive emotions, a study says. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/10/health/social-media-increase-depression-trnd/index.html.
Headings and subheadings are crucial in the APA format style. They provide structure and keep your work organized. Headings indicate the information in that section. According to APA guidelines, there are five levels of headings.
The writing format for;
There are rules guiding how to do APA format headings; some of them are;
A table is another way of displaying information, usually in rows and columns. A figure is a pictorial or graphical representation that you include in your work. Both explain data differently, but their APA formatting is similar.
There are rules guiding the use of tables and figures in a college APA format paper; some of them are;
How To Number Figures and Tables
A title or number usually comes before a table or figure. It should be noted, however, that tables and figures are numbered separately in order of their appearance in your work.
For example, the first figure you see is numbered "Figure 1," and the next is "Figure 2." If a table comes after, it is labeled as "Table 1," not "Table 3."
The title of the figure or table should be short, concise, and straightforward. It should accurately capture the contents of the table or figure.
The table or figure number is written in bold on a single line. It is followed closely on the next line by the title (which is usually written in title case and italicized).
According to APA formatting styles, you can place your tables and figures in two ways.
You should note that each table and figure should appear only once throughout your work (even if you refer to them more than once).
Tables and figures should be aligned to the left and separated from the main text by a space. Place the table on a new page if it splits within the current page.
Finally, when referring to your table or figure, avoid using a preceding article, e.g., "The table 2 shows," it should instead be "Table 2 shows."
