The entire general information about APA format will be in accordance to the latest revised 6th edition of the APA manual as prescribed by the American Psychological Association. It will feature all the important aspects that would be needed when writing a research paper. You will be provided with the overall format that a research paper should look like when utilizing APA format, as well as, guidelines in formatting a reference page, an APA title page, in-text citations, and footnotes/endnotes. Naturally, when you want to have an in-depth know-how on the APA writing style, you should check out the 6th edition, second printing of APA’s Publication Manual.
General Instructions
The paper should be typed in a standard paper size which has an 11’ by 8.5’ measurement. It should have a 1’ margin on all sides. Also, it is important to utilize a font style that can be easily read. APA’s ideal font requirement is Times New Roman font style and 12 font size. In addition, your paper should have a Running Head, which should be included on top of each page. Running head or page header consists of the page number together with the paper’s title. The title should be written in capital letters. However, the running head should not go over 50 characters which include punctuations and spaces used. There are four major sections that comprise an essay paper namely: Title Page, Abstract/Summary, Main Body, and the Reference Page.
APA Title Page
An APA title page should present the following elements: the paper’s title, the name of the writer/author, and the institution where the author is affiliated. Also, the running head should be included in the APA title page as mentioned above. The header should be found in the left side of the paper while the page number is on the right part on the page’s topmost side.
When making your running head, there is a small difference between the header in the title page and the succeeding headers on every page of the paper. The running head for the APA title page should look in this manner:
Running head: PAPER’S TITLE
As to the running head of all the succeeding pages, they should look in this manner:
PAPER’S TITLE
You will notice that the term “Running head” is removed. This is the correct way to do this and this aspect is among the corrected parts of the latest 6th edition, 2nd printing APA Manual.
After taking care of the running head, you can now concentrate of the three elements of an APA title page.
Use both upper and lower cases when writing the title of the paper. The APA manual suggests that you do not use over 12 words as the title. There should no abbreviations and useless words. You can use one to two lines in writing the title and double-spaced.
Next, enter the writer’s name. It should be typed with the following arrangement: first name, middle initial/s, and the surname. Do not include title like Ph.D. or Dr. With regards to APA title page with multiple authors; arrange them alphabetically using the surname. Lastly, enter the institution’s or school’s name. This would reveal where the research has taken place