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Writing an APA Paper: A Comprehensive Formatting Guide

Globalization entirely affects the research environment around the world. This trend has many advantages and provides great potential. For instance, everyone can show their progress to all the people and publish scientific and research articles in publications worldwide. But you should follow strict requirements, so your audience will find your paperwork valuable. You can use various styles of academic paperwork or ask for the help of an APA paper writer to meet the professor’s expectations. Let’s find out how to prepare an APA assignment.

Features and Advantages of APA Formatting

APA style is a widespread form of scientific writing used to design quotes from references in psychology, pedagogy, and sociology. The foundation of the APA writing style was laid down in 1929. At that time, a seven-page writer’s guide was published in one of the peer-reviewed academic journals. In recent years, the American Psychological Association developed seven editions of its style guide.

The common feature of APA paperwork is a large number of citations and extensive presentation of the research material. Thus, you should place around 2-3 sources on each page. As for the list of used sources, professors may ask for adding dozens or even hundreds of sources (for some academic assignments). Therefore, you have to compose your academic paperwork for college and university properly.

The following principles are crucial for APA formatting:

  • Each writer should put references in the text in any case of source citation (paraphrasing, direct quoting, or block quoting) using a paraphrasing tool.
  • You should note each item of source citation in a specific section.
  • Likewise, in your paperwork, you must mention each position from your list of used books or articles.
  • Both references in the text and a particular reference list must be used in a unique academic paper.

For mentioning the source inside the paperwork, you have to specify only two elements – the last name of the writer and the release year. Add page number, chapter, or section index to provide more precise details of the publication (e.g., for quoting or paraphrasing cases and summarizing some facts from the source). In some cases, providing the standard set of specifics is enough.

Plus, educational experts advise using the minimum amount of punctuation, so you may not find slash lines and semicolons in APA assignments.

Specifics for Preparing an APA Paper

The latest seventh version of the writer’s guide declares that every academic paperwork has to meet the next requirements that may be requested by your tutor.

  • The writer is required to use an A4 paper with a 1” margin on each side of the sheet.
  • You have to get a page number at a heading part, including the title page.
  • The main text has to be written in one of the required serif fonts (e.g., 11-point Georgia or 12-point Times New Roman). The final choice depends on the professor’s request.
  • Left alignment with a right field jagged.
  • Double-spacing is a must.
  • Indentation of first lines in sections and footnotes is required (with a 1” indent in every case).
  • All punctuation marks should be separated from the rest of the text by adding a space.
  • Each sentence has to be short and concise (preferably in an active voice).
  • No pretentiousness and verbosity.
  • No prejudice.

APA academic formatting includes many technical details you should meet to get the best mark for your assignment.

The List of Used Sources

You should complete your paperwork with such a section where you have to mention all the sources you have used for an assignment. Ideally, each college and university student must add all relevant books, articles, and other documents regarding the subject. Likewise, do not forget to set a reference for each item.

Let’s review the general requirements for composing this section:

  • The APA formatting requires adding a center-aligned title without inverted commas;
  • The page number is not required for the list of used sources;
  • You should add double space between the items on the list;
  • The writer’s guide does not require separating different types of references: archival documents, books, journal articles, brochures, internet docs, etc. All of them are located in alphabetical order;
  • The bibliographic description should contain all the details necessary to find every mentioned source;
  • Use one format to create all bibliographic descriptions;
  • Each bibliographic description is left aligned. If it occupies several lines, all the next ones have to be aligned with an indent of 1.25 cm.

For instance:

The essentials of education for sustainable development. (2018). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Conclusion

We have provided all the necessary information about the APA format. You can find many sample APA publications on the internet for free. If any design rule is not entirely clear, find a similar work and use similar formatting (of course, you have to ensure that the website has enough protection from malware and viruses).

But if you want to get a plagiarism-free paper that will excite your professor, visit bestcustomwriting.com and place an order. Our essay writing service has an extensive pool of writers with academic degrees and expertise in many academic subjects. Therefore, you can rely on our experience and get a properly written assignment. Moreover, you can apply for unlimited revisions if you are unsatisfied with college or university paperwork. And finally, we provide reasonable pricing for any type of academic paper; therefore, you will get the most out of outstanding essay writing assistance.