Knowing how to write in APA format is an important skill for both students and professionals.

APA format emphasizes accessibility for all readers.

Be sure to review their official information onhow to make your paper accessible.

It should be about three to four lines down from the top margin of the page.

Your title should be a short statement of what the reader will find in the paper.

Your title will often identify the major variables and their relationships.

APA Format Abstract

Think of anabstractas a summary of your paper.

The “Publication Manual” states that a good abstract is accurate, coherent, and concise.

Be sure not to include any information in the abstract that isn’t in the paper itself.

In APA format papers, tables are generally used to describe theresults of statistical analysisand other pertinentquantitative data.

However, it is important to note that not all data should be presented in a table.

If you have little numeric information to present, it should be described in the text of your paper.

The APA’s publication manual recommends designing your table with the reader in mind.

Strive to communicate data in a way that is clear and easy to understand.

Do not feel the need to discuss every element of your table in your text.

Extraneous information can overwhelm and confuse the reader.

Stick to reporting the most important data.

Instead, focus on keeping your table concise.

Mention key highlights and tell the reader what to look for in your table.

There are three kinds of notes: general notes, specific notes, and probability notes.

The references page should appear at the end of your APA paper.

This page makes it easy for the reader to easily look up all of the materials you cited.

Do not underline, italicize, or place quotation marks around the title.

Next, the publication year is enclosed in parentheses, followed by a period.

Then, place page numbers, using a hyphen in between if it’s a range of pages.

Place a period after this.

Finally, a hyperlink including the DOI number should be included if there is one available.

All together, it looks like the following:

Books

This style is applicable to printed texts.

However, you typically need to include the online location of the document.

Many publishers include the DOI on the first page of an electronic document.

Be sure to consult the latest information from the American Psychological Association for more information on citing electronic sources.

If you’re a student, it’s a great idea to consult with your instructor as well.

They can help establish clear guidelines and expectations for your papers before you submit them.

American Psychological Association.Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association(7th ed.).

Washington DC: The American Psychological Association; 2020.