APA Format 6 th Edition

Abdu Rahim Kamil

December 13th 2016

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 General APA Format
Typed, double spaced; do not use extra
spaces between paragraphs; 8.5 X 11
paper or A4.
1 (2,54 cm) margins all around
Times New Roman 12 point font
Left justified
Four sections of papertitle page,
abstract, main body, references
Use of headings

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 General APA Format
Beginning of each paragraph indented 5 characters (1/2
inch)
Running head designation in the upper left hand
corner on title page followed by colon, followed by an
abbreviated version of your title in ALL CAPS (this is the
actual running head). Only for when submitting, not
for thesis.
The running head is to be no more than 50 characters
On subsequent pages, only the running head in all caps
appears in the upper left corner, flush left (remove
Running head and colon)
Numberingpages are numbered consecutively
throughout your paper starting with 1 on the lower
middle part of the paper.

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 Title Page
1. Title: A concise statement of the main topic of your paper
identifying the variables or theoretical issues under
investigation; centered, uppercase and lowercase letters,
positioned in the upper half of the page
2. Authors name: The preferred form is first name, middle
initial(s), and last name; centered, double-spaced below title
3. Institutional affiliation: Identifies the location where the author
or authors were when the research was conducted; centered,
double-spaced below authors name
4. Running head designation and running head: The running head
designation is simply Running head:; the running head is an
abbreviated version of your title, no more than 50 characters, in
all capital letters. Upper left-hand corner of title page, flush left
5. Page Number: Page numbering on the lower middle part.

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 Abstract
Do NOT include Running head:
Abstract: centered, at the top of the page.
Write a 150 to 250 word summary of the
paper.
Here, using points. Background, purpose,
methods, and expected result.

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 Main Body
Aim for smooth, clear and logical communication,
use proper grammar. Tips: Ask someone to read it,
and give comments, also ask their understanding.
Say only what needs to be said
It is generally useful to organize your manuscript
with headings.
Headings also help to track the development of
your paper. APA uses five levels of headings.
Paraphrasing is more desirable than direct
quotations

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 Main Body
Type and center the title of the paper at the top of
the page
Type the text double-spaced with all sections
following each other without a break
Here in NCKU, use break after sections.
Use numerals to express numbers 10 and above. Use
words to express numerals below 10 and when
beginning a sentence:
Forty students improved, three did not improve, and
25 remained unchanged.
In 125 students observed, 80 improved, five did not
improve, and 40 remained the same.
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 In Text Citations
Follow the author-date method of in-text citation:
The authors last name and year of publication
should appear in text, and a complete reference
should appear in the reference list at the end of
the paper
Always capitalize proper nouns, including author
names
After a colon or dash in the title, capitalize the first
word
Use italics for the titles of books, periodicals, films,
videos, TV shows, and microfilms publications
(within text).

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 In Text Citations
One work, one author:
Johnson (2010) found that locus of control
Student retention at doctoral level institutions (Jones, 2008)

One work by two authors: Cite both names every time the reference occurs in
the text:
Smith and Jones (2008) reported that
Epidemiological samples were found to be consistent (Packer & Rupert, 2004).

When a work has three, four, or five authors, cite all authors the first time the
reference occurs; in subsequent citations, include only the surname of the first
author followed by et al. and the year:
Hall, Parker, and Paul (2010) found that (Hall, Parker & Paul, 2010)
Hall et al. (2010) found that (Hall et al., 2010)

When a work has six or more authors, cite only the surname of the first author
followed by et al. and the year. In the reference list, include all authors.

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 In Text Citations
Two or more works with the same parentheses:
Order the citations alphabetically in the same order
they appear in the reference list, separated by a
semicolon:
Several studies (Smith & Reed, 2003; Walter, 2004)
showed that
Secondary sources: Use secondary sources sparingly
(e.g. when the original work is out of print or not
available in English). Give the secondary source in
the reference list. In text, name the original work and
give a citation for the secondary source:
Murphys diary (as cited in Forman, 2002), revealed
But always use original source for thesis.

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 In-Text Citation
When citing authors with the same last names, use first initials with
the last names.
(B. Kachru, 2005; Y. Kachru, 2008)

When citing two or more works by the same author and published in
the same year, use lower-case letters (a, b, c) after the year of
publication to order the references.

Smiths (1998a) study of adolescent immigrants

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 APA uses a system of five heading levels

APA Headings
Level Format
1 Centered, Boldfaced, Upper & Lowercase Headings
2 Left-aligned, Boldface, Upper & Lowercase Headings
3 Indented, boldface, lowercase heading with a period.
4 Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase heading with period.
5 Indented, italicized, lowercase heading with a period.

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An example of the five-level heading system:

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 TABLE
The label and title appear on separate lines above the table, flush-left and single-spaced.

Cite a source in a note below the table.

Table 1

Internet users in Europe

Country Regular Users
France 9 ml

Note: The data are adapted from The European Union and Russia (2007).
Retrieved from http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu

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Figures

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 Reference List
In the back of the paper, on a separate page
titled References (NOT Works Cited,
Bibliography), list all the sources cited and
quoted in the paper
Make sure you list ALL your sources referred
to in the body of the paper
All references listed alphabetically, by first
author

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 Reference List
The title of a journal article is not capitalized
(except the first word and any word after a colon)
or italicized; the full name of the journal IS
italicized and uppercase/lowercase
The volume number IS italicized
The name of a book is italicized and not
capitalized (except the first word and any word
after a colon)

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 Reference List
One author entries by the same author are
arranged by year of publication, earliest first:
Jones, C. (2002).
Jones, C. (2008).

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 Reference ListDOI
Digital object identifiers
Developed by a group of international publishers
Provides a means of persistent identification for
managing information on digital networks (see
http://www.doi.org/).
The DOI is a unique alphanumeric string assigned to
identify content and provide a persistent link to its
location on the Internet

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 DOI
All DOI numbers begin with 10 and contain a
prefix and a suffix separated by a slash
The APA manual recommends that when DOI
numbers are available, use them in the
reference list.

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 ALWAYS BE PRECISE!
3R

REPUTATION, RESPONSIBILITY,
REPLICATION

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