Crafting A Research Paper In The APA Writing Format Step By Step

Writing a research paper in the APA writing format is a popular citation style used in the social sciences. Before you’re experienced you may find crafting this kind of assignment the correct way a bit troublesome. That’s why we’ve put together this great step by step guide for writing a great research paper in the APA style:

General Guidelines

Your APA assignment should have a title page with the title written about one third down the page, centered followed by your name and the course information both placed at the bottom of the page. Use standard 8 ½ x 11” white paper and be sure to include a page number on each.

The Abstract Page

Despite this being only a paragraph long, it is the most important because it gives other students and academic professionals a quick and efficient way of knowing if your work is relevant towards any work or interest area they may have. Keep the information concise and no more than 120 words.

Introduction Section

Many students have trouble writing this section before they’ve written the rest of the assignment. This happens pretty often, so it’s a great idea to go with your instincts and write this after you know the details of each of the other sections. After all, it should introduce what your project’s results and discussions on those results are, so it would be nice to have those sections to reference when writing this one.

Methodologies Section

This is a very important section that requires you to explain your study methods exactly so that any other student or academic professional could replicate the study and arrive at the exact conclusion as in your study. Pay special attention to your description as an error in this section could imply that you may have misrepresented your findings.

Results Section

This section should be written in a matter-of-factly way, in that you simply state what project results are. You should explain the background of any project that may have been complex. Also, you should provide an unbiased analysis and evaluation of the results of your project.

Discussion Section

This section is the core piece of the research paper in that you finally get to present an explanation that speaks to the reasons why you believe you arrived at the particular results and the reasons why you have either proven or disproven your original hypothesis as stated in the introduction.

Bibliography/References

The last section is where you list all of your citations. Arrange each entry alphabetically by last name, followed by the title and publication information. For journal articles be sure to include volume, issue, and pages.