How to Format Discussion Questions in APA Format

College courses frequently require students to write in APA (American Psychological Association) style formatting. A professor who requires APA style from students usually utilizes the same when communicating to his class. Online discussion forums, in which professors post questions for students to analyze and debate, commonly appear in APA format.

Instructions

  1. Formatting APA Discussion Questions

    • 1
      A title should be followed by the author's name and job title.

      Start the discussion question with a flush left upper and lower case title. Provide the author's name under the title along with the institution for which she works. For example, a title would appear as: "Why is the Economy Struggling?". Beneath the title would appear: "Professor Jane Smith, University of Illinois." Note, no quotations appear around titles or author information in APA stying.

    • 2
      APA standard rules follow double spacing and 12 point fonts.

      Type discussion questions in a 12 point font size. Use the suggested APA Times Roman font. Use double spacing and 1 inch margins.

    • 3
      A quote should include the year of publication.

      Cite direct quotes within a discussion question with leads such as, "According to..." or "Dr. Johnson states..." Include the year the statement was made within the quotation. Always capitalize proper nouns, such as a person's name. A complete quote would appear as, "According to Senator Bob Smith (2011), job growth will increase this year."

    • 4
      References appear at the end of a discussion question.

      Place article references at the end of the discussion question. Begin with an author's last name followed her initials. Parenthetically state the year of publication. State the article's title, volume and page number. For example, Smith, D.W. (2008, June 1). Writing a Better Term Paper. Best Writer's Magazine, 69-72. Books should cite a location and publisher in lieu of a volume and page number.

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