On the title page, center the title of your paper, your name, the course title and the date. In the upper right corner, add a header that includes the first few words of your title and the page number. The title page font should match the rest of your paper: 12-point Times New Roman or Courier. Your entire paper should be double spaced, including the title page elements.
The abstract serves as a short summary of your paper. Describe each major section in one or two sentences. Explain the purpose of your study, your research methods, the results and your conclusions. Aim for a maximum of 120 words.
Organize the body of your paper by labeling each section. Common headings include: Method, Results and Discussion.
Parenthetical citations are placed in the text of APA-formatted documents. These identify your sources immediately for readers, and they save you the time-consuming task of writing footnotes. Citation formats and placement vary slightly, depending on what you are citing.
The reference list identifies all sources mentioned in your paper. Arrange them in alphabetical order by the authors' last names. If a source doesn't name the author, use the first word of the title.