Write your title page. Include the title of your paper. Also, include your name as the author, and the names of any others who co-authored the paper. In addition, Vanguard University says to include your college or university affiliation---as well as the identities of any sponsors. The title page also includes the upper left running head, all uppercase and following "Running head:" The title should be centered and in uppercase and lowercase letters.
Compose an abstract. As Vanguard University points out, the abstract begins on a new page. It summarizes key aspects of the paper. Keep it short, most journals do not want more than one paragraph with 150 to 250 words in this part of your paper.
Type the body of your paper. Apply appropriate headings and subheadings to sections of your paper. This will help with readability, as well as the overall professionalism of your work. For example, if your paper was on dogs, and you wanted to write a section on housebreaking, then at the top of the section you would place "Housebreaking" in bold print, in the center of your page. And if you wanted to write a subsection on methods of housebreaking, write "Methods" on the far left side, using double spacing, under "Housebreaking."
Write a references section. According to Vanguard University, the idea behind this rule is that all material which came from another author---words or ideas---needs attribution. To do otherwise would constitute plagiarism.
Draft footnotes. Footnotes further discuss or clarify the material, or will direct the reader where to do more research. According to Vanguard University, the APA-style footnotes start on a separate page.