APA (American Psychological Association) referencing style is one of the popular ways of citing sources in the context of social sciences. The latest formatting guidelines of APA style is in accordance with the second printing of the 6th edition format.
General Guidelines
The paper should be written using 12 pt. Times New Roman font with double spacing on a standard sized paper (8.5”x 11”) with a margin of 1” on all four sides. The alignment of the entire writing should be made left aligned.
The page numbers should be put in the right hand top corner.
A page header containing the title of the paper (not exceeding 50 characters including punctuations and spacing) must be inserted in every page along with page numbers. The header must be left aligned with the shortened title written in caps using 12pt. Times New Roman font.
The paper consists of four main sections: Title Page, Abstract, Main Body and References.
Title Page
The first page must contain the title of the written paper, name of the author (first name, initials of middle name followed by last name) and institutional affiliations (specify the location of research conducted) using 12 pt. Times New Roman font with starting letter of each world in caps and middle aligned. The title of the paper must not be more than 12 words.
The header of the title page must look as follows:
Running head: TITLE OF PAPER
Abstract
An overview of all the important topics discussed in detail all throughout the paper must be written in a single paper in no more than 250 words using double spaced, left aligned 12 pt. Times New Roman format. The heading Abstract must be centre aligned, un-bold written using the 12 pt. Times New Roman format.
The keywords used in the paper can be listed by making a new paragraph named keywords (in italics format) according to the following format:
Keywords: Keyword1, Keyword2, ……
Main Body
The entire body of the paper must use a half-inch first line indentation along with double spacing. The paper must begin with an introduction of the topic of discussion and the heading must be Title of the undertaken study.
[Heading 1]
It should be middle aligned, bold using 12 pt. Times New Roman font. The first letter of each of the words must be in caps except for articles and conjunctions.
[Heading 2] should be left aligned, bold using 12 pt. Times New Roman font. The first letter of each of the words must be in caps except for articles and conjunctions.
[Heading3] must be half-inch first line indented, left aligned, bold using 12 pt. Times New Roman font. The first letter of each of the words must be in caps except for articles and conjunctions.
** Each paragraph must have half-inch first line indentation.
References
An APA referencing style must include the following:
Basics of Referencing
In-Text Citations:
The portions paraphrased or quoted from someone else’s work must be cited properly using in-text citations.
The in-text citations are written all throughout the main body of the text using proper citations against a piece of quotation or paraphrased portion. The in-text citations in APA referencing style consists of the surname of the author(s) or editors(s)’s followed by publication year.
Example of in-text referencing citation is of the form:
One Author:
For direct quotation: Wang, Courtright and Colbert (2015) states that….
For paraphrased portion: (Wang, Courtright, & Colbert, 2015)
Two or Five Authors:
For direct quotation: Wang, Courtright and Colbert (2015) states that….
For paraphrased portion: (Wang, Courtright, & Colbert, 2015)
Six or More Authors:
The surname of the first author must be followed by et al.:
For direct quotation: Wang et al. (2015) states that….
For paraphrased portion: (Wang et al., 2015)
Reference List Format:
Book:
Surname of author(s), initial(s). (Year). Title. Place of publication: Name of publisher.
Hill, C.W., Jones, G.R., & Schilling, M.A. (2014). Strategic management: theory: an
integrated approach. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Edited Book:
Surname of author(s), initial(s), (Eds.) Year. Title. Place of publication: Name of publisher.
Smith, J. A. (Eds.). (2015). Qualitative psychology: A practical guide to research methods.
California: Sage.
Journal:
Surname of author(s), initial(s). (Year). Title of Journal. Name of Journal, Issue (Volume),
page range.
García-Morales, V. J., Bolívar-Ramos, M. T., & Martín-Rojas, R. (2014). Technological
variables and absorptive capacity's influence on performance through corporate
entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Research, 67(7), 1468-1477.
Online Article:
Surname of author(s), initial(s). (Year, Month Date). Title of article. Retrieved from URL
You can check out the other standard referencing formats below: