A Manual for Creating Unique APA Style Term Papers

If you have recently been assigned to an APA style essay it can seem difficult if it is your first time working with the format. If you are used to other designs, such as MLA, it can feel overwhelming. Before you work on the paper, it's best to understand the structure and essay components. Follow this guideline to structure the correct outline and write a paper that has been formatted correctly.

Regardless of what level of education you have, you will need to write at least one APA style term paper during one of your college or high school semesters. This style is used commonly in social sciences and psyche classes. The format presents important elements and organizes your paper to make the content organized and easy to understand.

Understanding the Basics

With APA you must use one inch uniform margins on all sides of the paper. It must be double spaced and include a running head at the top left hand corner. Include page numbers and have a title page that includes the topic, your name and school that you attend. Occasionally, a teacher will require you to list the course and their own name. Every essay has to include a reference list which is placed at the end of the assignment. This is where you are going to list sources you used to obtain information. Remember that on the reference page, each source needs to be listed alphabetically depending on the author's last name, which should also be double spaced.

Choosing a Topic

If the thesis has not been assigned to you, you'll want to choose an idea that gives you enough information to work with, so that you can be consistent with relevant points and elaborate on topic details. If you choose a theme that is too specific it can be extremely difficult to source. To create a unique APA style term paper you will want to conduct research early by reviewing books, movies and articles. When you have performed enough research you will then want to build a source list that can be used throughout the essay and included in your reference page.

The Writing Process

As you are writing it's important that you keep track of the information you find so that you don't have to go back and uncover the source. After having designed an outline and a rough draft its then time to revise the essay and add in or take out information in support of the central theme. Remember that your writing needs to be free of grammatical errors and abide by the APA format precisely.

If this is your first time writing an APA paper, don't feel overwhelmed. Once you understand the basics you will feel comfortable every time you use the same style with future assignments. Regardless, abide by the instructions that have been given to you by your instructor so that you can format the assignment correctly before perfecting the content.