How To Write Research Papers in APA Style

The American Psychological Association recommends APA style for writing Social Science research papers. Two basic ideas govern this essay writing format. The first idea is that the scientific paper explains some already proven facts, so present or past perfect tense should be used for citing the work of other researchers. Secondly, the publication year is important, so it should come directly after the name of any researcher in the text.

Here is your complete guide to writing research papers in APA style:

·    Present tense should be used for personal comments and generalizations. Present or past perfect tenses should be used only while introducing the work of other researchers.

·         Parenthetical citations should be used to acknowledge direct quotes, indirect quotes, or any ideas borrowed from other people.

·         A reference page should be used at the end for referencing the parenthetical citations.

·  Titles of plays, television programs, books, periodicals, pamphlets, films, and recordings should be underlined in the text of the paper.

·        The titles of articles, book chapters, lectures, and essays should be placed in quotation marks.

·      The numbering of the pages should appear on the upper right-hand side. Every page should include a running head that cannot exceed 50 characters including punctuation and spaces.

·     Plagiarism occurs when a person uses the words or notes of another person without crediting the source. It can be avoided by acknowledging the sources with citations in the text and a reference page. Place direct quotes in quotation marks to separate them from the main content of your text. If you use or paraphrase another person's idea, use your essay writing skills to write it in your own language instead of simply rearranging other people’s words.

·       The ideas or work of other persons should be introduced with quotation along with the author's name. The author's name should be cited in your paper or enclosed in the parenthetical citation following the quoted passage. The author/authors should be acknowledged with their last name. The year of publication should follow the author’s name or the quoted authority. Commas should be included to separate different items in the parentheses.

·   Double spacing should be used everywhere in the text including the quotations, comments, and even the reference page.

·        At least one-inch of margin should be there at the right, left, top, and bottom of every page.

These are some basic rules for writing essays in APA style. It is recommended that you should check with your mentor about the style to be used before you start writing the paper.