APA Formatting Basics
This appears in the upper right-hand corner of every page.
What is the page numbers?
This punctuation mark always appears at the end of a parenthetical citation.
What is a period (after the parentheses)?
This word is centered and bolded at the top of the reference page.
What is References?
This is the very first page of an APA paper.
What is the title page?
This type of source would include an original photograph, diary, or experiment data.
What is a primary source?
These one-inch measurements surround the entire page of an APA paper.
What are margins?
When a source has no author, this is used in place of the author’s name.
What is the title of the work?
References are arranged in this order.
What is alphabetical by the first author’s last name?
This is the sentence that expresses the main idea of a paper/paragraph.
What is the topic sentence?
This is the act of using someone else’s words or ideas without giving credit.
What is plagiarism?
This spacing should be used throughout the entire paper — including the title page and references.
What is double spacing?
When a source has three or more authors, this abbreviation is used after the first author’s name.
What is et al.?
Each entry after the first line is indented this way.
What is a hanging indent?
This statement makes a specific, arguable claim that guides the entire paper.
What is the thesis statement?
This type of research uses previously collected data to draw new conclusions.
What is secondary research?
These are the two required elements in every in-text citation.
What are the author’s last name and publication year?
This signal phrase introduces the source when cited within the sentence itself.
What is a narrative citation?
This digital identifier is preferred over a URL when available.
What is a DOI?
This part of the paper briefly summarizes your argument and leaves a final impression.
What is the conclusion?
This is the number of words your research paper should be
These four elements typically appear on a student title page: title, author’s name, instructor’s name, and this one.
What is the institutional affiliation or course name?
When the publication date is not known, this abbreviation is used.
What is n.d. (no date)?
This punctuation mark separates an author’s last name from their initials.
What is a comma?
This should be avoided in APA writing because it weakens academic tone: “I believe…” “In my opinion…”
What are personal opinions or first-person statements?
This is the due date of your research paper
What is November 14th?