How to Get Your Papers Written in APA Format
The American Psychological Association (APA) format provides a basic framework and guidelines for authors to use when formatting their papers. Typically used for papers on social science topics, the APA format provides guidelines for structuring citations and formatting the overall style of a paper. Some instructors require APA formatting for the bibliography of a paper and use their own format style for the rest of the work. APA formatting helps a paper maintain a consistent structure.
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Instructions
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APA Style Guidelines
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Follow all general document-formatting guidelines. Set a 1-inch margin on all pages and use a standard 12-pt. Times New Roman font. Use double-spaced, left-aligned paragraphs, as well as two spaces after the end of a sentence. Create a page header, or running head, with the title of your paper on the left side and page numbers on the right. Include the title page in the numbered pages.
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Add pages to the paper in the following order: title page; abstract page; main body of paper; references; and supporting documentation, such as footnotes or appendices. Center the information on the title page, including the paper's title, author's name and school information. Keep the abstract on its own page and follow the same format used in the body of the paper. Use the abstract to provide a short overview of the paper's subject.
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Format the main body of the paper according to the basic document guidelines. Use indented headings for subsections. Center the first level heading, and left-align secondary headers. Use the year of a publication in parentheses for an in-text citation when citing the authors, and put the last name and year of a publication separated by a comma when citing only the information. Separate multiple authors with commas and separate multiple sources with semicolons.
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Consult the APA style manual for instructions on how to format references, as each type of reference varies. A general format for books follows the pattern: Last name, First name initial. (Year). Title. Publishing City: Publisher. Journal articles follow the pattern: Last name, First name initial. (Year, Month). Article Title. "Magazine Title," issue number, page numbers. Indent the second and all subsequent lines of a reference and italicize the names of journals or magazines.
Professional Editing Services
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Find a services such as Precision Writing Service to get your paper edited into APA format. Some writing professionals offer APA editing services at lower costs than companies who offer similar services. Precision Writing Service charges $.025 to $.05 per word to edit into APA format, with quotes available for large projects. Send in a writing sample to see how they edit, then send your payment for the editing of your full paper. Turnaround time ranges from a minimum of one business day for papers with one to 10 pages to a minimum of three business days for papers with 16 to 20 pages.
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Use a full-service editing company that offers additional options for your paper such as proofreading. Panther Editing charges $4.50 per page for editing and APA style formatting, but you need to send in a copy of your paper for a detailed quote. Panther Editing gives you the option to request faster turn-around times for higher fees. Specify that you need APA formatting when requesting a quote.
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Look for editing services that provide free sample edits if you aren't sure about using a professional editing service. Sibia Proofreading offers editing and proofreading services for all major writing styles, including APA. They offer a discount of 20 percent for documents over 100 pages and a rush order option to get your paper into APA format within 24 hours for an additional fee. Submit either your entire paper or a section and Sibia will edit a sample for you.
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References
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