APA Crash Course: How to Format Your PJAS

APA CRASH COURSE 6

APA Crash Course: How to Format Your PJAS

Research Paper in APA Format

Todd A. Gunther

Berwick Area Senior High School

Abstract

This paper will both demonstrate for those who are completing a literature review in preparation for their Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science (PJAS) project how to format a research paper in APA format, as well as provide examples and an assignment to help you practice creating a proper Reference page.

Keywords: APA format, Purdue OWL, Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science

APA Crash Course: How to Format Your PJAS

Research Paper in APA Format

Communicating information through research using a standard research format or “style” can be a challenge for students, yet is important in order to ensure that research information is communicated efficiently and accurately. Eiesel (2012) notes that students often “struggle” with maintaining the format. He suggests that students create an initial Word template file, in order to maintain the format through multiple papers.

Seas and Brizee (2012) describe APA style as “establishing standards for the organization of content, writing style, citing references and how to prepare a manuscript for publication in certain disciplines.” Following the standardization of these elements provides benefits by providing cues for readers to efficiently find information, and allow the author to establish credibility and avoid distracting the reader with unfamiliar formatting. This paper will convey some of the work of Seas and Brizee in describing the APA format on the Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) website.

Literature Review

Seas and Brizee (2012) cite two main types of APA papers: the Literature Review, which this will serve as an example – and which you will be assigned to create in preparation for PJAS – and the experimental report – which you will complete after you have created your research plan, have your research plan approved, and have followed your research plan to conduct your experiments. Students are encouraged to visit and revisit the Purdue OWL APA Style Workshop and the APA Formatting and Style Guide, which provides numerous examples for how to create proper citations for your “References” page.

Another useful avenue both for finding information about proper techniques in using APA Style and for finding how to implement the style using Word 2007, is to search videos on the website Youtube.com. While many videos purport to demonstrate proper techniques, they also include errors in proper style, and should be viewed with some caution. For example, Eisel (2012) demonstrates proper techniques for spacing and font style, but neglects the proper changes in the running head associated with the 6th Edition of APA format. The Purdue OWL, however, is up to its usual authoritative standards, and has produced a vidcast, highlighting critical elements. Jones and Hurley (2012) in the vidcast demonstrate general Word 2007 set-up for APA Format from the Purdue University OWL at http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=pdAfIqRt60c , and reference page format at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpAOi8-WUY4 . Students are encouraged to watch these videos, and use them to set up their own APA Style Template in Word 2007, or in another word-processing application of their choice.

Discussion

The use of headings in APA Style is also important, and allows for clear organization of thoughts in the research paper. Paiz et al., (2011) describe five different levels of headings that are recognized in APA Style.

Types of Headings

When continuing a thought in a sub-heading, Paiz et al., (2011) indicate that a bolded Level 2 subheading is left-justified and placed on its own line

Level 3 headings. Should you need to further categorize a topic inside of a subheading, level 3 information is headed with an in-line bolded heading that is followed by a period. (Paiz et al., 2011)

Lower-level headings. Further subdivisions are indicated, though not demonstrated here, using bolded and italicized headings, and then by italicized headings containing no bolded information. (Paiz et al., 2011)

Inclusion of Figures

Along with the use of headings, APA format has clear and specific guidelines for the inclusion of tables, charts, and data to ensure a consistent presentation. A table listing information about the references used to create the “Crash Course” document is listed in an appendix – your job will be to collect them into a proper References page. You may use an online resource, such as NoodleTools, to help you in creating the citation, but please check with an APA resource, such as Seas and Brizee’s APA Style Workshop, to determine whether or not you are including the correct information. Also, be sure that when pasting in information from a web citation resource, that your final bibliography is formatted correctly – including line spacing, correct hanging indents, and alphabetizing of sources.

Conclusion

Practicing correct usage of APA format as a high school student will provide future benefits. It allows for greater ease and stronger focus on the content of your research in college, rather than focusing on the more tedious aspects of correct formatting. Correct adherence to APA format will improve your professional appearance and aid in having both professional researchers and peers view your research (Seas and Brizee, 2012). Research paper writing, in general, is a skill that requires discipline and a long-term focus to achieve, but the long-term benefits of adopting this skill can lead to a potentially rewarding future career.

Appendix

This appendix is included in lieu of a proper reference page to give you an opportunity to create a bibliography page on your own. Note that the reference page would ordinarily be included before any appendices, which would be lettered “A,” “B,” etc. if there were more than one, as in Angeli (2009).

Table 1

Sources Included in the Creation of this Document

Author / Date / Title / Source / Type of Source and URL
Erik Eisel / April 2012 / How to Create an APA Format Template in Word 2007 / Video file from Youtube / Electronic Videoclip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOJhJxAb-GQ
Kristen Seas and Allen Brizee / July 2012 / APA Style Workshop / Section of Purdue Online Writing Lab Website / Electronic Webpage
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/664/1/
Joshua M. Paiz, Elizabeth Angeli, Jodi Wagner, Elena Lawrick, Kristen Moore, Michael Anderson, Lars Soderlund, Allen Brizee, Russell Keck / May 2010 / APA Formatting and Style Guide / Section of Purdue Online Writing Lab Website / Electronic Webpage
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/1/
Beth Jones and Gina Hurley / May 2012 / APA Formatting: The Basics / Video file from Youtube produced by Purdue OWL / Electronic Videoclip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdAfIqRt60c
Beth Jones and Gina Hurley / Sept. 2012 / APA Formatting: Reference List Basics / Video file from Youtube produced by Purdue OWL / Electronic Videoclip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpAOi8-WUY4
Angeli, Elizabeth / 2009 / APA Sample Paper: Varying Definitions of Online Communication / Document from Purdue Online Writing Lab Website / Electronic Digital File
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20090212013008_560.pdf
American Psychological Association / July 2009 / Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th Edition / American Psychological Association / Book (note no author)
Published in Washington, DC by the American Psychological Association

References

Angeli, E. (2009, February). APA Sample Paper: Varying Definitions of Online Communication [PDF]. Retrieved from https://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/
20090212013008_560.pdf

Eisel, E. (2012, April). How to Create an APA Format Template in Word 2007 [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOJhJxAb-GQ

Jones, B., & Hurley, G. (2012, May). APA Formatting: The Basics [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdAfIqRt60c

Jones, B., & Hurley, G. (2012, September). APA Formatting: Reference List Basics [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpAOi8-WUY4

Paiz, J. M., Angeli, E., Wagner, J., Moore, K., Anderson, M., Soderland, L., ... Keck, R. (2010,). APA Formatting and Style Guide. Retrieved November 5, 2014, from Purdue OWL website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/1/

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). (2009). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Seas, K., & Brizee, A. (2012, July). APA Style Workshop. Retrieved November 5, 2014, from Purdue OWL website: https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/664/1