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APA Style Formatting

Plagiarism can be intentional. Buying a paper, submitting a friend’s, paying someone to write a paper for you, piecing together text from websites are only some examples. Most of the time, though, plagiarism is unintentional, resulting from a failure to cite sources or to cite them properly according to a style guide. Use this handout as a general guide to APA formatting and refer to the official APA Style Guide for full details: http://www.apastyle.org/ APA Style General Formatting  Standard letter paper size 8.5” x 11”  Typed at 12 pt. Time New Roman font and double-spaced  1” margins on all sides  Page header and number on all pages  Page number in top right corner of EVERY page. Title page starts as “1.”  Title in top left of EVERY page  Title page: “Running head: TITLE OF PAPER”  All other pages: “TITLE OF PAPER”  Use the “Page Header” tool in Microsoft Word Title Page  Double-spaced and in the upper half of the page. Include the full title (may take two lines), the writer’s name, the institution name. Do not bold or italicize anything.  Some professors may require additional information. Be sure to follow what your professor wants (date, professor’s name, course name/code/section, etc).
Running Head: TITLE OF PAPER

TITLE OF PAPER Your Name Ryerson University Your Professor’s Required Information

Abstract  Not always required, but advised  Located on page 2: First line, centered: “Abstract” (plain text)  Do not indent first line  In 150-250 words, detail the important points of the paper  Should include a concise summary of the key information (research topic, questions, participants, methods, results, and conclusions)

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Text Citations- NOTE PUNCTUATION AND SPACING (Author, Date) or