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Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER (50 characters max)

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TITLE OF YOUR PAPER

Title of Your Paper

Your Name

Independence University

Abstract

An abstract is optional and is a general overview of the content covered in your paper. The abstract should be no more than 250 words. In general class assignments, the abstract may not be required. Please check with you instructor regarding this requirement. For the running head above, the words Running head: should be in the same 12-point font as the rest of the paper, only appear on the cover page, be on the same line as the page number, and be aligned with the left 1” margin. The paper title portion should be in all caps. For the second page and beyond, the running head should only include the paper title in all caps. The page numbers should be aligned at the right 1” margin.

Title of Your Paper

The initial paragraph is assumed in APA to include the introduction to your paper, and therefore does not require the heading of “Introduction”. Use the paper title as the initial paper heading, centered, not in bold, with major words capitalized. The heading and content should start at the top of the page with no extra spacing. The entire paper should be double-spaced with no extra spacing between headings or paragraphs. The first line of every paragraph should be indented 5-7 spaces, or .5” by default. This includes paragraphs following numbered lists and images. This section should “introduce” the reader to the content covered in your paper. In many ways, the introduction serves as a mini-outline for the rest of the paper. So, as you continue to write the remaining sections, make sure to only include the information related to what you have “introduced” in your introduction paragraph. To sum it up, this section should tell the audience what you are going to talk about in the Body.

Body

Use a level 1 APA heading appropriate for the content to introduce this section, centered and in bold. Do not use the Body heading. The “body” of your paper should expand on the concepts covered in your introduction. It is appropriate to have main and subtopics in this section. The main and subtopics should be identified by using the appropriate Level Heading. To sum it up, this section should talk about what you told the audience you were going to talk about in your Introduction. Use additional APA heading levels following an outline format for each new concept section in your paper. Level 1 is centered and in bold. Level 2 is left-aligned and in bold, level 3 is in the first line of the paragraph, in bold, and ending with a period., etc. Each heading should be appropriate for the content contained in the paragraphs under the heading.

Citing Your Sources

When using information from outside sources in your writing, you must cite those sources appropriately. As an example, if you are paraphrasing, follow the end of the information with a citation, then follow with the period to end the sentence. The citation must include the author and year, like this (Lodico, Spaulding & Voegtle, 2010). The citations must match the references provided at the end of the paper. Only provide the author’s initials in the full references at the end of the paper, not within the citations. A quote would be followed with a citation containing the page or paragraph number for the quoted content. An example would be, “This is a hypothetical quote” (Scaduto, Lindsay, & Chiaburu, 2008, p. 27). If you introduce the authors in your sentence, immediately follow their names with the year in parentheses. For example, Lodico, Spaulding and Voegtle (2010) wrote a paper discussing educational research methods.

Conclusion

This section should cover the highlights of the previous content. The conclusion should “briefly” remind your reader/audience about what is included in the previous sections. Refrain from introducing new topics or ideas in this section, unless you want to revisit and rework/rewrite previous sections to include them. To sum it up, this section is going to remind your audience of what you just told them in the Body, while making a final point. Once you have completed this section, you need to complete the References page. An outline of the Reference page is below.

References

Lodico, M.G., Spaulding, D.T., & Voegtle, K.H. (2010). Methods in educational research: From theory to practice. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Scaduto, A., Lindsay, D., Chiaburu, D.S. (2008). Leader influences on training effectiveness: motivation and outcome expectation processes. International Journal of Training and Development, 12(3), 158-170.

This is where all the references you used will be listed alphabetically by author’s last name. The reference page needs to be double-spaced and the second line of the same reference should be added as a “hanging” indent. All references should also be double-spaced with no extra spacing between them. All references should be in the same font as the rest of the paper. The content of this page should begin at the top of the page with no extra spacing. Once you have added your references, please delete this section and the information below from the template.

Additional APA resources are below:

Purdue Online Writing Lab APA 

Son of Citation Machine APA 

How to cite and reference just about any type of source, with examples

APA 6 writing instructions and example