Writing APA-Style Scholarly Papers
Why APA?
APA stands for the American Psychological Association, and they put out a style guide that is
updated regularly called the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.
The University of Calgary-Qatar has chosen to follow APA guidelines for referencing and
formatting because it is the style used by most nursing researchers. Many nursing journals use APA for
publishing articles, so it is very important that those in the nursing profession know and understand the
requirements.
What does APA require?
At UCQ, an APA-style paper may also be called a scholarly or academic paper (in this case,
‘scholarly’ and ‘academic’ mean the same thing). The requirements may differ from one professor to
another, but you will probably be expected to include most or all of the following elements:
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Title page
Page setup
Headings
Introduction, body, and conclusion
Scholarly information
Academic language
References list
Writing APA-Style Scholarly Papers
Title page
Your title page is the first page of your paper. It comes before the first page of your written text.
The title page should look like this:
Running head: TITLE OF THE PAPER
1
Title of the Paper
Your Name
University of Calgary-Qatar
Course Code
Instructor
Date that you submit the paper
Note that the running head includes the words “Running head” and a colon ( : ). These only appear on
the title page.
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Writing APA-Style Scholarly Papers
Page setup
TITLE OF THE PAPER
2
3. Running head
Xxxxxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx
1. Margins
xx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxxxx xx xxxxxxxx
xxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxx xxx xx xxxxxx. Xxxxxxxxxx
xxxxx xxxxx xx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxxxx
4. Paragraphs
xx xxxxxxxx. Xxxxxxxxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxx xx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxxxx xx
xxxxxxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxx xxx xx xxxxxx.
2. Font
Xxxxxxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxx
xx xxxxxxx xxxxxxx xxxx. Xx xxxxxxx xx xxxxxxxx
5. Line spacing
xxxx Xx xxxxxxx xx xxxxxxxx xxxx.
1. Margins are the white spaces between letters and the edge of page. There are four of them: at
the left and right sides of the page, and at the top and bottom. These should all be set at one
inch, which is the automatic default setting in Microsoft Word.
2. Font is the size, colour and shape of the letters in the main text of your paper. Always use black
lettering. Generally, three font sizes and shapes are acceptable at UCQ:
i.
Calibri size 11 (the default setting in Microsoft Word 2007)
ii.
Times New Roman size 12 (the default setting in Microsoft Word before 2007)
iii.
Arial size 11
3. Running head: This is your title in capital letters. It also includes the page number at the right
side. If your title is longer than 50 characters, use only the first 50. This is inserted by using the
“Header” function in Microsoft Word.
4. Paragraphs: The first line of every paragraph is indented. All of your main body text should be
aligned to the left, which means that the first letter of each line should be all the way to the left
margin of the page. Do not justify the text – the ends of the lines at the right side of your text
will be uneven.
5. Line spacing: The entire text, including the title page and references list, must be double-spaced.
Do not add extra spaces between paragraphs.
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Writing APA-Style Scholarly Papers
Headings
There are five levels of headings in APA style, as follows:
Level of heading
1
2
3
4
5
Format
Center, Bold, Capital and Lowercase Letters
Starts at the Left, Bold, Capital and Lowercase Letters
Indented, bold, title of a paragraph, only the first letter is capitalized, ends with
a period.
Indented, bold, italics, title of a paragraph, only the first letter is capitalized,
ends with a period.
Indented, italics, title of a paragraph, only the first letter is capitalized, ends with a
period.
(Table adapted from American Psychological Association, 2010, p. 62)
The headings are used in order according to the way you divide your paper. Level 1 headings are
for the major sections, such as the Introduction, the Findings and the Conclusion. Level 2 headings are
used for subsections. If, for example, you have several parts to your Findings section, you would use a
Level 2 heading for each of these. If one of those subsections requires you to divide it even further, use
a Level 3 heading. Levels 4 and 5 are not often used in an assignment.
Introduction, body, and conclusion
Most academic papers have the same basic structure as essays. Introduce the body of the paper
by explaining what it is about and providing a brief description of the sections in a few sentences. The
order of points in your introduction should be the same in the body. Be sure to address all of the
requirements of the assignment. The conclusion usually summarizes the body and explains why it is
important. Tip: The conclusion and the introduction should be linked and should cover the same points.
Scholarly information
Unless your instructor gives different instructions, the information that you provide in a
scholarly paper must be supported by evidence. Always ensure that the sources you use are
trustworthy. This means you must evaluate the quality of the information, and choose the best sources
according to your need and your instructor’s requirements.
When you have been assigned a reflective paper, make connections between your ideas and the
knowledge you have already acquired in your previous research, your experience, or in course material.
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Writing APA-Style Scholarly Papers
Academic language
In most assignments for your classes, you will be expected to use academic language, which is
more formal and more professional than conversation. This means you will have to consider the
following:
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Personal pronouns: An important question you will have to answer before you start writing is
whether or not you can use personal pronouns such as “I”, “you” and “we”. Ask your teacher
whether she or he would prefer you to use personal pronouns or not.
Most academic writing is intended to be objective, which means it should not be
personal and should not express opinions without evidence. In this case, you are generally
expected to avoid using personal pronouns.
On the other hand, reflective writing must reflect your own subjective thinking, as you
are supposed to consider your own thoughts, ideas and learning. In this case, personal pronouns
are perfectly acceptable, and probably necessary.
Contractions: Avoid using contractions such as “can’t”, “don’t” and “won’t”. Use the proper long
forms instead: “cannot” (which is always one word), “do not” and “will not”.
Gender-biased language: When writing about people, such as patients or nurses, be sure not to
refer to only one gender. There are both male and female patients, and male and female nurses.
This can be done in one of three ways:
1. Alternate between “he” and “she”.
2. Consistently use expressions like “she or he” or “his or her”.
3. Use the plural: “they”, “them”, “their”.
Informal expressions: English, like every other language, has many expressions that are used
very much in conversation, but which are not considered acceptable in academic writing. Below
is a table of a few informal expressions and words, and their academic counterparts:
Informal
Really (e.g. “really hard”)
Lots of (e.g. “lots of people”; “lots of water”)
Into something (e.g. “He is into doing research”)
Mess up (e.g. “I messed up the results.”)
Chill out
Guy/guys
Formal
Very (e.g. “very difficult”)
Many (e.g. “many people”); Much (e.g. “much
water”)
Interested in (e.g. “He is interested in doing
research.”)
Make a mistake (e.g. “I made a mistake in the
results.”)
Relax or calm down
Man or people (see “Gender-biased language”
above)
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Writing APA-Style Scholarly Papers
References list
Any time you do research, or use information, words or images from a source, you must
acknowledge the source in two places: in your text, and in the bibliography. In APA style, the
bibliography should be titled “References”. (See the UCQ Writing Centre’s handout APA Style
Referencing for more information on this.)
After the last page of writing in your assignment, include a new page of sources. The references
are in alphabetical order according to the author’s last name. Each of them is double-spaced, and has
hanging indents. This means that the first word is all the way to the left margin, while each of the
following lines is indented. As well, the running head must also appear at the top of the page.
Below is an example, which shows the sources used for this handout.
TITLE OF THE PAPER
12
References
American Psychological Association. (2010).
Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association, 6th edition.
Washington, DC: American Psychological
Association
Troyka, L.Q. & Hesse, D. (2006). Simon & Schuster
Handbook for Writers, Fourth Canadian
Edition. Toronto, Canada: Pearson
Prentice Hall.
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