Running head: YOUR BRIEF ESSAY TITLE

Running head: YOUR BRIEF ESSAY TITLE 1

Your Full Essay Title

Your Full Name

Course/Number

Date (month, day, and year)

Instructor’s Name

The words Running head only appear on the title

page. Use no more than the first 50 characters of

the title. The title is in ALL CAPS. This first page

header is different from the body page headers.

Use the Insert >

Header feature in MS

Word to insert the

page number and add

the running head.

Pages are

automatically

numbered

consecutively starting

with the title page.

Center the title and position

on the upper half of the page.

Use black, 12-point Times

New Roman font and double-

space throughout. Arial is

also acceptable.

YOUR BRIEF ESSAY TITLE 2

Abstract

What is an abstract? An abstract provides “a brief, comprehensive summary of the contents of

the article; it allows readers to survey the contents of an article quickly and, like a title, it enables

persons interested in the document to retrieve it from abstracting and indexing databases” (APA,

2012, p. 25). The length of a typical abstract ranges from 150 to 250 words. Note that the

abstract is formatted as one paragraph double-spaced and that the first line of the abstract is not

indented. The word “Abstract” is centered but not bolded. The writing should be clear and

cover the important points in the paper or the article you are writing. The abstract is on a

separate page preceding the body of your paper. While an abstract is very helpful to the reader

because it provides an overview of the main points, check with your instructor to see if it is

required for your paper.

The body page headers show just the

brief title in ALL CAPS.

YOUR BRIEF ESSAY TITLE 3

Your Full Essay Title

The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA) began as a

brief journal article in 1929 and is now in its sixth edition. That 1929 article reported results

from a meeting of scholars “to establish a simple set of procedures, or style rules, that would

codify the many components of scientific writing to increase the ease of reading comprehension”

(APA, 2012, p. xiii). Today, APA style continues to provide a standardized system for writing

papers that clarifies many questions about spacing, margins, overall formatting, and how to cite

sources to help the writer. “APA style greases the wheels of written communication in the

educational and publishing worlds” (Eldridge, 2006, para. 4). While many students may feel that

the APA style of writing a paper is challenging at first, they often find that referring to the APA

Publication Manual or to the APA Style website provides examples and easy-to-follow

instructions. Having a good sample of an APA-formatted paper to follow, such as this one,

provides a helpful visual guide.

General Format Information

This section will explain some of the most frequently asked questions regarding

formatting a student paper. The information is from the sixth edition of the Publication Manual

of the American Psychological Association.

Margins

Margins are one inch on all sides of the paper—top, bottom, right, and left.

Font

The preferred font for APA style is black, 12-point Times New Roman (APA, 2012).

However, Arial font is acceptable. Your instructor may have a preference, so be sure to check.

Setting the default font in your word processing program is a convenient way to always use the

proper font.

Begin the text of the paper by repeating the

title from your title page. The title is

centered but not bolded.

Indent the

first line of

each

paragraph

five spaces

or one-half

inch using

the tab

key, not

the

spacebar.

Level One Heading – Centered and

bolded in upper- and lower-case letters.

Level Two Heading – Placed at the left margin

and bolded in upper- and lower-case letters.

YOUR BRIEF ESSAY TITLE 4

Level

Three

Heading –

Indented

and

bolded.

Capitalize

only the

first word

and

include a

period at

the end.

Continue

the text on

the same

line.

Page Headers

Here are the steps to create the headers on the title page and the body pages in Microsoft

Word 2010. Remember that the phrase “Running head” appears on only the first page, as

illustrated in this paper.

1. On the View tab, select the Print Layout document view.

2. Double click the header area of the document.

3. Select Insert, then Header. Select Blank as the header style.

4. On the Header & Footer Tools Design tab, in the Options group, select the check box

for Different First Page.

5. In the First Page Header box at the top of page 1, type: Running head: YOUR BRIEF

ESSAY TITLE.

6. Tab over 1-inch from the right margin and insert the page number 1 by choosing Current

position, Plain number.

7. Go to page 2 of your document and click in the Header area. Delete Running head:

8. On page 1, Running head will remain in your first page header, and only your abbreviated

title will appear on subsequent pages.

In-Text Citations

Direct quotations. When quoting from a source, the words must be copied exactly word

for word. If there are spelling or punctuation mistakes or other errors in the original text, they

must be copied as written. However, to alert the reader that errors are part of the original

material, the word [sic] is enclosed in brackets and italicized after the erroneous material. The

source of the quotation must be cited. The following is an example of how you may use a direct

quotation from a website with an author: “Not all revised papers are good, but non-revised

YOUR BRIEF ESSAY TITLE 5

If the Internet

source does

not have page

numbers, use

abbreviation

para. for the

paragraph

number.

Level Four

Heading –

In italics,

Indented

and

bolded.

Capitalize

only the

first word

and

include a

period at

the end.

Continue

the text on

the same

line.

papers are always bad” (Shpancer, 2011, para. 5). The author’s last name, the

year of publication, and the paragraph number, (if provided, or count the

paragraphs down from the beginning of the webpage) when no page number

is available, are included in the citation.

No author. If there is no author, the title of the article moves to the author position. The

following example illustrates an in-text citation for a quote from a webpage with no author.

“APA citation is relevant because the work of another author backs up or supports your paper”

(“Understanding the APA Citation Format,” n.d., para. 14). Because there is no date for this

webpage, use the abbreviation n.d. for no date.

The following is an example of how to use a direct quotation from a book with one

author: Schunk (2012) stated, “Learning involves acquiring and modifying knowledge, skills,

strategies, believes, attitudes and behaviors” (p. 2). If the author’s name is stated prior to the

quotation, include the date of publication (in parentheses) after the author’s name, and follow the

quotation with the page or paragraph number. For a work with two authors, use both authors’

last names for every citation. If the source has three or more authors but fewer than six authors,

list all authors in the first citation, and use the first author’s last name and the words et al.

(without italics) for the rest of the citations. If the source has more than six authors, you may use

the first author’s last name and the words et al. (without italics) for every citation (APA, 2012, p.

175).

As we have seen in the examples above, quotations that contain fewer than 40 words are

enclosed in double quotation marks (“) within the text. Use single quotation marks (‘) for

quotations contained within a direct quotation. Quotations of 40 words or more are indented in a

block format without quotation marks. Use double quotation marks to indicate a quotation

End-of-sentence punctuation goes after the citation.

YOUR BRIEF ESSAY TITLE 6

Use

ampersand

(&) within a

citation.

Spell out and

when the

authors’

names are

mentioned in

your paper.

Photo by Justin Guariglia.

Geographic Society.

Level Five

Heading –

In italics

and

Indented.

Capitalize

only the

first word

and

include a

period at

the end.

Continue

the text on

the same

line

within the block quotation. The block quotation is started on a new line, and it is indented five

spaces or one-half inch from the left margin. A sample block

quotation appears on page 10.

Images must be cited. If photographs, graphics, tables, or

illustrations are included in the paper, the source must be cited

and included in the references. The image shown here was

located in DeVry University’s image collection database.

Paraphrased material. Paraphrasing is often used when

writing papers. When you paraphrase from a source, you are presenting someone else’s ideas or

intellectual property. It is essential to give proper credit to the original author or

authors (Lawton, Cousineau, & Hillard, 2001). When an author is paraphrased, the

source must be cited in the text. If a source is mentioned more than once in a

paragraph, a citation must be included each time. Page or paragraph numbers are not

required for paraphrased material, but the Publication Manual recommends that writers

include a page or paragraph number to help the reader easily locate the information (APA, 2012,

p. 171).

If a writer who is paraphrasing information from an article located in an online database

uses the information as a sentence within the text of the paper, the writer would format the

citation as follows: Gysber (2013) defines student career readiness as a student being ready to

take immediate action for their human career path.

Here is an example where the author is not mentioned within the sentence: Actions and

steps towards the career process take into consideration the total person and their life roles,

YOUR BRIEF ESSAY TITLE 7

settings, and events (Gysber, 2013). Note in both of the above examples, the author’s last name

and the date of publication are included.

Reference Page

Only references that have been cited in the paper are listed on the reference page. Each

of the references on the reference page should be double-spaced using hanging indent style. In

hanging indent style, the first line of the reference is at the left margin, and the lines that follow

are indented five spaces or one-half inch to the first tab stop. Use the automated hanging indent

feature of your word processor to streamline the formatting of the references.

The reference page is alphabetized by author or by title of the work when no author is

listed, and each entry contains the date of publication in parentheses directly after the author’s

name. The title, the place of publication, and the name of the publisher follow the date of

publication for a book entry. With so much use of electronic materials in academic papers, the

APA has created formats designed specifically for Internet and web-based reference sources.

For additional information about formatting electronic references, visit the APA website at

www.apastyle.org. You will also find free tutorials and responses to frequently asked questions

about using APA style on that site. Examples of formatting in-text citations from social media

sites are provided in this paper on page 9.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism constitutes a serious academic concern. It is a form of cheating and unethical

(Hansen, Stith, & Tesdell, 2011). Furthermore, according to Lawton, Cousineau, and Hillard

(2001), “Academic communities demand that writers credit others for their work and that the

source of their material clearly be acknowledged” (para. 6). Internet access has resulted in an

increase in plagiarism (Hansen et al., 2011).

YOUR BRIEF ESSAY TITLE 8

Two sources

within a citation

are separated

with a

semicolon.

Arrange

alphabetically

in the same

order in which

they appear in

the References.

If last names

are the same,

include first

initials.

Use secondary

sources sparingly

(Sterngold), for

instance, when the

original work

(McCabe) is out of

print. Give the

secondary source

in the reference

list. In the paper,

name the original

work and cite the

secondary source.

McCabe noted (as cited in Sterngold, 2004), 41 percent of students said

they engaged in cut-and-paste plagiarism from online sources. The sentences and

phrases used in one’s paper must be original or cited and referenced accordingly.

Although it may be easier for a writer to use someone else’s words, doing so

discredits the writer.

There are two schools of thought on how to convince students not to plagiarize sources in

their assignments. One approach is to encourage students to become confident learners

and the other style is through surveillance and fear (C. B. Smith, 2003; K. Smith,

2012).

Smith (2012) believes that as students become more engaged in their learning,

they are better positioned to become facilitators of their own knowledge and are

prepared to speak from their own voice and less dependent on parroting the words of

other writers. His theory of education is that learning is a progressive experience that

takes practice and patience. In this environment, the student and instructor are assigned a

learning space where confidence and self-governance is encouraged. By being educated on the

issue, you are less compelled to take from another because you're comfortable articulating the

information in your own words. Be the explainer, not the repeater (Smith, 2012).

Smith (2003) views plagiarism as an immediate war-like threat that needs to be defeated

by academia. In this approach, instructors must have pre-emptive strategies along with proper

anti-plagiarism software that correspond with warnings to students that these tools are always on

alert. In this instance, the learning space between the student and instructor is partitioned by

filters and technology.

YOUR BRIEF ESSAY TITLE 9

Please note that even social media

and information provided in your

course should be cited and included in

your references.

Educators and librarians should emphasize that they are very aware of the Internet term

paper mills that sell prepackaged or customized term papers …. This point should be stressed at

every opportunity, when handing out syllabi, explaining instructions for assignments, and

conducting library research sessions (Smith, 2003). A recent tweet also notes that technology

integration has caused an increased risk of plagiarizing (Turnitin, 2014a). Plagiarism from the

Internet is not confined to student papers as tweeted by

Turnitin, (2014b), who recommends that PowerPoint

presentations also need to be checked for plagiarism.

As a way to remind students that citing sources is important, DeVry University Professor Larry

Johansen (2014) discusses the plight of a former president of Hungary who lost his job because

he plagiarized when he was in college.

In addition, instructors must make clear to their students that self-plagiarism, or

presenting one’s own previously written work as if it were new, is also plagiarism. Students

should “always provide attribution whether the work is another’s or their own” (Cruetz, 2010,

para. 11). If a student re-cycles some areas of a paper into another paper he or she wrote

without self-attribution, this would be self-plagiarism (Jones, 2010a). It is important that a

student informs others that the writing was borrowed from an earlier work he or she

wrote. Jones (2010b) states that by citing oneself, it also allows readers to know what other

works the author wrote that might be of interest to them.

Writing Mechanics

Not only formatting, but also correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and sentence

structure are essential components of academic writing. Strunk (1918/1999) was particularly

YOUR BRIEF ESSAY TITLE 10

keen on emphasizing the importance of a clear, succinct writing style that omits needless words.

He said:

Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a

paragraph no unnecessary sentences, for the same reason that a drawing should have no

unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. This requires not that the writer

make all his sentences short, or that he avoid all detail and treat his subjects only in

outline, but that every word tell. (para. 13)

Just a few mistakes in spelling or word usage may cause the reader to lose confidence in what the

writer is trying to say (Thurman & Shea, 2003).

Conclusion

The last section of your paper is the conclusion section where the highlights and key

points of your paper are summarized. A good understanding of APA style and proper usage will

help to create papers that are formatted correctly and that accurately reference the sources of

information. Be sure to proofread your paper for accuracy! With a quality presentation of your

content, you are on your way to creating a successful assignment.

Block quotations

(for 40 or more

words) are

indented five

spaces from the

left margin and

do not contain

quotation marks.

The in-text citation for block quotations occurs

outside of the punctuation that ends the sentence.

YOUR BRIEF ESSAY TITLE 11

References

American Psychological Association. (2012). Publication manual of the American Psychological

Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Cruetz, R. (2010, December 1). Self-plagiarism: Is it really plagiarism? [Blog post]. Retrieved

from http://www.ithenticate.com/plagiarism-detection-blog/bid/52948/Self-Plagiarism-Is

-it-Really-Plagiarism

Eldridge, C. (2006, February 14). Why use APA? NerdNurse. Retrieved from

http://nerdnurse.com/2006/02/14/why-use-apa.aspx

Guariglia, J. (n.d.). Brooklyn, New York [Photograph]. National Geographic Society. Retrieved

from Encyclopdia Britannica ImageQuest database.

Gysber, N.C. (2013). Career-ready students: A goal of comprehensive school counseling

programs. Career Development Quarterly, (61)3, 283-288. doi: 10.1002/j.2161

-0045.2013.00057.x

Hansen, B., Stith, D., & Tesdell, L.S. (2011, June 1). Plagiarism: What’s the big deal? Business

Communication Quarterly, 74(2), 188-191. doi:10.1177/1080569911404695

Johansen, L. (2014, February 4). Citing sources [Online forum post]. Retrieved from DeVry

University POLI 101 Week 2: Challenges and opportunities discussion website:

http://threadcontent.next.ecollege.com

Jones, B. (2010a). Plagiarism, why steal from oneself? Journal of Writer’s Ethics, 12 (4), 25-26.

Jones, B. (2010b). Celebrate your writing accomplishments. College Writing, 17 (7), 21-23.

Lawton, K. A., Cousineau, L., & Hillard, V. E. (2001). Plagiarism: Its nature and consequences.

Retrieved from Duke University Guide to Library Research website:

http://www.lib.duke.edu/libguide/plagarism.htm

DOI = digital

object

identifier, a

unique series

of numbers,

that identifies

a specific

electronic

article,

making it

easier for the

reader to

find.

If an article

does not

have a DOI,

use a

retrieval

statement

instead, like

the one in

the Smith,

C.B. citation.

All months

should be

spelled out

and not

abbreviated

When the

author and

publisher

are the

same, use

the word

Author as

the name

of the

publisher.

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Shpancer, N. (2011, May 10). Seven tips for writing a good paper. Insight Therapy. Retrieved

from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/insight-therapy/201105/seven-tips-writing

-good-paper

Smith, C. B. (2003). Fighting cyberplagiarism. Library Journal, 128(12), 22. Retrieved from

Business Source Complete Database: AN10164376.

Smith, K. (2012). Keep the urge to plagiarize at bay. The Quill, 100(5), 30. Retrieved from

https://www.spj.org/quill.asp

Sterngold, A. (2004). Confronting plagiarism: How conventional teaching invites cyber-

cheating. Change, 36(3), 16. Retrieved from http://www.changemag.org

Schunk, D. (2012 ). Learning theories: An educational perspective. (6th ed.). Boston, MA:

Pearson Education.

Strunk, W., Jr. (1999). Elementary principles of composition: Omit needless words. In The

elements of style. Retrieved from http://www.bartelby.com/141/strunk5.html (Original

work published 1918)

Thurman, S. & Shea, L. (2003) The only grammar book you'll ever need. Avon, MA: Adams

Media.

Turnitin. (2014, January 24). As we go about integrating technology…we are increasing the risk

and potential for plagiarism: ow.ly/2aGnMg [Twitter post]. Retrieved from

https://twitter.com/Turnitin/status/427864942759653376

Turnitin (2014, March 5). Webcast starting now: “Getting to the (Power)Point: Addressing

plagiarism in student presentations”: ow.ly/ugXVh [Twitter post]. Retrieved from

https://twitter.com/Turnitin/status/441271563502243840

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Understanding the APA Citation Format. (n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2014, from

http://citationproducer.com/article/understanding-the-apa-citation-format/