APA Checklist for Co ege Papers

Page 1 of 2 APA Checklist for Co ege Papers Everest uses a modified APA style for papers submitted as part of your course requirements. APA stands for American Psychological Association. Their style guide is used by professionals writing scholarly articles for the social sciences. Other disciplines may use other style guides. For example, humanities uses MLA (Modern Language Association) and business uses CMS (Chicago Manual of Style). If you have questions about how to apply APA style to your assignment, consult with your instructor. He or she is the final authority on what is acceptable for his or her class. Use this checklist to help you ensure that your paper conforms to basic APA style for college papers. SECTIONS The following sections are frequently included in college papers. Check your assignment to see which sections are required. I~ Title page " Abbreviated title and page number,/ Title of paper " Your name " Course name,/ Instructor name,/ Date the paper is due (The above information is centered left to right, just above the center of the page as measured top to bottom.) [] Abstract (on page 2, single spaced) (not used for essays or short papers) I~ Body " Starts on page 2 (page 3 when an Abstract is included) " Begins with the title of the paper as a first-level heading 1~ References page [] End notes (optional for research papers) FORMAT I~ Margins are set at 1 inch -top, bottom, left, and right. [] Type face is a serif font (e.g. Times New Roman) and is 12 point. ~ Title is abbreviated and appears in upper right corner if each page, including the title page. (Abbreviated title and page number may be placed in the document header, between the top of the page and the margin.) Page number appears five spaces after abbreviated title and is right-justified (touches the right margin).!~ Page number on title page is 1. (Separate pagination rules apply for dissertations and theses. Check with your instructor.) 1~ First line of every paragraph is indented ½ inch. Copyright 2009 Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (CCi) Santa Ana, California, 92707 All rights reserved. APA Checklist for College Papers 2009-0727

Page 2 of 2 PARAPHRASES, QUOTES, and IN-TEXT CITATIONS [] Paraphrased words of another author are cited with the author s name and the date of publication (author, year). [] Direct quotes of another author are set off with quotation marks at the beginning and end and are cited with tlie author s name and the page number the quote Was taken from. [] Quotes over 40 words long are indented ½ inch, are single-spaced, and do not have quotation marks. They are cited with the author s name and the page number. [] Every paraphrase or in-text quote is properly cited. HEADINGS [] Headings, if used, are correctly formatted (not bold). (Do not confuse paper headings with the header or a running head. Headings set off sections of the paper by topic. A page header includes the abbreviated paper title and page number. Running heads are not used in college papers.) [] The paper title on page 2 and "References" are listed as first-level headings [] If needed, topics are broken out as second-level headings [] If needed, sub-topics are broken out as third-level headings Example. Second-Level Heading Example First-Level Heading Example third-level heading. (Begins a paragraph and ends with a period. May be an incomplete sentence.) REFERENCES [] The word "References" appears top center of the reference page as a first-level heading (no quote marks). [] References page is ordered alphabetically by author. [] First line of each reference is a ½ inch hanging indent. [] The individual references are single spaced with a double-space between each reference. (It is also acceptable to double-space throughout. Check with your instructor for his or her preference.) [] For references that include URLs, the link has been removed. There is no terminal period for references that end with a URL. [] There is a reference listed for every author you cited in the body of your paper. Copyright 2009 Corinthian Colleges, Inc. (CCi) Santa Ana, California, 92707 All rights reserved. APA Checklist for College Papers 2009-0727

APA Confusion 1 Title of paper Student s name Course name Instructor name Date the paper is due

APA Confusion 2 The Title of Your Paper: Dealing with Major and Minor APA Confusion Unless your professor tells you othelavise, every APA-style paper you submit should have a cover page. Official APA style does not include otherwise important information like the class an essay is submitted for or the. due date, but some professors ask for such info to be included. The Behavioral Sciences Department at CBU requires an additional (Turabian) cover page in front of the APA one, for identifying information; information on this cover page is available on the BlaclcBoard site for any Behavioral Science class (and is included in most SBS syllabi as an attachment), but is also available from ARC Writing Lab resources. Note that this and every other paragraph in the main text of your paper, aside from block quotes.is indented ½ an inch (move the down-pointing arrow in the ruler at the top of the page, right below all the toolbars). The main text of your paper is written on the line directly after your essay title; do not skip any lines (but double-space everything). Remember also that your entire paper, including the four lines with identification for the paper (i.e., your name and so forth) and the Works Cited at the end, should be double-spaced. In Microsoft Word, you can do this before you write anything by going to "Format" on the task bar, selecting "Paragraph" from the drop-down menu, and, in the "_Indents and Spacing" tab, select "Double" from the scrolling menu under "Line spacing:"; if you already have something written, follow these same steps but first select all the text in the document. Also, your page should have a margin of exactly one inch (1") at the top, bottom, right, and left of the page. Go to the "File" drop-down menu and click on ~"Page Setup" to open the dialogue box to do this.

APA Confusion 3 At the top right-hm~d coruer of this page you should have the two- or three-word version of your tide written, with the page number one space after (as in, ~APA Confusion 1"); you can do this in Microsoft Word by going to "V iew" on the taskbar and selecting "Header and Footer" from the drop-down menu--or, you can simply double-click in the page margin while in "Prh~t Layout" page view.. Do not type "1" for the page number; instead, click the "#" button on the ~Header and Footer" toolbar that pops up. When you are finished, click the "Close" button on this toolbar. When you quote anything or refer to an idea from anything other than yourself (unless it is common knowledge, as for instance that Washington, D.C., is the capital of the United States of America or that Copernicus came up witl~ the cun ent model of a sun-centered solar system), you must attribute it. This is whether you quote it exactly or whether you use some of the words it used or an. idea it had, put in a different way. You can cite quotations in a variety of ways. You cm~ "front-load" a citation, noting that a particular individual or group from this h~stitution and with this basis for authority has this or that to say, as in, Rockwell, N., and Annan, K., in their 2006.publication on politica! images, point out, "A picture can often be worth a thousand words" (p. 113). You can also split up the parts of the reference, as in, Rockwell, N., and Annan, K., point out that "a picture can often be worth a thousand words" (2006, p. 113). You may also wait to put the citation information until the end, as in, it is arguably true that ~ a picture can often be worth a thousand words" (Rockwell, N., and Annan, K., 2006, p. 113). If you note something a reference said overall but not in a specific place in the work, simply put the authors and year of publication, as in (Rockwell, N., and Annan, K., 2006).

APA Confusion 4 References Hines, J. D. (2007). This is the most basic book chapter citation. Worksheet basics. Riverside, California: California Baptist University. Hines, J. D. (2007). This is how you cite a journal article. Fake journal name: California Baptist University fake publications, [edition #], [page # s].

Plagiarism and How t9 Avoid The term "plagiarism" includes, but is not limited to the use by paraphrase or direct quotation of the published or unpublished work of another person without full and clear acknowledgment. It also includes the unacknowledged use of materials prepared by another person or agency engaged in the selling of term papers or other academic materials. In a nutshell, it means that using materials from sources without giving credit and providing documentation is considered plagiarism. Plagiarism is not limited only to published texts, but can also refer to web-based text, images, and unpublished works. In other words, if an idea isn t your original idea, articulated in your own words, chances are good that you need to cite it. It also means that having someone else write your paper--for: pay, for fun, or as a favor--is plagiarism because, again, these are not your words, but rather are someone else s. Citing Quotations A correctly incorporated quotation has two features: quotation marks and citation. Failure to include both elements constitutes improper use of a source, and may be considered plagiarism. 1. When reading literature it is important to recognize that "every community has its own body of story that matters" (Foster, 1999, p. 65). 2. When reading literature it is important to recognize that every community has its own body of story that matters (Foster). Paraphrasing Paraphrasing, although it is putting an idea into your own words, still requires citation because the idea is not uniquely yours. The Modern Language Association offers the following examples: "Some of Dickinson s most powerful poems express her firmly held conviction that life cannot be fully comprehended without an understanding of death." Paraphrased: Emily Dicldnson firmly believed that we cannot fully comprehend life unless we also understand death. --this is considered plagiarism because while the words have been rearranged, the idea is still that of the original author rather than the paper writer s. As Wendy Martin has suggested, Emily Dickinson firmly believed that we cannot fully comprehend life unless we also understand death (Elliot, 1995).

Reusing a Paper You ve Written Also known as self-plagiarism, submitting work previously completed for a different class without consent from your instructor is considered academic dishonesty. While there are some classes in which this is encouraged, it is up to your individual instructor to make that known. Join t projects (those created in collaboration with your classmates) are not considered plagiarism proved all contributors are acknowledged. To avoid plagiarism, you should also be familiar with the following terms: Paraphrase: using someone s ideas, but putting them in your own words. Although you use your own words to paraphrase, you must still acknowledge the source of the information. Summary: putting only the main ideas or main points into your own words. Although summaries are significantly shorter than the original and take a broad overview of the source material,, you must still acknowledge the source of the information. O.uotation: using someone s exact words. When quoting, you must always put quotation marks around the passage and you must still acknowledge the source of the information. (:ornm{}n Knowledge: facts that can be found in numerous places and are likely to be known by a lot of people. This is generally known information and you do not need to acknowledge the source. Example: John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States in 1960. Adapted from: "Plagiarism: What It Is and How to Recognize and Avoid It." ISS: Writing Tutorial Services. 2004. Indiana University. 05 July 2008 <http://www.indiana.edu>."avoiding Plagiarism." The Owl at Purdue. 2008. Purdue University. 09 July 2008 <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01>.

Outline for Essay Writing The following in.jbrmatio~7 ~.l, as lalce77,/?om my ComjJosilion fi class. Students were to research their career o,/"interesl and report their JTndings via a research paper. Introduction (15) Lead sentence or hook: Interesting and appropriate for the topic (originality is a plus).. Thesis statement: Clear and well written; the statement shows the meaning behind the analysis of cause and effect. ~ Points to be discussed: This should not be a list, but should allow your reader to understand (and preview) the progression of your points, Transition: Be careful not to be too heavy-handed with transitions. There should be a natural flow to your paper. Body Paragraphs (50) Topic Sentence: Lets your reader know what you re going to be discussing in the paragraph--interesting and meaningful. Evidence~roof: This is where research will come into play. Your reader should be shown proof as to why you are right, not just informed of your opinion. Your information should be relevant, reliable, and cited in text. o "Quote that supports the argument in this paragraph as well as my thesis" (Author, year of publication). Argument/Explanation: In this part of your paragraph, you will be explaining how your evidence supports your thesis and why the connection is meaningful. Remember, your explanation/elaboration should always be twice the length of your quotation (three sentences of quotation require six sentences of explanation). Tie to thesis/transition: Remember, your thesis is the heart of your paper. All of your argument and evidence must directly support what you are trying to argue as a whole. This part of your paragraph will be tying your point to the big picture--the meaning and purpose of your paper. Conclusion (15) Summarize your paper: Do not list what you have discussed, but rather show how your paper has provided the evidence and explanation for your conclusion or call to action. Restate thesis: This is your chance to make your thesis more profound. After you have discussed all of your arguments/points, your thesis should have a much more concrete effect. This is your chance to really show your reader why you are right one last time. End with gumption: You would be surprised how much a strong or wealc last line can determine a paper s, fate. End with something original and profound.