Academic Writing Solutions- An APA Term Paper Layout


What is APA style term paper?


APA format or American Psychological Association format is a writing style guide that is generally followed by students from the science stream. APA style may seem intimidating first, but once understood- the whole process will become easier. APA format mainly demands about the inclusion of four segments- titles, abstract, body and reference page.

Five solutions to design the layout of an APA style term paper


  • Running head is an important point to add
  • Running head or the shortened version of the title of your term paper is a constant fixture in APA style. On the title page itself, you have to put the ‘running head’ after the title of your page, your name and the name of your academic institution. Running head should always be on the top left side of your page (or known as ‘ flush left’ in APA style). The running head shouldn’t be more than 50 characters and in uppercase letters.

  • Carefully construct the abstract
  • The abstract of your paper must contain the highlights of your term paper including the topic, the methodologies, analysis and conclusion. The entire abstract should be within 200-250 words and has to be double-spacing throughout. You can also include the future scope of development here. The word ‘abstract’ should be written on the first line and do not bold/italicize/underline it or put it inside quotation.

  • Don’t confuse the tone of your paper
  • There was a time when using the active voice was strictly prohibited in APA style but now it has been changed. In the current edition, usage of first person voice like “I” or “we” is highly recommended. Ex- instead of writing “ according to the results of the experiments”, write “ according to my experiment results”.

  • Focus on the reference list hardly
  • It’salways better to write down the sources of your information on a separate page while working simultaneouslyon your paper. So if you have cited something in your paper, it must reflect upon the reference list and vice versa. The rule of the thumb is- any author’s last name will appear first and the first name last. Also the longer titles of any article or book must be in italics while any alphabet after colon, has to be in capital letter.

  • Take care of the technical details repeatedly
  • Have you put the one-inch margin on all the four sides? Did you maintain the customary times new roman with 12-pt? Have you put double spacing throughout the paper? Once you are done writing your paper, you need to re-edit and revise it to scrutinize of every technical details.

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