Student papers have at least three elements in APA format:
Each of these starts on a new page, with a bold, centered heading.
An abstract is not necessary for student papers, but if required by the instructor, one would be found directly after the title page. An appendix is optional, and would start on a new page after the reference list.
Unless your instructor specifies otherwise, abstracts are not a mandatory piece of student papers. But if required, the abstract is a concise paragraph of about 250 words that reports the major points and findings of the following paper. It gets its own page, and a bold, centered heading. While the body of the paper uses a first-line indent, the abstract does not. Otherwise, it follows the same formatting rules for margin, line spacing, and font as the rest of the paper.
An academic paper should always start with an introduction. This is where a thesis statement or research question will be found, outlining the remainder of the paper.
Tell us what you know!
After all major points have been addressed, summarize the paper with a conclusion. Don’t forget to restate the thesis or research question.
The References page is the fourth section of your paper. As with the previous sections this begins on a new page. ctrl+enter or for a mac Command+enter inserts a page break.
Label the page References, centered at the top of the page. Alphabetical order entries, hanging indents on all references, double-space all citations - don’t skip the lines between entries, no extra space between paragraphs.
Citations must be organized in alphabetical order, and formatted with a hanging indent. (This makes it easier to skim down through the references to find the right one.)