APA Formatting Tips
Learning how to write in a new format can be difficult and can seem overwhelming at times. There are so many different parts and pieces to think about with the citations and the bibliographies, and knowing what to cite and how. You’ll probably be learning one of two writing formats, APA or MLA. Because of my background in psychology, I will be discussing APA format. Though they are different writing formats a lot of the information is same for both- at least in how you acquire information about the format itself.
My first bit of advice in learning APA formatting, buy an APA Manual from Amazon and maybe invest in an APA pamphlet to keep in your binder as well. These items are lifesavers! Everything you need to know about APA format is will be in the 7th edition, the most recent as of today.
This may seem like a no-brainer, but after you receive your APA Manual go through the front where it breaks down what is in each chapter. It’ll help you get a grasp on where you’ll find the important things you’ll be looking for later on when you’re trying to write a paper. What I tend to do is to find the topics that I think are important and add tabs to them so they are easy to find, like in the picture to the right.
Some of the topics that I have chosen to tab on my APA Manual are:
- sample papers
- sample tables
- sample figures
- in-text citations
- citing paraphrasing, and quotations
- and reference elements
Another bit of advice I would have for anyone with questions on a writing format would be to… head on over to your local college writing center! It may seem like they are just there to check over your papers and make sure you’re on the right track, but they are also handy resources when it comes to various writing formats! If you have a question about something and are having a difficult time finding exactly what to do they could be a great resource to use.
Once you get a decent grasp on APA format, do yourself a favor and download a program called Zotero. It connects to your Word documents and can actually insert your citations and bibliographies for you! You choose from a large list of writing formats, including APA and MLA, and it does all the hard work for you. Zotero has saved me countless hours. I tell you this as someone who has had their scholarly life changed by this incredible program. Just try it out for yourself! If you want to learn more, like how to download and use Zotero, check out this video posted by the Paul V. Galvin Library.
Lastly, learn from your mistakes! I have turned in a lot of college essays at this point in my education. What I can tell you is that none of them have ever been perfect and I have always found something I can improve upon. New writing styles aren’t easy to pick up and incorporate into your writing. You’re having to relearn everything you previously knew about writing. Give yourself time and don’t be too hard on yourself when you make mistakes. Just do your best to remember the mistakes you’ve made and try your best not to repeat them. But always remember, we’re all human!
As always, if there is something that I didn’t cover or something else you might like to learn about then please leave me a comment below and I will be sure to write a post about it next time. Until then, take care!