Essay writing tasks are one of the most grueling tasks that require a lot of hard work to be done.  Most of the times, professors ask to follow a specific writing style which have certain limitations on writing format. In this article, we are going to discuss the basics of essay writing in APA format, so let’s have a look at the following:

• It is essential to use an 8.5 x 11 inch paper while writing your essay in APA style. As it is a standardized size, you can’t go beyond this size.

• In APA style, margins should be uniformed. They should be at least one inch thick from the right, left, top and bottom sides of your essay.

• Always remember, your paper must be double-spaced and every page includes a page number at the top right corner. Keep a check while double-spacing your content.

• Each page of your essay must contain a running head at the top left side. Running head is precise form of your essay title and it should be not more than 50 characters including spaces.

• Another important thing is that, your essay must have a title page in APA style. The title page of your essay should contain the title of your essay, your name and your school affiliation. In some conditions, your professor may require some additional information such as the title of your course, name of instructor and the date.

• For in-text citations, add the author’s last name, year and page number in parentheses right after placing a quotation mark. Remember, this information should be divided by using commas. Have a look at the example: According to a recent research, “Smoking heavily affects human lungs.” (Martin, 2011, p.23)

• If you mention an Author's name outside the parentheses, you don't need to include it again. Follow the format of the following sentence: Johnson (2004) also stated, "Schools are becomingly increasingly strict in response to the cut-and-paste generation of students." (p.166)

• Another important thing is that, once you have mentioned the author’s name outside the parentheses, there is no need to mention it again in your content. For example: Marry (2011) also stated. “High schools are becoming highly strict on checking plagiarism in the essays.” (p.87)

• Cite your sources by listing them in the alphabetical order. Center the word ‘references’ at the top side of the page and don’t forget to double space your references.

Once you are done with writing, just go through the above guidelines several times to check if you have followed an appropriate writing format. Especially, check your references and prove their authenticity. Also, consider typos, spelling and grammar mistakes etc. in order to make your work more towards high standards.

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