APA Template
Title of Your Essay
Your Name
Course Number & Title
Instructor 's Name
Month Day, Year
Title of Your Essay Start the first paragraph here. It should introduce your reader to the subject you are writing about, as well as your particular position or claim. Before you can create your first paragraph, consider these “pre-writing” tips. You can use this template to help you format your paper. For longer papers, include sub-headings or levels of heading.
The writing process
Spend time planning your paper. A good practice is to brainstorm ideas and decide how to express the main idea or thesis. Once you have a rough idea of what you want to say or argue, create an outline or list to help you organize the evidence you plan to present. For more suggestions, please read about thesis statements on our Ashford Writing Center website: Thesis Statements. Other helpful tools on our website are the Thesis Generator and Moving from Prompt to Thesis.
Writing the body paragraphs Each paragraph of your assignment should be clear and easy to follow. We have several good resources to help you write a strong paragraph, such as How to Write a Good Paragraph and the P.I.E. Paragraph Structure.
Using citations correctly
In addition to being well-written, each paragraph should include an in-text citation to all ideas, references, or quotations that are from outside sources and research. The Ashford Writing Center provides many resources to help you follow correct citation style (primarily APA) and gives lessons and examples of how to paraphrase and cite sources. The APA Key Elements page is a good place to start.
References
The following are commonly used references. Please fill in the required information, and if you need more help, see the AWC References page. References are listed in alphabetical order.
Ashford Textbook (Online edition): *
Author, A. (Year published). Title of book: Subtitle of book (edition, if other than the first) [Electronic version].
Your Name
Course Number & Title
Instructor 's Name
Month Day, Year
Title of Your Essay Start the first paragraph here. It should introduce your reader to the subject you are writing about, as well as your particular position or claim. Before you can create your first paragraph, consider these “pre-writing” tips. You can use this template to help you format your paper. For longer papers, include sub-headings or levels of heading.
The writing process
Spend time planning your paper. A good practice is to brainstorm ideas and decide how to express the main idea or thesis. Once you have a rough idea of what you want to say or argue, create an outline or list to help you organize the evidence you plan to present. For more suggestions, please read about thesis statements on our Ashford Writing Center website: Thesis Statements. Other helpful tools on our website are the Thesis Generator and Moving from Prompt to Thesis.
Writing the body paragraphs Each paragraph of your assignment should be clear and easy to follow. We have several good resources to help you write a strong paragraph, such as How to Write a Good Paragraph and the P.I.E. Paragraph Structure.
Using citations correctly
In addition to being well-written, each paragraph should include an in-text citation to all ideas, references, or quotations that are from outside sources and research. The Ashford Writing Center provides many resources to help you follow correct citation style (primarily APA) and gives lessons and examples of how to paraphrase and cite sources. The APA Key Elements page is a good place to start.
References
The following are commonly used references. Please fill in the required information, and if you need more help, see the AWC References page. References are listed in alphabetical order.
Ashford Textbook (Online edition): *
Author, A. (Year published). Title of book: Subtitle of book (edition, if other than the first) [Electronic version].
References: Santovec, M. (2008). Easing the transition improves grad retention at Trinity U. Women in Higher Education, 17(10), 32. Retrieved from http://www.trinitydc.edu/education/files/2010/09/Women_in_higher_ Ed_Trinity_Transistions_10_08.pdf U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2008). Police and detectives. Retrieved from http://bls.gov/oco/pdf/ocos160.pdf Example—Article or section within web page with no author: