APA is an acronym for the American Psychological Association. The American Psychological Association, located in Washington D.C., is the largest association of psychologists worldwide; it consists of 148,000 members. APA is a professional and scientific organization; representing psychology in the U.S. APA format was invented by the American Psychological Association to cite sources within the subject of social sciences.

When using APA format, there are some general guidelines you must follow. For instance, your essay must be typed, double-spaced, on standard sized paper (8.5” x 11”) and must have 1” margins on every side. Additionally, you must have a page header on every page at the upper right-hand side. Furthermore, your font must be between 10-12 point and you must use either Times New Roman or font similar to Times New Roman.

When using APA format, your essay must consist of four major sections: Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References. Also, reference citations in text are done using Harvard referencing. Harvard referencing consists of the author’s last name and the date of publication within parentheses, separated by a comma. Reference citations in text are placed immediately after the reference. At the end of the essay or article, full bibliographic information is placed in the reference section.


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