APA Formatting Help
I need to format my dissertation as per APA 6th edition. My university has given no guidelines. The problem is that there are so many sources online, which are not similar. Where can I find the accurate APA formatting guidelines? And is there a formatting tool?
Discuss your Dissertation 
alexoliphaant 9:54 am on May 6, 2016 Permalink |
Ever checked out the guidelines of Purdue University? It has got everything you need to know about APA formatting. From tables to headings to references, everything is explained in a comprehensive manner. I use the guidelines of this university. Check it out:
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
davidm34 9:12 am on May 17, 2016 Permalink |
First of all, use Microsoft Word for doing your formatting. Don’t go for any complex tool like Latex as it will be really difficult to work on it. You can use any version of MS Word, like 2007, 2010 and 2013, any would do. See the major task in formatting is creating sections, page numbering, Table of contents, list of tables and figures. And the major tasks of APA formatting is doing more apart from these like introducing running head, formatting tables and figures and references, page layout, indentations and headings. Editing tables and figures is a tedious task. So, I’d like to refer you this blog for the same:
http://www.statisticsconsultation.com/blog/best-practices-for-a-data-analysis-chapter-as-per-apa-formatting/
For the others, you can get information from Google and YouTube. There are a lot of resources available.
terrywellch 11:53 am on May 23, 2016 Permalink |
God, I can’t even do section breaks correctly! The page numbers seems to move all the time! And the more I ‘do something’, the document looks even more pathetic. It’s giving me a headache now!
robertmaxeey 11:57 am on June 1, 2016 Permalink |
Hey, it’s not really that difficult, a little confusing but you can do it. First, clear all the formatting of your document, sometimes it auto-formats, so you need to get rid of that. Do it by selecting all the contents and click on the Normal style on the Home tool bar. From there you can follow the steps of making section breaks by searching on Google.
davidm34 12:58 pm on June 14, 2016 Permalink |
There are a lot of APA style guides available online, have you had a look at them? Usually universities prefer their own format with a mix of APA style. When I was looking for formatting, I came across the guidelines of SMC University, which is actually quite close to APA format. If you search online, its not that easily available, so I am sharing the link, just download it from here:
http://www.resourcesvalley.com/apa-formatting-guidelines-for-research-students/
You may refer the template, but for title page and all, ask for your university-specific format.
sophiaw740 10:40 am on June 28, 2016 Permalink |
The main features to be considered for formatting are margins, pagination, running head, spacing, in-text citations and references, table of contents, tables and figures and the overall structure. You can get the details from Google or YouTube. As far as doing it is concerned? It’ll take time, watch videos or get our friends template. Doing it in a template is like doing half the work. So, yeah, that’ll be all.
minttyt 11:56 am on June 30, 2016 Permalink |
I find section breaks really painful among the other things. But hey, its not all about formatting. Keep the language at check too. Proofread your complete document as per the specifications provided in the APA guidelines. And I don’t know why people say that it’s not a big deal. I mean I formatted my sister’s thesis and it literally took a lot of time. It has soo many things and I had to do it twice before getting it right.