5 Peculiarities Of APA Papers

If you are not used to writing APA papers then everything might seem a little bit strange the first time you are asked to use it. Normally, the MLA style is used in fields which are deemed the humanities and APA style is used in fields which are in the social sciences category. This means that if you have only been taking classes or writing academic work in one field you may not have had to use one or the other of these styles before. Do not worry, there are a lot of different places where you can go for help.

Five Differences to Think About:

  1. MLA papers use a Works Cited Page and APA papers use a References page
  2. APA style calls for the year of publication at the end of citations whereas MLA style requires the page where the quotation of information was found
  3. According to APA style, quotes of 40 words or more should be indented.
  4. APA papers are to be written in the past or present perfect tense
  5. The thesis statement in an APA style paper should answer a research question

These differences are just a few of the commonly discussed differences between the two styles. Doing more research into the APA style will reveal to you that it has a unique form and purpose. Your writing style and syntax changes greatly when you are expected to adhere to APA style.

What is the Purpose?

APA style was created for researchers in the social sciences and therefore has a more scientific approach to writing. The information in APA style papers is always pertinent and to the point. The language and syntax used in APA papers is more direct than in other styles of papers.

If you are interested in learning more about APA style it would benefit you to invest in a style guide or to find one which you can reference online. Using the APA style makes it perfectly clear which ideas and words in your paper belong solely to you and which ideas, quotations, etc. come from an outside source such as another author, researcher, or lecturer. Also, when you are writing in APA style you are using a format which other individuals in your field will understand with ease (after practice, of course). This will put your audience in a position to be able to focus on your main points and conclusions in your paper.

 
 
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