RasGuides: APA 7th Edition Guide: APA Paper Basics

APA 7th Edition - The Basics

Components of an APA Paper

Setting up the paper: APA Formatting

Double spaced, one-inch margins
Six acceptable fonts
Title page format
Headings

In-Text Citations

Format of in-text citations for paraphrases or summaries: (Author, Date).
Format of in-text citations for quotations: (Author, Date, p. #)
Place in-text citations at end of sentence (parenthetical) or in the sentence (narrative) where information from source material is integrated.

References

References are composed of four elements: Author. (Date). Title. Source.
References appear in alphabetical order in the reference list, often the last page of your APA paper.

Citation Tools

Rasmussen College students have access to two resources that can be used to generate APA-style references:

APA Academic Writer
Formally APA Style Central, Academic Writer is a digital library of quick APA guides and tutorials:

- Learn - view videos and tutorials, test your APA knowledge with quizzes, and view sample papers, references, tables, and figures.
- Reference - view tutorials, search APA dictionaries, develop research ideas, plan and track your research, and manage your references.
- Write - use templates to write papers (includes step-by-step help), and work on saved papers. (Must create a personal account to use.)

NoodleTools Guide
Use NoodleTools citation generator to create APA-style references. This tool can be used to create and format the References list as well as annotated bibliographies. View the instructional videos to learn how to create an account, save your work, and use this tool for APA citation needs.

Six Steps to Proper Citation

Follow this process to gather, integrate, and properly cite information found through your research process into your research assignment.

Where to Find Help

APA Tutoring

Make an appointment with an APA tutor to review your paper for the following:

Title page
Body of paper formatting
References list
In-text citations

Library Live Chat

The Rasmussen College librarians staff a live chat service to assist students with questions about locating resources, APA citation style, research assignments, and more. The service is offered:

Monday - Thursday 12:00 pm - 8:00 pm (CT)
Sunday 4:00 pm - 8:00 pm (CT)

Look for the Live Chat in the Student Portal, on the Library page, in the Resources tab in your course, as well as in all of the Library Guides. Enter your Rasmussen student email in the first text box, select your status (student, faculty, staff) in the dropdown menu in the second text box, and click "Start Chat" to begin the session.

APA Style Experts: Blog & Style and Grammar Guidelines

The APA Style Experts have created two helpful resources, the APA Style Blog and the APA Style and Grammar Guidelines:

Consider bookmarking these helpful websites!