Welcome to Task 5!
For Task 5 you will set up a paper for APA and practice properly using and citing source materials.
APA Overview
APA Style is a method for formatting papers for submission to school and/or publication. It is a set of conventions, created and published by the American Psychological Association, to guide what your paper should look like on the page (margins, font type and size, title, page numbers); how your paper should be structured (headings, paragraphs); and how you document sources (citations, References page). APA style is frequently used in the social science fields (psychology, sociology, etc.), and is one of several different established styles.
Stratford University expects students to learn how to use APA style in all classes—that way assignments are submitted in a consistent format. Using APA style will earn you better grades and help you practice the skills of presentation and polishing, which will help you do better in the professional world in any field. This Task is designed to introduce you to APA style and how to use it.
First, visit Stratford University’s Library Guide (libguide) on APA Style here . Watch the Prezi presentation in the center of the page under “How APA 7e is Used at Stratford University” to get an overview of APA style at Stratford.
Second, click here to find a pre-formatted APA 7e style template in Microsoft Word. In the “Sample APA Formatted Paper” box:
1. Click the “Sample APA Formatted Paper”
2. Open the download – it should open in Microsoft Word. You may have to then click on “Enable editing”
3. Remove the “Abstract” page if it is not needed
4. Click on “File” and then click on “Save As”
5. Choose where you want to save the file.
6. Name the file: APA 7e Template and save the file
Whenever you need to write a paper in APA 7e, open the APA 7e Template file and click on “File” and “Save As” and give the new file a name. By doing this you have saved a fresh copy of the template as well as preserved the original template.
Third, watch the following videos (find them here: https://guides.stratford.edu/APA_7e/how_to_videos ) to learn how to manually format certain elements of your paper as necessary:
APA 7e Formatting and Title Page – this video discusses the four main formatting rules as well as the elements needed on the title page.
APA 7e Abstract and Body of the Paper – this video discusses how to format the Abstract page as well as how to format the paragraph and level header indentations.
APA 7e Reference Page – this video discusses how to format the reference page using hanging indents.
Fourth, prepare an APA formatted document for the assignment you will submit as Task 5. Go back to the APA Template in Word and follow these instructions:
· This time, save it as “Task 5 [your name].”
· Enter the following information on the cover page and headers:
Properly Using and Citing Sources (title – make sure you bold it)
Your Name (author)
Stratford University (institutional affiliation)
ENG111 – College Composition (course)
Your Instructor’s name and title
The specified due date for Task 5
Insert the page number in the header on the cover page
Fifth, complete the below assignment to practice using sources properly in APA in the document you created above in Step 4. On-ground students – your instructor will explain what text(s) you should be using. Online students – you may select the articles. Read the article(s), and then follow the below instructions, using the skills you learned in Lesson 5:
1. Summarize : Underneath the title “Properly Using and Citing Sources” on page 2, summarize the article in a single paragraph. Add the proper in-text citation and an entry for the source on your References page.
2. Paraphrase : Underneath your summary paragraph(s), write a paragraph in which you paraphrase two key passages of the article. Add the proper in-text citations.
3. Quote : Underneath your paraphrase paragraph, write a paragraph in which you quote two key quotations from the article you selected. In the paragraph use introductory tags such as “In his article, Smith states”, use correct punctuation, and add the proper in-text citations. Please note that your direct quotes do not have to be dialogue.