Apa Paper Format With Instructions Page 3
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SHORT TITLE
Title of the paper goes on
This is the Title of My Example APA Paper
the first line of page 3,
Indent 1/2 inch at the
centered (not bolded
beginning of each
paragraph
The first section of an APA paper is the introduction. Notice that the title is the header for
this section. You should not include a header that says “Introduction” when writing an APA
paper. In the introduction, you present the topic you will be discussing, include a detailed review
of literature that has already been published on the topic, briefly introduce the experiments you
will present in your paper (the experiments for which you collected your own data), and finally
propose hypotheses for the experiments.
Continue indenting!
In the introduction, it is important to tell a clear story that a general audience will
understand. From very early on in the introduction (no later than the end of the first paragraph),
your readers should know the topic of your paper, and why your topic is important. The
importance of the topic can be theoretical, applied, or both! For example, some researchers study
retrieval practice or retrieval-based learning – the act of bringing information to mind, which in
turn helps people learn that information compared to common study strategies such as rereading
one’s textbook or notes. Researchers may be interested in what exactly happens in our minds
when we retrieve information (basic research or theory), and/or how retrieval practice can be
used to enhance learning in the classroom (applied). The key is to tell the reader why the topic is
important, and to write very clearly so that a reasonably intelligent person with no expertise in
your subject could understand your paper. Write for a general audience, and define terms that
your readers might not know. For example, “retrieval-based learning” is defined above in case
readers are unfamiliar with the concept.
The introduction is also where you describe previous literature. Present the reader with a
background summary on what has already been done, and what questions remain open. During
the literature review, it is important to relate the literature back to your main topic. Again, the
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