APA has a number of specific requirements for academic papers. Therefore, if you are planning to compose a good writing assignment, you should strictly follow APA guidelines. Apart from organizing the reference list, tables, headings, and in-text citations, there are some recommendations for the outlines. Arranging your outline in APA can be time-consuming, particularly if you are an inexperienced academic writer. Here is a brief guide on APA to make your university life easier.
Basic rules to follow in APA outline
Generally, APA style doesn’t allow specific requirements for an outline. In other words, the way your outline will look depends on your personal choices as well as what guides your lecturer asks you to follow. At the same time, there are some basic rules in APA, you should bear in mind:
- You should choose one of the widely used fonts, for example, 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Georgia will be a good option.
- Use double spacing for the whole text, including quotes and the reference list.
- Use 1-inch margins for all pages.
- Create a page header for each page. It includes the page number for student papers and the paper title plus the page number for professional papers.
- Follow traditional essay structure in your outline: an introduction, a body, and a conclusion.
- Headings and, subsequently, subheadings should be organized in a specific way. Roman numerals should be used for headings and capital letters for subheadings. If you are going to create a more diverse structure, begin with Arabic numerals, then continue with the lower case letter, and finally, you may use Arabic numerals with parentheses.
It is always a good idea to read the guidelines from your instructor before you start to write. They may contain additional requirements for how your outline should be organized and formatted as well as what information should be included in it.
Based on: https://wr1ter.com/outline-format-apa
