What are good reasons for using APA?

RES 501 Research Writing

Critical Thinking Paper 1 

"The Purpose and Importance of APA in Academics and Research Writing” 

By: Maryellen Elizabeth Hart

Sunday, July 21, 2019

Colorado State University Global Campus 

ABSTRACT 

The purpose and importance of using the American Psychological Association (APA) standards in academics and research writing is described in this brief essay. 

The APA method of writing standardizes papers for the benefit of the writer, the reader, the reviewer, the evaluator, and the scientific community at large. The standardization of writing, by using the APA style, affects three general categories of literary focus: the high quality of concise, descriptive language, the formatting particulars of any paper and the style of the references which are cited and recorded.   

  “APA controls two things: best practices for formatting a paper and using sources. The American Psychological Association, or APA, is the organization that created the language used and understood by academics around the world. APA style is the expected standard in higher education and research papers to ensure sources are cited properly. Despite its universality, the many nuances of academia can make it a difficult language to master.”  (Spicer, A.  Colorado State University - Global Campus [CSU-GC], 2017)  

This paper both describes and role models, the three general categories of literary focus: the high quality of concise, descriptive language, the formatting particulars of any paper and the style of the references that are cited and recorded.  Formatted according to this model: http://csuglobal.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=21534702

INTRODUCTION

(A conflict exists between authors, whether or not an Introduction heading should be used in APA.) http://csuglobal.libguides.com/ld.php?content_id=21534702

In Stephen R. Covey’s 1989 book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,  Habit 2 is stated as: “Begin with the end in mind.” Dr. Covey expands his proactive thinking to  "Your most important work is always ahead of you, never behind you." (Covey, 1989, no pg.). Using APA requires that an author begins their writing with their “end goals” clearly in mind. A thesis, premise or purpose is clearly stated in the beginning, then during the initial research, sources identified as validators of the premise or thesis, which fulfill the original purpose, are carefully sought, then tracked and then recorded with a reference which uses specific APA citation style requirements. “References are located at the end of the paper. The References page points readers to the full list of citations used in your paper.” (Colorado State University - Global Campus [CSU-GC], 2019, no pg.) 

APA style of research writing influences, evolves, scientific philosophies, and draws its strength from strong, concise language, specific to a certain field or a particular organization. 

“When you get your first job you learn that industries, employers, and organizations have specialized vocabularies. Universities and academic publications are no different. Developing new ideas is the purpose of higher education, and knowing how to use APA lets us take part in that ongoing, worldwide conversation.” “Using the APA language gives your ideas the credibility necessary to be taken seriously.  Further along, if you pursue publication, APA citations allow your readers to cross-reference your sources easily, people working together in a field want to understand the origins of ideas.” “Why We “Speak”” APA in Academics By Audra Spicer - February 24th, 2017 (Spicer,A. CSU-GC 2017) 

“The clarity of your writing along with a precise citation format works to establish your credibility, and it reflects the extent of your research as well as the novelty of your original ideas.”  (Seattlepi.com 2019) 

Body of the APA Paper

What Are the Benefits of College Students Using APA Format?  Michele Cooper Updated November 21, 2016 article summarizes: 

 “APA, or American Psychological Association, is a form of formatting most often used in the Social Sciences. APA offers guidelines for overall paper layout, citations, abstract, style, and references. College students are often asked to adhere to the APA guidelines when writing papers, research essays, and reports. Understanding and following the rules of APA can assist a college student in writing a well-formatted and professional looking academic paper.  Presentation, standardized appearance, making papers easier to read and the standardization makes it easier for teachers to grade...APA recommends four major sections of a paper: title page, abstract, body and reference page.” 

Cooper  describes perils of plagiarism, and outlines the benefits of a properly organized APA paper which uses a writing style of concise reporting rather than poetic flow.  Some of the benefits: 1) easy to read and follow the logic (for general audience, scientific community, teachers and students), 2) concentrated amount information, 3) APA standardization is easier for teachers to grade resulting from the standardization of the formatting, the clear, concise, active voice of the paper, which is poetry and bias free.

Beginning with headings used within an APA paper, author, Chelsea Lee, in the concise 2011 article about the purpose and importance of formatting headings using APA, describes the standards for formatting APA Level 1 to Level 5 headings. The guidelines for headings is clear and easy to follow. Basic academic papers, such as this one, only use Level 1 and 2 headings, however more scientific studies require a hierarchy of 5 levels to clarify the general organization of thought in their papers. 

In addition to “Headings”, APA dictates standardization of the many mechanics of formatting research papers, such as: generous and precise use of in-text citations, indentations, font size and style, capitalization, bolding the font, use of quotations or italicizing titles, formation and recording of References.  

How to write an effective essay is no small effort. Myriads of books and papers are written about the advantages of using one format or another, such as APA, MLA or one of the hundreds of other writing styles available.  All writing styles are important because they cover the same basic organizational style for a paper, and emphasize, clear, concise writing. The net result of purposeful and effective research writing is how the resulting work benefits everyone engaged in the writing, reading, evaluating, grading of a paper or influencing a body of scientific philosophy. 

For a student:  

“Using rules on mechanics and style will improve your written communication skills. You will have more time to concentrate on the content of your paper. APA Style is widely accepted in the business world and is commonly used in professional publications.”  (Medaille.edu, 2019) http://libraryguides.medaille.edu/apa 

The parts of a well written research paper are:

“The “Introduction”, the beginning of the paper, introduces the topic and provides a one to two sentence thesis, or position, on the topic. To add interest and relevance, present your ideas as a response to what others are saying about the topic. Sometimes this can be done through a brief story related to the topic.” 

“The middle portion of a paper, the “Body of the Paper”, each paragraph in the body of the essay should start with a topic sentence, or a sentence that conveys the paragraph's argument. This sentence should clarify how the paragraph supports your thesis. Present the research you have found on the topic, and then follow with your own ideas that support your thesis. Make sure you connect your writing through appropriate transitions between the various sentences and paragraphs.”

“The “Conclusion” is meant to make your purpose clear to your reader and to remind your reader why it is important.” This section can also set a future research agenda as illustrated in the CSU-GC Libguides Writing Center tutorials entitled “Organization and Structure” (CSU-GC, 2019), and is  also described within Purdue Owl, 2019.  

Another important concept influenced by using the APA writing style is building credibility into an article which presents new concepts and ideas to the scientific community. Quotes, citations, strong references all continue the lines of accepted philosophy, create a line of heritage (of philosophy), and bring forth within the new concept, tried and true, well-respected theories penned by predecessors. Strong, credible references and citations actually support the evolution of old philosophies, and create new philosophies and methodologies. For example the research of Bakhtin:

“...three theoretical constructs taken from Bakhtin's (1930s) collection of essays The Dialogic Imagination, written in the 1930s. Bakhtin's concept of the chronotope, interanimation and the monologic provide lenses on a shifting student perspective on authoritative writing in universities and a potential change in future forms of academic writing. The result is an exploration of how time and space together affect and alter modes of academic communication, how communication itself emerges from dialogues that combine our own and others' thinking, and how attempts to close down and conventionalized academic practices will (and can usefully) be overcome through experimentation with genre.”  (Sinclair, C. 2015)

“Publishing in highly ranked journals and/or journals with high impact factors and accumulating as many citations as possible are important "means" for academics to improve their own and their institutions reputation and to advance their career ("ends")”. (Baron, S., & Russell-Bennett, R. 2016)

Conclusion

The purpose and importance of APA in academic and research writing describes the crucial, and mandatory, necessity of standardization in the approach, development, structure, and citing of every paper intended to influence any scientific body of thought for the benefit of the writer, the reader, the reviewer, the evaluator, the educator, and the scientific community at large. The standardization of writing using the APA style affects three general categories of literary focus: 1) the high quality of concise, descriptive language; 2) the formatting particulars of any paper; and 3) the style used to cite and record the References. Standardized papers are easier to write, easier to read, easier to grade, evolve scientific thought with credible sources, record the history of the lineage of scientific thought, and result in tried and true philosophies which profoundly influence paradigm shifts of thoughts within the community reading the paper.    

REFERENCES

Required

CSU-Global Library. (2017). Online research and writing lab. Spicer, A.  Why We “Speak” APA in Academics    Retrieved from http://csuglobal.libguides.com/writingcenterhome  

CSU-Global. (2017). CSU-Global Guide to Writing & APA. Retrieved from http://csuglobal.libguides.com/apacitations

CSU-Global. (2017). CSU-Global Guide to Writing & APA. Retrieved from https://csuglobal.libguides.com/writingcenter/writing_tutorials/organization_and_structure

Covey, S.. (1989), The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Salt Lake City, Utah 84119  

Retrieved from http://pages.franklincovey.com/FranklinCovey-Contact-Us.html

Baron, S., & Russell-Bennett, R. (2016). Editorial: Beyond publish or perish: The importance of citations and how to get them. Journal of Services Marketing, 30(3), 257-260. Retrieved from 

https://csuglobal.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.csuglobal.idm.oclc.org/docview/1826443990?accountid=38569

Sinclair, C. (2015). Students’ perspectives on academic writing in the digital age. Tech Trends: Linking Research & Practice to Improve Learning, 59(1), 44-49. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.csuglobal.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=100143874&site=ehost-live

Purdue Online Writing Lab (2019). General Writing FAQs. Retrieved from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/general_writing_faqs.html

Recommended

Lee, C. 2011. Important notes on formatting your headings. American Psychological Association. (2011). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.) Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association. Retrieved from https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2011/04/how-to-use-five-levels-of-heading-in-an-apa-style-paper. html:

Cooper, Michele. (2019). What Are the Benefits of College Students Using APA Format?  Retrieved from https://penandthepad.com/benefits-college-students-using-apa-format-1346.html

Medaille.edu, 2019. Medaille College Library, New York, Guide to Writing  Retrieved from http://libraryguides.medaille.edu/apa 

SeattlePi.com, 2019. Advantages of APA Writing Style https://education.seattlepi.com/advantages-apa-writing-style-2791.html 

Filename: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-PlMKw1ij0kr5YxozcYi1NHT3j1NmNsv/view?usp=sharing