Student Paper Jrssb Style Guide PDF

Preview

Summary

APA Format for group projects, assignments, essays, and reports...

Description

1

JRSSB STYLE GUIDE HOW TO FORMAT AN ACADEMIC PAPER An instructional tool for students

J R Shaw School of Business Northern Alberta Institute of Technology Edmonton, Alberta, Canada ©2020

2

DOCUMENT FORMATS Academic Paper/Essay Description This guide is intended for academic papers, essays, informal business reports, and other writing assignments. They may take the form of answers to questions by the instructor, responses to articles or lectures, memorandums, or reports. Instructors may require that the assignment be submitted in the Moodle drop box, handed in as a printed copy, sent by e-mail, or any combination of these. To maintain academic integrity, students must document all references to subjects, objects, dates, names, numbered quantities, or information from any written, visual, or audio source using both in-text and reference-page citations according to the Seventh Edition Concise Guide to APA Style (2020) standards. The content and intent of a specific assignment may dictate some variations (shown in colour) from this standard guide as specified by the instructor. Specific instructions from your instructor supersede any guidelines listed here. Please use the points in this guide as a checklist.

Checklist A. Document 1. Word processed and printed on one side only on white 8.5 x 11 inch paper. 2. One inch (2.54 cm) margins all sides (Instructor may require 1.5 inches on the left to accommodate binding or hole punching). 3. All pages numbered in the upper right corner in standard Arabic numerals. 4. Bound by a staple in upper left corner, paperclip coils, Cerlox, plastic spines, or binder as specified by the instructor.

B. Title Page 5. An APA title page includes an original title (bold), the name of the author, the author’s course and section number, the institution, the name of the assigning instructor, and the date of submission; all double spaced, centered, title case. See the example (Figure 1) on the next page. a. In lieu of a title page, the title may appear at the top of the first page above the author’s name and section number, only with instructor approval in advance. b. The memo-style report does not require a title page. The four labeled lines of the memo heading are placed in the upper left of the first page: Date: day month and year of submission To: the instructor’s or the recipient’s name From: the student author’s name Subject: descriptive, not the same as the title

3

4

C. Report Body 6. All text in the body should be double-spaced. Use only one typeface throughout the paper. Because all typefaces do not have the same x-height, APA recommends 12-point Times New Roman; 11-point Arial, Calibri, or Georgia; or 10-point Lucida Sans. 7. Appropriate section breaks with headings and subheadings in upper and lower case. a. Major headings centered and bold, subheadings aligned left and bold. b. Headings may include “Introduction,” “Background,” “History,” “Findings,” “Conclusions,” “Recommendations,” or other appropriate short phrase. c. Headings are NOT part of the sentence in the subsequent paragraph. 8. Introduction may vary according to the specific discipline or assignment, but usually include the subject and purpose of the report, the direction, limitations, and preview of topics or findings. Some introductions include the results or conclusions – consult your instructor. 9. Short, single-themed paragraphs. Every paragraph does not need a heading. 10. Indent paragraphs (1/3 to 1/2 inch) but no extra paragraph spacing for an APA-style academic paper. Other informal reports are aligned left, single or 1.5 spaced, with 8-point paragraph spacing. Never indent paragraphs and add paragraph spacing in the same document. 11. Figures (graphic, photo, statistical graph, table, or chart). a. All figures must be introduced in the text prior to the occurrence of the figure. b. All figures must be labeled with a figure number above the figure. c. All figures must be titled [if it doesn’t come with a title, give it a descriptive one]. d. All figures must have the source note and in-text citation(s) underneath. This includes tables and charts you create using data from any other sources. e. All figures must be explained in the text either before or after the figure. f. In Canada, the fair dealing principle applies to the educational use of copyrighted images or images on a copyrighted page. Images with a watermark should not be used without purchase. g. Registered trademarks and logos may be used only to represent the entity for which they are registered. They may be resized but must not be stretched, squished, or in any way distorted in proportion. 12. Avoid typographic “widows and orphans.” Eliminate “orphaned” headings or single first lines of a paragraph at the bottom of the page by inserting a page break. Eliminate a single “widowed” word or line that belongs with the paragraph on the previous page by editing down the text or spacing on the previous page.

D. In-text Documentation 13. Every paragraph containing summarized or paraphrased research data must have at least one correctly formatted in-text citation. Multiple sources require multiple citations. Every sentence must indicate where the information originated. [The colour code is for pattern recognition only: Who, When, What, and Where.] a. (Author’s last name only, year), in parenthesis before the period or other punctuation.

5

b. If no known author, use the “First Two or Three” words from the title of the work in title case and quotation marks. It MUST match the first words in the Reference! 14. Every quotation must have a correctly formatted in-text citation including page or paragraph number (Author, year, p. #) or (Author, year, para. # or section title) immediately after the quotation before the period or other punctuation. You have to count down the paragraphs for single-page, scroll-down online documents. 15. You must indicate any edit or alteration of quotes. a. By ellipses . . . for deleted words (space period space period space period space). b. Or [square brackets] for substituted or inserted words. 16. Each source listed on the reference page must have at least one in-text citation. a. The last name of the author(s) must exactly match the alphabetical listing by author’s last name on the reference page. b. If the author is unknown, the “First Two or Three” words from the title of the work in title case and quotation marks, must exactly match the alphabetical listing by work title on the reference page. c. The year or n.d. must also match the second section of the reference. 17. For further details, see In-text Citations, pp. 9-14 of APA CITATION JRSSB STYLE GUIDE.

E. References 18. References should start on a new page. (A single reference or a very short reference list or less formal documents may place the reference list starting on the last page of the report after the concluding paragraph, only if expressly permitted by your instructor.) 19. References section title should be centered, bold, in the same font and size as the rest of the paper. 20. Each reference should be double-spaced. 21. References must be in alphabetical order by author’s last name or the first word in the title of the work (the articles, “A,” “An,” or “The,” do not count when alphabetizing). 22. All references must use hanging indents, so the first words stick out on the left. For example, see the reference page for this document on the next page. 23. Reference syntax answers who, when, what, and where in that order, with each section separated by periods: a. Who: Author(s) by last name, and initials. Last author after an ampersand (&). The name of the work comes first if there is no known author. Each reference must have a unique beginning to which the in-text citations can exclusively match. b. When: (Year, month spelled out, day). Date is always second. If the date is not known use (n.d.). c. What: Title of article in sentence-style capitalization. Book or periodical website title in italics, Volume # (issue #), page #. d. Where: Publisher (if a book), DOI or URL (if electronic source). The URL is always last. An unidentified URL is not a citation.

6

References Ackroyd, R. C. (2019). JRSSB documentation and document style guide. JR Shaw School of Business, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. The American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Automated Graphic Systems. The American Psychological Association. (2020). Concise guide to APA style: The official APA style guide for students (7th ed.). American Psychological Association. Green, K. (2018, March 16). Reputable accounting firms [Unpublished formal report]. Northern Alberta Institute of Technology. Haig, J., & MacMillan, V. (2014). Cites & sources: An APA documentation guide (5th ed.). Nelson Education....