Formatting the Title Page

Formatting the Title Page
The title page should contain the title of the paper, the author’s name, and the
institutional affiliation. Include the page header flush left with the page number flush
right at the top of the page. Please note that on the title page, your page header/running
head should look like this:
Running head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER
The running head should be a shortened version of your title (no more than 50
characters long including spaces). Generally it is the first few words of your title and
should be in ALL CAPS. Pages after the title page should have a running head that
looks like this:TITLE OF YOUR PAPER
Type your title in upper and lowercase letters centered in the upper half of the page.
APA recommends that your title be no more than 12 words in length and that it should
not contain abbreviations or words that serve no purpose. Your title may take up one or
two lines. All text on the title page, and throughout your paper, should be doublespaced.
Beneath the title, type the author’s name: first name, middle initial(s), and last name.
Do not use titles (Dr.) or degrees (PhD). Beneath the author’s name, type the
institutional affiliation, which should indicate the location where the author(s)
conducted the research.
Writing the Abstract
The abstract should be written after your have finished writing the body of the paper
(Introduction, Method, Results, and Discussion). It should be between 150-200 words in
length. Write the word Abstract and center it at the top of the page. The format of the
abstract should be as follows:
• The purpose or main objective of the research study (2-3 sentences)
• A brief description of the methodology (1-2 sentences)
• An overview of findings/results of the study (1-2 sentences, I prefer not to use
formal statistics in the abstract)
• A summary of your conclusion of the study (1-2 sentences)
The following sample abstract will help you see the condensed formatting of how an
abstract should be written:
The Effect of Job Stress On Clinical Health Outcomes
Brett H. Neely, Jr.*; Bridget Reynolds, Ph.D; Rena Repetti, Ph.D; Ted Robles, Ph.D
University of California, Los Angeles
Approximately 15-25% of the U.S. working population is classified as high-risk for job
stress. This type of stress is known to exert a psychological toll on workers (Repetti &
Wang, 2009). However less is known about the impact of job stress on physical health
and how current findings translate to clinically relevant outcomes in everyday life, such
as susceptibility to the common cold. (These first three sentences introduce the problem
and briefly describe why the problem is important) In an ongoing daily diary study, 68
adults (37 females) completed measures of job stress and upper respiratory infection
(URI) symptoms every day for eight weeks.(This sentence briefly describes the
methodology) Preliminary analyses show that males who had busier days at work on
average also endorsed a greater number of total URI symptoms. Additionally, males
who reported lower perceived job security and less supervisor support were sick with
upper respiratory infections on more days across the study than were those with greater
job security and supervisor support. Among females, endorsing more busy days
(whether at home or at work) was associated with greater endorsement of URI
symptoms. (These three sentences summarize the results) The findings expand our
understanding of links between job stress and immune functioning by elucidating effects
on a clinically-relevant health outcome. (This last sentence provides a brief conclusion
of the study).
Reference Section
“References” should be centered at the top of the page. Always double space and
indent the second and subsequent lines of each entry. The general formatting for the
reference page is as follows: