For those of you in college.......please help!

I have to do a three paragraph thesis consisting of 350-450 words. I have to use APA formatting for this paper. If anyone has any idea what APA is and knows how to do it, please help! I know what APA is but I am totally new to using this type of formatting.

You mean a thesis paper?
A thesis generally isnt that long in my experience at least. APA is most commonly used with science papers.
This is the site i use to cite all my papers:
http://citationmachine.net/index2.php

Here's a good guide to APA formatting. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/ and http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/18/
I used to use this site in high school for MLA formatting.


I'm a university student, but as a Bio major, I'm not familiar w/ APA.
I've written a few scientific papers that follow peer journal format, which looks similar to APA though.

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Originally Posted by satomi325

but as a Bio major, I'm not familiar w/ APA.
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Really? What school do you go to?

I only go to a Community College and even then i still had to use this in my Psych and Bio classes.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Really? What school do you go to?

I only go to a Community College and even then i still had to use this in my Psych and Bio classes.

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University of California, Davis.
(mostly known for biology and it's vet school)

I just read a more concise guide on it. I guess it's identical where both have:
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion


SUPER EASY to understand guide (w/ audio! lol):
http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basi..._utmk=49354150

Thank you soooooooo much guys! I really appreciate the information. APA is very intimidating to me and this really helps a lot.

Just plug into the first link that was posted for the citation machine, I used the crap out of that thing with all my papers in college. 3-4 paragraphs is nothing that can't be done in a matter of 15 minutes honestly, as long as you know your subject matter and have a list of citations ready to go as sources. Wait till the real work comes if you take any 4000 level or 5000 level biology courses. Most require a full semester long research project followed by a research paper, minimum of 10 pages long! Enjoy the easy ones while you can :-)

*note* if you ever get stuck finding new sources, go back to your primary sources, and look at their literature cited section at the end of the papers. Look up their sources and find out if any of them are relevant. In a small paper like this, I don't imagine you need more than 1-3 sources anyway, but for future references you may need 10-20 sources within the last 4 years!

Yeah. I wish I had 3 paragraph paper. LOL....
I did a 20 page research project paper last year

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Originally Posted by satomi325

Yeah. I wish I had 3 paragraph paper. LOL....
I did a 20 page research project paper last year

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Yes, count your blessings. I did 6 of those in 16 months while getting my Master of Science. APA is pretty different from MLA, but follow the guides and you shouldn't have too much trouble. I would write the paper first, then go back and edit it based on the guides, since it is so short.

Believe me guys, I am soooooooo glad that this paper is short because at the end of the semester there is going to be a huge writing project due. I am not to worried about this I just had no idea what the heck APA was I first looked at it. Thanks for all the responses. Much appreciated.

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Originally Posted by Annarose15

Yes, count your blessings. I did 6 of those in 16 months while getting my Master of Science. APA is pretty different from MLA, but follow the guides and you shouldn't have too much trouble. I would write the paper first, then go back and edit it based on the guides, since it is so short.

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I don't use MLA anymore. I said I used that website as a resource to look up paper formats, which happened to be MLA at the time. (high school)
I really like how the site was laid out. Very clear to understand.

APA/Journal style is definitely different.

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Originally Posted by Mike41793

Really? What school do you go to?

I only go to a Community College and even then i still had to use this in my Psych and Bio classes.

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I've been in college since 2009, and out of all the papers I've had to write, I've only done two APA. I should mention that I'm a science major as well. Besides those two, all my papers were MLA.

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Originally Posted by Raptor

I've been in college since 2009, and out of all the papers I've had to write, I've only done two APA. I should mention that I'm a science major as well. Besides those two, all my papers were MLA.

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Oh ya i only had 1 bio paper and it had to be APA. And in Psych we had to write like 10 papers over the course of the semester which all used MLA. But our research paper had to be done APA. And in my english class this semester all the papers had to be MLA. In history class we had to use chicago. I personally prefer MLA and Chicago over APA. I have a thing for footnotes, i think theyre cute down at the bottom of the page lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by satomi325

University of California, Davis.
(mostly known for biology and it's vet school)

I just read a more concise guide on it. I guess it's identical where both have:
Abstract
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion


SUPER EASY to understand guide (w/ audio! lol):
http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basi..._utmk=49354150

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Ahhh im so jealous of you! Back when i was looking at schools i wanted to go to UC- Davis so bad bc of all the sweet bio courses they offered!!! Youre so lucky!

I adore California and wish I could move there. Just sayin. I had my sights set on Stanford though. ;) UC Davis is up there too, but the Stanford campus is beyond gorgeous. Probably won't end up there since I can't really afford to uproot myself even if I did get in, but it was and still is my dream school. -sigh-

Anyway, the Purdue OWL is an amazing resource. I'd definitely stick with that. :gj: I use that for all papers, whether MLA or APA (or peer journal...those things are awful). I was working on a third minor in English and American Lit for a while there...so writing papers is almost second nature at this point. I still contest that lab reports are some of the worst things you'll have to write as a science major. All the graphs, tables...labels...formatting pictures of gels...ugh. :P Good luck on your thesis! While I much prefer short papers to long ones, sometimes the hardest papers to write are short ones. You can always say more...but it's hard to say less and still manage to effectively argue your point. :)

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Originally Posted by WarriorPrincess90

I adore California and wish I could move there. Just sayin. I had my sights set on Stanford though. ;) UC Davis is up there too, but the Stanford campus is beyond gorgeous. Probably won't end up there since I can't really afford to uproot myself even if I did get in, but it was and still is my dream school. -sigh-

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I had my sights on Standford as well. But my future goals are better prepared at UC Davis.
I agree! The Stanford Campus has got to be one of the most beautiful campus' in the nation. I think you should still apply. Maybe apply for a scholarship. My friend has a full ride there.