APA or American Psychological
Association style of writing a dissertation is the most preferred and commonly
cited style. This style of writing is
one of the major and most important styles of dissertation presentation along
with the Chicago school of writing. The APA format is majorly used across
universities in the United States.
The sixth edition of the American
Psychological Association Manual describes in detail the guidelines for
presenting dissertations. They have
multiple methods whereby students can cite sources for their research and also
format the content of the dissertation for publications. As a trusted style for
dissertation submitted worldwide, APADissertations are usually very dependable. The style adheres to set
rules that enable the dissertation to be more comprehensible to the reader.
Research papers, thesis and
dissertations written in APA styles must include some major sections. They are:
Title Page: The title pages are
centered horizontally and vertically. It contains the name of the candidate,
the title of the paper and the name of the university/ Institution.
Hypothesis: Following the title
page is the section which deals with the hypothesis to be studied in the
dissertation. The hypothesis is a statement of the research problem. This
hypothesis should be a part of an abstract. The abstract should not be larger
than two hundred words.
Pages on: 1. Dedication, 2.
Acknowledgement, 3. Table of Contents, 4. List of Tables, 5. List of Figures,
6. List of Abbreviations.
The preface: It is usually a
longer and a more elaborate introduction to the topic of the dissertation.
The main Body: This section is the
dissertation. It contains the entire content that has been produced following
an elaborate comprehensive research.
References: A good dissertation
always ends with an extensive and exhaustive list of references. References in
the APA format usually have a hanging indent, but again, it varies from
university to university.
APA Dissertations are usually helpful when it comes to
writing for social science or behavioral science. In spite of established
formats, Universities always have their own unique styles. It would be
intelligent to check out with the home university.