a) Unless otherwise specified, all papers in EDLD courses must follow the APA Publication Manual (7th edition, student papers) and cite any and all references. Most papers require a minimum of three or four pages to adequately address the topic (not including the title or reference pages). For those familiar with the older APA style, click here for more about differences between APA 6 and APA 7.
b) Purdue’s “Online Writing Lab” (OWL) offers a sample APA 7 paper that provides a visual model on how such papers should look. Note: Use the “Student Paper” format. This is designed for papers written for credit in a class. The “Professional Paper” format is only required for scholarly publications (like papers submitted to a national journal or similar).
In addition, here are some representative samples of student papers from various EDLD courses (EDLD 6023, EDLD 6153, and EDLD 6113). These papers provide a good example of how the concepts presented in the sample APA 7 paper are often applied. Note: Abstracts are not required for papers in my courses.
c) Correctly formatted headers and subheads will greatly enhance your paper’s readability. The first page of text usually starts with a Level 1 heading. You can then adjust later headings and subheads to the appropriate levels throughout the rest of document. Here is more specific guidance on heading and sub-head formatting. The APA 7 Heading Level Template is another useful tool.
d) A Table of Contents is not required … but it’s often helpful for longer papers (like Culminating Artifacts). Here’s a sample of a well-designed Table of Contents.
e) While first-person writing is useful when writing your drafts (it’s usually easier to get your ideas down on paper that way), formal research papers are primarily written in third person. As you finalize your paper, locate any references to “I, we, our, etc.”, then rewrite those sentences to eliminate personal pronouns. (Exception: If the paper contains a “reflection” section, that should be written in first-person since third-person would be extremely awkward for a personal reflection.)
AUTHOR’S NOTE: Because I began my career as a journalist (decades ago), this “third person stuff” drove me crazy when I first moved into education! It was tough to “change gears” in order to write research papers. This went against everything I’d learned (and mastered) when writing informative articles and news stories for the general public. But eventually I found that it’s similar to switching between a standard transmission and an automatic in cars. Over time, you can learn to adjust as needed in order to work effectively in very different settings.
f) If you use any personal communications as a source, remember these are cited in the text only, not on the reference page. Here is the correct format for personal communications (scroll down several sections).
g) Here is the correct way to cite a secondary source (like a study discussed by your textbook author). Another option is to find the source discussed (using Google Scholar or similar), read it … and then it becomes a PRIMARY source. This can not only give you additional insights, but also add to the number of references in your paper.
h) For confidentiality reasons, avoid using the actual names of students, teachers, or administrators. This applies both to your papers and to your discussion posts. You can either refer to them as “Teacher A,” “Teacher B,” etc. or you can call them “Smith,” “Jones,” etc. with a footnote at the bottom saying, “To preserve confidentiality, actual names have not been used.” Otherwise you would have to go through the whole informed consent process (not normally used in my courses).
i) Numbers under 10 should generally be words, not numerals. For example, “The improvement plan for mathematics at the high school level consists of a two-hour launch, two days of professional development, four days of …” and so on. However, the opposite is also true. The numbers 10 and above are almost always written as numerals (“507” not “five hundred and seven”). The exception is when a number is the first word in a sentence, and there it should always be written out (“Twenty” not “20”).
j) Most papers need a minimum of three sources to achieve any degree of credibility, although some may require more. Modules usually contain multiple opportunities for references. In addition, a quick search in Google Scholar should yield additional material on any topic we cover. (Be sure to read all assignments carefully to determine instructor expectations specific to that task.)
k) Always avoid referring to the assignment in your paper. For example, “Culminating Artifact,” “Module 2,” “Week 3,” etc. are assignment descriptions and have no place in a research paper. The same goes phrases like “according to the textbook” or for titles. Your paper’s title should clearly represent your topic. For example, “An Exploration of Discipline Discrepancies Related to Sixth Grade Marshallese Students at ABC Middle School” not “EDLD 6253 – Culminating Artifact.” (See Item L for the rationale on this.)
l) On a related note, don’t think of your paper as responding to an assignment (with the instructor as your primary audience). Instead, think of it as a stand-alone document that might be published and thus read by a much wider audience. This approach will make your papers much more professional and credible.
m) Always avoid claiming that “it has been proven that …,” or “research proves …” Since every study is finite in nature (you can only test/ask/survey a limited number of participants), research never PROVES. At the most, it can only “strongly suggest” specific conclusions. Whenever a researcher or reviewer sees “proves” or “proven” in a paper or article, it’s an immediate red flag!
n) In early 2022, APA 7 adopted a new grammatical rule, the addition of the singular “they”. The him/her or he/she combination has always been awkward writing at best, and frankly, a lot of southerners have always used “they” in this fashion anyway. But now it’s not only officially correct, but actually preferred!
o) Proper paragraphing is often a problem in students’ first papers … sometimes with paragraphs that seem to go on forever! The OWL (Purdue’s Online Writing Lab) offers some excellent guidance on correctly formatting paragraphs.
p) APA 7 no longer requires the use of the phrase “retrieved from” for electronic references. You can read more on that (and other information about correctly formatting electronic references) in this update from OWL.
q) Here is the correct way to cite an author or authors. Note that for three or more authors, you must use “et al.” and that there is no period after “et.” Also, when there are multiple citations for the same sentence, list them alphabetically in the same parenthetical and separate them with semicolons. See page 2 in the APA7 sample paper (Item b above) for a visual example.
On a related note, here are the guidelines for correctly formatting sources on the Reference page(s). Also, please remember that except for personal communications (see Item f above), citations and references always come in pairs. In other words, every citation in the text must have a corresponding reference on the reference page … and vice-versa.
Author’s Note: What may be great writing for an article or news stories is often not acceptable in a research paper. For example, author’s full names and the titles of books or articles generally should not be part of your narrative. So avoid phrases like “Drawing from Micheal Fullan’s insights in ‘The Meaning of Educational Change’ …” The standard convention is always to simply “quote or paraphrase, then cite.“
r) Many students have difficulty with citations/references for TED Talks that are embedded in many EDLD courses. These must always refer to the author, not just “TED” (which is an acronym for Technology, Entertainment, Design). The link above explains the correct format … straight from the horse’s mouth! A similar struggle applies to YouTube videos. Purdue’s “Online Writing Lab” (OWL) has an entire section dedicated to correctly referencing electronic sources. Information on the correct format for YouTube videos, streaming videos, Podcasts, and more can be found near the bottom of the page.
s) Avoid colloquialisms and slang. While phrases like “cover a lot of ground” or “laid back” and words like “kids” or “legit” may be appropriate in a simple essay or opinion paper, they do not represent the precision and detail required for research papers. Their use detracts from the work’s credibility. On a related note, avoid the use question marks (rhetorical questions) and exclamation points. Due to the spirit of dispassionate discussion that formal academic writing requires, neither of these are appropriate in formal academic writing.
t) Per the APA manual, the preferred font is 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Georgia, or if a sans serif font is preferred, 11-point Calibri or Arial. These are not only more readable, but give your paper a more professional appearance.
u) Generally avoid live links in your papers. While some disciplines now allow live links in research papers, that practice is not yet widely accepted. That’s because research papers are usually considered primary source documents, which means they should follow standard conventions for printed materials. Besides, links change … and when that happens, your work is instantly outdated.
Finally, please remember to save copies of all your papers, especially the Culminating Artifacts. This will give you a broad variety of materials to choose from when you create the final version of your Professional Portfolio (that is due during your final term). It is difficult, if not impossible, to reopen completed courses, so saving your papers as you go along is vital! Note: Since “endorsement only/certificate” students are not degree-seeking, they are not required to submit a portfolio. However, your saved papers often make a great reference for future practice.
IMPORTANT NOTE: In the Fall of 2022, ATU went through a major restructuring. One new college was created, others were eliminated, and several programs were moved, rearranged, or merged into new departments. As a result, the second line of the information section on the title pages of your papers (department/university) should now read “Teaching and Educational Leadership, Arkansas Tech University.” Please use this designation on all future papers.