Organization
Need to organize your work? Click on an option here to get started.
Research Writing Organization
To organize your literature reviews, dissertation, and thesis writing, consider using one of the following tools from your OCWC.
Outlining Ideas
Organizing by Theme
Synthesis means focusing on the themes that develop across the sources that you’ve reading. It’s distinctly different from an annotated bibliography, which summarizes one article at a time. Although you might begin with a list of annotations, your final literature review must reflect synthesis:
To create your outline, first take out the notes that you took while reading, and then:
Narrow your topic to a specific topic sentence and/or thesis statement. This statement should clearly and concisely convey to your reader the paper’s purpose and serve as a basis for the argument you will make.
Create a list of main ideas or themes that you identified in your note taking process. If you were thorough in your note taking, this step will likely be very easy. If not, you might need to spend some additional time brainstorming and reviewing your sources. Be critical of the ideas you plan to include. Do they advance your argument? Do they offer a counterargument? Do they aid in understanding?
Organize the main ideas in your list into a logical order. This means following a logical progression of idea development. Or, more simply, building a clear argument. Decide what you need to say and in what order makes the most sense to say it.
Add in sub points and specific evidence to the main ideas.
Review and adjust the outline once more to make sure it responds to the assignment guidelines
Quick Tips:
Create outline using the correct APA headings
Fill in the outline with the notes you have taken
Include your APA citation in ALL notes on your outline
Feel confident in your Outline organization and content before you begin writing
A common misnomer is that outlines are ‘extra’ work and an additional task. However, outlines can be as simple as creating the APA header levels for your paper and embedding the related instructions into each header using MS Word comments. Here, we have attached a version of our APA 7th edition template with comments embedded to show you how you can make an outline like this using the prompt paraphrase you made in Step 1.
Using the OWLC’s Preformatted APA Templates
Sometimes, we run out of time to manually format all of our paper. In times like that, we have two templates for you.
APA 7 Paper Template with Instructions/Explanation
APA 7 Paper Template - Quick Use (no explanation of components)
Paragraphing
Having a clear, logical paragraph structure can make all of the difference in the overall clarity and cohesion of your paper. Disorganized or disjoined paragraphs are difficult for readers to follow and can cloud the overall argument you are developing in a paper. In essence, paragraphs are the building blocks to your paper. And, contrary to popular belief, paragraphs are not defined by a particular length or number of sentences.
Rather, a paragraph is considered complete when there is "unity and coherence of ideas" (Duke University, n.d.) among sentences supporting a single main idea. And when you’re ready to move on to a new idea, you begin a new paragraph. Duke University’s Writing Studio recommends that, much like paragraphs serve as the building block of the paper, certain components serve as building blocks within each paragraph.
Think of these paragraph building blocks like a funnel of information: they begin wide and then narrow down to specifics. Having a paragraph structure such as this is especially important within research writing. According to Duke University, the main paragraph building blocks are as follows:
The main Idea is also known as the “topic sentence,” is often the first sentence of the paragraph, and usually focuses on a single idea.
Evidence is the information that supports the assertion made in the topic sentence. It is the part of the paragraph where writers will incorporate content from the sources they have read.
After presenting evidence from the literature, writers then need to analyze that evidence in the context of the topic. In other words, you need to tell the reader what the evidence means and why it’s important. This can be hard to separate from the evidence, and some paragraphs might require weaving together multiple pieces of evidence and analysis.
Finally, writers need to link back to the papers main idea/and or link to the next paragraph. Don’t just jump from one idea to the next; rather, help your reader transition with linking text.
APA Formatting
APA 7 Formatting
Here is an interactive APA 7 tool to help you format your paper.
Alternatively, you can download our template for a preformatted APA 7 paper here.
APA Elements
APA recommends the following elements of a Dissertation Manuscript:
• a cover page
• abstract
• main body (e.g., Introduction, Background, Literature Review, Methods)
• references
• appendices and supplemental materials.
These elements are considered Level One headers. Formatting for headers follows below.
Margins
APA requires 1” Margins on all sides.
To set this up:
• Access the Layout tab within Microsoft Word
• Select Margins
• Choose Normal: Top, Bottom, Right, and Left at 1”
Spacing
NOTE! APA 7 no longer requires two spaces after final punctuation. Use a single space after each period.
APA requires double spacing (2.0) throughout the paper (including block quotes and the reference list). To set this up:
• Access the Home tab within Microsoft Word
• Within the Paragraph sub-section (mid menu bar), select the icon with arrows pointing up and down for Line and Paragraph Spacing
• Choose 2.0 to create double spacing
• Set Before: and After: to 0 pt.
It is recommended that you complete this step at the beginning of your paper to avoid formatting errors.
Using Quotation Marks
Quoting Less than 40 Words
As a general rule, use quotation marks only when quoting text word for word from another source.
Example: According to Schunk (2012), “People agree that learning is important, but they hold different views on the causes, processes, and consequences of learning” (p. 3).
Note: place the closing quotation mark before the parenthetical citation. If the citation appears before the direct quote, then the ending punctuation is placed within the closing quotation, like this:
According to Schunk (2012, p. 3), “People agree that learning is important, but they hold different views on the causes, processes, and consequences of learning.”
Quoting 40+ Words: Block Quote
If the direct quote is 40 words or longer, then you will use a block quote and not quotation marks, which indents the entire quote 0.5", like this.
According to Schunk (2012, p. 3),
People agree that learning is important, but they hold different views on the causes, processes, and consequences of learning. There is no one definition of learning that is universally accepted by theorists, researchers, and practitioners (Shuell, 1986). Although people disagree about the precise nature of learning, the following is a general definition of learning that is consistent with this book’s cognitive focus and that captures the criteria most educational professionals consider central to learning.
NOTE: See the interactive formatting guides below for help with creating block quotes.
Other
Use quotation marks to:
• To indicate words that you consider or want your reader to consider ironic, slang, or invented/coined (However, do so sparingly as this can diminish the academic tone of your paper.):
Analysts consider this “normal” behavior.
• Around the titles of an article or chapter if you mention that title in the text of your paper:
Wolf’s (1978) article, “Social Validity: The Case for Subjective Measurement or How Applied Behavior Analysis is Finding its Heart” identified…
Italics
Use italics for:
• For titles of periodicals, books, and movies:
Schunk’s (2012) book, Learning Theories: An Educational Perspective, pointed out several discrepancies in definitions of the word learning.
• To identify the anchors, or definitions, of a scale:
The scale ranged from 1 (do not agree) to 5 (strongly agree).
• To indicate a letter, word, or phrase as a linguistic example:
The teacher focused on the letter A with the Kindergarten class.
• To introduce a technical or key term:
The term behavior refers to several characteristics in this paper.
APA 7 Cover Page Format
Here is an interactive APA 7 cover page example. Click on and follow the yellow numbered steps to create your own cover page. The green icons provide extra MS Word help.
Alternatively, you can download our template for a preformatted APA 7 paper here.
Click through the numbered icons below.
APA 7 Headings Format
Here is a page with interactive examples of APA 7 headings. Click on and follow the numbered steps to create your own headings.
Alternatively, you can download our template for a preformatted APA 7 paper here.
Click through the numbered icons below.
APA 7 Table Format
Here is an interactive APA 7 table example. Click on and follow the orange numbered steps to create your own table.
Alternatively, you can download our template for a preformatted APA 7 paper with inserted tables here.
Click through the numbered icons below.
APA 7 Figure Format
Here is an interactive APA 7 figure example. Click on and follow the orange numbered steps to create your own figure.
Alternatively, you can download our template for a preformatted APA 7 paper with inserted figures here.
Click through the numbered icons below.
APA 7 Hanging Indents
APA requires hanging indents for references. A hanging indent is a format for indenting the second and subsequent lines of reference entries by 0.5 inches.
Sometimes, Microsoft Word formatting can cause trouble for writers by indenting all lines of the reference by 0.5 inches. To solve this formatting issue, you can do two things:
Hold CTL + Tab to break the automatic formatting problem.
You can also use the ruler bar to slide highlighted text to the desired indention: Watch the video here to see how you can use the ruler bar to slide text from the left margin to become an APA hanging indent (0.5”).
Alternatively, you can download our template for a preformatted APA 7 paper with inserted hanging indents here.
Click through the numbered icons below.
Outlines for Revision
