APA Professional Paper

Abstract

1. The Abstract appears on page 2, right after the title page

The second major part of setting up a professional paper is the abstract. This is a clear, accurate, and concise summary of what happened in your study. To set one up, go to the second page of your paper, write ‘Abstract,’ in bold, and move it to the center. Press Enter to move on to a new line.

2. Write your abstract

On the Home tab change the alignment back to the left and write your abstract in one paragraph. Do not indent the first line. Press Enter to move on to a new line. 

3. Write your keywords

Keywords are words, phrases, or acronyms that describe the most important aspects of the the paper. They are used for indexing purposes and to help search engines find your work. 

Write them after the abstract, indent the line after the abstract, write out ‘Keywords:’ in italics, and list three-to-five keywords separated by commas. Do not use a period or any other punctuation mark after the last keyword. If the keywords run on to a second line, it should not be indented.

When you finish writing the keywords, go to the Insert tab and add a page break to ensure that the text of your paper will start on a new page.

Once you've done that, you have finished formatting the abstract, and you are ready to move on to formatting the text (body) of your paper.