Student Guide for
Cooperative Education Term Papers
Based on APA 5
th
Edition
Skagit Valley College
Mount Vernon Campus
2405 East College Way
Mount Vernon, WA 98273-5899
James M. Jolly
Interim Cooperative Education Coordinator
Student Guide for Cooperative Education Term Papers
The following guide is intended to assist students enrolled
in Skagit Valley College Cooperative Education classes. It is
intended to provide a standard for all mid-term and final
summary papers required for the class.
A Guide 1
Running head: A GUIDE TO WRITING
A Guide to Writing A Cooperative Education Term Paper
Jim Jolly
Skagit Valley College
Place page header [short title] 5 blank spaces left of page number,
one half inch from the
One inch from top
A Guide 2
Abstract
This paper describes the format for term papers for Cooperative
Education classes at Skagit Valley College. The format for the
cover page, abstract and body of the report is presented both by
example and explanation. The guidelines presented are from the
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association
(APA), 5
th
edition, 2001. The abstract is a concise explanation
of what the term paper is about. The abstract is not required
for Cooperative Education term papers but can be included for
practice in writing college-level papers. The abstract should
not exceed 120 words. The abstract is only one paragraph and the
first line is not indented. Use standard one-inch margins with a
Courier New font with a size of 12.
A Guide 3
A Guide To Writing A Term Paper
This paper presents guidelines for writing a term paper for
Cooperative Education classes for Skagit Valley College’s Mount
Vernon Campus. The format for the cover page, abstract and body
of the report is presented both by example and explanation.
The guidelines presented are from the Publication Manual of
the American Psychological Association (APA), 5
th
edition, 2001,
however; the APA manual should be consulted and followed when
questions arise. The first paragraph or first few paragraphs of
the term paper should be an introduction to the paper. The
placement of the introductory material clearly identifies it as
an introduction and therefore a heading is not used.
The Title Page
The title page is page one and has the short title, the
page number, the running head, the title, the author, and the
institution to which the paper is being presented. See page one
of this guide for an example.
Short Title
The short title is used to identify the pages of the paper
should the paper be accidentally separated while being reviewed
or graded. The short title is usually the first two or three
words in the title. It is typed in the upper right hand corner
one-half inch below the top of the paper, five blank spaces to
A Guide 4
the left of the page number. The first letter of each word of
the short title is capitalized except for articles (words such
as a, and, the, & to) which are capitalized only if they are the
first word of the title. The short title appears on all pages of
the paper.
Page Number
The page number is typed one inch from the right edge of
the paper and one-half inch from the top of the paper. (APA
allows the option of placing the page number two lines below the
short title, but it is recommended that the format example shown
in this guide be utilized.) All pages of the paper, including
the title page, abstract and body will be numbered successively.
All page numbering should be in Arabic numerals.
The Running Head
The running head is typed in all capital letters, one inch
from the top of the paper and one inch from the left edge of the
paper (see page one of this guide for an example). The running
head is an abbreviated title that is printed at the top of the
pages of a published article. The head should be a maximum of 50
characters, counting letters, punctuation, and spaces between
words. A distinction between the running head and the short
title is that the short title is used during the review process,
while the running head is used when the paper is published.
A Guide 5
The Title
The title of the paper is typed in uppercase and lowercase
letters, centered horizontally and in the middle of the page.
Multiple line titles should be double-spaced. Main words in the
title have their first letter capitalized and the remainder of
the letters are lowercase. Articles are not capitalized unless
they appear as the first word in the title. The title should be
a concise description of the paper. The title should be 10 to 12
words in length.
The Author
The author’s name is typed in uppercase and lowercase
letters, centered horizontally, and typed one blank line double-
spaced) below the title. Omit all titles and degrees except for
Sr., Jr., III, and so forth. The institution to which the paper
is being presented (Skagit Valley College) is typed in the same
fashion and is typed one blank line (double-spaced) below the
author.
The Abstract
Format
The abstract is page two and is typed in block form (with
no indentation and in one paragraph). The short title and page
number should be typed in the same location as on the title
page. The abstract should have “Abstract” centered horizontally,
A Guide 6
typed in uppercase and lowercase, one inch from the top of the
page. The text of the abstract should be double-spaced and start
one blank line (double-spaced) below the word “Abstract” and
have one-inch margins on the left, right, and bottom. See page
two of this guide for an example.
Content
The abstract should be a brief, comprehensive summary of
the contents of the paper. The abstract should be accurate,
self-contained, concise, specific, non-evaluative, coherent, and
readable. It should not exceed 120 words in length.
The Body of the Paper
The body of the paper is typed double-spaced with one inch
margins on all four sides (see page three of this guide for the
dimensions). The purpose of the margins is to allow room for the
reviewer to write comments on the paper. The first line of every
paragraph (except single block quotations) is typed indented
five to seven spaces. The paper should be typed in Courier New
12 if using a word processor and elite (12 characters per inch)
if using a typewriter. The text should be no more than 27 lines.
The first page of the body of the paper has the title of the
paper centered horizontally, typed in uppercase and lowercase
letters, one inch from the top of the page. The right-hand
margin should not be right-justified or blocked. Words should
A Guide 7
not be hyphenated at the end of the line. Additionally, all
periods, commas, colons, and punctuation marks at the end of a
sentence are followed by a single space (except in abbreviations
such as U.S. or around colons used in ratios such as 2:1).
Headings
Different sections of the paper are separated by headings.
The number of headings will depend on the number of Learning
Objectives the student needs to address. The title on the first
page of the body of the paper is not counted as a level of
heading. Examples of typical levels of headings are:
Level 1
Learning Objectives
Level 1 headings are centered horizontally and typed in
uppercase and lowercase letters.
Level 2
Objective 1
Level 2 headings are typed beginning at the left margin,
using italicized, uppercase and lowercase letters.
Level 4
Original Objective.
Level 4 headings are typed indented from the left margin,
in lowercase letters, italicized, and end with a period.
Abbreviations
A Guide 8
Abbreviations and acronyms should be avoided and used only
when a word or acronym is used repeatedly. Write out words such
as television rather than use TV. Abbreviations such as i.e.,
e.g., and etc. should not be used in the body of the text. They
should be written out as the English words “that is”, “for
example”, and “and so forth”, respectively.
