How To Draw Up A Dissertation Title Page In The APA Format


Academics in the Social Sciences area usually utilize the APA (American Psychological Association) style of citation for their papers. Students writing their dissertations in this subject area are also required to use the APA style. The reason for utilization of a single style is to standardize the writing and consequently, reading and comprehension of academic papers. If you know the rules followed, you are better able to follow what is written and find the cited sources if necessary.

There are specific rules on how to structure an APA style paper. The main sections include the following:

  1. A Title Page: Contains the title of the paper as well author’s name and name of institution if required.
  2. An Abstract: A short summary of the contents of the paper.
  3. Main Body: The main part of the paper, including the thesis statement, literature review, methodology and conclusions.
  4. References: A list of all the works cited in the text.

The Title Page


Here is a listing of all the major components of an APA style dissertation title page.

  1. The Page Number: This is inserted at the top of the page in the header. It is always flushed right. A simple number is used with no prefixes like “Page Number” or “Page”.
  2. The Running Head: This is the title of the paper that is included at the top of the page in the page header. It is always flushed left. The phrase “Running Head:” is included before the title on the title page only while all the other pages of the dissertation carry the title only in the page header. It is important to remember that the title here is a shortened version and cannot exceed 50 characters (this includes periods and spaces).
  3. The Dissertation Title: The title of the dissertation is centered and included towards the top half of the page. It should not exceed 12 words in length. The title can take up one of two lines but should not contain unnecessary words or explanations. There should also be no shortened words or abbreviations.
  4. The Author’s Name: The line following the title should include the name of the author in the format of first name, middle name (initial preferred) and last name.
  5. Name of your University: Since this is a dissertation, you will need to include the name of your university in the line below your own name. This is also centered.
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