Researching APA Style With a Hint of Contemplation of Content

      Through your educational and professional career, there are many different types of writing styles that will be used. One of these are the American Psychological Association, also known as APA. This type of styles are used in the social sciences, such as psychology, social work, health science, and political science. This style is very research based writing and when it was written. The "when" is important looking into the writing, due to the evolving and changing updates. These citations are important to ensure your writings follow a guideline format and avoiding plagiarism.
      The overall guidelines for APA is typing in a 12 point typeface, double spaced, one inch margin, and the running head on the top left and page number on the top right of each page. The basic format for a APA paper is a title page, abstract, body, and references. The title page is composed of the running head and page number on top, with the title of the work in the middle, and the bottom can be an author's note. The next page is the abstract. The abstract is the first thing your reader reads, but the last thing that the author writes. It is a short summary of the basic overview of the concepts of your writing. Next is the body of your paper. This is the bulk of your writing, and make sure that your paper is well organized and flows well. Last is the reference page. The reference page is an alphabetize order with the author's last name. The references are wrapped with a hanging indent. The body is the based with the research and content.
     The content and research is key to composing your paper. Gathering information from different sources are important. When researching, make sure that your content is from the best source, such as a peer-reviewed journals and books. With different educational institutions, the most valuable resource is the library. Stockton University has a fantastic database for its students. There are specialized librarians for each major subject. With the in-text citations, the Purdue O.W.L. guide is helpful for ensuring the citation is done to the updated guidelines. The two main pieces of information for an in-text citation is the year of the publication and the author's last name. While writing, ensure that when quoting or paraphrasing to cite the authors research from. The contents based on citing should use ICE. ICE is introduce with a signal phase, cite with an in-text, and explain with your own knowledge and words.
     Through your writing process, there are a few key points to keep in mind. The hypothesis should always be the goals and to stay on topic; do not to sidetrack within your writings. Writing is a process. While composing your paper, it can take many drafts to achieve the best paper. Proof reading is key to ensure the best quality writing. Try different types of proof reading, such as reading out loud and having someone else read over your writing. When you get your assignment, make a rough outline of a schedule and goals points within a timeline. This will help to keep yourself on track and help prevent procrastination. With these tools, you can create a great APA paper.

       In the book, lol...OMG!, chapter 6 discusses the way of how to become a conscious creator of content. This chapter explores the content of what we share online. Ivester states it is to explore the content of your content. This goes into a more philosophical reason of why we are online. There are many different reasons why people are on social media. These questions is how to push through the reasons being on social media, besides it being a pastime. Each person is different, and each time you post can be a different reason. These sites are important part of society, but it doesn't mean that you have to contribute content meaninglessly.
      Time seems to move faster online. The pace is ever increasing, and sometimes are forced to think we have to share our content the minute it happens. Ivester discussed about how we post things without fully reflecting on the full range of the possible outcomes from all directions. He brings the example of how alcohol related instances of how we post content when people's judgment is impaired. Alcohol is not the only thing that can cause an impaired judgement, such as intensely high emotions. The reflection from this topic was to ensure we reflect on the potential scrutiny we might face from results of this content. It will be impossible to reflect deeply on every post, but stay mindful.
      This brings up the discussion of where we draw the line between our private and public lives. With many different types of social media, there are different types of levels of privacy people can choose to display to the world, friends of friends, or just to yourself. Ivester explores the idea of creating different levels of contact groups. These are people you know and trust, people you work with and want to stay connected with but not necessarily individuals who need to know your life,  and acquaintances. With this digital age, it is important to know what content you can share and who you can share it with. It is easy enough to make a private matter into a very public one. This leads to the next topic of how to be conscious of your digital contents and if it could be possibly controversial. Postings on social media should be treated like having a one on one conversation; keeping our social ettique in mind before we speak. The days of small town gossiping has been exponentially increased in size. If it is on the internet, the world knows.

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