These are the general APA guidelines for formatting a research paper. The source is my book The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Thesis in TESOL/AL (Second Edition-in press.

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 In Excel, do the same thing you did in Word: click on the middle button
on the top line to make the window smaller. Now you have both Word
and Excel on the screen. Clicking on any window makes that window
active.
 Click in the Excel window, open the file you want, select the chart you
want, and Copy it. Click in the Word window, position your cursor, and
Paste.
[The other two buttons at the top of the screen, by the way, are for
“minimizing” and closing. The icon at the left, that looks like a straight line,
"minimizes" the window. The window itself disappears, but its name appears
on the taskbar at the bottom of the screen. Click on this name to open the
window again. The X button closes the application].
As you can see from reading and using this tutorial, using word is not
rocket science and, in fact, most of the readers will probably already know
how to use it. In the following chapters you will get more tutorials on the use
of other software that will be useful in the development of subsequent thesis
chapters.
3.4 Formatting Your Paper
Formatting your paper is much more important than it might seem at
first time. Presentation does count, and something that looks beautiful usually
is good. The format is the ‘dress’ that your paper ‘wears’...remember it is
going to go to your graduation party! The appearance of your paper, in
addition, tells the reader that you really spent time working on it. This is
usually done last, though, because focus on the content is the main priority.
Here are some guidelines for formatting your paper.

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3.4.1 Title Pages
The title pages are the first pages in the thesis and they contain
information about the title of the thesis, the author, the institution, and the date
of presentation. The format used here is the one from the LEI (BUAP).
However, as every institution has its own format, you should check out yours.
Font suggested (for the whole paper): Times New Roman (used here), arial
(used here).
Font size: 12.
The title pages are not numbered. Notice centeredness and
capitalization or first letters of words (except ‘function’ words such as articles
and prepositions). Also, notice that the title of the thesis is in bold font and
that the text is evenly distributed all along the paper, from the upper to the
lower margins. The first title page should look like the model below:
The Title of Your Thesis Goes Here
A Thesis Submitted to the School of Languages for the
Degree of Licenciatura en Enseñanza del Inglés
By Write Your Name Here
Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla
Month and Year

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The second page looks alike, but information about your thesis
committee (adviser and readers) is included. Check centeredness of content
all throughout the pate and use of capitals and bold print.
3.4.2 Dedications
Your favorite part! This is where you dedicate your efforts to someone
you love. Here you can use your own style and ideas. Just try not to be tacky!
Also, remember that you can dedicate your thesis to more than one person,
and that this part can be written in Spanish (so that, for example your parents –
if you dedicated your thesis to them- can read it) The dedications page looks
like this (the font I used was Comic Sans MS).
The Title of Your Thesis Goes Here
This Thesis has been read by the members of the
Thesis Committee of
Write Your Name Here
And is considered worthy of approval in partial
fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of
LICENCIATURA EN ENSEÑANZA DEL
INGLÉS
_________________
Name of Your Adviser
(Thesis Director)
______________ ______________
Name of Reader 1 Name of Reader 2
Committee Member Committee Member

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Acknowledgements
Special thanks go to... for ...
I would like to thank... for...
The contribution of the following
people was crucial in the development
of this project: (list)
3.4.3 Acknowledgements
This part is similar to the dedications, but here you thank people who
directly contributed to your research (such as teachers, classmates who
proofread your paper, institutions or schools where you carried out your
research, and so on). You use a more serious format here.
To my dog

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Chapter I: Introduction 1
1.1. Introduction to the problem 2
1.2. Purpose of the Study 3
1.3. Research Questions and Hypotheses 4
1.4. Significance of the Study 5
1.5. Assumptions and Limitations 6
Chapter II: Literature Review 7
1.6. Key Terms 8
1.7. Subheading One 9
1.8. Subheading Two 10
1.9. Subheading Three 11
1.10. Subheading Four 12
Chapter III: Methodology 13
1.11. Subjects and Sample 14
1.12. Method of Data Collection 15
1.13. Instrument 16
1.14. Procedures 17
1.15. Design and data Analysis 18
i
3.4.4 Table of Contents
In the Table of Contents you list the chapters in your paper, as well as
any subheadings within the chapters, and specify the page numbers where they
are found. The subheadings will vary according to your topic and content.
The pages of the table of contents are numbered using roman numerals. The
Table of Contents is usually done last, when you know for sure how many
pages your thesis will have and where exactly will each chapter begin and end.
However, you can start working on this right away. However, you can start
working on this right away, creating a preliminary Table of Contents
(template) that you can save on disk and change it as many times as required.
Remember that writing a thesis requires a continuous editing process. A
preliminary Table of Contents looks like this:
Chapter IV: Results 19
4.1. Presentation of Results 20
4.2. Discussion of Results 21
4.3. Summary 22
Chapter V: Conclusions 23
4.4. Summary 24
4.5. Conclusions 25
4.6. Implications for Language Teaching
26
4.7. Limitations of the Study 27
4.8. Directions for Further Research 28
References 29
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3.4.5 Table of Appendices
A Table of Appendices looks exactly like a Table of Contents, except
that the parts are labeled as “Appendix 1”, “Appendix 2”, and so forth. Here
is one example:
3.4.6 List of Tables
The same format is used, but now you label the components as “Table
1”, “Table 2”, and so forth. Remember including descriptive titles for each
table (a title that describes the information shown in the table).
3.4.7 Body of the Paper
The format used here applies to all the body of the paper. Notice that
the chapter title is in capital letters, bold, and centered. The subheadings, on
TABLE OF APPENDICES
Page
1. Appendix One: Survey Questionnaire 31
2. Appendix Two: Questionnaire Results 32
3. Appendix Three: Statistical Procedures 33
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the other hand, are in capital and small letters, aligned to the left and bold, and
numbered as in the Table of Contents. Below is one example of such format.
CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION
1.1. Introduction to the Problem
There must be one-inch margins on all
sidesof the text. The text should be double
spaced, and if you justify it (align all lines on
the right side), it looks really beautiful.
Remember to useTimes New Roman or Arial.
The font size should be twelve.
On the other hand, you should be careful
about your punctuation. Remember to leave two
spaces after a period, and capitalize the first
letter of the word after it.
1
Here you identify the context within which
you will conduct your study and give any
backgroundinformation needed to clarify this
context. Next, provide a succinct description,
citing relevant sources, of how present
knowledge about the problem has evolved and
what issues remain unsolved.
1.2. Purpose of the Study
In this part, you indicate precisely which
aspects of the problem you intend to examine.
You should also identify the variables that will
be studied, along with a detailed description of
2

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3.4.8. Formatting Tables, Charts, and Figures in General
Results are usually synthesized and summarized in your results chapter
in order to clearly illustrate your findings and their implications. In other
words, you will include tables, graphs, figures, diagrams or other kind of
visual presentation of your data. The first consideration is that text and figures
or tables should stand apart from each other. A reader should be able to
understand the text without looking at the table, and each table should also be
self-explanatory. Therefore, you should include descriptive titles, a careful
format, and subheadings or explanations if some clarification is necessary.
Concerning the format, the tables or figures should be numbered and the
title should be bold and centered. There is no period or any kind of
punctuation marks after the title. Notice also that the table or figure should be
set off from the text by using thick lines. Make sure all of the elements in your
tables or graphs are visible (font no smaller than 10 points).
Below is an example with a table. Notice that there are no inner borders and that the
font size in this case is the same as the one of the text. Figures and Tables are numbered
Figure 1: Percentage of Use of the Target Language By 13 TCU
Teachers
Eng&Span
29%
English
64%
Spanish
7%

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separately (Table 1, Table 2, … / Figure 1, Figure 2…) and listed on a table of figures after
the Table of Contents.
Table 4: Communicative Situations with the Lowest Use of English by Students
Communicative Situations English Spanish Eng/Span
1. -Talking to partners 1 5 6
2. -Confirming instructions 1 3 6
3. -Asking for explanations 2 2 7
3.4.8 References
For this part of the thesis, make sure you follow the APA format (next
chapter!), which is shown below (remember that titles are underlined or in
italics!). Notice that within references, the lines are single-spaced, whereas
that between references, they are double-spaced. Also notice indention of the
lines after the first, to show the authors’ last names. Finally, remember that
references are listed in alphabetical order and that full names are not fully
spelled (use only first name initials). Here’s a sample.
REFERENCES
Criollo, R. (2003). The ultimate guide to writing
a thesis in TESOL/AL. ACD
Hinkel, E. (ed.) (2011). Handbook of research in
second language teaching and learning:
Volume II. Routledge.
VanPatten, B. & Williams, J. (eds.). (2015).
Theories in second language acquisition:
An introduction. Routledge.
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