Where To Get An APA Dissertation Template For Free


There are several different layout and citation formats that can be used for dissertations, including APA and MLA. For some disciplines, particularly the sciences, there can be very specialized layout and citation formats, that are often tied to the predominant journal for that fields. In example, sedimentology has a different format that other geology disciplines, which is based on the Journal of Sedimentology. So, before you get started formatting your dissertation, you should be clear on what format you should be using.

If you will be using APA, it can be very helpful to have a template to go off of. You can use any APA template: it doesn’t have be specific to your doctoral paper.

Start your search for a template in these places:

  1. Your writing center
  2. Most universities have writing centers, which can be an excellent source for finding paper templates. Try making an appointment to have a tutor walk you through the formatting, or just drop in to pick up a copy of a template. If your university doesn’t have its own writing center, you can access other university writing center websites online, many of which have templates posted.

  3. APA websites
  4. There are a number of websites which specialize specifically in APA formatting. A simple internet search will uncover many. However, for a paper as important as your dissertation, be sure to use a reputable one that is associated with a university or hosted at a .edu website to know you are getting accurate information. Purdue OWL has a particularly good APA formatting website which covers both layout formatting and citation formatting.

  5. Online formatting services
  6. Specifically for the citation formatting portion of your paper, you can use an online formatting service, which will allow you to copy and paste the correct citation for each of your sources. This can be particularly useful when it comes to a dissertation that can have dozens or even hundreds of sources.

  7. Journal of Psychology
  8. APA stands for the American Psychiatric Association, so the most authoritative source on APA formatting is their journal: the Journal of Psychology. You can likely access it through your libraries online resources. Either looking though recent or back issues will give you an idea of how to format all different parts of your paper. Pay particularly close attention to how graphs, tables, and figures are formatted if your paper will include them. You can also find a detailed guide by visiting the journal’s webpage and looking at the submission format requirements.