This document serves as a guide for students at the Jack Welch Management Institute on formatting their papers in alignment with APA manuscript standards. It covers the essential components of manuscript structure, including general formatting, citations, references, and the importance of professional writing. The guide emphasizes consistency and clarity in presentation while providing templates for various sections of a paper.

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Note to students: This is an example of a paper formatted to
generally align with APA manuscript standards. It is offered as
one example approach to formatting professional papers. Other
formatting conventions are also acceptable. The point is for you
to follow a manuscript format that is consistent and
professional. The JWMI intends for you to focus on learning
course topics rather than being preoccupied with manuscript
formatting details. Having a template to follow should make
formatting your papers easier.
Title of Paper
Author’s Name
Jack Welch Management Institute
Professor’s Name
Course Number
Date
Abstract
Following generally accepted rules for preparing manuscripts
will help students confidently structure professional papers.
This manuscript provides a basic layout for students to apply in
this program and in their professional writing. The approach is
based upon the sixth edition of the APA guidelines (2009). The
topics of general formatting, the introduction, section headings,
quotations, citations, conclusion, and references are discussed.
The APA guidelines define an abstract as a single paragraph,
without indentation, that summarizes the key points of the
manuscript. The purpose of the abstract is to provide the reader
with a brief summary of the paper, such as this abstract. The

2. total length should not exceed 120 words, with each sentence
written concisely.
Introduction
Learning to write in a recognized
professional format, such as APA, will help students achieve
effective academic and professional writing. Using an
established manuscript format is more efficient for the author
and the reader, leading to more effective communication.
According to a College Board (2004) survey of 120 major
American corporations, “in today’s workplace writing is a
threshold skill for hiring and promotion among salaried (i.e.,
professional) employees” (p. 3). Thus, excellent writing is one
of the most important objectives of a business education. To
help students achieve this professional advantage, the Jack
Welch Management Institute requires all students to develop a
professional writing style. The following sections discuss and
are examples of the basics of one commonly used manuscript
style, APA. Note that this manuscript format does not include
all details of APA.
General Manuscript Format
The body of the paper should have one inch margins and use
a 12 pt. font that is easy to read, such as Times New Roman.
To aid ease of reading, double space throughout the paper.
Align the manuscript flush left, resulting in an uneven right
margin. Indent paragraphs five to seven spaces. Page numbers
are one inch from the top right edge of the paper. Page numbers
are not required for short papers, yet useful for longer ones.
Headings
Begin each major section of the paper with the topic heading
in bold font, centered at the top of the page. The body of the
text is typically divided into subsections as shown in this
template. Usually these subsections represent the primary
elements suggested by the assignment. In fact, one of the first
steps in organizing a paper is to determine the section topics

3. that fully address the assignment. Sharing section topics with
the professor is one way to assure the assignment is
comprehensively addressed and eliminate uncertainty regarding
requirements. Using sections in the body of a is not only an
excellent organizational approach, doing so helps the reader
understand the flow of reasoning. The title of this section,
“Headings,” is the first level of APA manuscript heading.
Below is an example of a second level heading.
Subsections
Sections can be divided into subsections. An example is a
Method section of a research paper being divided into
Participants, Materials, and Procedure subsections. It is
unlikely that a paper will require more than the two levels.
However, if needed, the third level should look like the heading
shown below.
Heading Level 3. Begin text on this line.Citations and
References
All sources applied in a paper must be cited on a separate
“References” page at the end of the paper. It is not included in
the page count. Within the body of the paper, when concepts
from specific sources are used, a citation containing the
author’s last name and year of publication within parentheses
indicates the cited source; for example, (Welch, 2005). The
author’s last name corresponds with the entry on the References
page, allowing readers to look up the source of the citation. We
do not recommend the use of footnotes. All citations should be
placed in the body of the document.
An example of a References page is located at the end of this
template. References are listed in alphabetical order. Do not list
references that are not applied. Note that APA uses the "hanging
indent" style for references. One easy way to do this is to type
each reference without worrying about the hanging indent.
When finished, select (highlight) all the references and then
open the Citations and Bibliography dialog box in Word. Select

4. APA. If available, in the Indentation area, under Special, choose
Hanging and then a distance for the indentation.
Course Lectures and Media
Application of course materials is required in papers and
discussions. For discussions, informal or formal citations are
acceptable. For example:
· "As noted in our first lecture..."
· Or, (Week 3, Lecture 1) or (W3, L1)
· If material is from another course, indicate the course number
and as much information as recollected, (JWIxxx, Week 3,
Video)
For papers, use formal citations and references as follows.
· If the material is from the current course: (Week 3, Lecture 1)
· If the material is from another course: (JWIxxx, Week 3,
Lecture 1), or as much as recollected
For the reference section in a paper, simply list JWIxxx, Week
3, Lecture 1, with the lecture title,
as appropriate. References are not required in discussions unless
the material is found outside of
the course content.
Quotations
Originality is an important aspect of graduate writing. To
ensure original thinking, “quoting should be done only
sparingly; be sure that you have a good reason to include a
direct quotation when you decide to do so” (Quoting,
Paraphrasing, n.d.). Notice the placement of the quotation
marks, citation, and final punctuation after the citation.

5. Guidelines for quotations are based upon the length of the
quote. Quotes with fewer than 40 words are quoted directly in
the sentence. The in-text citation for a direct quote must include
the author(s), year, and page number. See the example for the
indented quote below.
Quotations longer than 40 words follow different guidelines.
Include these quotes in an indented block.
Start long quotes on a new line and indent five spaces from the
left margin. Also, double-space the lines and omit quotation
marks. If more than one paragraph is quoted, indent the first
line of additional paragraphs by .5 inch. Include a reference
citation after the closing punctuation. (Bowman, 2012, p. 1)
Conclusion (and/or Recommendation)
This manuscript style template is offered as a possible
template for papers and discussion posts. A consistent and
professional formatting of papers is expected, rather than
adherence to every detail of APA or other manuscript format. A
basic tutorial can be found at
http://flash1r.apa.org/apastyle/basics/index.htm. A sample paper
applying the complete APA manuscript style can be found at
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20090212013008_560.
pdf. Happy writing!
References
American Psychological Association. (2009). Publication
manual of the American Psychological
Association (6th ed.) Washington, DC: Author.
Beck
, B. E. (1999, July). Style and modern writing [Special issue].
Prose Magazine, 126, 96-134
.

6. Bowman, A.K. (2012). Personal communication.
College Board (September 2004). Writing: A ticket to work or a
ticket out. Retrieved from
http://www.collegeboard.com/prod_downloads/writingcom/writi
ng-ticket-to-work.pdf
Gode, S. M
., Orman, T. P., & Carey, R. (1967). Writers and writing. New
York: Lucerne Publishing.
MacDonald, S. E. (1993). Words. In The new encyclopedia
Britannica (vol. 38, pp. 745-758). Chicago: Forty-One
Publishing.
Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/563/01/
Reference List: Electronic Sources (n.d.). Retrieved from
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/10
Wilson, J. C. (2001). Scientific research papers. In Stewart, J.
H. (Ed.), Research papers that work (pp. 123-256). New York:
Lucerne Publishing.
/
Appendix
Place supporting and bulky groups of information in the
appendixes. If you have multiple groups of information, create
multiple appendixes. Label each appendix with a capital letter,
e.g.—Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C, etc.
Table 1
Simple example of a table
Column heading

7. Column heading
Column heading
Table body
Table body
Table body
Table body
Table body
Table body
Table body
Table body
Table body
Table notes
Figure Captions
Figure 1. Figure example of a cycle diagram.
�All figures are placed at the end of the paper.
Any figure captions in previous sections correspond to this
section.
�This is an example of a figure.
�This is the cover sheet. It is the first page as a distinct page.

8. �If your organization uses the Executive Summary, you may
use that in the place of the Abstract. The Executive Summary is
more comprehensive.
�All papers require an introduction section
�Note that first level section heads are centered and bold.
Consistency in use is important.
�Begin papers with introductory comments to situate the
reader.
�Notice the sections heads concisely name the intent of the
section.
�(Note the Indent, Bold and Period).
�Note that the punctuation precedes the citation in this case.
�All papers require a conclusion or recommendation section
�Mario - The reference examples in the Style Guide are not
complete. The purpose is for the reader to be able to find the
article in a library search.
�In alphabetical order to help the reader locate the reference

9. �Note that second line is indented
�You may also use the author’s first name, as shown in the
JWMI Style Guide. Using initials is efficient and is used in
professional articles.