how to write a reflective essay for university pdf

How to Cite in APA Format (7th edition): Citation Style Guide

Table of Contents

What is APA 7th Edition ?    

The American Psychological Association (APA) introduced the latest edition of the APA Style Manual (i.e., APA 7 th edition ) in 2019. APA Style has its origins in 1929 , when a group of academics and professionals decided to develop a set of guidelines that would standardize scientific writing. The earliest form was a seven-page guide published in the Psychological Bulletin . The first formal edition of the APA Publication Manual was published in 1952, with subsequent editions appearing in 1974, 1983, 1994, 2001, 2009, and most recently, in 2019.  

Over the years, the APA style guide has evolved considerably to meet the changing needs of a wide range of disciplines, from social and behavioral sciences to health care, natural sciences, and humanities. APA Style is widely used by academic journals and books.  

As APA 7 th edition is the current and most updated version, students and researchers should familiarize themselves with the style guidelines, including the reference and citation styles.  

Who Should Use APA 7th Edition ?    

The aim of style guides such as the APA Style Guide is to simplify the work of editors and make it easier for readers to understand a text by ensuring a uniform format for a given publication. For example, the APA Style Guide will contain guidelines that lay down the APA reference format and APA style citation for authors to follow.  

The APA Style Guide can be a valuable reference when writing and formatting academic papers, irrespective of discipline. However, this style is primarily used by professionals, researchers, and students in the social sciences (e.g., sociology, psychology, anthropology), behavioral sciences, education, business, and nursing.  

If you are a student, you may consult with an instructor to check what style your discipline uses before using APA Style in your work. Most importantly, be sure to check the guidelines of your university or the journal you plan to publish in to ensure APA 7 th edition is the correct style to use.   

APA In-text Citations    

Researchers rely on citations and references to give credit to original sources, support their arguments, and guide readers to additional information for further study. Let us now look at how to cite sources in APA format. The formatting requirements of APA 7th edition citation for referring to secondary sources in your text are as follows.  

The APA citation format includes the author’s last name and the year of publication. When referring to a particular part of a source, the page number may be included, e.g., “(Rawat et al., 2018, p. 115).”  

APA style citation in the text may be parenthetical or narrative.  

In parenthetical citation, the author’s name and the year of publication are placed in parentheses within the text. This style is used at the end of a sentence. See below for an example:  

• Gender, age, education, and income determine a person’s risk and adaptive capacities (Birkmann et al., 2022).  

In narrative citation, the author’s name appears as a part of the sentence, followed by the publication year in parentheses. See below for an example:  

• Birkman et al. (2022) note that gender, age, education, and income determine a person’s risk and adaptive capacities.

Table 1: How to cite sources in APA format when there are multiple authors and organizations as authors  

*First time with an abbreviation: (World Health Organization [WHO], 2016); all subsequent citations: (WHO, 2016)  

Table 2: How to cite sources in APA format when some information is missing  

  APA Reference Format    

After APA citations , let us now look at the APA reference format. As an academic, you might use a wide array of source types. According to the APA style guide , each type is formatted in a certain manner. The most commonly used sources are journal articles, books, and dissertations. However, you occasionally might need to cite webpages, podcasts, and news article. How would all these appear in an APA 7 reference page ? You will find your answers in Table 3!  

Table 3: How to format various sources in the APA reference list  

Formatting the APA Paper    

Papers formatted according to APA 7th edition typically contain the following elements:  

Title page with the title (bold, centered), running head and page number in the header, author names and affiliations, and author notes (ORCID ID, conflicts of interest, etc.); see below:  

Next comes the abstract . It should be double spaced and use consistent font. The keywords appear below the abstract, with an indent.  

For the main text, margins are 1 inch on all four side s. T he text is double spaced . T he font used should be consistent . H eadings are used to separate sections , and d etails on heading levels are as follows:  

Source: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/headings

Finally, the APA 7 reference page contains the references to all sources used in the paper. References are double-spaced and use hanging indents :  

Style guides in academic writing serve to standardize formatting, citations, and language use across scholarly works. They provide readers with cues they can use to follow the text more efficiently and to locate information of interest to them. In other words, it avoids distraction of unfamiliar or non-uniform formatting.  

In this piece about APA 7th edition , we have explained in detail the nuances of APA citations , including how to cite in APA format and how to format the APA 7 reference page . A brief primer on formatting a manuscript in line with APA 7th edition is also provided.  

Frequently Asked Questions    

• What are the major changes from APA 6th to APA 7th Edition ?  

The updates from APA 6th to APA 7th Edition reflect a commitment to improving clarity, inclusivity, and usability in scholarly writing. The salient differences from APA 6 th edition are as follows:  

• Title page format: The title page has been updated for professionals. The author note includes information such as ORCID IDs and conflict of interest disclosures.
• Running head: The running head format has been simplified for professional authors.
• Font flexibility : There is greater flexibility in font specifications to enhance accessibility.
• Bias-free language guidelines: The guidelines for bias-free language have been updated to promote inclusivity and respect when writing about various identities.  
• Reference formatting: In APA 7th edition , the number of authors included in a reference entry has changed to allow up to 20 authors before using an ellipsis. The presentation of DOIs and URLs has been standardized.  
• In-text citations: In-text citations for works with three or more authors have been simplified to include only the first author’s name followed by “et al.”
• Accessibility: APA 7th edition emphasizes accessibility for users with disabilities, ensuring that guidelines support various modalities, including screen readers.  
• How do I cite a journal article in APA 7th Edition ?  

According to APA 7 th edition , a reference would appear as below:  

Author, A. A. (Year of Publication). Title of the article. Title of the Journal, volume number (issue number), pages. https://doi.org/xx.xxx/yyyy .  

The in-text citation would include the author name(s) and year of publication, e.g., (Andriolatou, 2007).   

• How should multiple authors be cited in APA 7th Edition?  

APA 7 citation style would vary depending on the number of authors and whether you are citing the source parenthetically or narratively:  

Single author, parenthetical: (Bik, 2020)  

Single author, narrative: Bik (2020) reported that…  

Two authors, parenthetical: (Bik & Urs, 2019)  

Two authors, narrative: As demonstrated by Bik and Urs (2019), …  

Three or more authors, parenthetical: (Bik et al., 2023)  

Three or more authors, narrative: Bik et al. (2023) have published…  

• How do I format in-text citations for a direct quote?  

When someone else’s words are copied verbatim in your paper, it refers to a direct quote.   

For APA 7 citation of short direct quotes (<40 words), use quotation marks around the quote and cite the author, year, and page number:  

Another way to look at it is how people “get a broader range of experience than they would on a feature” (Catmull, 2014, p. 209).  

For APA 7 citation of longer quotes, or block quotes, the sentence preceding the quote ends in a colon and is followed by the quoted text. No quotation marks are used. The quote is indented and cited without a period at the end (see the figure below).   

Figure: How to cite block quotes in APA citations

To conclude  

Over the years, the APA style guide has evolved significantly. The current version, APA 7th edition , has expanded in both scope and size to accommodate the needs of wide-ranging fields and to address changing times. Despite these changes, the core intention—to provide clear, consistent guidelines for effective communication—remains at the heart of APA Style .   

For busy researchers, not only is it difficult to remember the different elements of citations and references and the subtle differences in formatting, but it also a tedious task to manually format in-text citations and reference lists and ensure consistency between them. In addition, you might need to format (and even re-format) your manuscript according to different journals, which might follow styles different from APA 7th edition (MLA, Chicago, AMA, etc.)! But there is no need to worry…help is at hand!

Citation generators are online tools that format references in different styles. There are a number of citation generators available, and Paperpal has launched its new citation generator , which stands out from the others in many ways. As a part of Paperpal’s writing workflow, you can easily find and cite sources accurately in a matter of seconds.

This free citation generator supports the updated recent versions of 10,000+ styles, including APA 7th edition . Therefore, it can serve as an APA 7th edition citation generator if you need one! What’s more, you don’t need to switch between multiple tools to search, save, or format your citations. You can rely Paperpal’s citation generation feature for help with citing sources accurately and consistently in your writing. Explore Paperpal for free now!  

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How Asian is Enough? A Reflection on Acceptance

By: Dung Tran

July 25, 2024

Last week, my friends and I gave Crazy Rich Asians a watch after putting off the movie for years. We never really understood the hype and, having read Kevin Kwan’s original, it felt very superficial. To us, Asian movies look more like blockbuster hits by Hong Kong legends Wong Kar-wai, Stephen Chow, K-dramas, and Thai movies that leave us in tears. That is the “Asian cinema” that we grew up watching. Prejudices aside, we sat down and watched the movie, six years late to the party. It was well-made, we loved Michelle Yeoh—anyone growing up in Malaysia like ourselves would know she's a household icon. We finished the movie stumped, not because of the massive panoramic shots of Singapore’s bedazzling skylines or shows of absurd, insurmountable wealth beyond our imaginations, but because of the implications of the Hokkien phrase that Michelle Yeoh’s character spoke at the famous mahjong scene: kaki lang , meaning "our people."

Are any of us truly who we are? Am I Vietnamese enough? Is my friend David Malaysian enough? Or is he Chinese? Even then, is he Chinese enough? Natasha sitting across from us, born in Australia but ethnically Chinese, how about her? In Crazy Rich Asians , our antagonist Eleanor Young despises her son’s girlfriend, Rachel Chu, a Chinese-American, for not having "Chinese values" like putting family above all, sacrificing your dreams, as well as for being a typical "self-centered’" American who only believes in her happiness. Asian parents who permit their children to do this are seen as “open-minded” and unorthodox, perhaps regarded as a reactionary counterculture against 5,000 years of filial piety and customs in Sinicised cultures. But sitting here, four college-educated and middle-class children, who are allowed to pursue their aspirations with full support of our families, got us thinking: are we reactionaries?

This culture war gripping modern East Asian societies between the “native” and “diaspora" is, for the most part, heartbreaking. Imbued since youth, we are given the sacred duty to carry on our ancient culture with its rigid hierarchies and customs by keeping our traditions alive. As noble as this mission sounds, not all have this privilege: though you gain membership into the ethnicity club, you’re not recognised as kaki lang , because you have lost touch with who you are. I spent only a few years of my early childhood in Manhattan before moving back to Southeast Asia and living with my family, shuffling between Malaysia and Vietnam. For that reason, I’m kaki lang because I live within the periphery of the core culture and have not lost my "roots."

The same cannot be said for many diaspora communities, though. Vietnamese-Americans struggle to find acceptance, and though effort is being made to recognize overseas Vietnamese talents and bring them home, most of the Vietnamese diaspora choose not to move back. Many I speak to say they fear alienation, rejection by neighbors, and being ridiculed by relatives for not speaking Vietnamese. But they burn joss paper every New Year, honor their ancestors, and eat the same food as we do in Hanoi or Saigon. Why aren’t they Vietnamese? Our family is even more reactionary: using raw, economic utility calculations, we omit most traditions and customs that we felt were draining our family resources, wellbeing, and wealth. Why do we get kaki lang status and they don’t?

This culture war, in my opinion, is self-destructing. Malaysia, where I grew up, is a nation of diasporas. All Malaysian Chinese and Malaysian Indians who have called the Malayan Peninsula home are not Malays, but they are Malaysian. Over 400 years, Chinese and Indian communities have developed a culture that isn’t a one-to-one mirror of the homeland, but is an incredibly rich tapestry of customs and traditions. Their practices were colored by centuries of cross-pollination and cultural infusing of hundreds of ethnicities that lived side-by-side on the Peninsula, a result of the British colonial project that brought immigrants from colonies to work on plantations. 

The modern Malaysian Chinese enjoys an Indian roti prata flatbread with curry at the local mamak  (street food) stall, a Malaysian enjoys drinking Chinese kopi o black coffee, a Malaysian Indian dives into Malay snacks at the ramadan night bazaar ( pasar malam ) with friends, who are likely to be Malaysians and Chinese. Every Hari Merdeka (Independence Day), on August 31, all of Malaysia gathers around and celebrates the country’s founding in 1957, gawks at the sight of magnanimous military parades on Merdeka Square in central Kuala Lumpur, and sings patriotic songs like Jalur Gemilang (stripes of glory, the Malaysian flag’s anthem). There’s nothing exclusive: the Chinese still celebrate New Year with their families and burn firecrackers on Vesak Day (Buddha’s Birthday), Malays still celebrate Ramadan and Hari Raya with their families and eat giant meals after a day of fasting, and Indians still celebrate the lively Deepavali (Diwali) and Thaipusam. 

Can any of these be seen as “having lost touch” with one’s roots? They, too, are diasporas; they live thousands of miles away from their homeland, and a flight takes up to eight hours to reach home.

Malaysia has taught me invaluable lessons about seeing this homogenous society that is Vietnam, with all the culture wars of other East Asian/Sinicised societies that otherize the diaspora and see them as being “impure” compared to the homeland. This alienation deprives us from having access to the decades and centuries of rich cultural practices that our diasporas have developed living far away from home. Although Vietnam is not a multiracial, multireligious nation like Malaysia, we can take a few lessons from how those societies can accommodate cultures that did not emerge within the borders of the modern Vietnamese nation-state. We can welcome dishes made from Australian, Canadian, or American hands, or modify them to adapt spices and ingredients from home. We can teach them how to speak the mother tongue and connect with their grandparents, and show them how much the country has bloomed since they left. These are not gargantuan tasks. We happily welcome any tourist around our country with open arms. Why can’t we do the same to those who want to come home?

Perhaps, we too have our biases about what’s kaki lang and what’s not. After all, Crazy Rich Asians is to us a Hollywood fantasy about Asia, because Stephen Chow, Song Kang-ho, and Gross Domestic Happiness is what we always think of when we say Asian cinema!

About the Author

Dung Tran (SFS’26) is an undergraduate student at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, majoring in international politics with a minor in government. Dung is a native of Hanoi, Vietnam, grew up in New York City and Kuala Lumpur, and is now pursuing his studies in Washington, DC. In 2023, Dung became a research scholar at the Laidlaw Foundation as part of the Laidlaw Undergraduate Leadership and Research Scholarship, where he pursued a research project on the intersection of identity formation and religion in contemporary Vietnam and led a community service project in Malaysia. He was also awarded the Social Innovation and Public Service Fund Summer Scholarship, associated with the Georgetown University Center for Social Justice Research, Teaching & Service, to pursue a social service project. In addition, he has participated in the Initiative for U.S.-China Dialogue on Global Issues' Student-to-Student Dialogue. He also represented Georgetown University at global debating championships. Recently, Dung was inducted into the Royal Society of Arts as a Fellow. Dung plans to pursue a career in the diplomatic service in his home country. He is a strong believer in forming strong relationships and intercultural exchanges. Dung is an avid traveler, having been to 55 countries. He enjoys a warm cup of coffee with a Scandinavian drama-thriller. He was part of the spring 2024 Doyle Global Dialogue cohort.

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Your chance of acceptance, your chancing factors, extracurriculars, eyeing ou - acceptance rate for class of 2024.

Hi friends, do any of you know about the acceptance rate for the University of Oklahoma (OU) for the Class of 2024? I understand it varies every year, but I want to have a kind of benchmark. Plus any tips for increasing my chances are highly appreciated!

The University of Oklahoma (OU) had an acceptance rate of around 73% for the incoming class of 2024. However, remember that admission rates can fluctuate based on factors like the number of applicants and the academic strength of the applicant pool.

If you're looking to increase your chances at OU, there are several things to keep in mind. First, strong academic performance is critical. While OU is not immensely selective, good grades and solid test scores (if you choose to submit them) can help bolster your application. As of now, OU is test-optional so you can decide whether your SAT or ACT scores (if you've taken these tests) showcase your abilities well. Second, a well-crafted essay can make a big difference. OU uses the Common App, so you'll have to write a personal statement and potentially a few supplemental essays. These are your opportunity to highlight your personal journey, demonstrate your thought-process, and reveal the unique qualities you would bring to the university. Try to avoid cliche topics and aim to show genuine reflection.

Moreover, don't underestimate the power of solid extracurricular involvement. Admission officers value applicants who show a long-term commitment to a few main activities rather than many activities with low involvement. So, whether you're involved in volunteer work, leadership in student government, part of a sports team, or engaged in other activities, make sure to highlight these in your application. Activities that showcase your leadership, dedication, and initiative can give your application an added boost.

Lastly, make sure to submit your application early. Not only does this demonstrate interest, but it also helps you stay ahead of the majority of applicants who tend to apply close to the deadline. The earlier you submit your application, the faster you'll get a response. Good luck with your application!

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Reflective Essay Examples

50 best reflective essay examples (+topic samples).

If you have ever read reflective essay examples, you would know that these types of written works examine the writer’s life experiences . When you write a reflective paper example, you write about your own experiences and explore how you’ve changed, grown or developed because of those experiences. There’s no standard format for this essay as it may vary depending on the target audience.

Table of Contents

• 1 Reflective Essay Examples
• 2 What is a reflective essay?
• 3 Reflective Paper Examples
• 4 Format of reflective essay
• 5 Creating the outline of reflective essay examples
• 6 Reflective Paper Samples
• 7 Tips for writing reflective essay
• 8 Reflective Essay Samples

What is a reflective essay?

A reflective essay is a type of written work which reflects your own self. Since it’s about yourself, you already have a topic to write about. For reflective essay examples, readers expect you to evaluate a specific part of your life. To do this, you may reflect on emotions, memories, and feelings you’ve experienced at that time.

Since you’re writing reflection essay samples about yourself, make sure that they’re interesting and exciting. This is very important so that your readers don’t get bored with what you’ve written. Reflective essays are very personal thus, they’re a special type of essay. As you write one, you need to reflect, think, and explain.

In the essay, you should demonstrate and describe different feelings or emotions which you’ve felt in the past. These statements breathe life into your essay as your readers start picturing what you’ve written in their minds. Reflective essays are very honest, personal, and emotional, especially those which describe painful experiences.

Reflective Paper Examples

Format of reflective essay

As aforementioned, reflective essay examples don’t have a standard format. They seem easy enough to write but once you’ve sat down to start writing, you may suddenly find the task very challenging! Besides the format, you must think about the life experience you want to write about and remember everything about it.

A reflective paper example is a lot like a personal journal or diary. Of course, the difference is that other people will read your essay. Therefore, you must write it with good structure and coherence. In this regard, reflective essays are a lot like the other types of essays too.

When writing a reflective essay, you will have to examine your own life experiences. The purpose of writing such an essay is to provide yourself with a platform to share your most meaningful life experiences with other people. You can also use it as a way to explore how your experiences have changed you as a person.

You can present reflective writing in different formats. Most of the time though, people use a learning log or a diary entry format. You can use these formats and others. Just make sure that your essay has a good flow and that it’s easy for other readers to understand.

The format to use for your reflection essay samples would depend on your target audience. You can make an academic reflective essay or you can make it as a general and informal piece of writing. If you need to write the essay for a class assignment, follow the format given to you by your teacher.

No matter what format you choose, you may write an essay which:

• Focuses on your personal growth Such an essay helps you learn how to evaluate and analyze the experiences you have had in your personal life. This helps promote emotional development and growth. It also helps you understand yourself and your behaviors better.
• Focuses on literature For this type of essay, you may have to include references to literature and apply these to your own life experiences. Such essays are commonly given as assignments to students in school.

Creating the outline of reflective essay examples

Before you write your reflective essay examples, you must create an outline for them. Although you’d write about your own life, creating an outline gives structure to your essay to serve as a guide for what you want to write about.

Whether you need to write an essay for school, for a magazine or for any other reason, creating an outline is the very first step. With a good outline, you have a better idea of how your essay will flow from one paragraph to the next all the way to the conclusion.

When creating the outline of your reflective paper example, keep it organized. Develop the outline gradually and put a lot of thought into it. In doing this, you make the writing process much easier. Here is a rundown of the steps involved in the essay-writing process:

• Choose a topic (a significant life experience you want to write about)
• Gather information
• Create an outline
• Write a draft
• Finalize your essay

Reflective Paper Samples

Tips for writing reflective essay

As you think about the content of your reflection essay samples, remember that the important thing is that such an essay must be highly personal but also engaging to readers. There’s so much more to reflective essays than just writing your story. You must also reflect on your experiences to engage your audiences.

For your starting point, think about the most significant experiences you had in your life. Those which had either a negative or a positive impact on you as a person. If the reflective essay is a school assignment, your professor would probably specify what you must write about. Here are some tips for you for writing your reflective paper example:

• Reflection The most important part of writing your reflective essay is the reflective process. Think about the personal experience you want to write about. Focus on what happened, how this experience made you feel, and how it affected your life. Explore your memories and emotions for this part of the process. As you’re recalling and reflecting on your life experience, take a lot of notes . Write down all the details you remember and try to be as clear and as detailed as you possibly can. Take as much time as you need for reflection. You can even close your eyes as you try to remember those experiences vividly. When you’re confident that you have recalled all of the details of your life experience, it’s time to write your essay. To make it more meaningful, try to answer some important questions about your life experience including: Did you learn anything new about yourself because of this experience? Have you grown or developed because of this experience? If so, in what way? Did this experience impact your life positively or negatively? If you had the chance to experience this all over again, would you do anything differently? Why did you behave in such a way at the time of this experience? Did you make the right choices? What are your general thoughts and feelings about this experience? Can you say that you learned from this experience? Did you gain any new perspectives or skills because of this experience? These are “signpost questions” which can help you write a more meaningful essay. These are just some examples, you can also think of your own questions to ask yourself. The point of these questions is to make sure that you think critically and deeply about the experience you’re writing about.
• Planning After you’ve reflected on your life experience, it’s time to start planning your essay. When it’s time to start, you might feel as if you’re not adequately prepared even though you’ve done a lot of reflection. This is a normal feeling, especially if you want to create a written piece which people will love reading. To ease your anxiety and doubt, come up with a well-rounded and comprehensive plan. The best way to do this is through an outline. With an outline to guide your writing process, you can come up with an essay that’s more coherent and which has a clear structure. An outline or plan is important for reflective essays. Since you’re writing about an emotionally-charged topic, you might find yourself getting “lost” along the way. This is especially true if you’re writing about a painful experience which still affects you until now. The outline serves as a map for you to keep your thoughts organized. In your outline, make sure to establish all of the fundamental details you wish to include in your essay. This helps you pick out and remove any superfluous information to make it easier to read and understand. Planning the points you want to write about makes it easier for you to stay on point. As such, your writing becomes a lot clearer and your readers can follow your line of thought. An outline also prevents you from missing out any relevant information. It’s very difficult and frustrating to go back after you’ve written the whole essay just to fit in this information! Planning your essay also saves you a lot of time. Coming up with the structure makes you more familiar with your essay even before you start writing it. Thus, you can spend more time writing, revising, and proofreading your essay to make it the best version possible.

Reflective Essay Samples

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Reflective Writing Guide

A great deal of your time at university will be spent thinking; thinking about what people have said, what you have read, what you yourself are thinking and how your thinking has changed. It is generally believed that the thinking process involves two aspects: reflective thinking and critical thinking. They are not separate processes; rather, they are closely connected (Brookfield 1987).

Figure 1: The Thinking Process (adapted from Mezirow 1990, Schon 1987, Brookfield 1987)

Reflective thinking

Reflection is: 

• a form of personal response to experiences, situations, events or new information.
• a 'processing' phase where thinking and learning take place.

There is neither a right nor a wrong way of reflective thinking, there are just questions to explore.

Figure 1 shows that the reflective thinking process starts with you. Before you can begin to assess the words and ideas of others, you need to pause and identify and examine your own thoughts.

Doing this involves revisiting your prior experience and knowledge of the topic you are exploring. It also involves considering how and why you think the way you do. The examination of your beliefs, values, attitudes and assumptions forms the foundation of your understanding. 

Reflective thinking demands that you recognise that you bring valuable knowledge to every experience. It helps you therefore to recognise and clarify the important connections between what you already know and what you are learning. It is a way of helping you to become an active, aware and critical learner.

What is reflective writing?

Reflective writing is:.

• documenting your response to experiences, opinions, events or new information
• communicating your response to thoughts and feelings
• a way of exploring your learning
• an opportunity to gain self-knowledge
• a way to achieve clarity and better understanding of what you are learning
• a chance to develop and reinforce writing skills
• a way of making meaning out of what you study

Reflective writing is not:

• just conveying information, instruction or argument
• pure description, though there may be descriptive elements
• straightforward decision or judgement, e.g. about whether something is right or wrong, good or bad
• simple problem-solving
• a summary of course notes
• a standard university essay.

See next: How do I write reflectively?

Essay and assignment writing guide.

• Essay writing basics
• Essay and assignment planning
• Answering assignment questions
• Editing checklist
• Writing a critical review
• Annotated bibliography
• How do I write reflectively?
• Examples of reflective writing
• ^ More support