FAQ: How long should an abstract be in an APA style paper?

NOTE: The American Psychological Association recently released a 7th edition to APA Style. The information below is still following the 6th edition.

For APA, the abstract should be a succinct, single paragraph summary between 150 to 250 words long. 

According to the APA Style Blog, "the abstract is to give the prospective reader the essential information as succinctly as possible." The abstract is placed immediately after the title page.  The abstract is considered another section of the document.

OWL at Purdue has an example of an abstract in APA style here.

More information:

• APA guide (Shapiro Library)
• APA Research Paper Basics Video Tutorials (Atomic Learning - log in using your SNHU email username and password)
• APA Blog (APA)

For further help please contact the Wolak Learning Center at 603.645.9606 (UC/On Campus Students) and Online Writing Center at 866.721.1662 (Online/COCE Students) for assistance with writing an abstract in APA Style.

References

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.

Breitenbach, Anne. (2011). Brevity Is the soul of lingerie (and abstracts) [Blog post]. Retrieved from http://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2011/11/brevity-is-the-soul-of-lingerie-and-abstracts.html

Purdue OWL. (n.d). General format. Retrieved from https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/general_format.html