Working Outline

A working outline is crafted after all of your preliminary research is done. It is a solid
tool to organize all of the concepts you will address in your research paper and can easily be
converted into a final draft of your actual paper.
Use standard outlining format (see below), with your thesis statement above the first
Roman numeral entry; it will become the foundation for your introductory paragraph. (which in
APA style is never preceded by a heading titled “introduction”):
 Thesis statement
 All of your primary issues will be enumerated as Roman numerals (I, II, III). These
should be left-justified, in standard outline format. They will later become your Level 1
headings (see page 62 of your APA manual). Include some bullets or phrases to support
each, with citations in proper APA format for the resources in your reference list.
Complete sentences are not necessary in an outline.
 The supporting (secondary) issues for each primary issue will be labeled with capital
letters (A, B, C). These should be indented 1⁄2”, in standard outline format. They will
later become your Level 2 headings.
 Any tertiary issues that support your secondary issues will be labeled with Arabic
numbers (1, 2, 3). These should be indented 1”, in standard outline format. They will
become your Level 3 headings.
 Subheadings under the tertiary issues would be labeled with lowercase letters (a, b, c).
These would be indented 1-1/2”, in standard outline format. They would become your
Level 4 headings.
 The last possible level would be issues supporting the Level 4 headings, which would be
labeled with lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii). These would be indented 2”. They
would become Level 5 headings.
 Conclusion.
As with all outlines and papers, there must be at least two divisions for each level used, if
any. Outlines cannot have a “I” without a “II” or an “A” without a “B,” for example. Likewise,
APA papers cannot have just one Level 2 heading under a Level 1 heading; there must be at least
two Level 2 headings under that Level 1 heading, or no Level 2 headings there at all. In other
words, if you don’t plan to divide the larger section into two or more smaller sections, do not
divide it at all. Each new larger section starts anew. It is possible to have five Roman numerals,
with capital letters under just the fourth one; others may have capital letter divisions under every
Roman numeral.
Also note that the information included under each section should NOT be in compete
sentences. Phrases should be short and direct. A standard title page and reference page are
also required, as required in all APA assignments. Sample working outline follows on the
next page, with an example of how you would take that outline and convert it into an actual APA
paper.

.
Running head: SAMPLE PAPER 1

A Sample Paper for the Purpose of Correct Formatting

Student Name
Liberty University

Per the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA; 6th edition), double-space the
entire paper (p. 229), except with charts or tables. Do not add any extra spacing. Use Times New Roman,
12-point font. Do not use bold except for headings as necessary (see page 62 of your APA manual).
Margins are set for 1″ on top, bottom, and sides. All page references will be to the APA manual, 6th edition.
Add two spaces after punctuation at the end of each sentence, except in the reference list, for the sake of
readability (pp. 87-88). The header on the cover page is different from the headers on the rest of the paper.
Only the cover page header includes the words Running head (without the italics; p. 41). The header is flush
left but the page numbers are flush right (see bottom of p. 229). Make sure the header font is the same as the
rest of the paper. Handouts on how to format the cover page (as well as other handouts) are available on the
Online Writing Center’s webpage: http://www.liberty.edu/index.cfm?PID=17176, and a superb YouTube
video demonstration that provides visualized step-by-step instructions for setting a paper up in proper APA
format is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KUjhwGmhDrI
Note: Comments inside boxes are not part of the formatting of the paper. Section or page number references
to the APA manual are denoted in parentheses throughout. Most citations within the body of this paper are
fictional, for instructional purposes only, but are also included in the reference list for illustrative purposes of
correlating citations in the body of the paper with resources in the reference list.
Note: Center the following information in the top half of the page: title, your name, and school name (2.01, p.
23; 41). Some professors require the course title and section, the instructor’s name, and the date; add those on
the lines beneath the required title page information. Do not use contractions in formal papers—in either the
title or the body of the paper (i.e., use “do not” rather than “don’t”). Titles should include no more than 12
words. Titles use upper and lowercase letters (i.e., “title case;” 20.1, p. 23; see also 4.15 on pp. 101-102).
Prepared by Christy Owen, Brian Aunkst, and Dr. Carmella O’Hare. Last updated June 28, 2016.

SAMPLE PAPER 2

A Sample Paper for the Purpose of Correct Formatting

Thesis: God designed and created man with an internal yearning to have close interpersonal
relationships and attachment to Him and others, thus behavioral issues resulting from attachment
disorders have spiritual implications.
I. The Core Causations of Reactive Attachment Disorder:
A. Attachment Theory and Development of Attachment Styles

1. John Bowlby; Jane Ainsworth.
2. Anxious/ambivalent, avoidant, or secure (Besharat, 2011, p. 475).
   a. 16% = anxious/ ambivalent;
   b. 21% = avoidant;
   c. 63% = secure (Levy, Ellison, Scott, & Bernecker, 2011, p. 193).
3. Childhood attachment styles develop into lifelong patterns.
   B. Pathways to Depravity:
4. RAD develops during the first three years of a child’s life;
5. Due to lack of adequate and appropriate caretaker;
6. RAD = lack of empathy; research = confirmed link between compromised levels
   of empathy and “an increased propensity to engage in antisocial behaviors”;
   (Thompson & Gullone, 2008, p. 123).
   C. Statistics:
7. United States:
   a. 38-40% of foster children;
   b. 195,000.
8. International:
   a. 1% of all children worldwide;
   b. 22,000,000 (Hall & Geher, 2003, p. 149).

SAMPLE PAPER 3
II. Correlations Between One’s Attachment to Others and Corresponding Attachment to God
A. Attachment to Others:

1. People = flesh-and-bone correlation of God’s design.
2. By definition = children with RAD shun true intimacy with everyone/God.
   B. God Image and Attachment:
3. Scriptural correlations:
   a. “Man is designed to relate to God and the human brain is [in fact] ‘wired
   for God’” (Fayard, Pereau, & Ciovica, 2009, p. 167).
   b. Jesus Christ = “living water” (John 4:10, 13).
   c. Bible = replete with imagery of God as a compassionate, caring,involved,
   devoted and doting father to His children (Fayard et. al., 2009, p. 172).
   d. God’s own example = emotional intimacy, bonding, secure attachment.
4. Impact of personal religiosity on attachment:
   a. Parents with higher levels of personal religiosity = “stronger authoritative
   parenting skills … and report less parent-child conflict” (Pickering &
   Vazsonyi, 2010, p. 98).
   b. Children with a genuine relationship with God = stronger resilience in
   navigating the adolescent years (Pickering & Vazsonyi, 2010, p. 111-
   112).
   C. Spiritual Implications:
5. RAD = spiritual implications because it necessarily interferes with the person’s
   ability to relate to God;
6. It interferes with a person’s ability to relate to others.

III. Conclusion

SAMPLE PAPER 4

References

Besharat, M. (2011). Development and validation of adult attachment inventory. Procedia –
Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 475–479.
Fayard, C., Pereau, M., & Ciovica, A. (2009). ‘Love the Lord with all your mind’: Explorations
on a possible neurobiology of the experience of god and some implications for the
practice of psychotherapy. Journal of Psychology and Christianity, 28(2), 167-181.
Hall, S., & Geher, G. (2003). Behavioral and personality characteristics of children with reactive
attachment disorder. The Journal of Psychology, 137(2), 145-162.
Levy, K., Ellison, W., Scott, L. & Bernecker, S. (2011). Attachment style. Journal of Clinical
Psychology: In Session, 67(2), 193-203.
Pickering, L., & Vazsonyi, A. (2010). Does family process mediate the effect of religiosity on
adolescent deviance?: Revisiting the notion of spuriousness. Criminal Justice and
Behavior, 37, 97-118. doi: 10.1177/0093854809347813
Thompson, K., & Gullone, E. (2008). Prosocial and antisocial behaviors in adolescents: An
investigation into associations with attachment and empathy. Anthrozoos, 21(2), 123-137.
doi: 10.2752/175303708X305774