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Blackboard Post in APA Formatting

Introduction

Posting in Blackboard following APA style requires composing your post in MS Word and copy-and-pasting your work into Blackboard.

  • Do not post as an attached Word doc. This makes it hard for other students to read and reply to your post.
  • If you are copying text from the internet (like citations), use the merge formatting paste option to avoid adding extra formatting from the original website.
Screen shot of merge formating paste option in MS word
Merge Formatting option in Word

Step 1: Start In MS Word

  1. In Microsoft Word, type up your discussion post with the required APA formatting. See an example of APA Formatting

Step 2: Choose Preformatted in Blackboard

  1. Open a new Blackboard discussion post.
  2. Choose Preformatted under the drop-down options in the toolbar.
  3. Highlight your text in Word, copy it, and paste it into the Blackboard post window.
  4. When you see the pop-up window, choose “keep formatting”
Screen shot of blackboard post window with preformatted option in the toolbar highlighted in yellow

Step 3: Preview Post

  1. Click on the preview tool (eyeball icon) to see what the post will look like.
  2. A new window will open. Close this window when you are done.

Step 4: Post to Discussion

  1. Submit your post to Blackboard.
  2. If you notice any formatting issues, click the edit button in Blackboard to fix the post.

Note: Don’t worry about the title page or separate page for references. Focus on correct headings, paragraph text formatting, in-text citations, and references.


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