APA word count

[jthatcher50]

I was wondering the general rule of thumb when getting a word count on an essay.  I have always used the entire paper (title page, abstract, body, headings, citation, references, etc) to get the total word count for my essay's.  First time ever, I was deducted points for being well below the word count, the professor only used the body.  I am working on my last couple of classes to complete my BSBA at COSC and am using Study.com.....needless to say, I have had a lot of experience writing papers and am confused by this one instance.

Curious how everyone else gets their word count, and if anyone has experienced this issue.

Thanks!!!

Jody

[LongRoad]

When I took Freshman English at a community college, the professor counted everything. I cannot recall what the APA style guide said, though. The instructor was pretty easy-going, so she might have let things slide.

That's the nice thing about taking a course with an instructor. What s/he says, goes. You don't have to guess what's expected.

[rachel83az]

APA says to count everything.

https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2016/...-this.html

https://libanswers.jcu.edu.au/faq/238295

[Diana321]

Huh, guess I never really thought about this. Years ago, my professors at the community college I was attending said that only the body of the paper counts. Friends of mine that attended the bigger universities around here say the same thing, only the body and not title pages/reference pages/etc. But the interwebs seem to have a mixed opinion on this, with most stating that the learning institution sets the rule - which is not helpful in your situation as I don't think study.com is clear on this. I thought I saw mention that APA says everything is included.

All of that to say "gee, I don't know" LOL. The papers I've turned in for TESU and for study.com are all APA, I only count the body of the paper and no one's told me I'm way over on my word count. I'm curious to see what others have experienced with this.

[jsd]

the Georgia Tech grad course i TA for only counts the body (but we're enforcing a maximum not a minimum word count). we allow any recognized format, not just APA, so this isn't an APA specific issue.

it's just going to vary by professor I would assume, but only counting the body makes sense to me. your 3 page list of references doesn't add to the body of work.

---

APA says to count everything.

https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2016/...-this.html

https://libanswers.jcu.edu.au/faq/238295

your second source contradicts your first

[rachel83az]

The second source says to count everything, but your instructor might also say otherwise so ask them. Not really a contradiction, IMO.

[Merlin]

As a "rule of thumb" it is always best to assume the worst and hope for the best. In this case, if you're looking to meet a minimum word count, only count the text of the body. On the other hand, if you're trying to stay under a maximum word count, then count everything to be safe.

Logically, when discussing word count, I always assume it means body-only since that makes the most sense to me. Things like title pages, table of contents, references, etc. are just supporting documentation to support the main body of work.

[CassandraNolin]

agreed!

all words should count. Otherwise what's the point? Don't write the words that don't count, because obviously, they don't count lol!!