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Citation: APA Style 7th ed.

Formating Guidelines for an APA Paper

  • Double spaced, including the References page
  • 1 " margin on all sides
  • No Running Head at the top of each page is used anymore in student papers
  • There is now more flexibility in font choices: 
    • Times New Roman 12. pt.
    • Calibri size 11 pt.
    • Arial 11 pt.
    • Lucida Sans Unicode 10 pt.
    • Georgia 11 pt.  
  • 4 Major Sections in the Paper
    • Title Page
    • Abstract
    • Main Body
    • References Page

What's Included on the Title Page of Your Paper

A Title Page is Usually Included in an APA Paper and Has the Following Details:

  • Student APA papers now follow a different format from professional papers. There are no running heads in student papers.
  • Put page numbers on the right side of each page, starting with the title page.
  • Type your title in upper and lowercase letters, 3 or 4 lines below the top margin.
  • The title of your paper should be bolded and centered.
  • Starting 2 lines below the title you usually put your name, number and name of the course, instructor's name and assignment due date or date submitted. Each line is double-spaced and centered.
  • If your instructor has a sample in their rubric of what they want included on their title page, follow the instructor's sample.

Title Page Example

                                                                                                                                         1

(Page numbers begin on the title page and follow on every page after that)

                   Title of your Paper Following the APA's Guidelines                                                                                                                                                                 

                                                       Student Name

                                                Department, University

                                            Course Number: Course Name

                                                      Instructor's Name

                                                          Due date

[All text is double-spaced and all text is centered]

 

 

How to Do Page 2-The First Page in the Body of Your Paper

  • Page 2 of an APA professional paper includes an abstract.
  • If no abstract is needed, be sure the page number 2 is at the top right of the page where the main body of your paper begins, after the title page.
  •  Then include the full title of your paper at the top of that page. The title is centered on the page and bolded.
  • Then double space, and the main text of your paper begins.
  • If you want to include headings for different sections of your paper they should be centered and bolded.

Sample Page 2 of an APA Paper

 

                                                                                                                                                                  2

 

Full Title of Your Paper Centered and Bolded at the Top of Page 2

          Now it is time to include the main body of your paper here. Remember that when you use someone else's ideas in your paper you will need to include in-text citations and a list of your sources/full citations in a references list at the end of your  paper. You must do this even if you paraphrase or summarize and are not using direct quotations. Each instructor will let you know in their rubric what they want included on the title pages for class papers.  Remember also that the entire paper needs to be double-spaced, including the references page at the end.

                                                     Headings in Your Paper are Centered and Bolded

               There are citationbuilders online that can help you create your APA citations. There are also computer generated APA citations in GALILEO that you can use. Be sure they are in APA 7th edition, which is relatively new. You will find  that often those computer-generated citations are not 100% correct so do not just copy and paste the GALILEO citations into your paper or you may get points taken off for incorrect citations. You may have to make a few corrections. Check out the list of sources at the end of this tutorial to get more help with formatting APA papers and citations.

References Page Basic Rules

  • The References page  is found at the end of  your paper or PowerPoint.
  • Every source you cite in your paper must appear in your references list.
  • All text on the page should be double-spaced.
  • The word References should be bolded and centered at the top of the page.
  • Every line after the first word of each citation should be indented-this is called a hanging indent.
  • All entries should be alphabetized by the first word of each citation.

What does the References Page Look Like?

Full details on every source cited in a paper or PowerPoint are included at the end on a references list.  

Below is a sample References page from the OWL at Purdue.

Sample references page from the OWL at Purdue