APA Manual's purpose |
It's important to understand that the primary purpose of the Publication Manual of the
American Psychological Association (or APA Publication Manual for short) is to provide specific
guidelines for the preparation of article manuscripts that will be submitted for publication in the APA journal. Information
provided in the manual, therefore, is specifically aimed at formatting and citing an article manuscript.
However, APA style is used for college papers, Master's theses, and disserations. While you should
follow APA style as closely as possible, not everything in the APA Publication Manual applies to college papers.
Colleges and professors can adapt APA guidelines for their purposes. For example, graduate schools may require specific information
on the APA title page or specific formatting of the text, headings, tables, and reference list in Master's theses and
dissertations. Always check with your graduate department or professor to make sure that you know what the APA requirements
are for your specific course or paper.
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This website's purpose |
This website primarily provides information for undergraduate student papers such as essays or
research papers that must use APA style. Graduate students should consider purchasing the APA Publication Manual to
use when writing their Master's theses and disserations.
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What are the general APA formatting guidelines?
What is formatting? |
Formatting refers to how your word processing document will look on the printed page. This includes
margins, font style and size, line spacing, headers, justification, and page numbering. |
Font Type and Size |
Use Times New Roman font style and a 12-point font size for all text on all pages (including titles). |
Special Characters |
Use Word's special character symbols for accented letters, math symbols, Greek letters, etc. |
Line Spacing |
All text should be double-spaced (2.0 spacing) including the title, all headings, quotations,
references and figure captions. |
Margins |
Use one-inch margins on all sides of the document. (Note: Microsoft Word has a default setting of
1.25" margins for documents, so you will need to change the margin settings to 1" on all sides.) |
Justification and Line Length |
Use left margin justification. Do not justify both margins; right margin should be ragged.
Typed lines should not be longer than 6.5". Do not hyphenate words at the end of the line. |
Paragraph Indentation |
The first line of each paragraph should be indented 0.5" (hit tab key or type 10 spaces).
There should be no blank lines between the paragraphs. The following items should NOT be indented: abstracts, block
quotations, titles and headings, table titles and notes, and figure captions. |
Paper Size and Orientation |
8-1/2 x 11 inch paper and portrait orientation. |
Page Numbers and Running Head |
Page Numbers: Number pages consecutively starting with number 1 on the title page, and number all pages using Arabic
numerals. Numbers should be in the upper right-hand corner, 1" from the right-hand edge of the page, 1/2" from the top, and
INSIDE the header area of the document.
Running Head: Place the running head at the left margin INSIDE the header area of the Word document
opposite the page number (maximum of 50 characters, including letters, punctuation and spaces between words). The running
head is different for the title page than it is for the rest of the paper. The title page should include the words
"Running head:" before the abbreviated paper title. For example: Running head: ABBREVIATED PAPER TITLE IN ALL CAPS.
However, the words "Running head:" SHOULD NOT be included in the headers on the rest of the pages; only the
ABBREVIATED PAPER TITLE IN ALL CAPS should be in the header opposite the page number.
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How do I format my APA title page?
The APA Title page is an identification page which provides information about the author, institutional
affliation, the title, etc. However, for student papers, it is formatted in the same way but provides different information
such as the title of your paper, your name, your college, your professor, your class and the date. (Note: Professors and
Graduate Schools may want specific information on your title page, so be sure to check with them.) The title page should be
the first page in your Word document, and your paper should start on a new page after it. It has these specific
formatting requirements:
Page Numbers and Running Head |
Page Numbers: Number pages consecutively starting with number 1 on the title page,
and number all pages using Arabic numerals. Numbers should be in the upper right-hand corner, 1" from the right-hand edge
of the page, 1/2" from the top, and INSIDE the header area of the document.
Running Head: Place the running head at the left margin INSIDE the header area of the Word document
opposite the page number (maximum of 50 characters, including letters, punctuation and spaces between words). The running
head is different for the title page than it is for the rest of the paper. The title page should include the words
"Running head:" before the abbreviated paper title. For example: Running head: ABBREVIATED PAPER TITLE IN ALL CAPS.
However, the words "Running head:" SHOULD NOT be included in the headers on the rest of the pages; only the
ABBREVIATED PAPER TITLE IN ALL CAPS should be in the header opposite the page number.
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Title |
Type in uppercase and lowercase letters (capitalize words with four or more letters)in the upper half of
the page and center it. If the title is more than one line, double-space between the lines. The paper's title should NOT be the
assignment name; it should summarize the main idea of the paper simply and concisely. |
Byline and affiliation |
Type your name using uppercase and lowercase letters one double-spaced and center it. Type the
institutional affiliation (your college's name) under the author's name on the next double-spaced line and center it. |
Professor's Name |
Type your professor's name under the affliation on the next double-spaced line and center it. |
Class Name |
Type your class name under the professors' name on the next double-spaced line and center it. |
Date |
Type the date under the class name on the next double-spaced line and center it.
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How do I format my Abstract page?
Check with your professor to see if an Abstract page is required. An abstract is a brief,
comprehensive summary of the contents of the paper. It needs to be dense with information, readable, well organized,
concise, and self-contained.
New Page |
The Abstract page starts on a new page after the APA title page. |
Format |
Abstract should be only one paragraph, typed in block form; do not indent. Do not bold-face the title. |
Line Spacing |
Use double line spacing. |
Word Limit |
The APA Manual says 150 to 250 words depending on the requirement of the journal.
College paper abstracts should generally be 120-150 words. Follow the guidelines provided by your professor, college
or graduate school. |
How do I format my paper text?
Paper body |
Your paper should start on a new page after the APA title page or after the Abstract page
if there is one). |
Title |
Type the title of your paper (again) at the top of the new page. Double line space below it
and start your paper text. |
Format |
Follow the formatting guidelines in the first section above for fonts, indentation, line spacing,
justification and margins. |
Five Levels of Headings |
APA style uses five levels of headings (subheadings). Start with Level 1 headings; these would be
the main subheadings in your paper. If you have additional sections that need subheadings, work through the levels in
the chart below.
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Format for Five Levels of Headings |
1 |
Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading |
2 |
Flush Left, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading |
3 |
Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. |
4 |
Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. |
5 |
Indented, italicized lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period. |
Source: APA Publication Manual, 6th edition, p. 62 .
How do I format my Reference List?
New Page |
Reference List starts on a new page after the body of the paper. |
Reference Page Title |
Type References (or Reference for only one source) and center it on the page.
Do not put it in quotation marks or ALL CAPS. Do not bold-fac this title. |
Line Spacing |
Sources should be double spaced (2.0 spacing). |
Format |
Sources should be in hanging indent format with no blank lines between the sources. |
Order |
Sources should be in alphabetical order by authors' last name (or article title if there is no
author). Do not number or bullet-point your sources. |
Author's Names |
Author’s name format: Last name, initial(s). Use the ampersand ( & ) instead of the word "and" with
multiple authors. |
Italics |
Book, journals, magazines and newspaper titles should be in italics font. Volume numbers of journals
should be in italics font. |
Titles of Works |
Do not italicize or use quotation marks around article titles. The first word of titles and the
first word of a subtitle after a colon should be capitalized. All other words in titles should be lower case letters, except for acronyms and proper nouns. |
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