APA 7th Edition - Citations and Formatting

Font

Use any sans serif or serif font accessible to all users. Options include: 

• 11-point Calibri
• 11-point Arial
• 12-point Times New Roman
• 11-point Georgia

Use the same font throughout your paper.
Exceptions:

• Within a figure image, use a sans serif font (e.g., Arial or Calibri) with a type size between 8 and 14 points.
• When presenting a footnote in a page footer, use the default footnote settings (e.g., 10-point font with single line spacing)

Line Spacing

• Double-space all text.
• Do not add extra lines before or after headings or between paragraphs.

• On the title page, place the paper title three or four double-spaced lines down from the top of the page and add an extra line between the paper title and author names.
• Table bodies and figure images may be single-spaced, one-and-a-half-spaced, or double-spaced.
• Footnotes at the bottom of the page on which they are called out should be single-spaced.

Margins

• Use 1-in. (2.54-cm) margins on all sides.
• The page header is placed within the 1-in. margin.

Paragraph Alignment & Indentation 

• Indent the first line of every paragraph 0.5 in (use Tab function)
• Leave the remaining lines of the paragraph left-aligned

Exceptions:

• Left-align and do not indent the first line of the abstract; Level 2 and 3 headings; and table and figure numbers, titles, and notes.
• Apply a hanging indent of 0.5 in. to reference list entries using the paragraph-formatting feature of your word-processing program.
• Indent block quotations 0.5 in. from the left margin. For longer block quotations, indent subsequent paragraphs an additional 0.5 in.

In general, start each section on a new page.

Use section labels to separate sections of a paper:

• "abstract"
• "literature review"
• "references"

Format section labels in bold and center them.

Title Page → Abstract →​ Text → References → Appendices

Elements

• Paper title 
• Author name (Byline)
• Author affiliation (department and university)
• Course number and name 
• Instructor name
• Assignment due date
• Page number in the header

Format

• Centered, upper half of the page - three to four lines down from top margin, and double spaced
• Paper title should be in title case
  • title case: major words are capitalized
  • sentence case: most words are lowercased
• Add an additional double spaced blank line between the title and the byline (author names)
• Name of each author in order of contribution
  • preferred form of an author's name is first name, middle initial, last name

Title Page Example

Elements

• Brief, comprehensive, and accurate summary of the paper.
• Address the four or five most important points, concepts, or findings from your paper.
• Use the same key terms and language used in your paper.

Format

• Place the abstract on a separate page after the title page (page 2).
• Include the label “Abstract” in bold, centered at the top of the page.
• Single paragraph. Do not indent the first line.
• Double-spaced 
• ~250 words

Header

• Insert page numbers in the top right corner of the header.
• The page number should show on all pages.

Running Head 

Optional: Running head is not required for student papers

• Abbreviated version of paper title—no more than 50 characters, including spaces and punctuation. 
• Appears in the same format on every page, including the first page. 
• Do not use the label “Running head:” on any page. 
• Write in ALL-CAPITAL letters.
• Insert the running in the page header, aligned to the left margin and across from the right-aligned page number. 

Heading Levels

Elements

• ​There are five levels of headings in APA style.

Format

• Avoid using only one subheading. Use at least two subheadings or none at all. 
• Double space all headings
• It is understood that the first paragraph of a paper is the introduction. The heading "Introduction" is not needed.