APA Formatting

Citation is standard practice for scholars and students engaged in written academic conversations for
several reasons. First, citation shows that you have conducted research and considered a variety of
viewpoints on your topic. Through in-text citations and references, you can help readers locate the
sources used within your paper and understand how you arrived at your conclusions. Citation also
gives you credibility as a writer because it shows that you’ve supported your arguments with evidence.
Finally, citation also allows writers to give credit to other scholars for their ideas, which helps you avoid
plagiarism.

APA FORMATTING RULES

Paper Guidelines

 Use 1-inch margins.

 Double-space the entire document
 Use Times New Roman, size 12, in black.
 The title of the paper should be the first line of the page after the title page. The title should be centered, with
major words capitalized, not boldface.
 Indent all paragraphs. Make sure there are no extra line between paragraphs.

Title Page

 The first page of your document should be the title page.

 Insert running heads into the header of each page. The phrase “Running head:” (without quotation marks)
should appear only on the title page with the first 50 characters of the paper’s title in all caps.
o All subsequent pages should only have the 50 characters of the paper’s title in all caps, without the
phrase “Running head.”
 Your title page should contain the following information, on separate lines:
o paper title (with all major words capitalized, not boldface),
o student name,
o course number and name,
o name of the institution,
o name of instructor,
o date submitted.

Reference Pages

 Use a page break to create a new page. The word References should be centered at the top, but not
boldface.
 List your references in alphabetical order.
 Each reference should be double-spaced.
 The first line of each reference should be aligned with the left margin. Each subsequent line of the reference
should have a hanging indent.

Watch a video from Purdue OWL on formatting APA papers.

CREATING A RUNNING HEAD

A Running head is a heading printed at the top of each page of a book, chapter, article, or paper. APA formatting
specifies that papers should include these for proper formatting.

APA Running Head Rules

Insert running heads in the header of each page. The phrase “Running head:” (without quotation marks) should
appear only on the title page with the first 50 characters (this includes spaces, but should not break up a word) of the
paper’s title in all caps. All subsequent pages should only have the 50 characters of the paper’s title in all caps.

For more assistance see our Running Head documentation:

 APA Running Head in MS Word 2007 & 2010

 APA Running Head for Mac 2008

APA PAPER TEMPLATES

These samples, rules, and templates include general guidelines for writing. Always ask your instructor if you have
questions.

APA Paper Templates

Please note, this template has not translated appropriately in some Microsoft products. Please be sure the paper you
submit adheres to APA formatting standards.

 Sample APA Paper

 APA Template Paper