Introduction
Formatting your essay in accordance with the APA guidelines (6th ed.) can be quite tricky. Fortunately, this guide shall help you score high marks for professionalism. And, even if you’re not intending to read it, do scroll down to download our free APA essay template.
Note: all instructions that are detailed to Microsoft Word. You may have to look for an equivalent setting if you’re using a different word processor.
The Basics
Essay Components
An APA paper has four parts:
- The Title Page
- The Abstract
- The Essay
- The Reference List
It’s best to separate each section with a full page break (Insert > Page Break).
The default font is Times New Roman, size 12 (a smaller size is fine for footnotes). It’s a serif font if you select any other font, make sure. You may, however, use a sans-serif font for captions and descriptions in figures and tables.
All around since 2007, the default margin for any Word document has been 1 inch. Fortunately, APA format has the same requirement. If for many reason you ought to fix the margins, head to Page Layout > Margins > Normal.
All the text in your essay should really be double-spaced. A to highlight all text and then press Home > Line and Paragraph Spacing (symbol) > 2.0 to make this change quickly, first press Ctrl. Ensure you also click on “Remove Space After Paragraph.”
Let’s look at the basic layout of an APA title page:
Let’s break down what switches into making a title page that is great. The thing that is first want to do is ensure your first page is formatted independently through the other countries in the paper. To complete so click on Page Layout > Page Setup > Layout > First that is different Page.
Then add a full page number (Insert > Page Number > Plain #3) and add a Running head. The running head is your essay title in 50 characters or less (that includes spaces and punctuation). In case the title that is full is long, provide a shorter version. Once you’ve typed the title, press Tab a couple of times to really make the Running head flush utilizing the margin that is left. Don’t forget to utilize the font that is right.
You capitalize important words, but not prepositions and articles when you add your title, make sure that.
Optional: you can add an note that is author’s the base of your title page. To learn more, please see pp. 24-25 of this Publication Manual associated with American Psychological Association (6th ed.). The author’s note is more common for published papers, & most students can safely ignore it.
The abstract receives its own page:
This time leave the words out “Running head” and give just the title (or perhaps the shortened version). Insert a full page write my paper for me number (Insert > Page Number > Plain # 3), and then make sure your header is in the font that is rightTimes New Roman, size 12). Each subsequent page should currently have the header that is correct.
Centre the term Abstract and left-align the summary that is actual. Do not indent this paragraph.
Essay Start Page
Your essay really begins on the third page:
Finally, don’t forget to cite your sources:
For lots more details, please visit our page on formatting the reference list.
APA papers in many cases are divided into sections. If you’d love to organize your material with headings, you can easily choose from a number of different headers. Start by using first level headers and make use of the others for sub-headers:
First Level Header (Bold, Centered, and in Title Case)
Second Level Header (Bold, Left Aligned, plus in Title Case)
Third level header (indented, bold, and lowercase), ending with a period.
Fourth level header (just like the level that is third however now in italics!).
Fifth level header (same as the fourth level, not in bold).
As you can plainly see, you don’t need to use some complex numbering system (e.g., 3.2.1b) to organize your ideas. The formatting for the trick is done by the header.