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APA Format Guidelines

Find document formatting, in-text citation guidance, and more for papers written in APA style.

APA Format Guidelines for Students

Font                        Must be legible but no font is required. Use the same font throughout the document.  Recommended fonts:  11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, and 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode as well as serif fonts such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, 10-point Computer Modern.
Heading Insert page numbers, beginning with the title page, in the upper right corner. 
Margins 1" margins on all sides
Paper standard-sized paper (8.5" x 11")
Paragraphs Indent the first line of each paragraph (except the first paragraph of the abstract or block quotations) by 0.5 inches, and left-align all paragraphs.
Spacing Double-space the entire document with no extra space between paragraphs, sections, headings, quotations, or references.

Major Paper Sections

Your essay should include four major sections: the Title Page, Abstract, Main Body, and References.

Title Page
  • Title of the paper 
    • Centered in the upper half of the page
    • Centered and written in boldface
    • Should only take up one or two lines
  • Author's name
    • First name, middle initial(s), and last name
    • Do not use titles (Dr.) or degrees (PhD)
  • Institutional affiliation
  • Course number & name
  • Instructor Name
  • Assignment date
  • Page Number
Abstract

Please Note: Check with your instructor if an Abstract is advised as they are not required for student papers.

  • On the first line of the abstract page, center and bold the word “Abstract” (no italics, underlining, or quotation marks).
  • Write a concise summary of the key points of your research. (Do not indent.) See the section on abstracts for more information on content organization.
References

See the APA Reference Page section for guidance.