APA format requires 1-inch margins, double spacing, a specific title page, author-date in-text citations, and a reference list at the end. It’s the standard style for papers in psychology, education, nursing, and the social sciences, and once you understand the core rules, every paper follows the same template. Here’s how to set up and write a paper in APA style using the current 7th edition guidelines.
Page Layout and Font
Set your margins to 1 inch on all four sides of the page. Use double spacing throughout the entire paper, including block quotations and the reference list. Don’t add extra blank lines before or after headings or between paragraphs.
Several fonts are acceptable. Common choices include 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 12-point Aptos, and 11-point Georgia. Pick one and use it consistently. Indent the first line of every paragraph 0.5 inches using the Tab key or your word processor’s paragraph settings, not the space bar. Add a page number in the top-right corner of every page.
Title Page Setup
The title page is always page 1. Center your paper’s title in bold, roughly three or four lines down from the top margin. Below the title, add a blank line, then your name. Below your name, add your institutional affiliation (the school or organization). For a student paper, also include the course number and name, the instructor’s name, and the assignment due date, each on its own line. All of this text is centered and double-spaced like the rest of the paper.
Professional papers (those being submitted for publication) follow a slightly different format. They include an author note below the affiliation and require a running head: a shortened version of the title, in all caps, that appears in the page header. Student papers do not need a running head unless an instructor specifically asks for one. Check your assignment guidelines to confirm which version your professor expects.
Headings and Structure
APA uses five levels of headings to organize content, though most student papers only need the first two or three. A Level 1 heading is centered, bold, and in title case (capitalize major words). A Level 2 heading is flush left, bold, and in title case. A Level 3 heading is flush left, bold italic, and in title case. Each heading level helps the reader navigate sections and subsections without numbered outlines or extra formatting.
Your paper body typically starts on page 2. If your instructor requires an abstract (a brief summary of the paper, usually 150 to 250 words), it goes on page 2 with the centered, bold label “Abstract,” and the body text begins on page 3.
In-Text Citations
APA uses the author-date method for in-text citations. Every time you reference someone else’s idea, data, or words, you include the author’s last name and the year of publication. There are two ways to do this: parenthetical citations and narrative citations.
A parenthetical citation places the author and year in parentheses at the end of the sentence. If you’re quoting directly, include the page number:
- She stated, “students often had difficulty using APA style” (Jones, 1998, p. 199).
A narrative citation works the author’s name into the sentence itself, with the year in parentheses right after the name. A page number still goes at the end of a direct quote:
- According to Jones (1998), “students often had difficulty using APA style, especially when it was their first time” (p. 199).
When you paraphrase rather than quote directly, you still cite the author and year but can omit the page number. For example: APA style is a difficult citation format for first-time learners (Jones, 1998). Both approaches give your reader enough information to find the full source in your reference list.
Works With Multiple Authors
For a work with two authors, list both names every time you cite it, connected with an ampersand in parenthetical citations (Smith & Lee, 2020) or the word “and” in narrative citations (Smith and Lee, 2020). For a work with three or more authors, list only the first author’s last name followed by “et al.” on every citation, including the first one: (Taylor et al., 2021).
Building the Reference List
The reference list starts on a new page after the last page of your paper’s body text. Center the word “References” in bold at the top. Don’t use “Works Cited” or “Bibliography,” which belong to other style guides.
Alphabetize entries by the first author’s last name. When a source has no author, alphabetize by the title. Each reference is formatted as a single paragraph with a hanging indent: the first line sits flush against the left margin, and every subsequent line is indented 0.5 inches. Double-space everything, with no extra space between entries.
The basic components of most references follow this order: author, date, title, and source. Here’s what that looks like for the most common source types:
- Book: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of work: Capital letter also for subtitle. Publisher Name.
- Journal article: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Title of Periodical, volume(issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxxx
- Website: Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. https://www.example.com/page
Include a DOI (a permanent digital link) for journal articles and books whenever one is available. DOIs and URLs can appear as live hyperlinks (blue and underlined) or as plain text. If a source like a personal email or private conversation can’t be retrieved by your reader, cite it only in the text (as a parenthetical note), not in the reference list.
Inclusive Language Guidelines
APA style goes beyond formatting into how you write about people. The 7th edition endorses the singular “they” when referring to a person whose pronouns are unknown or when gender is irrelevant to the context. For example, “Each participant completed their survey” is correct APA style.
More broadly, APA encourages bias-free language across categories like age, disability, and body size. The guiding principle is to call people what they call themselves and to use specific, respectful terms. Use “older adults” rather than “the elderly.” Use “person with a disability” or “disabled person” based on the individual’s or community’s stated preference. Avoid euphemisms like “special needs” or condescending language like “suffering from.” When writing about groups, acknowledge that no group is a monolith, and avoid language that treats any identity as a deviation from a default.
Quick Formatting Checklist
- Margins: 1 inch on all sides
- Spacing: Double-spaced throughout, no extra lines anywhere
- Font: 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Calibri, or another approved font
- Paragraph indent: 0.5 inches on the first line
- Page numbers: Top-right corner of every page
- Title page: Title in bold, centered, followed by your name, school, course, instructor, and date (for student papers)
- Running head: Required only for professional papers, not student papers (unless your instructor says otherwise)
- References: New page, bold centered label, hanging indent, alphabetical order
Most word processors let you save these settings as a template, which saves time on future papers. Set up the margins, spacing, font, and header once, and you’ll only need to focus on the writing and citations for every assignment after that.