An APA title page is not vertically centered on the page. Instead, the title starts three to four lines down from the top, with all text horizontally centered and the entire page double-spaced. This catches many students off guard because it looks different from the centered title pages required by other formatting styles. Here’s exactly how to set it up.
What Goes on an APA Title Page
APA 7th edition uses two slightly different title pages depending on whether you’re writing a student paper or a professional (journal submission) paper. Both share the same core centering and spacing rules, but the required elements differ.
A student title page includes the paper title (bolded), the author’s name, the institutional affiliation (your school), the course number and name, the instructor’s name, and the assignment due date. All of these lines are centered horizontally on the page.
A professional title page includes the paper title (bolded), the author’s name, institutional affiliation, and an author note. It also requires a running head in the page header. The author note sits in the bottom half of the page, with its label centered and bolded.
How to Position the Title
Place the paper title three to four lines down from the top of the page. This means you’ll hit “Enter” a few times at the top before typing your title. The entire document should already be set to double spacing, so those blank lines will be double-spaced as well. Bold the title and center it horizontally.
After the title, leave one double-spaced blank line, then type the author name (not bolded). The remaining elements, like your school name, course, instructor, and date, each go on their own line directly below, with no extra blank lines between them. Every line on the page should be centered.
A common mistake is trying to vertically center all the text so it sits in the middle of the page. APA style does not call for vertical centering. The text block starts near the top and naturally leaves white space at the bottom.
How to Center Text in Microsoft Word
Select all the text on your title page. On the Home tab, find the Paragraph group and click the Center button (or press Ctrl+E). This horizontally centers every line between the left and right margins.
Make sure you do not apply vertical centering. If you’ve already done so by accident, go to the Layout tab, click the small arrow in the bottom-right corner of the Page Setup group to open the dialog box, then select the Layout tab inside that box. Change the “Vertical alignment” dropdown from “Center” back to “Top,” set “Apply to” to “Whole document,” and click OK.
Set your font to a readable typeface like 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Calibri, or 11-point Arial. Set line spacing to double (Home tab, Paragraph group, Line Spacing options) and make sure “Before” and “After” paragraph spacing are both set to 0 pt. Extra paragraph spacing is one of the most common reasons an APA title page looks off.
How to Center Text in Google Docs
Google Docs makes horizontal centering simple. Highlight your title page text, then click the center-align icon in the toolbar (or press Ctrl+E on Windows, Cmd+E on Mac).
Google Docs does not have a vertical centering option the way Word does, which actually works in your favor here since APA doesn’t want vertical centering anyway. Just press Enter a few times at the top of the document to push the title down three to four lines, confirm your line spacing is set to double (Format, then Line & paragraph spacing, then Double), and you’re set.
Formatting the Running Head
If you’re writing a professional paper, you also need a running head in the page header. Double-click the top margin area to open the header, type your abbreviated title in all caps, and left-align it. The running head should be no more than 50 characters. The page number goes on the right side of the same header line. Student papers in APA 7th edition only need the page number in the header, not a running head, unless your instructor says otherwise.
Quick Spacing Checklist
- Title placement: three to four lines down from the top of the page, centered and bolded
- After the title: one double-spaced blank line before the author name
- Remaining elements: each on its own centered line, no extra blank lines between them
- Line spacing: double throughout, with 0 pt before and after each paragraph
- Vertical alignment: top, not center
- Font: 12-pt Times New Roman, 11-pt Calibri, or 11-pt Arial
Getting the title page right mostly comes down to resisting the urge to center everything vertically. Keep the text near the top, center it horizontally, bold only the title, and double-space the whole page. That’s the APA standard.