APA Format: How to Format Your Paper Step by Step

If your instructor asks for a paper in APA, you need to follow a specific set of rules for page layout, headings, in-text citations and references. The rules can feel picky at first, but once you understand the logic behind them, formatting an APA paper becomes routine. This guide walks you through every part of the paper, from the title page to the reference list, using the current 7th edition of the APA manual, with examples you can copy.

What Is APA Style? The American Psychological Association Citation Style

APA style is the writing and citation style created by the American Psychological Association. Instructors choose a citation style based on the discipline, and APA is the most common citation style in psychology and the social sciences, and colleges also use it widely in education, nursing, business and other fields that rely on research. Its rules are published in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. Each citation style has its own rules, so do not mix them in one paper.

APA style has three goals: to make research easy for readers to follow, to keep writing clear and neutral, and to give proper credit to the authors whose work you use. Citing sources correctly is also your best protection against plagiarism. Our guide on what plagiarism is and how to avoid it explains why that matters.

A paper in APA style usually has four main parts:

• A title page
• An abstract, if your instructor requires one
• The main body of the paper
• A reference list

The APA 7th Edition: What Changed

The American Psychological Association released the 7th edition of its manual in October 2019, and it is still the current edition. If you learned APA style from an older guide, these are the changes that matter most for student writing:

• Separate rules for student papers and professional papers. Student papers no longer need a running head.
• Simpler in-text citations. For a source with three or more authors, use the first author's last name and "et al." from the first citation.
• More authors in references. You can list up to 20 authors in a reference entry.
• DOIs as links. Digital Object Identifiers are written as web addresses, such as https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000.
• No publisher location in book references.
• More font choices, including sans serif fonts.

Unless your instructor asks for an older version, always use the 7th edition.

Basic APA Format Rules for Every Page

These settings apply to the whole document, so set them up before you start writing:

• Paper size: standard 8.5 × 11 inch paper.
• Margins: 1 inch on all sides.
• Font: one readable font used consistently. The APA manual lists 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 11-point Georgia, 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode and 10-point Computer Modern.
• Line spacing: double spaced throughout, including the title page, abstract, block quotes and references.
• Alignment: text aligned to the left margin, with an uneven right edge. Do not justify the text.
• Paragraph indent: indent the first line of each paragraph by 0.5 inch.

APA style also asks for clear, concise writing. Avoid unnecessary jargon, use bias-free language and write in a way that helps readers find your main point quickly.

Page Number and Running Head

Every page has a header, including the title page, with a page number in the top right corner. What else goes in the header depends on the type of paper:

• Student papers: page number only. No running head is required unless your instructor asks for one.
• Professional papers: a running head flush with the left margin and the page number on the right. It is a shortened version of the paper's title in all capital letters, no more than 50 characters including spaces and punctuation.

If you were taught to write "Running head:" before the title, that label was dropped in the 7th edition.

How to Format an APA Title Page

This is the first page of your paper. Place the paper's title three or four lines down from the top, in the upper half of the page, centered and in bold. Use title case, which means you capitalize major words and proper nouns but keep short words such as "and," "of" and "the" lowercase.

Student Title Page

A student title page includes these elements, centered and double spaced:

1. Paper title
2. Your name
3. Affiliation, usually your department and college or university
4. Course number and name
5. Instructor name
6. Due date

Leave extra space between the title and your name. For the date, write it the way it is commonly written in your country, such as October 18, 2026.

Professional Title Page

A professional title page, used for papers submitted to journals, includes the title, the names of all authors, their affiliations and an author note in the bottom half of the page. The author note can list ORCID iDs, disclosures and contact information for the corresponding author. It also includes the shortened title in the page header.

Abstract and Main Body

An abstract is a short summary of your paper. Most student papers do not need one unless the assignment says so, but professional papers almost always do.

• Start the abstract on a new page after the title page.
• Write the word "Abstract" centered and in bold on the first line.
• Write the summary as a single paragraph with no indent, usually no more than 250 words.
• If you need to list keywords, start a new line, indent it, type Keywords: in italics and add the keywords.

The main body follows. Repeat the paper's title at the top of the first page of text as a centered heading, then start the first paragraph on the next line. An introduction section does not get an "Introduction" heading, because the title already serves that purpose.

APA Headings: Five Levels

APA style uses up to five heading levels. Most college papers only need levels 1 and 2.

All five levels use title case. Use headings in order. You can skip lower levels if you do not need them, but do not jump from level 1 to level 3.

APA Citation Basics: In-Text Citations

Every source you use needs an in-text citation, and every in-text citation must match an entry in your references. APA uses the author-date system, so each citation includes the author's last name and the year of publication. There are two ways to cite a source in text:

• Parenthetical: both name and year appear in parentheses at the end of the sentence, such as (Nguyen, 2023).
• Narrative: the author's name is part of your sentence, with the year in parentheses, such as Nguyen (2023) found that...

The number of authors changes the format of each APA citation:

If a source has no author, use the title in place of the author's name. If it has no date, write "n.d." for no date.

Direct Quotations and Page Numbers

When you quote a source word for word, put the quote in quotation marks and add the page to the citation, such as (Nguyen, 2023, p. 14). A direct-quote APA citation always needs that page reference. Use "pp." for a range of pages. For web sources without page numbers, use a paragraph number instead, such as (Nguyen, 2023, para. 6). Quotes of 40 words or more become block quotations: start them on a new line, indent the whole block 0.5 inch and leave out the quotation marks.

How to Format the Reference List

The references section starts on a new page after the main body. It gives anyone reading your paper the full details needed to find each source you cite.

• Write "References" centered and in bold at the top.
• Double space all entries.
• Use a hanging indent: the first line of each entry sits at the left margin, and every line after it is indented 0.5 inch.
• Arrange entries in alphabetical order by the last name of the first author.
• List up to 20 authors with last names and initials. For 21 or more, list the first 19, add an ellipsis and then the final author.
• In article titles, capitalize only the first word, the first word after a colon and proper nouns. Journal names use title case and italics.

If your instructor asks for an annotated bibliography instead, our guide on what a bibliography is explains the difference.

Journal Article Reference Example

The most common APA citation in college papers points to a journal article. The pattern is:

Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of the article. Name of Journal, Volume(Issue), page range. https://doi.org/xxxx

Example:

Nguyen, L. T., & Patel, R. (2023). Sleep quality and exam performance in first-year students. Journal of College Student Development, 64(2), 145–160. https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx

Always include a DOI if the article has one. The DOI is the preferred link for electronic sources because it does not change.

Book, Chapter and Website Examples

• Book: Author, A. A. (Year). Name of book (2nd ed.). Publisher.
• Chapter in an edited book: Author, A. A. (Year). Chapter name. In E. E. Editor (Ed.), Name of book (pp. 10–25). Publisher.
• Web page: Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL

Book chapters and articles are not italicized; the larger work they belong to is.

Using an APA Citation Generator

An APA citation generator can save time when you have many sources. Tools such as Zotero, Mendeley and the citation tools built into library databases can create an APA citation from a DOI, ISBN or URL, and Microsoft Word and Google Docs have built-in citation features.

A citation generator is only as good as the information it receives, so always check the results. The most common errors are:

• Article names capitalized like headings instead of in sentence case
• Missing or broken DOIs
• Wrong capitalization of names and places
• Volume numbers that are not italicized
• Website entries with the wrong date or missing author

Whichever APA citation generator you choose, use it for the first draft, then compare each entry with the examples in this guide or with Purdue OWL's APA guide, a resource many writers use to double-check APA rules.

APA Templates for Google Docs and Word

You can save time by starting from an APA 7th edition template. Both Google Docs and Microsoft Word offer templates with the correct margins, font, line spacing and page header already set. The APA Style website also offers sample student papers and professional papers you can use as a model, and Purdue OWL has annotated sample papers too. When you use a template, replace the sample text and check that the page header shows only the page number if you are writing a student paper.

Common APA Mistakes to Avoid

• Adding a running head to a student paper when the instructor did not ask for one.
• Forgetting page numbers in direct quotes.
• Using "et al." only after the first citation, which was the old rule.
• Single spacing the reference list or forgetting the hanging indent.
• Putting references in the order you used them instead of alphabetical order.
• Mixing citation styles, such as MLA's Works Cited format, with APA style. Our MLA citation guide explains how the two styles differ.
• Leaving an APA citation in your main body that has no matching entry in the references, or the other way around.

Before you submit, check the rest of your paper against your instructor's guidelines, since some courses change parts of the standard rules. To compare APA with another citation style, see our guide on how to reference an essay in APA, MLA, Chicago and Harvard, and if your course uses notes, our guide to footnotes in Chicago, MLA and APA.

APA Formatting Checklist

• 1-inch margins and one approved font
• Double spaced text throughout
• Page numbers in the header throughout
• Title page with title, name, affiliation, course, instructor name and due date
• Abstract on a separate page, if required
• Paper's title repeated at the top of the first page of text
• Headings in the correct level format
• In-text citations with author and year, plus page numbers for quotes
• References on a new page, alphabetized, with a hanging indent

If you are short on time, HomeworkDoer tutors can review your formatting, citations and references, or help with the research and writing itself. You can also read our guides on how to write a research paper and how to write a literature review, or get matched with a writer through our essay writing help.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Is the Difference Between APA Format and APA Style?

People use both terms for the same thing. APA style covers the full set of writing and citation rules from the American Psychological Association, while "format" usually refers to page layout, such as margins, spacing and the first page.

Do Student Papers Need a Running Head in APA 7th Edition?

No. Student papers only need page numbers in the header. Professional papers need one.

Does an APA Paper Need an Abstract?

Only if your instructor asks for one. Professional papers and research articles usually include an abstract of up to 250 words.

How Do You Cite a Source With Three or More Authors?

Use the first author's last name followed by "et al." and the year, such as (Nguyen et al., 2023), starting with the first citation.

What Font Should I Use for an APA Paper?

Any font on the approved list works, as long as you use it consistently. Times New Roman in 12 point and Calibri in 11 point are the most common choices.