APA Style (7th ed.) Manuscript Guidelines
APA Style provides guidelines on how your paper should appear on the page. It involves formatting margins, line spacing, the title page, body pages, and reference list.
Title Page
Notes on the Sample Title Page
- In the header of the document at the right margin, insert the page number.
- In the upper half of the page, three to four lines down from the header, provide the title of the paper in bold, title case.
- Double-space the title page and entire paper, adding an additional double-spaced line between the title and the “byline”—author name.
- Provide the byline and related information in regular font. First provide the author’s name and affiliated university.
- Next, provide the course number and name (Course Number: Name), the professor for the course, and due date.
- Always check with your instructor about additional information required on this page.
More Title Page Examples
- Open a sample title page here.
- Formatting an APA Style (7th ed.) Paper and Title Page in Microsoft Word Video
Body Page
Notes on this sample body page
- The font should be the same throughout the paper. Acceptable fonts include 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 12-point Times New Roman, 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode, 11-point Georgia, or 10-point Computer Modern.
- Use one-inch margins all around.
- The text should align with the left margin and be uneven along the right margin with one space between words and after punctuation.
- Double-space the entire paper without extra spacing between paragraphs.
- Indent the beginning of each paragraph one half-inch, which is typically one click of the Tab key.
More Body Page Examples
Reference List
Notes on this sample references list for student papers:
- The references list begins on a new page at the end of the paper before any tables or appendices.
- The right margin of the header provides the page number, continued from the previous page.
- The word References is centered on the first line under the header in bold font.
- The citations are formatted using a “hanging indent” where the second and subsequent lines are indented one half-inch under the first line in order to improve readability.
- Double-space the reference list, including within a reference entry.
- Two or more works by the same author are ordered chronologically by publication date.
- References with the same first author and a different second author are alphabetized by the second author.
More Reference List Examples
- Open a sample reference list here.
- Formatting an APA Style (7th ed.) Reference List in Microsoft Word Video