APA Style 7th Edition

Margins & Page Numbers (sections 2.22-2.24 of the APA Manual)

• 1 inch at top, bottom, and both sides
• Left aligned paragraphs and leave the right edge ragged (not "right justified")
• Indent first line of each paragraph 1/2 inch from left margin
• Use page numbers, including on the title page, 1/2 inch from top and flush with right margin

Text Format (section 2.19 of the APA Manual)

• Use one of these highly readable fonts: 
  • Times New Roman, 12 point
  • Calibri, 11 point
  • Arial, 11 point
  • Lucinda Sans Unicode, 10 point
  • Georgia, 11 point
• Double-space and align text to the left
• Use active voice
• Don't overuse technical jargon
• No periods after a web address or DOI in the References list.

Title Page (section 2.3 of the APA Manual)

• Include the title, your name, the class name, and the college's name
• Title should be 12 words or less and summarize the paper's main idea
• No periods or abbreviations
• Do not italicize or underline
• No quotation marks, all capital letters, or bold
• Center horizontally in upper half of the page

Body (section 2.11 of the APA Manual)

• Align the text to the left with a 1/2-inch left indent on the first line
• Double-space
• As long as there is no Abstract, at the top of the first page, type the title of the paper, centered, in bold, and in Sentence Case Capitalization
• Usually, include sections like these: introduction, literature review or background, discussion, and conclusion -- but the specific organization will depend on the paper type
• Spell out long organization names and add the abbreviation in parenthesis, then just use the abbreviation
• Spell out numbers one through nine and use a number for 10 or more
• Use a number for units of measurement, in tables, to represent statistical or math functions, and dates or times

Headings (section 2.26-2.27 of the APA Manual)

• Level 1: Center, bold, Title Case 
• Level 2: Align left, bold, Title Case
• Level 3: Alight left, bold italics, Title Case
• Level 4: Indented 1/2", bold, Title Case, end with a period. Follow with text. 
• Level 5: Indented 1/2", bold italics, Title Case, end with a period. Follow with text. 

Quotations (sections 8.26-8.33 in APA Manual)

• Include short quotations (40 words or less) in-text with quotation marks
• For quotes more than 40 words, indent the entire quote a half inch from the left margin and double-space it with no quotation marks
• When quoting two or more paragraphs from an original source, indent the first line of each paragraph a half inch from the left margin
• Use ellipsis (...) when omitting sections from a quote and use four periods (....) if omitting the end section of a quote

References (section 2.12 in APA Manual)

Begins on a new page following the text of your paper and includes complete citations for the resources you've used in your writing.

• References heading should be centered and in bold at the top of a new page
• Double-space and use hanging indents (where the first line is on the left margin and the following lines are indented a half inch from the left)
• List authors' last name first followed by the first and middle initials (ex. Smith, A. B.)
• Alphabetize the list by the first author's last name of of each citation (see sections 9.44-9.49)
• Capitalize only the first word, the first after a colon or em dash, and proper nouns
• Don't capitalize the second word of a hyphenated compound
• No quotation marks around titles of articles

Tables and Figures In-Text (chapter 7 of APA Manual)

• Label tables and figures numerically (ex. Table 1)
• Give each table column a heading and use separating lines only when necessary
• Design the table and figure so that it can be understood on its own, i.e. it does not require reference to the surrounding text to understand it
• Notes go below tables and figures

Appendices with Tables, Figures, & Illustrations (section 2.14, and chapter 7 in APA Manual)

• Include appendices only to help the reader understand, evaluate, or replicate the study or argument
• Put each appendix on a separate page and align left
• For text, do not indent the first paragraph, but do indent the rest
• If you have only one appendix, label it "Appendix"
• If you have two or more appendices, label them "Appendix A", "Appendix B" and so forth as they appear in the body of your paper
• Label tables and figures numerically (ex. Table 1, or Table B1 and Table B2 if Appendix B has two tables) and describe them within the text of the appendix
• Give each table column a heading and use separating lines only when necessary
• Notes go below tables and figures (see samples on p. 210-226)

Annotated Bibliography

• Double-space the entire bibliography. Give each entry a hanging indent. In the following annotation, indent the entire paragraph a half inch from the left margin and give the first line of each paragraph a half inch indent. See the template document at the top of this page.

• Check with your professor for the length of the annotation and which elements you should evaluate.