APA 7 Citations: Format Your Paper

This guide replaces the APA Citations guide for the 6th edition.

General Paper Formatting Guidelines

       NOTE: New to this edition of APA Style - Running heads are no longer required for student papers, unless your instructor asks you to use them.

  • The page header should be in the top margin of every page of the paper. For student papers, the page header is the page number only. Insert page numbers in the top right corner. The page number should show on all pages. Use page number 1 on the title page.
  • Use 1-in. margins on every side.
  • Align the text to the left margin.
  • Indent the first line of each paragraph of text 0.5 in. from the left margin.
  • Double-space all parts of the paper, including the abstract; text; block quotations; table and figure numbers, titles, and notes; and reference list (including between and within entries). The exception is the title page:
    • title page: Insert a double-spaced blank line between the title and the byline on the title page.
  • A variety of fonts are permitted in APA Style papers. Font options include the following:
    • sans serif fonts such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode, or
    • serif fonts such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or normal (10-point) Computer Modern.
  • Arrange the pages in the following order: title page, abstract, text, references, footnotes, tables, figures, appendices. *NOTE - student papers generally include a title page, text, and references.
  • The first page is the title page, and should include the following: title of your paper, your name, college name, course number: course name, instructor, due date. This information should be centered, and a few lines down from the top. Use page number 1 on the title page with the rest of the pages being number sequentially.
  • Headings identify the content within sections of a paper. There are five levels of heading in APA Style. Level 1 is the highest or main level of heading, Level 2 is a subheading of Level 1, Level 3 is a subheading of Level 2, and so on through Levels 4 and 5. Read more about Headings on the grammar guidelines section of the APA website at https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-format/headings.

Formatting Your Paper YouTube Video

Reference Page Formatting Guidelines

Reference List Format

  • *NOTE - Every source mentioned in the paper should have an entry on the reference page.
  • Begin the reference list on a new page, double spaced.
  • Use 1-inch margins on every side.
  • Fonts should be either:
    • sans serif fonts such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode, or
    • serif fonts such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or normal (10-point) Computer Modern
  • Place the word References, in bold and centered, at the top of the page.
  • Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author of each work.
  • Use a period after each reference element (author, date, title, and source), but NOT after a DOI or URL.
  • All entries on the reference page should have a hanging indent: all lines after the first line of each entry should be indented 0.5 inch from the left margin.
  • Include the complete title, including the subtitle if it has one.
  • Maintain the punctuation and capitalization that is used by the journal in its title.
    • Ex.: ReCALL NOT RECALL
    • Ex. Knowledge Management Research & Practice 
      NOT Knowledge Management Research and Practice. 

DOIs and URLs

Sample Student Title Page

1

 

 

 

Guided Imagery in Group Psychotherapy

 

Hannah K. Greenbaum

Department of Psychology, The George Washington University

PSYC 3170: Clinical Psychology

Dr. Tia M. Benedetto

October 1, 2019

Sample References Page

10

 

References

Achterberg, J. (1985). Imagery in healing. Shambhala Publications.

American Psychological Association. (2017). Stress in America: The state of our nation. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2017/state-nation.pdf

Baider, L., Uziely, B., & Kaplan De-Nour, A. (1994). Progressive muscle relaxation and guided imagery in cancer patients. General Hospital Psychiatry, 16(5), 340–347. https://doi.org/10.1016/0163-8343(94)90021-3

Note: Do not add any extra space between each double-spaced citation.

Sample Papers and Pages

APA and the Use of the Singular "They"

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