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Per APA 7th edition, the running head is placed flush left in the upper corner page —1 inch from the left margin and ½ inch from the top of the page. ▪ Use an abbreviated title (not exceeding 50 characters) with every letter of only the title CAPITILIZED. ▪ Note: the use of a running head (a.k.a., page header) is not required for student papers unless requested by your instructor
PAGE NUMBERS: A page number will need to appear on every page in the top right corner - 1 inch from the right margin and ½ inch from the top. APA Sample Paper & Guide | version: 7 (12032020)
Paper Title
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Place one double-spaced blank line between the Paper Title and the author names
Your Name Course Title
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Place the title three to four lines down from the top of the title page. Center it and type it in bold font. Capitalize Major Words of the Title two authors, use the word and between authors; three or more authors place a comma between author names and use the word and before the final author name.
Instructor’s Name Date
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Use 1 inch margins on every side of the paper (1" top, 1" bottom, 1" left, 1" right) double-space EVERYTHING in the paper, but do not any extra spacing before or after paragraphs or headings; use the same font throughout the paper - suggested fonts include: sans serif fonts: Calibri (11 pt), Arial (11 pt) or Lucida Sans Unicode (10 pt) serif fonts: Times
New Roman (12 pt), Georgia (11 pt), or Courier (10-point)
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2 Abstract
The abstract is on its own separate page. At the top of the page, centered, type Abstract (bold, double space).
The abstract is a single paragraph in block format (without paragraph indentation) and should be between 150 and 250 words. The section should begin with the label Abstract; centered, at the top of the page (i.e., do not bold it). An abstract will be on a page by itself; immediately following your title page. Be sure to understand the difference between the abstract (i.e., a summary of the paper) and the introduction (i.e., an introduction to the paper). An abstract only purpose is to briefly convey the essentials about your paper; telling the reader what they’re going to read.
No indentation on your abstract – just one paragraph
Use a ragged right margin (left justified) rather than an even right margin (full justified) throughout your paper.
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3 Paper Title
Indent all paragraphs ½ in.
Do not begin a paper with an Introduction heading; rather use your Paper Title (bold) at the top of the first page.
The text of your document should begin on the first line (double-spaced) after
your title. Head this section with the title of your paper; centered, at the top of the page. The first section of your paper is used to introduce your topic. It lays out the rationale of why the thesis of this paper is relevant.
Add only ONE space after each punctuation.
Simply these first few paragraphs serve to contextualize the research paper’s topic and articulate the paper's thesis. Done right, it will facilitate engaging the readers’ attention. At the very least it had better assist the reader to understand and appreciate your objectives as they continue to read your paper. This Paper is Only a Guide
Level 1 header: Centered, Bold, Title Case Heading
Use this paper as a guide only; if anything in this paper is different from the instructions provided by your instructor, always do as your instructor asks. If in doubt, ask your instructor. Your APA paper should: (a) be double-spaced on every page; (b) have 1 inch wide margins on all four sides—top, bottom, left, and right; (c) have one space after each comma, semicolon, and colon, and (d) use headings if it is more than a few pages in length. The middle part of your paper is where you make the main points of your argument. The points you want to make may be clear to you, but that is not always the case for the reader. Paragraphs and headings work together to help you get your ideas across to the reader as clearly as possible. Paragraphs help you change from one idea to another in your paper. Aim to make one point or present one piece of
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information in each paragraph. Keep discussion of a topic to a single paragraph. You should start a new paragraph whenever you begin to write about a new idea. There is not a maximum length for paragraphs, but make sure to try to cover each topic adequately and without boring your reader. When you want to insert a quotation, you just include it as part of the current line. For instance, using the quote: “I do not think that all who choose wrong roads perish; but their rescue consists in being put back on the right road” (Lewis, 1963a, p. 6). Citations generally should have last name of the author and the year of publication. Direct quotations should include page number as well. Use of Sub Headings
Level 2 header: Flush Left, Bold, Title Case HeadingFlush Left, Bold, Title Case
Headings are useful for keeping you organized and focused on the topic by Heading classifying sections of your paper. Note that all headings within your paper are to be bolded (per APA 7th edition), however do not bold anything else within the paper! Make use of headings to mark off the boundaries of the major sections and subsections of a report. A long paper without use of headings reads like an essay; very difficult for a reader to keep track of any points you have tried to convey. You can have one or more levels of headings in your paper; all ideas of equal importance will have the same level of heading. The longer your paper, the more levels of headings you will have. Do not label headings with numbers or letters. Double-space
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headings (i.e., do not switch to single spacing within headings). Do not add blank lines above or below headings; even if a heading falls at the end of a page. Use of Sub Sub Headings
Level 3 header: Flush Left, Bold, Italic. Title Case HeadingFlush Left, Bold, Title Case
Headingan even more granular discussion of a topic, APA To highlight and differentiate makes use of five levels of headings with Level 1 is the highest or main level of heading. This sample paper uses three levels of headings; refer to Appendix A to find out how to format them. The heading above is a Level 3 and therefore is considered a subheading of Level 2 which preceded it. The number of headings to use in a paper depends on the length and complexity of the work. Make your headings descriptive and concise. Headings that are well formatted and clearly worded aid both visual and nonvisual readers of all abilities. Level 1 header
Giving Credit to Your Sources
Citations provide a visual cue that your analysis is based upon research and helps to establish credibility for your paper by informing the reader you got the information or idea from an outside source. Simply a citation is used to acknowledge your source material (Price & Stern, 2001). Failure to give
Place citations at the end of the sentence wherever the idea is first introduced (separate two authors with & symbol). Note punctuation follows the citation.
recognition to the source material is considered plagiarism. You will need to cite information when you (a) quote (use another source word-for-word), (b) paraphrase another person’s ideas or words, and (c) employ a little known fact or idea that is not common knowledge (Citing Information, n.d.).
SHORT VERSION OF TITLE Citing Sources
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Level 2 header
Citations are only meant to provide minimal information (Authors' last name, Year). Therefore for a reader to find the source material requires a reference page where the reader can find all necessary details about that source of information. Simply for every citation there must be a corresponding reference; for every reference there must be at least one (or more) corresponding citation. When writing the paper, you may want to include outside idea or information which but was interpreted and expressed in your own words. Paraphrasing is just that, your own rendition of essential information and ideas expressed by someone else but presented in a new form. Now when you paraphrase you still need to use a citation. Parenthetical Citations
Level 3 header
Parenthetical citations are most often use because it provides brief information about the source; usually the author's name, year of publication, page number where all of it enclosed in parentheses. An example of a citation for a direct quote would be “flying west at treetop level-in a plane built by his fifth-grade students at Southwood Elementary School” (Arce, 2003, p. 38). If you want to reference a work that has two authors, you list both authors in your citation (Price & Stern, 2001). If you have a source with three of more authors, only include in the citation the first author’s last name followed by et al. (Altman et al., 2010). Note on the references page you would still include the last names (and first or middle initials) for all the authors.
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7 When authors names are used as part of your sentence, separate names with use of –> and
In-Text Citation Level 3 header
When you want to include the author(s) of the source material as part of the discussion, that is where you would make use of in-text citation. For instance, one area of scientific study Bunt and Yang (2002) undertook was regarding attitudes of college students and in how they can be more easily influenced by peers than faculty norms. First, this citation only requires the year in parenthesis since the authors in text (separated by ‘and’). Second, even though this was not a direct quotation, the ideas or knowledge was still obtained from this source; as such it needs a citation. The reason in-text citations are not used as much as parenthetical citations is unless the person is as widely recognizable as Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, or Martin Luther King then the reader does not get any value from who said it. More often what is important is what was said rather than who said it. For this reason it is best to not write about the authors so as not to distract from your analysis but instead only use citations to reference your source material. Conclusion
Level 1 header
A conclusion adds order by pulling the different parts of the paper together and emphasizing key points derived from within the paper. It is not a summary but rather the conclusion should clarify your arguments(s) in order to add to the reader’s understanding of the issues presented.
SHORT VERSION OF TITLE Alphabetize your references by author. Abbreviate first and middle names.
8 References
Level 1 header
Altman, D. G., Deal, J. J., & Rogelberg, S. G. (2010). Millennials at work: What we know ½ in. hanging indent →
and what we probably need to do (if anything). Journal of Business & Psychology, Many sources now have Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
25(2), 191-199. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-010-9177-2 codes; if so include them as part of your reference. Arce, I. (2003). Flying high. NEA, 21(4), 38–39. http://www.nea.org/archive/35943.htm Bunt, A., & Yang, B. (2002). Factor structure of the adult attitudes toward adult and
If no DOI code, specify where the source was obtained from.
continuing education scale and its capacity to predict participation behavior: Evidence for adoption of a revised scale. Adult Education Quarterly: A Journal of Research and Theory, 52(4), 299-314.
Note the name of the publication and the volume # are all that is italicized for journals references
Diller, T. C., (2019, December 5). How to overcome generational stereotypes to succeed. italicize the title of the web page
Forbes Women. https://www.forbes.com/sites/njgoldston/2019/12/05/how-toovercome-generational-stereotypes-to-succeed/#6e6e3635240a Lewis, C. S. (1963a). The great divorce. Macmillan. Lewis, C. S. (1963b). Till we have faces. Harcourt.
If you have more than one entry with the same author AND published in the same year, add a lowercase letter after the year both here and in your citations, for instance, (1963a) and (1963b).
Milem, J. F. (1998). Attitude change in college students: Examining the effect of college peer groups and faculty normative groups. The Journal of Higher Education, 69(2), 117-140.
Notice that all titles are formatted with Sentence-case; i.e., meaning only the first letter of the first word of the title is capitalized (same with sub-sentences or anything after a colon)
Miller, G. H. (1997). 10,000 dreams interpreted or what’s in a dream. Rand McNally. For books, only the title is italicized for book references