Typing Your APA Paper
(Guidelines and rules for formatting your paper)

Margins   5.04
Leave at least one inch on all sides and left-justify the document.
 

Typeface  5.02
Use a serif font like Times New Roman or Courier.  
 

Spacing  5.03
Double-space the entire paper including quotations, reference list, footnotes, captions & tables.
 

Punctuation Spacing  5.11
Space once after 1) Commas, colons and semicolons 2) Punctuation at the ends of sentences 3) Periods in a name or in reference citation.
 

Page Headers and Page Numbers  5.06
A page header consists of the first two or three words of the title and help identification should the pages become separated.  It begins on the Title page and should appear in the upper-right corner of every page followed by the page number. Leave five spaces between the header and the page number.

Title Page 5.15
The page header and page number should be typed in the upper-right corner. Next type the “Running Head” which is the the first four or five words (do not exceed 50 characters) of the title. Last, center the full title followed by your name [enter] and your college affiliation.  

Abstract  5.16
The abstract begins on a new page and should in clued the header and number 2 in the upper-right corner. The word “Abstract” should be centered at the top of the page.  

Order of the Manuscript  5.05

Title
Abstract
Text
References
Appendix(es)
Footnotes
Tables
Figure captions
Figures
 

Text  5.1
Begin the text on page 3. There should be two spaces between the header and the title. Center the title and double space.

Headings 5.10
APA specifies five levels of headings for articles to provide informative and meaningful divisions. Usually, three levels are all that are needed.  Here are the specifics for a paper using three levels of headings.

1)Centered Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
 

2)Flush Left, Italicized Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
 

3)Indented, italicized paragraph heading with the first word capitalized, and ending with a period.

Block Quotations 3.34 & 3.36
Display a quotation of 40 or more words in a freestanding block and omit the quotation marks at the beginning and end. Indent the block five spaces from the margin and double space. To start a new paragraph within a block quotation, indent an additional five spaces. The parenthetical citation goes after the final punctuation mark. 

Display a quotation of 40 or more words in a freestanding block and omit the quotation marks at the beginning and end. Start a block quotation on a new line and indent the block five spaces from the margin.

To start a new paragraph within a block quotation, indent an additional five spaces. The parenthetical citation goes after the final punctuation mark. (American Psychological Association, 2001, p. 117)