Step-by-Step Guide to Formatting APA Papers for US Colleges

Why APA formatting matters

APA Style is the standard in psychology, nursing, education, social work and many business courses in the US. Correct formatting signals care and makes your paper easy to grade. Many rubrics award points for it directly, which makes it some of the easiest credit available.

This guide follows the 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual, which is the current edition used in US colleges. Always check your syllabus: instructors can and do adjust the rules.

Basic document setup

Creating the title page

Place these elements centered in the upper half of the page, double-spaced:

1. Paper title in bold, title case, three or four lines down from the top.
2. One blank line.
3. Your name (and co-authors).
4. Department and university, e.g. "Department of Psychology, Ohio State University."
5. Course number and name.
6. Instructor’s name.
7. Due date, written as your instructor prefers (e.g. November 5, 2026).

The APA Style website has an official student title page example worth checking against.

Headings and body text

The five heading levels

Do not label the introduction "Introduction." The paper title, repeated in bold and centered at the top of the first page of text, serves as its heading.

Block quotes

Quotes of 40 words or more go in an indented block (0.5 inch), without quotation marks, with the citation after the final punctuation.

In-text citations

• Paraphrase: (Nguyen, 2024) or Nguyen (2024) found...
• Direct quote: add the page number: (Nguyen, 2024, p. 18).
• Two authors: (Garcia & Lee, 2023). Three or more: (Patel et al., 2022).
• Group author: (American Psychological Association, 2020).

Cite every borrowed idea, not only quotes. Our guide to avoiding plagiarism explains why paraphrases still need citations.

Tables, figures and appendices

Number tables and figures in the order they appear (Table 1, Figure 1). Put the bold number above the item, the title in italic title case on the next line, and any note below. Refer to each one in your text. Appendices go after the reference list, each starting on a new page, labeled Appendix A, Appendix B and so on.

Building the reference list

• Start on a new page with the bold, centered heading "References."
• Double-space and use a 0.5-inch hanging indent.
• Alphabetize by the first author’s last name.
• Use sentence case for article and book titles; italicize book titles and journal names and volumes.
• Include DOIs as links (https://doi.org/...) when available.

Common examples

Journal article: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article. Journal Name, 12(3), 45–67. https://doi.org/xxxx

Book: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book. Publisher.

Webpage: Organization. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL

A reference manager or our citation generator speeds this up, but always check the output.

Worked examples: common in-text citations

Most APA questions are about in-text citations. These patterns cover the majority of student papers.

Two small details trip people up: use "&" inside parentheses but "and" in running text, and always add a page or paragraph number for direct quotes.

Worked examples: reference list entries

Here are the shapes of three common reference types. Replace the parts with your own source details.

• Journal article: Author, A. A., & Author, B. B. (Year). Title of article in sentence case. Journal Name in Title Case, volume(issue), pages. https://doi.org/xxxx
• Book: Author, A. A. (Year). Title of book in sentence case (2nd ed.). Publisher.
• Web page: Author or Organization. (Year, Month Day). Title of page. Site Name. URL

Use a hanging indent, double spacing and alphabetical order by first author's last name. A citation generator can produce a first draft, but always check the result against these patterns, because tools often get capitalization and italics wrong.

How to set up APA in Word or Google Docs

1. Set margins to 1 inch on all sides.
2. Pick an accepted font, such as 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Calibri, and use it throughout.
3. Set line spacing to double and remove extra space before and after paragraphs.
4. Add page numbers in the top right corner of the header.
5. Indent the first line of each body paragraph by 0.5 inch using the ruler or paragraph settings, not the Tab key on every line.
6. For the reference page, select the entries and apply a 0.5-inch hanging indent.

Saving this as a template means you only do it once per semester. If your instructor gives a different rule, their instructions win over the general guide.

Final APA checklist

Common mistakes include "Introduction" as a heading, a running head copied from an old template, and references in title case. If you would like a formatting review, our assignment editing service can check APA details alongside clarity.