Tips for Writing in APA Format

APA Style (American Psychological Association) formatting is a common style requested for college papers. This style of format is used in psychology, education and other social science assignments. The formatting is relatively simple. Use one-inch margins on all sides and standard paper size. The essay should also be double-spaced and typed, not handwritten. Some instruction manuals will recommend you use 10 to 12 point font and Times New Roman font (or something similar). It's best to stick with 12 point font and Times New Roman (just to be on the safe side).

A header should be inserted in the upper right-hand corner of the pages. In MS Word, this can be done by double-clicking your mouse at the top margin and formatting accordingly. The header should have the first couple of words from the title as well as the page number. Separate the header and the page number with five spaces.

An APA style paper should include a title page. The title page should have the title, name of student, class and the name of the professor.

Paragraph APA style papers, but do not indent new paragraphs. It should also include an abstract, which will be the second page of the document after the title page. For the abstract page, center "Abstract" at the top. The abstract should be a brief paragraph discussing what readers will find within the text of your paper.

The third page should begin the essay. When citing sources, include the information and then recognize the source with the original author's name, year it was published and the page number in parenthesis. Do the same when paraphrasing someone else's work or ideas, but do not include the page number.

All references should be put into a bibliography on the final page of the document. Please keep in mind that the title page, abstract and bibliography do not count in your page count.
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