Citing Information: Paper Elements and Format in APA Style

A title page is required for all APA-style papers. You need to place the title in the upper half of the title page, centred, and written in the title case (capitalize the first letters of all words, except for minor words such as “and,” “or,” and “off”).  We list the samples of professional and student paper.

Sample Professional Title Page:

Sample Professional Title Page:

• Title: Avoid words that serve no purpose as they increase the title length and can mislead indexers. For example: the words "methods" and "results" do not normally appear in a title, nor should such phrases as "a study of" or "an experimental investigation of". If the title is longer than one line, the main title  and the subtitle can be separated on double-spaces lines if desired.
• Author Name: The preferred form of an author name is first name, middle initial, and last name. Remember to use the same form of your name for publication throughout your career when possible. Omit all professional title , such as Dr., Professor and academic degree or licenses, such as phD, or EdD. For two authors, separate the names with the word "and"; for three or more authors, separate the names with commas and include “and” before the final author's name. 
• Author Affiliation: Include no more than two affiliations per author. The affiliation format depends on the number of authors and whether different authors have different affiliations. 
• Running Head: An abbreviated version of the paper title that appears at the top of every page to identify it for readers, especially readers of a print copy of the published article. Student papers are not required unless the instructor or institution requests them, thus, the header for a student paper includes only the page number.
• Author Note: Provides additional information about authors, study registration, data sharing, disclaimers or statements regarding conflicts of interest, and help or funding that supported the research, including ORCID iDs, Changes of Affiliations, Disclosures and acknowledgements, and Contact information. 

An abstract is a brief, comprehensive summary of the paper's contents. Abstracts typically are limited to no more than 250 words. Write the section label "Abstract" in bold title case, centred at the top of the page, and place the abstract below the label. Abstracts are also written as a single paragraph without indentation, and labels are inserted to identify various sections (e.g., Objective, Method, Results, Conclusions)

The main body of the paper contains the author's main contribution to the literature. The text can be organized in many ways, most papers include an introduction, and quantitative research papers typically include "Method","Results" and "Discussion", whereas qualitative research papers include "Findings" instead of "Results". Also, ensure that the spacing between paragraphs is consistent. Begin the main body on a new page after the abstract. 

The reference list provides a reliable way for readers to locate the works authors cite to acknowledge previous scholarship.

Headings in a document identify the topics or purpose of the content within each section. There are five possible levels of heading in APA Style, and all topics of equal importance should have the same level of heading.  Do not use the heading “Introduction”; the text at the beginning of the paper is assumed to be the introduction. 

Format for the Five Levels of Heading in APA Style

Level 1:  Centered, Bold, Ttile Case Heading

Level 2:  Flush Left, Bold, Tile Case Heading

Level 3:   Flush Left, Bold Italic, Tile Case Heading

Level 4:  Indented, Bold, Title Case Heading, Ending With a Period

Level 5:  Indented, Bold Italic, Title Case Heading, Ending With a Period

The Importance of Format:  A well-prepared paper encourages editors and reviewers, as well as instructors in the case of student work, to view authors' work as professional.

Font: Use the same font throughout the text of the paper, including:

• a sans serif font such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode or
• a serif font such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or normal (10-point) Computer Modern

Line Space: Double-space the entire paper; adding blank lines before or after headings is unnecessary. even if a heading falls at the end of a page, do not add extra spacing between paragraphs.

Paragraph Alignment: Align the text to the left and leave the right margin uneven. Do not use full justification, which adjusts word spacing to make all lines the same length.

Paragraph Indentation: Indent the first line of every paragraph 0.5 in. For consistency, use the tab key or the automatic paragraph-formatting function of your word-processing program.

Document Margins: Use 1-in. margins on all sides of the page. This is the default page margin in most word-processing programs.

Paragraph Spacing: Papers should have no extra spacing after paragraph.