What's the right way to use APA research paper format for student papers?

When you spend time researching and writing a paper, you want a format that best presents your work and follows academic guidelines.

If you're writing about education or the social sciences, or if your instructor requires it, use the APA research paper format. Following APA helps readers understand your ideas more easily and makes your writing process more efficient.

The student paper title page, and the entire paper, is double-spaced.APA 7 research paper format doesn't require a specific font size or style, but 12pt Times New Roman is a standard font.

1. "Place the title three to four lines down from the top of the title page."

2. Center and bold the title. Write it in title case (every word capitalized except for articles and short prepositions or conjunctions).

3. Space down one double-space and write your name. On each line under that, write the following: your college department (if applicable) and school name, the course's name, your instructor's name, and the assignment's due date.

4. Place the page number 1 in the top right corner. Every page will have a page number in the top right corner.

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In APA 7 research paper format, each paragraph is indented 0.5 inch. They are double-spaced and appear on the line under a heading.

Headings signal a change of topic or a subsection within a topic. Unless your paper is very short, you'll use at least one heading type, or level. Headings are written in title case.

Level 1 is for large sections of the paper, such as the main points and the conclusion (but not the introduction). Level 1 is center-aligned and bold.

Level 2 is for subsections of Level 1. It's left-aligned, bold, and placed either directly under Level 1 or under some text that separates the two levels.

Your research paper format might need additional levels. See the online APA guide for Levels 3, 4, and 5.Image created by the author with Microsoft Word. To hear an audio description of the image, click Play on the audio player below.

In your paper, you'll likely refer to content in your textbook and other sources. Check out this Byte for an in-depth look: How do I reference a source in APA style?

Paraphrase or Summary

When you put information from a source in your own words, cite the author's name and the publication date.If there is no publication date, write n.d. in place of the date.

Example:

Visuals reflect the beliefs and backgrounds of their creators (Association of College and Research Libraries, 2022).

Inline Quote

Short direct quotes are enclosed in quotation marks, and the citation requires the author's name, publication date, and thequote's page number or other identifier.

Example:

"Visuals are created by people. Intentionally or unintentionally, these visuals communicate messages based on cultural, community, and disciplinary conventions." (Association of College and Research Libraries, 2022, p. 6).

Block Quote

In APA 7 research paper format, a quote 40 words or over goes in its own paragraph that is indented 0.5 inch from the left margin. There are no quotation marks around the block quote, and the citation is after the quote's ending punctuation.Image created by the author with Microsoft Word. To hear an audio description of the image, click Play on the audio player below.

An image is introduced with the words Figure 1 (or 2, 3, etc.) above it followed by an italicized image title. If the image isn't self-explanatory, add a note under it that explains the content of the image.

The image can go on the same page as the body text or on its own page after the References, either of which is acceptable in the APA 7 research paper format.

Every figure you include in APA 7 research paper format needs a mention in the body text, such as, "As shown in Figure 1" or (Figure 1) in parentheses.

You don't need to cite or reference yourself if you created the image, but if you use an image that another author created, cite and reference it. When writing student papers, you may need to ask permission from the copyright holder to reproduce others' work.

Image created by the author with Canva and Microsoft Word. To hear an audio description of the image, click Play on the audio player below.

Suppose another student gives you the draft below for your peer feedback. Which areas would you suggest changing to improve the research paper format?

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The reference list goes on its own page after the body of the paper in APA 7 research paper format. The word References is bold and centered. References have a hanging indent (the second line is indented 0.5 inch), and they are alphabetized by author's last name.

This is the reference format for a webpage written by one author, but there are many other format conventions depending on the number of authors and type of work.

Format for Webpage

Last Name, Initial(s). (Year, Month Date). Title of page. Website Name. URL of the specific page on the website

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The appendix goes after the references and contains important information that did not fit in the paper body, such as survey questions. The APA 7 research paper format guide doesn't require an appendx in student papers, but your instructor might ask that you include one or more.

If you include one, refer to it within the body text with see Appendix in parentheses (add A, B, or C if more than one). On its own page, center and bold the Appendix label, then write a descriptive title under it, also centered and bold.

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Be prepared for your next assignment by learning about the APA research paper format: