The APA format is one of the most important and used styles of presentation of works and research in the world. It was recently published with the intention of facilitating and simplifying the writing and preparation of research articles and student papers. The APA in its web version offers a wide variety of resources to guide researchers in the writing process but they are all in English. At we have translated and adapted the section page format so you can start using the new style.
The translation and adaptation was carried out by Alejandra Alonso and María Fernanda Alonso. Editing and design by David Aparicio.
Page order
All documents include a title page, text and references. They may include additional elements, such as tables and figures, depending on the assignment. Student papers generally do not include an abstract unless requested.
Arrange the pages of a document in the following order:
- Front page
- Summary
- Text
- References
- Footnotes page
- Boards
- Figures
- Appendices
In general, start each section on a new page. However, the order of the pages is flexible in the following cases:
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- Tables and figures: Embed tables and figures in the text after they are first mentioned, or place each table and then each figure on separate pages after references. If an embedded table or figure appears on the same page as the text, place it at the top or bottom of the page and insert a double-spaced blank line to separate the table or figure from adjacent text.
- Footnote: Use the footnotes feature of your word processing program to insert a footnote at the bottom of the same page as the text to which the footnote corresponds, or list the footnotes in a separate page after references.
Works such as dissertations and theses may require additional elements not listed here. Follow your institution’s guidelines for arranging the pages of a dissertation or thesis.
Setting up the cover
APA style includes two types of cover: student cover, professional cover.
Student Cover
The student cover page includes the title of the assignment, the names of the authors, name of the faculty, university, name of the course, name of the instructor, the due date of the assignment, and page number, as shown in the following example.
Student cover page, APA format, seventh edition.
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General rules: the page size in the entire document is letter size (8.5 x 11.0 inches) and margins of 1 inch (2.54cm).
Guidelines for formatting each element of the student cover page.
Student cover elements, APA format seventh edition.
professional cover
Professional cover, APA format, seventh edition.
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We describe the particular elements of the professional cover.
Professional cover elements, APA format seventh edition.
Fountain
A variety of fonts are allowed in APA style documents. Font options include the following:
- Sans serif fonts such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or Lucida Sans Unicode.
- Serif fonts such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or regular (10-point) Computer Modern (the default font for LaTeX).
The APA recommends these fonts because they are legible, widely available, and because they include special characters such as mathematical symbols and Greek letters. Historically, sans serif fonts have been preferred for online works and serif fonts for printed works; However, modern screen resolutions can generally accommodate any type of font, and people who use assistive technologies can adjust the font settings to their preferences.
Use the same font throughout the document, with the following exceptions:
- Figures: Within figure images, use a sans serif font with a font size between 8 and 14 points.
- Computer code: To present computer code, use a monospace font such as 10-point Lucida Console or 10-point Courier New.
- Footnote: When inserting footnotes using the function in your word processing program, use the default font settings. The footnote font can be smaller than the text font (and have different line spacing), and does not need to be changed.
Page Header
The page header appears within the top margin of each page of the document.
- For student papers, the page header consists of the page number only.
- For professional documents, the header consists of the page number and the heading.
Page number
Follow these guidelines for including page numbers in APA style documents for both students and professionals:
- Use the page numbering feature of your word processing program to insert page numbers In Word: _insert _- page number.
- Insert page numbers in the upper right corner. The page number must appear on all pages.
- The title page bears page number 1.
Page number in Microsoft Word.
Header
The heading is a shortened version of your paper’s title (or the full title if the title is already short). The heading is not required for student papers unless requested by the instructor or institution. Therefore, only professional documents include a header. In Word: insert – header.
Header in Microsoft Word.
Follow these guidelines to include a moving head in an APA style document:
- Capitalize the heading.
- Make sure the header is no more than 50 characters, including spaces and punctuation marks.
- Avoid using abbreviations in the header.
- The header appears in the same format on every page, including the cover.
- Do not use the “Header:” tag before the execution header.
- Align the header with the left margin of the page header, opposite the right-aligned page number.
Example of a heading on a professional cover, APA format, seventh edition.
You can also review the to see how the heading and page number appear in APA style documents.
Line spacing
In general, it is used double spacing in all parts of an APA style document, including the abstract, text, block quotes, table and figure numbers, titles and notes, and list of references (including between and within entries). Don’t add extra space before or after paragraphs. To configure it in Word you must click on Format – paragraph – line spacing.
Instruction to use double line spacing in Microsoft Word.
The exceptions to double spacing between lines are the following:
- Front page: insert a double-spaced blank line between the title and the author name line. For professional papers, also include at least one double-spaced blank line above the author’s note (student papers do not include author’s notes). Double space on the rest of the cover.
- Boards: The body of the table (cells) can be single-spaced, half-spaced, or double-spaced, depending on which layout is most effective for the information. Double space the table number, title and notes.
- Figures: The words within the image portion of a figure can be single-spaced, one-and-a-half-spaced, or double-spaced, depending on which layout is most effective for the information. Double space the figure number, title and notes.
- Footnotes: When inserting footnotes with the footnotes feature of your word processing program, use the default font settings (usually single-spaced and a font slightly smaller than the text).
- Equations shown: It is permitted to apply a triple or quadruple space in special circumstances, such as before and after a displayed equation.
The APA explains that these guidelines apply to students’ APA style papers and writing submitted for publication. But if you’re using APA style in another context (for example, on a website or in a formal publication), different line spacing may be appropriate.
Margins
Use 1 inch (2.54 cm) margins on each side of the page for an APA style document. In Word you can change the margins on format – document design:
Instructions to modify margins in Microsoft Word.
However, if you are writing a dissertation or thesis, your advisor or institution may specify different margins (for example, a 1.5-inch (3.81 cm) left margin to accommodate binding).
Paragraph alignment and indentation
APA style includes guidelines for paragraph alignment and indentation to ensure that documents are formatted consistently and readably. All authors must follow these guidelines.
Paragraph alignment
Align the text of an APA style document with the left margin. Leave the right margin uneven, or “jagged.” Don’t use full justification for student work or writing submitted for publication.
Paragraph alignment in Microsoft Word.
Do not insert hyphens (manual breaks) into words at the end of the line. However, it is acceptable if your word processing program automatically inserts breaks in long hyperlinks (such as in a DOI or URL in a reference list entry).
Paragraph indentation
Indent the first line of each paragraph of text 0.5 inches (1.27 cm) from the left margin. Use the tab key or your word processing program’s automatic paragraph formatting feature to achieve indentation (the default setting is probably already 0.5 inches). Do not use the space bar to create indentation.
Instructions to modify indentation in Microsoft Word.
Exceptions to these paragraph formatting requirements are as follows:
- Front page: For professional works, the title (in bold), author name, and affiliations should be centered on the cover. For student papers, the title (in bold), author name, affiliations, course number and name, instructor, and assignment due date should be centered on the cover page.
- Section labels: Section labels (e.g. “Summary”, “References”) should be centered (and bold).
- Summary: the first line of the summary should be flush to the left (no indentation).
- Block quotes: indent a full block quote 0.5 inches from the left margin. If the block quote spans more than one paragraph, the first line of the…