APA Citation Guide

Follow these steps to format your paper in APA style. Your paper should have three major sections: the title page, main body, and references list.

These guidelines show how to set up a student paper in APA format. The 7th edition now has specific formatting for student papers versus a professional paper (i.e. one being submitted for publication). If your instructor has requested a different format or additional elements, use your instructor's preferences.

1. Set margins to one inch
2. Set spacing to double (2.0)
3. Create a title page
4. Add page numbers to the right side of the header
5. Start the reference list on a new page
   1. Continue the page numbering (don't start again at 1)
   2. Center the section title on the first line: References
   3. Double space the list
   4. Use hanging indentation (hanging indents)

Official APA Resources