1. How to format your APA Paper
Andrew College IWRC

2. HEADER

3. HEADER
2. Click on the box next to Different First Page and a check mark should appear
1. Double click on the header and this should appear

4. 3. Click on the page # button and insert the page number aligned right.

5. 5. Close your header
4. In the header type your running head, which is a short version of your paper’s title and left align
The short version of your title can only be 50 characters (this includes spaces)
Running head only has the R capitalized, but your paper title should all be capitalized

6. 6. Scroll down to the second page (you’ll likely have to press enter multiple times to get there).
7. Double click on the header of the second page

7. 8. Click on the page # button and insert the page number aligned right.

8. 9. Left align title
10. Close header

9. Title Page

10. 2. Centered, in the middle of the page, type each on its own line:
1. Go back up to the first page.
1. Go back up to the first page.

11. 3. Insert a page break

12. Abstract

13. 1. If required by your Professor, your abstract is written on the second page.
2. Type the word Abstract. It is centered at the top of the second page. Abstract is in plain text—It is not bolded or italicized

14. 4. Your paragraph begins here. Do not indent.

15. 5. After the paragraph, on a new line, tab in one space and type
Keywords:
Then enter the key terms for your paper that allow other researchers to search for relevant content to their field of study. Only the first word is capitalized, and none of the words are in italics

16. 6. Insert a page break

17. Body of Paper

18. 1. This is on page three (or two if you have no abstract).
2. At the top of the page, center the full title of the paper

19. Remember
4. Your purpose in the body is to synthesize all of the research on your topic as to how each source agrees, disagrees, or approaches the subject in a new way. The content is primarily research and researcher- focused, with in-text citations.

20. Body of Paper
Your text and in-text citations will highlight the research names and year of publication—this is vital to APA style. Here are some examples of common ways you will discuss and cite research:
Smith and Jones (2015) discovered that…
The hours of REM sleep decreased by 20% when subjects viewed electronic content thirty minutes before bed (Smith & Jones, 2015).
Smith and Jones (2015) and Webber (2017) both found that sleep was impacted by level of physical activity.
Research by Webber (2017) revealed that…

21. If your professor requires it…

22. Body of Paper
The headings Methods, Results, and Discussion are generally only used in APA papers that discuss research you conducted. Always follow your Professor’s specific instructions.
If none of these headings are required for your assignment, it is essential to use past tense when discussing research that has already been conducted, and to follow the guidelines for academic language and standard written English.

23. Insert page break

24. References

25. 1. Type References, centered on the top of the page

26. References
In alphabetical order, list each reference that has an in-text citation in the paper.
For each entry, the first line is aligned left. The second and subsequent lines for each entry are tabbed in once.
See the Purdue OWL website for information on how to complete each entry for your References page: