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Formatting an APA title page

The title page is a requirement for all APA papers. The primary role of the title page is to present just that: the title. But that’s only the beginning of what is actually required for a properly formatted APA title page. This is the first chance a writer has to truly engage with the reader.

For students, the title page also lets people know which class, professor, and institution the text was written for. For professional authors, the title page is an opportunity to share any affiliations or conflicts of interest that might be present.

APA Style recognizes two different ways to format a title page. One is for student papers and the other is for professional papers. This guide will examine the difference and provide real-life examples of both.

The information provided below comes from the 7 th edition of the APA’s Publication Manual . You can read more about title page elements in Sections 2.1 – 2.8.

Here’s a run-through of everything this page includes:

The difference between a professional title page and a student title page in APA

Elements of an apa style title page, apa formatting title page example, conclusion: formatting a title page in apa 7.

Both student and professional title pages require a title, author, and an affiliation. Both types of title page also require the same basic formatting, including 1-inch indentations on all sides and a page number in the top right corner.

The primary difference is that professional title pages also require an author note and a running head. However, some professors do ask that you provide some of these elements in student papers. It’s a good idea to know how to format them just in case.

Student title page APA

An APA title page for any paper being submitted for a class, degree, or thesis is all about the basics. Here are the elements that should be included in a student title page :

• Title of your paper
• Byline (author or authors)
• Affiliation (department and university)
• Course name and course number
• Instructor name

Page number

Your professor or institution might have their own formatting requirements. When writing a paper for a class, the first rule is to always pay attention to the instructions.

Professional title page APA

A professional title page skips the class info and due date, but it includes:

• Affiliation (division and/or organization)
• Author note
• Running head

The author note and running head are generally only required for professional papers. However, some professors might ask that you include one or both of them. Be sure to check the assignment instructions before submitting.

The title of your paper is really important. This is where the author needs to simultaneously inform and engage the reader without being overly wordy.

An effective title will:

• Engage the reader
• Concisely explain the main topic of research
• Concisely explain any relevant variables or theoretical issues

The paper title should be placed three or four lines down from the top margin of the page. It should be presented in bold, title case, and centered on the page.

Author/Byline

The correct way to display the author’s name is first name, middle initial, and last name. The most important thing is to prevent the possibility of mistaken identity. After all, there are a lot of papers published every year, and it’s possible that someone else has the same name as you do.

For all author bylines in APA, all licenses and degrees are omitted (e.g., Dr., Professor, PhD, RN, etc.).

If your paper has multiple authors, then they should all be listed in the same way, in order of their contributions. All authors should be on the same line, unless more lines are required.

Here’s an example of a properly formatted byline for a paper with two authors:

Cassandra M. Berkman and Wilhelm K. Jackson

Affiliation

The affiliation element is where you identify the place where the work was conducted or who it was conducted for. This is almost always a university or institution. In some cases, there are multiple affiliations for one author, or multiple authors with different affiliations.

Academic affiliations

Academic affiliations include schools, universities, and teaching hospitals. The affiliation line should include the specific department followed by the name of the institution. There is no need to include a location for academic affiliations.

Here is an example of what a basic academic affiliation line should look like:

Department of Psychology, Colorado State University

Non-academic affiliations

Non-academic affiliations are anything that isn’t a school or university, which could be a hospital, laboratory, or just about any type of organization. The affiliation line for a non-academic organization should include the department or division, followed by the name and location of the organization. All elements should be separated by commas.

Here’s how it looks when put to use:

Vidant Health, Greenville, NC, United States

Course number and name (Student only)

Use the course number and course name as they appear on official university materials. Examples:

• ENG 204: Modern English Literature
• PSYC 2301: Research Methodology

Instructor name (Student papers only)

It’s important that you display your instructor’s name in their preferred way. With academics who have multiple degrees and positions, this isn’t something that you should guess at.

It is generally safe to use the course syllabus to see how they prefer to be listed. For example, some use the word “Professor” as their prefix, and many will have PhD, RN, or other type of professional designation.

Due date (Student papers only)

The due date should be presented in the day, month, and year format that is standard to your country.

The page number goes at the top right-hand side of the paper. This is one of the only elements that appears on every single page.

You can add running page numbers to your paper by double-clicking the header portion of the document or clicking the “Insert” tab. It will automatically insert page numbers into the rest of the document.

Author note (Professional papers only)

The author note is usually only required for professional papers. This is where additional data, disclaimers, conflicts of interest, and statements about funding are placed. In some cases, the author statement can be several pages long.

The author note is generally split into four paragraphs, including:

• ORCID iD (a scientific/academic author ID)
• Changes of Affiliation
• Disclosures and Acknowledgments
• Contact Information

Section 2.7 of the Publication Manual has even more information on how to structure these elements for a professional paper.

Running Head (Professional papers only)

While some student papers might require a running head, this is something that is typically only for papers being submitted for publication. This is an abbreviated version of your title that appears at the top of every page to help readers identify it. The running title is particularly useful especially in print versions of journals and publications.

The running head does not have to use the same words as they appear in your title. Instead, try to re-work your paper’s main idea into a shortened form.

For example, if your paper’s title is:

“A Mystery of Style: Exploring the Formatting Mechanics of the Running Head According  to APA Style 7th Edition”

Then your abbreviated title can be something like:

“RUNNING HEAD IN APA 7”

“FORMATTING THE RUNNING HEAD”

The idea is to convey only the most important aspects of your title. The running head should be entered in the page header, flush left against the margin, and presented in all-capital letters.

The APA suggests a maximum length of 50 characters (including spaces and punctuation) for a running head. If your title is already 50 characters and under, then you can use the whole thing as the running head.

Next, let’s have a look at an example of what a real APA title page looks like when it’s all put together.

Student title page formatting example

Professional title page formatting example

All papers written according to APA Style should have a properly formatted title page. Making sure that the title page elements are accurate and informative will help people access your work. It is also the first opportunity that you have as the author to establish credibility and engage the reader.

For more information on the basic elements of an APA paper, check out Chapter 2 of the Publication Manual or our guide on APA format .

Published October 28, 2020.

APA Formatting Guide

APA Formatting

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• Sample Paper
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Citation Examples

• Book Chapter
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• Magazine Article
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• View all APA Examples

An APA title page provides the details of the paper, such as the title of the paper, author name, and author affiliation. APA title pages have two formats—one for professional papers and one for student papers.

The elements to be added on the title page of a professional paper (in order of appearance) are:

• Page number and running head: These elements appear in the header section. The page number appears at the top-right corner, whereas the running head appears at the top-left corner. If the title is too long, the running head is shortened to less than 50 characters.
• Title of the paper: It provides information about the paper. It is aligned center and set in bold.
• Names of the authors: It gives the names of the contributors to the paper and is aligned center.
• Affiliations of the authors: It gives the department and university details of the authors.
• Author note: It gives extra information about the authors.

In a student paper, the following details are included on the title page:

• Page number: This appears in the top-right corner of the header section.
• Title of the paper: It gives the reader an idea of the information in the paper. It appears in title case and bold. It is center-aligned.
• Names of the authors: The names of the contributors are added here. This field is also called the by-line.
• Affiliations of the authors: It includes the names of the authors’ departments and universities.
• Name of the course: The name of the course for which the paper is written is included in this field.
• Name of the instructor: Unlike the professional paper, the instructor’s name is included in a student paper.
• Due date of the assignment: The due date of the assignment is added here. The format is “Month Day, Year” (e.g., August 22, 2017).

The title page information for APA is different for a professional paper and a student paper. As a student, you need to include the following details in the same order on the title page of your student paper.

• Page number: This appears in the header section. Set the page number in the top-right corner of the header.
• Title of the paper: Set it in title case and bold. Align it to the center.
• Names of the authors: Provide the names of the contributors. This field is also called the by-line.
• Affiliations of the authors: Include your department and university name.
• Name of the course: Provide the name of the course and course number for which the paper is written.
• Name of the instructor: Add the instructor’s name. There is no rigid rule on how to set the instructor’s name. You can set it according to the instructor’s preference.
• Due date of the assignment: Add the due date of the assignment. The format should be “Month Day, Year” (e.g., August 23, 2021).

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APA Style Guide: Title Page

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Basic Format

The title page of the document is the first page in your paper, and it needs to contain the following items, in order:

• Title of the Paper
• Author’s Name (that’s you!)
• Institutional Affiliation (i.e., American National University or National College)

The title page should also include a page header and page numbers .

• The page header on your title page should read, "Running Head: TITLE OF YOUR PAPER"
• The running head should be in the upper left-hand corner of the paper, and the page numbers should be in the upper right-hand corner.

Basic Format:

• Title, author's name, and institutional affiliation should be centered in the top half of the page .
• Text should be double spaced .
• Title: no more than 12 words long.
• Author: Include your first name, middle initial, and last name.
• For students at ANU campuses located in Tennessee, the institutional affiliation will read “National College.”
• For all other ANU students, the institutional affiliation will read “American National University.”
• How to Format Your Header A brief guide to formatting your page headers in Microsoft Word according to the APA style requirements.
• Sample APA Title Page

Sample Title Page

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Student Paper Example

• Student Paper Example This is a student paper example from the 7th Edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Professional Paper Example

• Professional Paper Example This is a professional paper example from the 7th Edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association.

Student Title Page Elements

The title page includes the following elements: Page number, Paper title, Author, Author Affiliation, Course, Instructor, and Due Date .  Remember, your instructor can include other requirements for your assignment.  Refer to their instructions carefully.

Your title page and paper is double-spaced. Use 1-inch margins. 

Acceptable Fonts:

• 11-point Calibri 
• 11-point Arial
• 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode 
• 12-point Times New Roman
• 11-point Georgia
• 10-point Computer Modern 1 
• Should summarize the main idea in a succinct way .
• Include strong keywords so that readers can find your work in a database or by using a search engine.
• Avoid using abbreviations in a title.
• The title should be provided in title case .  This means that all major words are capitalized. 
• Be bolded, centered, and begin 3-4 lines down from the top margin of the paper.
• Put a double-spaced blank line between the title and the byline.
• The paper title also appears at the top of the first page of your paper.

Author Name(s) (Byline)

• Beneath the title, type the  author's or authors' full name(s) .
• Do not use titles or degrees.
• ​Order the names of authors based on their contributions.
• Write all of the names on the same line.
• Center the names in a standard font.
• Smith and Doe
• Smith, Doe, and Jones

Author Affiliation

• Identify where you worked or studied when the body of work was completed.
• Include no more than two affiliations for each author.
• Example:  College of Nursing and Health Innovation, University of Texas at Arlington
• Include the department or division.
• Include the name of the institution.
• Include the location of the institution.
• Example:  Hematology/Oncology, Cook Children's Medical Center, Fort Worth, Texas, United States
• Include the location.

Locations should include the city, state, province, and country.

Course Name

• Put the course number and name below the Author Affiliation.
• Check with your instructor on the preferred name.
• Place the month, date, and year after the Instructor(s) name(s).

See the example title page below:

All content on this guide comes from the 7th edition of the  Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association and from the APA Style Blog.

American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association ( 7th ed.).  https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000  

American Psychological Association. (2020, October). Blog .  https://apastyle.apa.org/blog

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Title Page Template

Learn how to set up the title page of an APA Style student paper and professional paper, including the page header, title, author name and affiliation, course information, and author note.

Academic Writer

© 2023 American Psychological Association.

Students should use the student version of the title page unless their instructor has requested they use the professional version.  The student title page no longer requires a running head. 

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APA Style Guide – 7th Edition

Click here to download a .pdf copy of our APA Style Guide !

Last updated : October 7, 2023

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Source Attribution : Information in this handout is adapted from the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition (2020).

Reference Entry : Adapted from American Psychological Association. (2020). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). https://doi.org/10.1037/0000165-000

APA Style Guide - 7th Edition

Basics of formatting with apa style.

The American Psychological Association (APA) style is a system of documentation generally used in the social sciences. It is published in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition (2020). Fields that use APA style regularly emphasize paraphrasing over direct quotes. Much of the research in these disciplines is supported by lengthy analysis and multiple studies: directly quoting every source can become tedious for authors and readers. Instead, it is common for writers to summarize an idea and then credit multiple sources.

Margins are 1 inch on all sides of the page.

Common fonts used in APA are 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 12-point Times New Roman, and 11-point Georgia. Leave only one space after periods or other punctuation marks.

Paragraph and line spacing:

Indent the first line of each paragraph 0.5 in. Text is double-spaced. No blank space before or after headings or between paragraphs.

Title page:

Each paper begins with a title page. Student papers include page title, author name, affiliation, course name and number, professor’s name, and the date formatted Month Day, Year. Bold title and add empty line between title and author. Start a new page following the title page; the start of page one will repeat the title in bold, centered.

Headers and footers:

List the page number in the top right corner of every page. Student papers no longer require a running head. Running heads for professional papers include a short version of the paper’s title.

In-text citations are used to credit any external sources back to your References page. Parenthetical citations include author name, date of publication, and page numbers for direct quotes. Enclose citations in parentheses and follow by a period.

References:

Begin a new page. “References” header center aligned and bolded. List all sources used alphabetically.

Sample APA Student Title Page

APA has two types of title pages: student title pages and professional title pages. Student title pages are more commonly requested by instructors than professional title pages. The example above depicts a common APA title page and a description of the elements within.

• Header: The header lists the page number beginning on the title page. Align to the right.
• Title: Title is placed three to four lines down from the top of the page. Major words are capitalized. Title length may be one or two lines. Avoid abbreviations or non-essential words. A focused title is key!
• Author : Author name(s) includes the first name, middle initial(s), and last name. Two authors are joined with an “and.” Three or more authors are formatted as a list, placing commas between author names, and an “and” before the final author’s name.
• Affiliation: Author’s affiliation lists where the student studies and what school their discipline is within.
• Class: List the course number as abbreviated on course materials, followed by a colon, and spell out the course’s name.
• Instructor: Instructor name(s) include the first name, middle initial(s), and last name. Professional titles such as Dr. or degrees such as Ph.D. are appropriate here.
• Date: Format the date as Month Day, Year. List the assignment due date, not when it was originally created.

APA Level Headings

Headings visually delineate organizational structure and help highlight key ideas within sections. Topics of equal importance share the same level heading throughout the document. The heading style recommended by APA consists of five possible formatting arrangements, which are listed below in Table 1.

More information:

• Ordering : Begin with the first level of headings, using only the heading levels necessary to differentiate.
• Subsections : APA suggests avoiding having only one subsection within a larger section. For instance, Section 1 can be divided into subsections A and B, but not A alone.
• Numbering : Numbering or lettering is not appropriate for headings.
• Spacing : Do not add an extra space before or after headings.

APA In-text Citations

Citing in the text.

In APA, every time you use the work or thoughts of another, you must cite the original author. Use of others’ ideas include summarizing, paraphrasing, and directly quoting. To cite the source, you will need an in-text citation to supplement your references page, typically consisting of the author’s last name and the date when the material was published. Page numbers are added for direct quotes. All of this information is enclosed in parentheses, separated by commas, and followed by a period.

Single Author:

List author’s last name followed by date, adding page numbers for direct quotes. For example, this quotation from Jim Dougan is found on page twenty-nine of his 2017 article:

Single Author Example

After the release of their first album, The Cows were “roundly derided as a talentless, tasteless joke” (Dougan, 2017, p. 29).

Two Authors

Two authors last names are joined by an ampersand as in:

Two Authors Examples

Hansel said goodbye to the white cat, but it was only the morning sun shining upon the chimney (Grimm & Grimm, 1812).

Three or More Authors

List the first author’s last name followed by the abbreviation “et al.” (and others). In this example by John Ramage, John Bean, and June Johnson in their 2012 article, John Ramage is listed as the first author:

Three or More Authors Example

A key component of Aristotle’s classical argument was the rhetorical triangle: the message, writer or speaker, and audience (Ramage et al., 2012).

Organization or Group Author

If no author is listed and or the source is published by an organization or group, list the group’s full name in the text or citation, followed by the abbreviation if well known. Use the acronym for every subsequent citation.

Organization or Group Author Example

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), abbreviations are ok if the abbreviation is well known (2019). After introducing the abbreviation, they recommend using it for every other in-text citation (APA, 2019).

Narrative Citation

If the author’s name, publication date, and or page numbers are given in the sentence, omit them from the following in-text citation. For example: if you introduce the author and date before quoting, summarizing, or paraphrasing, then only the page numbers are included at the end of the sentence.

Narrative Citation Example

According to music critic Mark Prindle (2017), Minneapolis rock combo The Cows are an acquired taste (p. 29).

Unknown Author

If the author’s name is unknown, include a shortened version of the publication title in quotations:

Unknown Author Example

Minneapolis rock combo The Cows are widely considered to be an acquired taste (“All Music Guide,” 2017).

Block Quotations

A direct quotation of 40 or more words is introduced by a colon, started on a new line, and indented a half-inch from the left margin. Do not indent the first line, add quotation marks, or adjust line spacing. Include the parenthetical citation after the final period or punctuation mark of the block quote.

Block Quotations Example

Peterson and Poulsen’s (1998) study found the following:

Mitochondria are known as the powerhouses of the cell. They are organelles that act like a digestive system which takes in nutrients, breaks them down, and creates energy rich molecules for the cell. The biochemical processes of the cell are known as cellular respiration. (p. 199)

Omissions or Alterations to Quotations

Place an ellipsis (…) where parts of a quote were omitted in the middle of the sentence (e.g. “Grammar… is the study of writing techniques”). Ellipses are not necessary to indicate the first part of a phrase was omitted. Put brackets [text] around necessary alterations made to quotations for clarity, as in “[They] said…”

Common Knowledge

Facts or information that you already know, is widely available, and undisputed is considered common knowledge, which does not require an in-text citation. Common knowledge includes biographical information, dates of historical events, and other information that reasonable readers would accept as fact.

Common Knowledge Example

Abraham Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States.

More Information for In-Text Citations

Primary and secondary sources:.

To cite a primary source referenced in a secondary source, cite the primary source as cited in the secondary source (e.g. Gilman, 1898, as cited in Eddles & Appelrouth, 2015). Reference the primary source (e.g. Gilman, 1898) directly when possible.

Timed media:

For timed media such as videos or songs, cite the time in parentheses (e.g. Knowles, 2016, 56:37).

Multiple sources:

In-text citations with multiple sources are separated by a semicolon and listed alphabetically (e.g. Smith, 2012; Williams, 2003). However, if delineating the specific attribution is needed, avoid combining the citations and instead separate each source into its own sentence.

Multiple works by one author:

Multiple works by one author are listed chronologically, following the author’s name, separated by commas. Works without dates are placed first (e.g. Smith, n.d., 2007, 2012). If the citations are identical, delineate them by year-letter combination (e.g. Foster, 2011a or Foster, 2011b) in-text and in the References list.

Consecutive use of one or more sources:

When referencing one source multiple times consecutively, you can avoid multiple parenthetical citations by first introducing the source. Refer to the author in text using the known-new contract, adding page numbers for quotes where needed.

Personal communication:

Interviews, letters, emails, and other forms of personal communication are cited in-text only. Cite the communicator’s initials and last name and list the date (e.g. M. Keith, personal communication, August 5, 2022). Where possible, include the author’s name in a narrative citation to avoid the long parenthetical entry.

Reference Entries

Writing bibliography entries.

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To credit sources, APA style requires a reference page that includes full citation information for each source. Begin by starting on another page titled “References,” centered and bolded. Reference list entries should be alphabetized by the last name of the first author listed. Additionally, each entry should be indented by a half inch after the first line, called a hanging indent. APA style customizes entries for each type of source, meaning that each citation will be unique.

Webpage from a Website

Website citations follow a basic format for all types of websites. For sources without authors, list the group or organization as author. If no group or organization is given, move the website name to the author position.

Webpage from a Website Example

Last Name, F. M. (Year, Month Day). Title of Page . Website Name. URL.

Boise State University Writing Center. (n.d.). Welcome to the Writing Center . Boise State University. https://www.boisestate.edu/writingcenter/

Books follow a standard format for print and electronic sources. For edited works add the editor’s name following the book title. If no author is listed, substitute for the editor instead. Include DOI for print and electronic sources (if available).

Book Example

Last Name, F. M. (Year). Book Title . Publisher. DOI (if available)

Jimenez, J. (2003). Latin culture in the United States . Harper Collins.

Work from a Collection

Chapters in a wider collection or anthology can be cited in two ways: citing the whole anthology as a book, or citing a single source in the anthology. An example of the latter is shown.

Work from a Collection Example

Last Name, F. M. (Year). Chapter Title. Editor. Book Title (pages). Publisher.

Shonagon, S. (1988). Hateful things. In P. Lopate (Ed.), The art of the personal essay (pp. 273- 278). Norton.

Journal Article

Journal articles, or periodicals, are print and electronic sources issued within larger journals.

Journal Article Example

Last Name, F. M. (Year). Article Title. Journal Title, Volume Number (Issue Number), pages. DOI (if available)

Lorca, R. & Rose, M. (1997). Best practices for scaling up a basic writing program. Teaching English in a Two-Year College, 33 (2), 33-74. doi: 10.1037/0278-6133.24.2.225

Newspaper Article

Newspaper and magazine articles are two other types of periodicals. Include volume, issue, and/or page number(s) if available. Unlike other citations, do not list the abbreviation “p.” or “pp.” before the page number(s).

Newspaper Article Example

Last Name, F. M. (Year, Month Day). Article Title. Newspaper Title , pages (if print). URL (if digital)

Brody, A. J. (2001, Dec. 18). The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. The Washington Post , A1, A5.

Government Report

Government reports and other legal documents fall under The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation style. List the agency as author and parent agencies as publisher for reports by government agencies.

Government Report Example

Name of Government Agency. (Year). Report Title (Report No.). Publisher. URL (if available)

National Institute of Mental Health. (1990). Clinical training in serious mental illness (DHHS Publication No. ADM 90-1679). www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/asth_sch.pdf

YouTube Video

Videos from YouTube or other user-generated video websites list the person or group as author. If both the author and username are the same, list the username as author.

YouTube Video Example

Last Name, F. M. [Username]. (Year, Month Day). Video Title [Video]. Streaming Service. URL

Scientific America. (2010, Oct. 4). Powering the cell: Mitochondria [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrS2uROUjK

More Information for Reference Entries

Authors with the same last name:.

If a reference list includes authors with the same last name, arrange entries alphabetically by first initial. If both last name and initials are identical, organize chronologically.

Multiple authors:

With sources that have three or more authors, follow the first author’s name with a comma and the abbreviation ‘et al.’ (“and others”).

Organization or group author:

In instances where an organization or group authored the work, spell out the full name of the group but omit initial articles (e.g. a, an, the). If the author is the publisher, skip the author element and begin the entry with the title.

In a reference entry for a work with no author, move the title of the work to the author position.

If no date is available, insert the abbreviation “n.d.” (no date) in the date position. For undated, unarchived sources designed to change over time, add a retrieval date, e.g. Retrieved November 7, 2023, from https://www.boisestate.edu/writingcenter/

Publishers’ names are given in full; however, do not give words indicating business structure, like Ltd. or LLC. Terms like Press and Books should be included.

Sample APA References Page

APA references begin on a new page. “References” title is bold and centered. Callouts on the left-hand margin denote the type of citation cited in the corresponding reference entry. All entries are alphabetized and formatted with a hanging indent.

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APA Format Quick Guide

Additional Navigation

Note to students using Grammarly: See this resource on Grammarly's Place in the Writing Process

APA-7 delineates two versions: the student version and the professional version. Formatting elements except the title page, running head, and abstract are the same across both versions. All undergraduate students at Liberty University must use the student version and all graduate and doctoral students must use the professional version.

Have a formatting question?

Online students.

See a list of all services available to online students at www.liberty.edu/onlinewritingcenter

Residential Students

See a list of all services available to residential students at www.liberty.edu/writing

Undergraduate Students

• Will follow APA-7’s “Student Version”
• Simplified title page
• No running head
• No abstract

Detailed sample APA-7 paper

With visual aids and indexed by topic, for undergraduate students (pdf), apa-7 template for undergraduate students (dotm), graduate & doctoral students.

• Will follow APA-7’s “Professional Version”
• Expanded title page
• Running head required (same on all pages)
• Abstract required (unless otherwise specified in instructions)

Detailed sample APA-7 paper with visual aids and indexed by topic for Graduate & Doctoral Students (PDF)

Apa-7 template for graduate & doctoral students (dotm), helpful resources.

• Comprehensive APA-7 Reference List (PDF)
• APA-7 References to Legal Materials – Bluebook (PDF)
• Broad Overview of the Changes Between APA-6 and APA-7 (PDF)
• Comparison Chart of APA-6 and APA-7 (PDF)
• References Comparisons Between APA-6 and APA-7 (PDF)
• Sample Annotated Bibliography for Undergraduate Students (PDF)
• Sample Annotated Bibliography for Graduate/Doctoral Students
• Choosing Appropriate Resources for Academic Papers (PDF)

Video Tutorial links

• Plagiarism series – Video #1 of 4: Introduction: How often can students quote other sources? – Liberty University
• Plagiarism series – Video #2 of 4: How and when to cite your sources. – Liberty University
• Plagiarism series – Video #3 of 4: The three kinds of plagiarism. – Liberty University
• Plagiarism series – Video #4 of 4: Proactive and foolproof steps to avoid plagiarism. – Liberty University
• Use active voice, rather than passive voice (PDF) .
• Be specific and concise.
• Avoid poetic or figurative language; scientific writing is the most appropriate for APA.
• Use past or present perfect tense (e.g., researchers have shown) for a literature review and description, and past tense when referring to results and experiments previously conducted.
• Title case = all significant words, usually those with 4+ letters, must be capitalized. Title case is used for titles of works mentioned in the body of your paper, and for the names of journals in your reference list.  All five heading levels also use title case.
• Sentence case = only the first letter of the first word, proper nouns, and the word following a colon, if any, should begin with capital letters. Sentence case is used for all resource titles in the reference list (i.e., book or article titles, webpages, etc.).
• Use quotation marks around the titles of shorter works (i.e., articles or poems) and italics for the names of larger words (i.e., books or plays) mentioned in the body of your paper.
• APA-7 allows a wide array of fonts and sizes but Liberty University prefers all course assignments to be completed in 12-point Times New Romans or 11-point Calibri font .

See the respective sample paper and template for your level of study (i.e., undergraduate or graduate/professional).

• Before beginning to write the body of your paper, center the paper’s title on the first line in title case in bold font, exactly as it appears on the title page. The title is now considered a Level 1 heading.
• Your introductory paragraph/section, if you have one, will begin on the next line. Note that APA-7 expressly forbids using the term introduction as a heading; just type that paragraph under the paper’s title without any heading. Professors always trump APA, so if your professor requires a heading labeled Introduction, then include it. If your introduction section includes subheadings, those would be formatted as Level 2 headings.
• APA-7 recommends only one space after closing punctuation in the body of the paper (whereas APA-6 recommended two).
• APA papers use headings to separate paper sections and establish a hierarchy of information.  Short papers (usually five pages or less in the body of the paper) may not have any headings unless required, but longer papers benefit from the organizational aspects of headings.
• Always begin with Level 1 headings and apply the appropriate heading and subheading levels from there.  Do not simply progress from Level 1 to Level 2 to Level 3.
• For each heading, include at least two subsection headings or none at all. This follows the same principle as an outline: Section one would be divided into sections A and B or more; A cannot stand alone.
• As such, heading levels align with outline levels: Capital Roman letters in an outline become Level 1 headings, Capital Arabic letters become Level 2 headings, etc.
• Please note that some of the sample papers published by APA to demonstrate proper APA-7 format (including the “professional” version on pp. 50-60 of the APA-7 manual) depict the “Conclusion” section with a Level-2 heading. This is limited to empirical papers that are being submitted for publication in scholarly journals, as those conclusions pertain to the “Discussion” sections in such papers and are not conclusions of the overall papers themselves.  Conclusions in academic papers at Liberty University will be Level 1 headings (including dissertations and theses, which are divided by chapters, unlike journal article manuscripts).
• A paper may only have Level 1 headings if it is not divided into smaller subsections — or the content under some Level 1 headings may include two or more Level 2 headings (and some content under Level 2 headings may include two or more Level 3 headings).
• Level 1 : centered, boldface, in title case, with the content beginning on the line below
• Level 2 : left-aligned, boldface, in title case, with the content beginning on the line below
• Level 3 : left-aligned, boldface, italicized, in title case, with the content beginning on the line below
• Level 4 : indented, boldface, in title case with a period, then one space, and begin your content on the same line
• Level 5 : indented, boldface, italicized, in title case with a period, then one space, and begin your content on the same line

In-Text Citations

• An in-text citation is used whenever another author’s work is directly quoted or paraphrased.
• Citations for paraphrases use an author/date format: (Author, Publication Year), e.g. (Smith, 2007).
• The citation for a direct quote should also include the page number: (Author, Year, p. #). If no page number is available (as in the case of an online webpage), list the paragraph: (Author, Year, para. 11). APA-7 expands this to including descriptive location details to get your reader to that content in longer non-paginated electronic resources such as e-books.  In such cases, provide a heading or section name.  If the heading or section name is brief (generally four words or less) include the full name, without quotation marks (i.e., Owen, 2020,  Attachment Disorders section, para. 8).  If the heading or section name is too long (generally, more than four words), use an abbreviation of the heading or section, encapsulated in quotation marks.  For example, for a section named “Peace and Power in Modern Day Relationships,” the citation would be (Owen, 2020, “Peace and Power” section, para. 3).
• You can move information from the in-text citations to other parts of the sentence that the quote is part of as long as all required elements are present: e.g. Smith (2007) says, “arrows are sharp” (p. 8).  However, the date follows the author’s/authors’ name(s), unless APA’s exception applies for subsequent citations of the same resource in a paragraph in which the first such citation was narrative in-text (not parenthetical; discussed further in Liberty University OWC’s sample APA papers).
• The page number   follows a direct quote, even if these elements are split within your sentence.  For example, Smith and Harlow (2011) elaborated on this by suggesting that “paper planes can float” (p. 8).  Owen (2017) posited that “foxes can fly” (p. 17) in her dream analysis.
• Any quotation longer than 39 words should be made into a freestanding “block” of text, with  no quotation marks (see Liberty University OWC’s sample APA papers due to formatting limitations of this webpage ).
• The entire left margin of block quotes should be indented one-half inch as a whole “block” (with no extra indent on the first line).
• The parenthetical citation with the page number on block quotes follows the quote and period, with no additional punctuation after it (unlike shorter quotes, where the parenthetical citation falls within the sentence itself with the period following it).

Discussion Board Posts

Discussion board posts at Liberty University are designed to mimic active classroom discussion among students (and sometimes the professor).  As such, though the content within them should be semi-formal and provide credit to sources, when a student refers to content from another student’s discussion board comments, only a mild referral to the other student’s name and which post that content originated from is necessary.  For example, as Mark stated in his initial thread , xyz.  Or as Charlotte stated in her response to Marienne , xyz. (No underlining would be used in the actual sentence used, of course).  This is the only exception permitted to “personal communications” and applies only within course discussion board replies in that class.

Special Rule Regarding Repeat Citations APA-7 allows writers to cite their source only once per paragraph, provided the reader can discern where the other sentence(s) derived from.  This requires specific structuring.  For example: Owen (2020) claimed that “foxes can fly” (p. 17). She detailed their nocturnal habits. Her research gave critical insight into this population. In each of the second and third sentences above, the sentences were structured in such a way that the content clearly refers back to Owen’s work. In the case of Bible verses, it is easy for the reader to understand that subsequent citations of those came from whichever Bible version was cited earlier in that paragraph.  For any subsequent verses cited in a paragraph that already has a full Bible citation, you can just use the verse itself.  In each new paragraph (or if you change versions in the same paragraph), you will need to include the full citation.  For example: God calls each of us to witness to others to “make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel” ( New American Standard Bible , 1971/1995, Ephesians 6:19-20). Mark 13:10 and Matthew 28:19 command us to preach to all nations and make disciples… There is no need to add the Bible version in that second sentence because the reader knows both of those verses refer to the same version of the Bible cited in the previous sentence.

• The rules for Bible citations have changed completely; you must now cite the Bible version in the body of the paper and include it in your reference list. Please see the appropriate sample APA-7 paper for your level of study for a detailed discussion of this .
• Note that APA-7 specifies to cite Bibles in “book formats” (p. 302) that are “treated as having no author.” Below are some examples of the hard copy references versus online references of some common versions. The citations are the same for both, as they contain the version name and the year(s) of publication.  If you are using a different version, you will format it by following the examples given below (be sure to include a hanging indent, which this webpage cannot feature).
• Scripture should be cited from one of the mainstream Bible versions (see list of some below).  Study Bibles are generally NOT considered scholarly, as the notes within can be quite biased depending on the author of those notes, and thus Study Bibles should only be used sparingly by Divinity students as to exegetical projects.
• When including a verse, place it in the locator position after the year (in place of the page number).  For example, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” ( New American Standard Bible , 1971/1995, John 3:16).  You can also introduce it in the text of the sentence itself: John 3:16 proclaims that “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” ( New American Standard Bible , 1971/1995).

Liberty University Class Lectures

Since the purpose and function of APA references is to ensure the reader has sufficient information to be able to locate the original source if necessary, include course details and credit Liberty University when referencing class lectures and PowerPoint presentations since the URL does not provide sufficient locator details itself. Italicize the name of the lecture itself. If the course has multiple lectures per week, you can include the week and lecture numbers; otherwise omit those elements. If you have a direct URL, use that (see the Peters reference below); otherwise use the URL to Liberty University’s Canvas homepage (the reference on the left below).  If the date is provided (see the Peters reference below), use that; otherwise use the year and semester that you took the course in (the reference on the left below):

When no presenter is named in the video itself, name Liberty University in the author’s position :

Liberty University. (2021, Spring). BIOL 102: Human biology. Week one, lecture two: Name of class lecture . https://canvas.liberty.edu

When a presenter is provided, name that person in the author’s position and include Liberty University in the publisher’s position after the name of the lecture:

Peters, C. (2012). COUN 506, Week one, lecture two: Defining integration: Key concepts . Liberty University. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/definingintegration-keyconcepts/id427907777?i=1000092371727

• Center the word “ References ” (in bold font but without quotation marks) on the top line of a new page following your conclusion.  This term is also now regarded as a Level 1 heading.  If you have only one resource to cite in the entire paper, APA authorizes the use of singular “ Reference .”
• Use hanging indents (the first line of each entry should be left-justified, with lines two+ indented ½” from the left margin).
• Alphabetize all entries by the first word in each (usually the first author’s last name for each).
• Note that you must include a comma after the author’s name that precedes the ampersand in the reference list, even when there are only two authors.  This does not apply to citations in the body of the paper.
• There should only be one space after periods in the reference list entries, just as in the body of the paper.
• If a work has more than 20 authors, list the first 19 followed by an ellipsis (…).  Include the last author’s name immediately after the ellipsis as the final author mentioned.   Do not include an ampersand (&) in references with 20 or more authors .
• Note that APA-7 allows writers to superscript the suffixes of ordinal numbers, as long as the writer is consistent throughout (see section 6.35 of the APA-7 manual).  The examples included in the resources in this Quick Guide include superscripted suffixes for all book edition numbers, in accordance with APA-7’s option to do so.
• Do include reference entries for classical works including the Bible.
• Do not include reference entries for personal communication.
• Do not include a period after a URL or DOI.
• Note that the issue number of a journal article should be connected/attached to the volume number — e.g.,  12 (8).  The volume number should be italicized, but the attached parentheses and issue number should not.
• Check  Google Scholar or Crossref  for DOIs of all articles published since 2007, if one is not readily denoted on the article itself.
• Format all DOI entries in URL format (https://doi.org/xx.xxxxxxx).
• Omit the publisher city and state in most cases (exception: conferences and symposiums).
• Only include the access date for online content that is likely to change (such as wikis).
• Do not include static hyperlinks which require log-on credentials to access, unless required by your assignment.  This includes EZproxy links obtained from searches in the Liberty University Online Library.
• See the links at the top of this page for expansive reference entry examples.

Annotated Bibliographies

Sample annotation (pdf).

Note that in a stand-alone Annotated Bibliography assignment, students would include the appropriate title page relative to their grade level; graduate and doctoral students would also include a running head on all pages as required for their grade levels.

Material on this page adapted from the Seventh Edition of the  Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association .

OASIS: Writing Center

Apa style: overview, what is apa style.

The American Psychological Association (APA) developed a set of standards that writers in the social sciences follow to create consistency throughout publications. These rules address:

• crediting sources
• document formatting
• writing style and organization

APA's guidelines assist readers in recognizing a writer's ideas and information, rather than having to adjust to inconsistent formatting. In this way, APA allows writers to express themselves clearly and easily to readers. The APA materials developed in the Walden Writing Center are based on The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition , often referred to on this website as "APA 7" or "the APA manual."

Why APA Style?

When you are writing as a student, you are entering into a new writing community ; just as you would need to learn the customs and rules of any new country you visit, you need to learn the customs and rules of academic writing. These guidelines will be different than guidelines for writing in other environments (such as letters to friends, emails to coworkers, or writing for blogs). The academic community has its own rules. These standards help writers

• improve clarity
• avoid distracting the reader
• indicate sources for evidence
• provide uniform formatting

To learn more about transitioning into academic writing, view "What Is Academic Writing?" Remember that it’s your job as the author to engage your readers, and inconsistencies in formatting and citations distract the reader from the content of your writing. By using APA style, you allow your readers to focus on the ideas you are presenting, offering a familiar format to discuss your new ideas.

Getting Started With APA Style

APA style can seem overwhelming at first. To get started, take some time to look through these resources:

• Familiarize yourself with the column on the left; peruse the different pages to see what APA has to say about citations, reference entries, capitalization, numbers, et cetera.
• Find our APA templates , determining which is the most appropriate for your assignments (hint: the first "Course Paper" template is best for most course assignments).
• Use this APA Checklist to review your assignments, ensuring you have remembered all of APA's rules.
• If you previously used the 6th edition of APA, visit our APA 6 and APA 7 Comparison Tables to learn what’s new in the 7th edition.
• Review one of our APA webinars (like "How and When to Include APA Citations" ), based on your interest.
• Find the APA resources in our APA Scavenger Hunt , helping to familiarize yourself with the APA resources we have on the website.
• Check out our APA-related blog posts .

Lastly, have a question? Ask OASIS !

Crash Course in APA Style Video

• Crash Course in APA Style (video transcript)

Methods to the Madness Video Playlist

Writing Center Blog Posts on APA

Related resources.

Knowledge Check: APA Style Overview

Knowledge Check

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Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

APA Sample Paper

Welcome to the Purdue OWL

This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice.

Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use.

Note:  This page reflects the latest version of the APA Publication Manual (i.e., APA 7), which released in October 2019. The equivalent resource for the older APA 6 style  can be found here .

Media Files: APA Sample Student Paper  ,  APA Sample Professional Paper

This resource is enhanced by Acrobat PDF files. Download the free Acrobat Reader

Note: The APA Publication Manual, 7 th Edition specifies different formatting conventions for student  and  professional  papers (i.e., papers written for credit in a course and papers intended for scholarly publication). These differences mostly extend to the title page and running head. Crucially, citation practices do not differ between the two styles of paper.

However, for your convenience, we have provided two versions of our APA 7 sample paper below: one in  student style and one in  professional  style.

Note: For accessibility purposes, we have used "Track Changes" to make comments along the margins of these samples. Those authored by [AF] denote explanations of formatting and [AWC] denote directions for writing and citing in APA 7. 

APA 7 Student Paper:

Apa 7 professional paper:.

APA Style 7th Edition

• Student Paper
• Professional Paper
• In-Text Citations
• Reference Citations
• Additional Resources
• << Previous: Home
• Next: Student Paper >>
• Last Updated: Mar 11, 2024 2:19 PM
• URL: https://libguides.unco.edu/apa

Formatting an APA Style Title Page

Apa style 7th edition paper and title page formatting in microsoft word.

In this video, Purdue Global Learning and Development Specialist, Chrissine Cairns, demonstrates how to format a paper and title page in APA Style (7 Ed.).

APA Style 6th Edition Title Page and Running Head Formatting in Microsoft Word

In this video, Purdue Global Learning and Development Specialist, Chrissine Cairns, demonstrates how to format a title page and running head in APA Style (6 Ed.).

Sample APA Style Title Page PDF

Common Citations and References in APA Style

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4 Responses

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This is my first ever Tutorial and Demonstration on APA Formatting. Thank You; Earl Bowers

Thanks for asking! In order to create different headers throughout your document, you can create page breaks. Follow these directions directly from Microsoft to help guide you through the process:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/configure-headers-and-footers-for-different-sections-of-a-document-94332643-a6e9-46aa-ab29-064f1d356db6

I hope this is helpful information!

How do we utilize when the cover page is specific tot he university and does not want a running head except starting on page 2 then the title with no running head on pages 3 4 5 etc?

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