An APA 7th edition paper uses 1-inch margins, a consistently legible font, double spacing and a page number top right on every page. Students get a simplified title page with no running head; professional papers add a running head and an author note. Headings follow five levels, references hang-indent alphabetically.
Rules are easier to trust once you have watched them apply to a whole paper rather than a bullet list: the annotated APA research paper example walks a complete student manuscript section by section with numbered rule notes.
Page setup: the numbers that never change
Whatever you're writing — a 1,500-word response or a 6,000-word term paper — the page machinery is identical. Set these once, before typing paragraph one, and you'll never lose an evening to reformatting:
| Element | APA 7th edition rule | Where students go wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Margins | 1 inch (2.54 cm) on all four sides | Changing margins to hit a page count |
| Font | One legible font throughout — 12pt Times New Roman, 11pt Calibri, 11pt Arial, 11pt Georgia and 10pt Lucida Sans Unicode are all accepted | Mixing fonts between body text and figures |
| Spacing | Double-space everything, including the reference list and block quotes | Single-spacing references "to save pages" |
| Page numbers | Top right corner on every page, including the title page, starting at 1 | Hiding them on the title page or restarting mid-paper |
| Paragraphs | Indent the first line of every paragraph by 0.5 inch (use the tab key, not spaces) | Extra blank lines between paragraphs — spacing is already double |
Word processors differ in menus but not in outcomes: set the margins in page setup, set spacing to "double" with "0 pt before/after" in paragraph settings, and put the page number in the header — never typed manually at the top of each page.
Title page: student vs professional, rendered
The 7th edition finally split the title page in two. Students get the simple version; the professional one exists for manuscripts submitted to journals. Toggle the mini paper below and watch what changes — the running head appears, the course details vanish, the author note shows up:
What the toggle just showed, spelled out:
- Student title page: bold title, your name, then Department, University on one line, then course number and name, then instructor, then due date. Each on its own line, all centered, all double-spaced.
- Professional title page: bold title, author list, affiliation, an author note at the bottom — and a running head in the header.
Running head: the rule that changed in the 7th edition
This is the single most common source of APA confusion because the internet is full of 6th-edition advice. Current rules:
- Student papers: no running head required — a page number top right is enough (your instructor can still ask for one, so read the brief).
- Professional papers: an abbreviated title, flush left, in ALL CAPS, maximum 50 characters, on every page including the title page.
- No "Running head:" label anywhere — the 6th edition prefix is gone. If your template still types it, delete it.
Tick each rule as you check your own header.
A practical abbreviation: shorten your title to its three or four content words. Our example page's title compresses to STREET TREES AND CITY HEAT — 26 characters, under the cap, still recognizable.
The five heading levels, live
APA headings are a hierarchy, not a decoration budget. Start at level 1, nest deeper only when the structure genuinely demands it, and never skip a level going down (level 1 followed by level 3 is the classic marker that you formatted before outlining). Click through the levels — each renders exactly as it should appear in your paper:
References and in-text citations, in one screen
The reference page is its own final page: the label References in bold, centered at the top; entries alphabetized by the first author's surname; each entry double-spaced with a hanging indent — first line flush, continuation lines indented 0.5 inch, like this:
Alvarez, R., & Chen, M. (2024). Street trees and surface temperature: An illustrative review. Journal of Applied Example Studies, 12(3), 45–62. https://doi.org/10.0000/jaes.2024.045
That entry is illustrative formatting, not a real source — the shape is what matters: Author, A. A. (Year). Title in sentence case. Journal Name in Italics, Volume(Issue), pages. DOI as a plain https://doi.org/ link, no "Retrieved from".
In-text, the pattern is (Author, Year) at the end of the borrowed idea, or a narrative "Alvarez and Chen (2024) found…" when the source is the subject of your sentence. Direct quotes add a locator: (Alvarez & Chen, 2024, p. 51). Building these by hand is error-prone; the APA citation generator formats entries from a DOI, URL or ISBN, and the bibliography generator assembles the whole alphabetized list. To watch every rule on this page applied inside one finished paper, the annotated nursing research paper example in APA format marks up each layer separately.
Three cross-checks before submission: every in-text citation appears in the reference list, every reference entry is cited at least once in the body, and spellings match between the two (a "J. Alvarez" in-text with an "R. Alvarez" reference is a mismatch graders circle).
APA 6 vs APA 7: what actually changed
If an older template, handbook or video is part of your workflow, this table is where the drift hides:
| Element | APA 6th edition | APA 7th edition |
|---|---|---|
| Running head | "Running head: SHORT TITLE" on the title page, short title alone after | No label; student papers usually need no running head at all |
| Fonts | Times New Roman 12pt effectively standard | Several fonts accepted, including Calibri 11, Arial 11, Georgia 11 |
| DOI format | "doi:10.xxxx" or "Retrieved from …" | Live link: https://doi.org/10.xxxx |
| Publisher location in books | "New York, NY: Publisher" | Publisher name only |
| Authors per reference | Up to 7 listed, then et al. | Up to 20 listed |
| In-text citations, 3+ authors | All authors named on first citation | First author + et al. from the first citation |
| "Retrieved from" for stable URLs | Required | Dropped unless a retrieval date is needed |
| Spaces after a period | Two was common practice | One |
The APA submission checklist
Run the whole list against your document in print-layout view. Eight ticks and the formatting half of your grade is safe.
0 of 8 checks
- Margins are 1 inch on all four sides
- One legible font throughout, correct size, no mid-paper switches
- Everything is double-spaced, including references and block quotes
- Page number sits top right on every page, starting at the title page
- Title page matches student or professional variant — not a blend
- Running head rules followed (or correctly absent for a student paper)
- Headings start at level 1 and never skip downward
- References: hanging indents, alphabetical, APA 7 DOI style
Format done, draft not?
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Frequently asked questions
Do student papers need a running head in APA 7?
No — the 7th edition removed the running head requirement for student papers. A page number top right is enough. The exception is your instructor: if the assignment brief asks for one, provide an ALL CAPS short title flush left with no "Running head:" label.
Which font should I use for an APA paper?
Whichever single legible font your program supports and your course allows — the 7th edition names several, including 12pt Times New Roman, 11pt Calibri, 11pt Arial and 11pt Georgia. The two rules that matter: one font throughout, and nothing decorative. When in doubt, Times New Roman 12 remains the safe default.
How do I cite a source with no author or no date?
No date: use (Author, n.d.) — "n.d." means no date. No author: the title moves into the author slot, shortened for in-text use, e.g. ("Urban Heat Primer," 2023) for a webpage. On the references page the same substitution applies, and the entry alphabetizes under the title. The APA citation generator handles both cases.
Is the paper title bold on the first page of the body?
Yes. On page 3 (after title page and, if required, abstract), repeat the full title in bold, centered, title case at the top of the first text page — then start your introduction underneath it. That introduction needs no "Introduction" heading; APA treats the opening section as understood.
How long should an APA student paper's abstract be?
Most course papers don't require an abstract at all — check the brief. When one is required, the 7th edition guidance is a single unindented paragraph of roughly 150–250 words on its own page, labeled Abstract in bold, covering the question, method, and one or two headline findings in plain declarative sentences.
Do tables and figures go inside the text or at the end?
Either, but consistently: the 7th edition lets you embed each table or figure right after the paragraph that first mentions it (most course papers do this) or group them after the references. Each one needs a bold number ("Table 1"), an italic title, and a note below crediting any adapted source.
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