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APA Formatting and Style (7th ed.)

• What's New in the 7th ed.?
• Principles of Plagiarism: An Overview
• Basic Paper Formatting
• Basic Paper Elements
• Punctuation, Capitalization, Abbreviations, Apostrophes, Numbers, Plurals
• Tables and Figures
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• Periodicals (Journals, Magazines, Newspapers)
• Books and Reference Works
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• Grammarly - your writing assistant
• Writing Center - Writing Skills This link opens in a new window
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APA 7th ed. Fillable Word Template and Sample Paper

• APA 7th ed. Template Download this Word document, fill out the title page and get writing!
• Sample Paper APA 7th ed. Our APA sample paper shows you how to format the main parts of a basic research paper.
• APA 7th Sample Papers from Purdue Owl
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• Last Updated: Aug 9, 2024 11:50 AM
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Library Guide for Education Graduate Students

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APA 7th Edition

Purdue's OWL (Online Writing Lab) provides instruction on how to use APA 7th. Below are a few topics covered by the OWL.

• APA Style Introduction Purdue OWL resources that will help you use the American Psychological Association (APA) citation and format style.
• APA Overview and Workshop APA 7th
• General Formatting APA 7th
• In-Text Citation: Authors APA 7th
• Foot Notes and Appendices APA 7th
• Changes in the 7th Edition APA 7th
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• Last Edited: Aug 13, 2024 12:17 PM
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APA Style Help & Tools

{{page_title}}, best bet: apa's academic writer.

Academic Writer is the only authoritative and complete online environment for teaching, writing, and publishing in APA Style®, now updated to the 7th Edition. Designed to help users develop their writing and professional research skills, Academic Writer combines sophisticated learning and teaching tools, advanced writing and content management technology, and full integration of APA’s best-selling Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association® to create an unparalleled web-based suite of integrated services and tools.

Access Academic Writer anytime with this link:

library.purdueglobal.edu/academicwriter

Academic Writer Documentation & Tips

The below links lead to more information, tips, and training about the basics of using Academic Writer.

• Library Guide to Academic Writer
• Getting Started Guide (PDF)
• Creating Academic Writer Accounts (PDF)
• Accessing the Publication Manual (PDF)
• Technical Requirements

Using Academic Writer's Writing Tools

Academic Writer contains a Writing section where you can create and write a full APA-formatted paper.  You can write the entire paper in Academic Writer or just use it to setup the title page, headings, and references.  Export your work at any time to a Microsoft Word document.  Below are documents from Academic Writer about the essential features of their Writing tools.  

• Setting up the Title Page
• Adding References to Papers (PDF)
• Adding In-Text Citations (PDF)
• Adding Tables (PDF)
• Exporting Papers (PDF)

Featured Items from Academic Writer

Basics of APA Style

Learn the basics of APA Style, including how to format a manuscript, understand the form and function of common manuscript parts, organize and express your thoughts clearly and precisely, employ the mechanics of style, use graphic elements effectively, credit sources and acknowledge the contributions of others, and construct a comprehensive and reliable reference list.

Academic Writer

© 2020 American Psychological Association.

How to Avoid Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism

Learn how to avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism, including how to identify plagiarism, understand its risks and consequences, cite sources properly, and develop sound writing practices.

Learn how to set up the title page of an APA Style paper, including the page header and running head, title, author name and affiliation, and author note.

Paper Template: ("Merenda" Sample Student Paper)

This sample response paper presents a university student's personal reaction to an article about whether medication is prescribed too often to young children to treat psychological disorders. The title page demonstrates the simple default layout for a student paper. The paper has a simple setup with only a title page, body of text, and references. No "running head"! Response papers typically do not include author notes or abstracts, though this may vary by assignment.

Visit the Writing Center

Need writing help?  Visit the Writing Center to contact a tutor, submit your paper for review and feedback, or ask APA Style-related questions, as well as access dozens of writing tutorials, videos, webinars, and other instructional resources.

• Writing Center

PG Writing Center's Top APA Links

• Common Citations in APA Format
• APA Title Page and Running Head Video
• APA (7th Edition) Demystified in 5 Minutes Video
• Formatting an APA Style (7th Edition) Reference List Video
• Writing With Integrity (APA Style 7th Ed.)

eBook on APA Style 7th Edition

Zotero: Free Reference Management Tool

Zotero [zoh-TAIR-oh] is a free, easy-to-use tool to help you collect, organize, cite, and share your research sources. This tool is especially popular for heavy researchers at the grad level and above.

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Generate accurate APA citations for free

• Knowledge Base
• APA Style 7th edition
• APA headings and subheadings

APA Headings and Subheadings | With Sample Paper

Published on November 7, 2020 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on October 24, 2022.

Headings and subheadings provide structure to a document. They signal what each section is about and allow for easy navigation of the document.

APA headings have five possible levels. Each heading level is formatted differently.

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Table of contents

Additional guidelines for apa headings, how many heading levels should you use, when to use which apa heading level, section labels vs headings, sample paper with apa headings, using heading styles in word or google docs.

As well as the heading styles, there are some other guidelines to keep in mind:

• Double-space all text, including the headings.
• Use the same font for headings and body text (e.g., Times New Roman 12pt.).
• Don’t label headings with numbers or letters.
• Don’t add extra “enters” above or below headings.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Depending on the length and complexity of your paper, you may not use all five heading levels. In fact, shorter student papers may have no headings at all.

It’s also perfectly fine for some sections in your paper to go as deep as five levels, where others use only heading level 1.

Heading level 1 is used for main sections like “ Methods ”, “ Results ”, and “ Discussion ”. There is no “ Introduction ” heading at the beginning of your paper because the first paragraphs are understood to be introductory.

Heading level 2 is used for subsections under level 1. For example, under “Methods” (level 1) you may have subsections for “Sampling Method” and “Data Analysis” (level 2). This continues all the way down to heading level 5.

Always use at least two subheadings or none at all. If there is just one subheading, the top-level heading is sufficient.

In addition to regular headings, APA works with “section labels” for specific parts of the paper. They’re similar to headings but are formatted differently. Section labels are placed on a separate line at the top of a new page in bold and centered.

Use section labels for the following sections in an APA formatted paper :

• Author note
• Paper title
• Reference page

Scribbr Citation Checker New

The AI-powered Citation Checker helps you avoid common mistakes such as:

• Missing commas and periods
• Incorrect usage of “et al.”
• Ampersands (&) in narrative citations
• Missing reference entries

Instead of formatting every heading individually, you can use the “Styles” feature in Word or Google Docs. This allows you to save the styling and apply it with just a click.

The first time you use APA Style, you need to update the default heading styles to reflect the APA heading guidelines. Click here for the instructions for Microsoft Word and Google Docs .

An added benefit of using the “Styles” feature is that you can automatically generate a table of contents .

Cite this Scribbr article

If you want to cite this source, you can copy and paste the citation or click the “Cite this Scribbr article” button to automatically add the citation to our free Citation Generator.

Streefkerk, R. (2022, October 24). APA Headings and Subheadings | With Sample Paper. Scribbr. Retrieved August 12, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/apa-headings/

Is this article helpful?

Raimo Streefkerk

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Citation Guides

• AMA Citation Examples
• APA Citation Examples
• APA Sample Paper
• Chicago General Formatting
• Chicago Citation Examples
• Chicago Sample Papers
• MLA General Formatting
• MLA Citation Examples
• MLA Sample Paper
• Theological/Philosophical Citations
• APA Style Online

APA Sample Paper from APA Style Online

The following PDF provides a sample paper written in the APA style to demonstrate visually how the guidelines work in action. This PDF is used with full credit to the  APA Style Online , which maintains a robust online guide to students and professionals alike who want to learn about writing and formatting in the APA style. This resource is strongly recommended as a resource if you need something more in depth than this guide provides.

APA Sample Paper from Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab)

The following PDF provides a sample paper written in the APA style to demonstrate visually how the guidelines work in action. This PDF is used with thanks and full credit to the  Purdue OWL (Online Writing Lab) , which maintains a robust online guide to a variety of style guides, avoiding plagiarism, and writing at the academic level in general. They are strongly recommended as a resource if you need something more in depth than this guide provides.

“APA Sample Paper.”  APA Sample Paper - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University , Purdue OWL / Purdue University, 30 Jan. 2020, owl.purdue.edu/owl/research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_formatting_and_style_guide/apa_sample_paper.html. Accessed on 2 Feb. 2024.

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• URL: https://libguide.umary.edu/citations

APA Style Manuscript Guidelines

Apa style (7th ed.) manuscript guidelines.

APA Style provides guidelines on how your paper should appear on the page. It involves formatting margins, line spacing, the title page, body pages, and reference list.

Notes on the Sample Title Page

• In the header of the document at the right margin, insert the page number.
• In the upper half of the page, three to four lines down from the header, provide the title of the paper in bold, title case.
• Double-space the title page and entire paper, adding an additional double-spaced line between the title and the “byline”—author name.
• Provide the byline and related information in regular font. First provide the author’s name and affiliated university.
• Next, provide the course number and name (Course Number: Name), the professor for the course, and due date.
• Always check with your instructor about additional information required on this page.

More Title Page Examples

• Open a sample title page here .
• Formatting an APA Style (7th ed.) Paper and Title Page in Microsoft Word Video

Notes on this sample body page

• The font should be the same throughout the paper. Acceptable fonts include 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 12-point Times New Roman, 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode, 11-point Georgia, or 10-point Computer Modern.
• Use one-inch margins all around.
• The text should align with the left margin and be uneven along the right margin with one space between words and after punctuation.
• Double-space the entire paper without extra spacing between paragraphs.
• Indent the beginning of each paragraph one half-inch, which is typically one click of the Tab key.

More Body Page Examples

• Open a sample body page here .
• Open a sample APA Style research paper here

Reference List

Notes on this sample references list for student papers:

• The references list begins on a new page at the end of the paper before any tables or appendices.
• The right margin of the header provides the page number, continued from the previous page.
• The word References is centered on the first line under the header in bold font.
• The citations are formatted using a “hanging indent” where the second and subsequent lines are indented one half-inch under the first line in order to improve readability.
• Double-space the reference list, including within a reference entry.
• Two or more works by the same author are ordered chronologically by publication date.
• References with the same first author and a different second author are alphabetized by the second author.

More Reference List Examples

• Open a sample reference list here .
• Formatting an APA Style (7th ed.) Reference List in Microsoft Word Video

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Citation Guide

What is apa style.

• APA Quick Reference Guide

Paper Formatting Guidelines & Sample Papers

In-text citations & the reference list, examples of references & in-text citations, software tools for apa style.

• MLA Style - 9th Edition
• Chicago/Turabian Style
• Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing
• Tools for Managing Citations
• Citation Season!

APA Publication Manual

Introduction to APA Style

APA stands for American Psychological Association. APA Style is a way to format your paper and give credit to your sources. This page provides resources for all the elements of preparing a research paper in APA Style, including formatting, in-text citations, and the list of references.

Many disciplines use APA Style, including business, education, nursing, psychology and others.

APA Quick Links

• APA Style Website This is the online home of APA Style.
• APA Style Blog The APA Style Blog publishes short articles about writing style guidelines and complicated citation questions you might have.
• Purdue OWL Guide to APA Style Purdue OWL has resources about many citation styles. Here is their section on APA.

APA Quick Reference Guide, page 1 of 2

APA Quick Reference Guide, page 2 of 2

Use the following materials to learn about APA guidelines for different parts of your paper, like the title page, headers and footers, and writing an abstract.

• APA Sample Papers Look at a finished paper in APA format. Use this to set up your paper.
• APA Style Formatting Guide This guide covers formatting rules for all parts of an APA paper.
• Student Title Page guide (PDF) Use this for student papers using the APA 7th Edition.
• Professional Title Page Use this to learn about the differences between student and professional paper title pages.
• Abstract and Keywords Guide (PDF) Use this if you are required to include and abstract and/or keywords for your APA Style paper.
• Tables, Appendices, Footnotes, and Endnotes If your paper has tables, appendices, footnotes, or endnotes, use these guidelines.

Citing sources has two elements: the in-text citation is in the body of your paper when you refer to something that you use from a source, and this citation points to the reference list, where there is more information about each source. 

Purdue University's Online Writing Lab - aka Purdue OWL - is a good online source of information about many citation styles. Many of the following links take you straight to Purdue OWL pages that answer frequent questions about APA Style. 

In-Text Citations

• APA In-Text Citations Basics of in-text citation from Purdue Owl.
• APA In-Text Citations Author Rules Detailed rules from Purdue Owl on how to cite multiple authors.

The Reference List

• Basic Rules for the Reference List This page gives a summary of the reference list, which is the full list of your sources at the end of the paper.
• Citing Books in the Reference List This page has rules and examples for citing books of different types in your reference list.
• Citing Electronic Sources in the Reference List This page has examples and rules for citing journal articles and other things you find through a library database or anywhere online.
• Rules about Authors in the Reference List Does your source have 3 authors? Five authors? More? No author listed? This page gives guidance on how to format author names in the reference list depending on number of authors, missing author, if an organization is an author, etc.
• Citing a Government Website in the Reference List Do you have a source from a government agency? Use these guidelines to create a citation.
• Using DOIs and URLs How to use the doi or URL in electronic journal articles.
• Crossref Search Use Crossref to search for an article's doi.

Article in an Electronic Journal

Reference page entry.

Grady, J.S., Her, M,. Moreno, G., Perez, C., & Yelinek, J. (2019). Emotions in storybooks: A comparison of storybooks that represent ethnic and racial groups in the United States.  Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 8 (3), 207-217. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000185

In-Text Citation

(Grady et al., 2019, p. 208)

Newspaper Article

Carey, B. (2019, March 22). Can we get better at forgetting? The New York Times . https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/22/health/memory-forgetting-psychology.html

(Carey, 2019)

Rabinowitz, F.E (2019). Deepening group psychotherapy with men: Stories and insights for the journey . American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/00001132-000

(Rabinowitz, 2019)

Chapter of a Book

Aron, L., Botella, M., & Lubart. (2019). Culinary arts:  Talent and their developments. In R. F. Subotnik, P. Olszewski-Kubilius, & F. C. Worrell (Eds.), The psychology of high performance: Developing human potential into domain-specific talent (pp. 345-359). American Psychological Association. https://doi.org/10.1037/0000120-016

(Aron et al., 2019)

Webpage on a Website

National Institute of Mental Health. (2018, July). Anxiety disorders . U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/indnex.shtml

(National Institute of Mental Health, 2018)

There are many tools that can help you create, manage, and organize your citations and your references page. Here are some that the library provides or recommends for students and faculty. 

• Academic Writer This link opens in a new window Many psychology courses use Academic Writer. Academic Writer is a tool that provides the resources necessary to learn, research, write, and publish in APA Style, directly from the creators of and experts on APA Style, the American Psychological Association. You can make an account on Academic Writer with your Caldwell email address.
• NoodleTools This link opens in a new window NoodleTools is an online tool that helps you with note taking, and correctly formatting citations. MLA, APA, and Chicago/Turabian citation styles are included. Use throughout your research project to track sources, take notes, create outlines, collaborate with classmates, and format bibliographies. Use this link to create an account.
• ZoteroBib ZoteroBib is a free service that helps you build a bibliography from any computer or device, without creating an account or installing any software. It's from the team behind the open source citation management app Zotero. ZBib can create a draft citation from a link or ISBN and has helpful templates for you to use to manually create citations. You can use it for MLA, APA, or Chicago Style.
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• Last Updated: Jun 3, 2024 8:27 AM
• URL: https://libguides.caldwell.edu/citations

Purdue Online Writing Lab Purdue OWL® College of Liberal Arts

Sample Papers

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.

This resource lists all of the sample papers found on the Purdue OWL. Please click on the link to view or download the media file.

APA Sample Paper APA Sample Paper for Nursing Students (note: this link will open the PDF of the sample paper)

APA Sample Paper for Experimental Psychology

MLA Sample Paper

MLA Undergraduate Frequently Asked Questions

CMS Author Date Sample Paper

CMS NB Sample Paper

Instructional Aids

Many of these resources are intended for students and were designed by APA Style experts in conjunction with university instructors. Please note that because the scope of what constitutes a student paper is broad and flexible and varies by course and academic institution, there are no formal requirements for the nature or contents of APA Style student papers. Students should follow the guidelines of their instructor, advisor, department, and/or institution when writing papers, and instructors, departments, and institutions are encouraged to adapt APA Style to fit their needs.

More instructional aids will be added to the website in the future. If you are an instructor and want to share an instructional aid you made with APA to potentially be featured on our website, please contact the APA Style team .

Tutorials and webinars

Handouts and guides

PDFs to use in homes, classrooms, libraries, or anywhere else you are learning or teaching APA Style.

Sample papers

Papers formatted in seventh edition APA Style for both professional manuscripts and student papers.

Mastering APA Style Student Workbook, Seventh Edition

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Do you need to improve your knowledge and application of seventh edition APA Style? Watch this short video to learn about the new Mastering APA Style Student Workbook , the official interactive guide to learning APA Style.

Learn more about the workbook

Instructional Products

Mastering APA Style Student Workbook

An online and interactive workbook designed for teaching and learning seventh edition APA Style

Concise Guide, Seventh Edition

An easy-to-use guide for students writing their papers in seventh edition APA Style

Publication Manual, Seventh Edition

The official source for seventh edition APA Style that guides users through the scholarly writing process

Academic Writer™

Subscribe to Academic Writer, APA’s tool for teaching and learning effective writing

Course Adoption

The seventh edition Publication Manual , Concise Guide to APA Style , and Mastering APA Style Student Workbook are all available for course adoption.

• When instructors adopt an APA Style book for their course or workshop, they can request a free exam or desk copy of the work.
• Instructors who adopt the seventh edition of the Publication Manual or the Concise Guide to APA Style are also eligible to receive instructions on accessing ancillary instructional materials for teaching APA Style in the classroom.

Request a desk or exam copy

Request ancillary instructional materials