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How to Write an APA Paper with Microsoft Word
The best source for writing research papers is the Publication Manual of the American
Psychological Association (Fifth Edition). A copy is available at the information desk (This book
cannot leave the library) Start out by using white 8 ½ by 11 inch paper. The papers in the
library’s printers are just what you need. Using any other type or color of paper is not permitted.
1. Before you start typing, set your margins. APA requires your margins to be 1 inch top,
bottom, left, and right. In Microsoft Word, start a new document and then click
File>Page Setup from the menu bar. Change the margins as shown below. Be sure you
click the OK button at the bottom of this box to accept this change.
2. Before you start typing, set up the spacing to double space. On the formatting toolbar,
select the drop down arrow on the line spacing button and select 2.0.
3. From the formatting toolbar, set your typeface to Times New Roman with 12 point type.
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4. Your Header must always include first two or three words of your title as a page heading
on every page and the page number. From the Menu bar click View>Header and Footer.
In the header box shown below, press the tab key twice so your insertion point is on the
right side of the box. Type in the first three words of your title and press the space bar
five times. Click the insert page number button on the Header and Footer toolbar (this
will insert a page number for every page in your document). Click the Close button on
the Header and Footer toolbar.
5. Title Page (Cover Page) – required in an APA paper
a. Running head – A shortened title of less than 50 spaces in length. The words
“Running head:” followed by the title in ALL CAPTIAL LETTERS must
follow. The running head appears only on the title page. The Running head is only
necessary when publishing your work, but some instructors require it.
b. Title – should be about 1/3 down the page. Be sure you are looking at the
document in Print Layout view. From the menu bar, select View>Print Layout.
You should notice a vertical ruler on the left hand side of the page. If you do not
see it, click just below the running title. Press the enter key until the insertion
point is at 3 inches down the page. Now click the Align Center button
c.
d.
e.
f.
. Type in your title capitalizing the first, last, and primary words in
the title. The title should be no more than 10 to 12 words in length Press the enter
key.
Your name – Type in your name and press the enter key.
Type in the name of your College or University. Type in the full name, do not
abbreviate BCCC. . Press the enter key.
Type in the name of the course you are taking and press the enter key.
Type in the date the paper is submitted using the format shown in the example.
Look at the next page to see an example of a cover page in APA style.
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6. Save your work to disk after typing in a few sentences. From the menu bar, select
File>Save As. A dialog box appears. Be sure to save it to your floppy disk and give the
document a name, then click the Save button. After that, you should save your work after
every paragraph. You never know when a power failure or frozen PC will occur.
7. Headings provide a sense of order for the reader. In an APA paper, you can have up to 5
levels of headings. Most papers you produce will only require one level of headings so
use [Level 1] only. Use Level I headings for your Title, The Abstract page, and the
References page.
Centered Heading using Uppercase and Lowercase [Level 1]
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8. If your instructor requires one, include an abstract on its own page after the title page. An
abstract is a summary of your paper in 120 words or less. Center the word “Abstract”
one inch from the top of the page. This is a [Level 1] Heading. The abstract should be a
single paragraph without indentation.
No Indent
9. Begin the body of your text by typing in your full title on the top of the third page. The
title must be centered. This is a [Level 1] Heading Then press the enter key once, change
your alignment to left and begin typing. Each paragraph must be indented by ½ inch.
½ inch
Indent each
paragraph
Title
10. Italics and underlining.
a. Italicize all book titles, magazine titles and journal titles, newspaper names, and
web page titles, and volume numbers in reference lists.
b. Use underlining only if your instructor requires it
c. Do not italicize for emphasis.
d. Do not italicize the titles of articles in a journal
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11. Foreign words must be typed exactly as they appear in your source. If the word contains
extra characters like an acute, you must type them in as well.
For example, to place an acute in the word López, I type the
following: L (Ctrl ') opez.
Accent
acute
cedilla
grave
circumflex
tilde
umlaut
Keys to Type
Ctrl '
Ctrl ,
Ctrl `
Ctrl Shift ^
Ctrl Shift ~
Ctrl Shift :
Letters
a, e, i, o, u (and d)
c
a, e, i, o, u, y
a, e, i, o, u
a, n, o
a, e, i, o, u, y
Example
é (and ð)
ç
è
ê
ñ
ë
12. Quoting Works – When quoting directly or indirectly from a source, the source must be
acknowledged in the text by author name and year of publication.. If quoting directly, a
location reference such as page numbers or paragraph numbers is also required. By
quoting, you let the reader know that what is written is taken directly from another work
Use quotation marks when you are quoting directly is less than 40 words. The author's
last name and the work's date of publication must always appear. If you are quoting
directly from the source, include the page number as well. Don't include the year if you
use the source again in your paper.
Direct quotation - word for word
"The research proved that a surprising number of students felt that they did not have a
drinking problem"(Smith, 2002, p. 186).
Or
Smith states that "the research proved that a surprising number of students felt that they
did not have a drinking problem" (2000, p. 186).
Indirect quotation - paraphrased
It is important for students to realize that drinking today leads to problems with
academic achievement (Smith, 2002).
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13. If what you are quoting is more than 40 words, you must indent it by itself by one inch
and it must be on a separate line without quotation marks. Type in the text to be quoted
and select it. From the Menu bar, select Format>Paragraph. Change the Left indentation
to 1.0 and click OK.
Indent to
1 inch
Indented
Text
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14. The References page is the last page on your
paper. This should be a new page and the
word “References” should appear at the top
of the page. The title should also be centered.
This is a [Level 1] Heading
a. Only include works used in paper on
your works cited page.
b. Each work should be listed
alphabetically by last name.
c. If you have more than one work by
the same author, order them by
publication date, oldest to newest
d. Use "&" instead of "and" when listing
multiple authors of a single work (in
text citations in parentheses, too)
e. Capitalize only the first word of a
title and subtitle of a work
f. Interviews and emails are not included in references.
g. If the citation takes up more than one line, indent the second line. This is called a
“hanging indent.” To create a hanging indent, first type in the citation and then
select (highlight) the entire citation. From the Menu bar select
Format>Paragraph. A Paragraph dialog box appears. Select Hanging from the
Special: drop-down box and then click OK.
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References
BOOK:
Author’s Last Name, First name initial. (Year of publication). Title of the book. City of
Publication: Publishing Company.
Magazine: (Print version)
Author’s Last Name, First name initial. (Year of publication, Month of publication Day of
publication). Title of the article. Title of the magazine, volume number in italics, pages.
Journal: (Print version)
Author’s Last Name, First name initial. (Year of publication). Title of the article. Title of the
magazine, volume number in italics(issue number), pages.
Newspaper: (Print version)
Author’s Last Name, First name initial. (Year of publication, Month of publication Day of
publication). Title of the article. Title of the magazine, volume number in italics (issue
number), pages.
Online Database:
Author’s Last Name, First name initial. (Year of publication, month day). Title of the article.
Title of the journal or magazine, volume number(issue number), pages. Retrieved date,
from database.
Website:
Author’s Last Name, First name initial. (Year of creation or last updated). Title of the web page.
Title of the web site. Retrieved month day, year, from web address.
Recommended Web Sites on citing your sources:
http://www.wisc.edu/writing/Handbook/Documentation.html
http://www.waikato.ac.nz/library/learning/g_apaguide.shtml
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Glenn Peterson