Formatting Your Paper - APA Citation Style - 7th Edition - Research Guides at South Texas College

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Paper Formatting Overview

The information provided is from the APA Manual, 7th ed. Sections 2.17, 2.19 and the APA Style website

When your instructors require APA format, the sections of the research paper are required to be in this order:

title page
abstract
text
references
footnotes
tables
figures (charts, graphs, drawings, etc.)
appendices

Student papers generally do not require an abstract unless told otherwise.
Each section must start on a new page.
The order of pages is flexible in the following cases:

tables and figures: Embed tables and figures within the text after they are first mentioned (or “called out”), or place each table and then each figure on separate pages after the references. If an embedded table or figure appears on the same page as text, place it at either the top or the bottom of the page, and insert a blank double-spaced line to separate the table or figure from the adjacent text.
footnotes: Use the footnotes function of your word-processing program to insert a footnote at the bottom of the page of text on which the footnote appears, or list footnotes together on a separate page after the references.

A variety of font choices are permitted in APA Style papers. The following fonts are recommended because they are legible and widely available. They also include special characters such as math symbols and Greek letters. Font options include the following:

sans serif fonts such as 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, or 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode
serif fonts such as 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Georgia, or normal (10-point) Computer Modern (the default font for LaTeX)

Historically, sans serif fonts have been preferred for online works and serif fonts for print works; however, modern screen resolutions can typically accommodate either type of font, and people who use assistive technologies can adjust font settings to their preferences. For more on how font relates to accessibility, visit the page on the accessibility of APA Style or see accessibility in the introduction (p. xviii) to the APA 7th ed. Manual.

Use the same font throughout your paper, with the following exceptions:

figures: Within figure images, use a sans serif font with a type size between 8 and 14 points.
computer code: To present computer code, use a monospace font such as 10-point Lucida Console or 10-point Courier New.
footnotes: When inserting footnotes with the footnotes function of your word-processing program, use the default font settings. The footnote font might be smaller than the text font (and have different line spacing), and it is not necessary to change it.

Formatting

The information provided is from the APA Manual, 7th ed. Sections 2.3 and the APA Style website

The student title page includes the paper title, author name(s) (the byline), author affiliation, course number and name for which the paper is being submitted, instructor name, assignment due date, and page number, as shown in the following example.

Format guidelines for each element of the student title page.
Student title page element	Format	Example
Paper title	Place the title three to four lines down from the top of the title page. Center it and type it in bold font. Capitalize major words of the title. Place the main title and any subtitle on separate double-spaced lines if desired. There is no maximum length for titles; however, keep titles focused and include key terms.	Impact of Gender on the Evaluation of Humor in Romantic Relationships
Author name(s)	Place one double-spaced blank line between the paper title and the author names. Center author names on their own line. If there are two authors, use the word “and” between authors; if there are three or more authors, place a comma between author names and use the word “and” before the final author name.	Cecily J. Sinclair and Adam Gonzaga
Author affiliation	For a student paper, the affiliation is the institution where the student attends school. Include both the name of any department and the name of the college, university, or other institution, separated by a comma. Center the affiliation on the next double-spaced line after the author name(s).	Department of Psychology, University of Georgia
Course number	Provide the course number as shown on instructional materials, followed by a colon and the course name. Center the course number and name on the next double-spaced line after the author affiliation.	PSY 201: Introduction to Psychology
Instructor name	Provide the name of the instructor for the course using the format shown on instructional materials. Center the instructor name on the next double-spaced line after the course number and name.	Dr. Rowan J. Estes
Assignment due date	Provide the due date for the assignment. Center the due date on the next double-spaced line after the instructor name. Use the date format commonly used in your country.	October 18, 2020 18 October 2020
Page Number	Use the page number 1 on the title page. Use the automatic page-numbering function of your word processing program to insert page numbers in the top right corner of the page header.	1

The information provided is from the APA Manual, 7th ed. Sections 9.43 - 9.52

Format of the Reference List Guidelines (Section 9.43):

Begin the reference list on a new page after the text.
Place the section label "References" in bold at the top of the page, centered.
Order the reference list entries alphabetically by author, as described in Sections 9.44 to 9.48.
Double-space the entire reference list (both within and between entries).
Apply a hanging indent of 0.5 in. to each reference list entry, meaning that the first line of the reference is flush left and subsequent lines are indented 0.5 in. from the left margin. Use the paragraph-formatting function of your word-processing program to apply the hanging indent.

Tip: Use your word processor's Help function to learn how to create a hanging indent:
Microsoft Word - Adjust Indents and Spacing

Order of Works in the Reference List (Section 9.44):
Works are listed in alphabetical order in the reference list by the first word of the reference list entry, according to the following principles:

Arrange entries in alphabetical order by the surname of the first author followed by the initials of the author's given name(s). In APA Style for alphabetizing names, "nothing precedes something": Loft, V. H. precedes Loftus E. F., even though "u" precedes "v" in the alphabet.
When alphabetizing names, disregard any spaces or punctuation marks (e.g., apostrophes, hyphens) in two-word surnames. Also, disregard anything in parentheses (e.g., roles like "Eds.") or square brackets (e.g., usernames).
Alphabetize entries by authors who have the same given name and surname with suffixes indicating birth order chronologically, oldest first.

Figure 9.2 Examples of the Order of Works in a Reference List
Benjamin, A. S., precedes ben Yaakov, D.
Denzin, N. K., precedes de Onís, C., precedes Devlin, J. T.
Girard, J. -B., precedes Girard-Perregaux, A. S.
Ibn Abdulaziz, T., precedes Ibn Nidal, A. K. M.
López, M. E., precedes López de Molina, G.
MacCalllum, T. II, precedes MacCallum, T., III
MacNeil, E., precedes McAdoo, Z. C. E., precedes M'Carthy, L. L.
Olson, S. R., precedes O'Neil, U., precedes Oppenheimer, R.
Partridge, F., precedes Plato
San Martin, Q. E., precedes Santa Maria, M., precedes Santayana, F. E.
Santiago, J., Sr., precedes Santiago, J., Jr.
Villafuerte, S. A., precedes Villa-Lobos, J.

Helpful Tip: For more examples, review the reference list of published articles in the APA Manual, 7th ed., review the sample papers in the APA Home tab under additional APA resources, visit the APA Style website.

The information provided is from the APA Manual, 7th ed. Sections 7.4 - 7.21 and the APA Style website

Tables and figures follow the same structure:

table or figure number
table or figure title
a body (for tables) or and image (for figures)
table or figure notes as needed

Tables and figures may be produced in many different file formats (instructors may limit the formats they accept).

Tables: Visual displays composed of columns and rows in which numbers, text, or a combination of numbers and text are presented.
Examples: demographic characteristics tables, correlation tables, factor analysis tables, analysis of variance tables, and regression tables.

This explanation will be for the basics of table setup.

Basic Table Components
Number	The table number appears above the table title and body in bold font. Number tables in the order in which they are mentioned in your paper.
Title	The table title appears one double-spaced line below the table number. Give each table a brief but descriptive title, and capitalize the table title in italic title case.
Headings	Tables may include a variety of headings depending on the nature and arrangement of the data. All tables should include column headings, including a stub heading (heading for the leftmost, or stub, column). The heading “Variable” is often used for the stub column if no other heading is suitable. Some tables also include column spanners, decked heads, and table spanners; these are described in the Publication Manual. Center column headings and capitalize them in sentence case.
Body	The table body includes all the rows and columns of a table (including the headings row). A cell is the point of intersection between a row and a column. The table body may be single-spaced, one-and-a-half-spaced, or double-spaced. Left-align the information in the leftmost column or stub column of the table body (but center the heading). In general, center information in all other cells of the table. However, left-align the information if doing so would improve readability, particularly when cells contain lots of text.
Note	Three types of notes (general, specific, and probability) appear below the table as needed to describe contents of the table that cannot be understood from the table title or body alone (e.g., definitions of abbreviations, copyright attribution, explanations of asterisks used to indicate p values). Include table notes only as needed.

See the following diagram for an illustration of the basic table components.

For sample tables or more information, visit the APA Style website or view the APA Manual, 7th ed.

Principles of Table Construction

The most important principle to follow when creating a table is to present information in a way that is easy for readers to understand. Provide sufficient information in the table itself so that readers do not need to read the text to understand it.
When creating a table, place entries that are to be compared next to each other.
Place different indices (e.g., means and standard deviations) in different columns rather than in the same column.
Use the same font in tables as in the rest of your paper.
Use the tables feature of your word-processing program to create tables in APA Style papers. Do not use the tab key or space bar to manually create the look of a table.

The information provided is from the APA Manual, 7th ed. Sections 7.4 & 7.22 - 7.36 and the APA Style website

Tables and figures follow the same structure:

table or figure number
table or figure title
a body (for tables) or and image (for figures)
table or figure notes as needed

Tables and figures may be produced in many different file formats (instructors may limit the formats they accept).

Figures: All types of visual displays other than tables are considered figures in APA Style.
Examples: line graphs, bar graphs, charts (e.g., flowcharts, pie charts), drawings, maps, plots (e.g., scatterplots), photographs, infographics, and other illustrations.

This explanation will be for the basics of figure setup.

Basic Figure Components
Number	The figure number appears above the figure title and image in bold font. Number figures in the order in which they are mentioned in your paper.
Title	The figure title appears one double-spaced line below the figure number. Give each figure a brief but descriptive title, and capitalize the figure title in italic title case.
Image	The image portion of the figure is the graph, chart, photograph, drawing, or other illustration itself. If text appears in the image of the figure (e.g., axis labels), use a sans serif font between 8 and 14 points.
Legend	A figure legend, or key, if present, should be positioned within the borders of the figure and explains any symbols used in the figure image. Capitalize words in the figure legend in title case.
Note	Three types of notes (general, specific, and probability) can appear below the figure to describe contents of the figure that cannot be understood from the figure title, image, and/or legend alone (e.g., definitions of abbreviations, copyright attribution, explanations of asterisks use to indicate p values). Include figure notes only as needed.

See the following diagram for an illustration of the basic figure components.

For sample tables or more information, visit the APA Style website or view the APA Manual, 7th ed.

Principles of Figure Creation

The most important principle to follow when creating a figure is to present information in a way that is easy for readers to understand. Provide sufficient information in the figure itself so that readers do not need to read the text to understand it.
When creating a figure, ensure you meet the following standards:
- images are clear
- lines are smooth and sharp
- font is legible and simple
- units of measurement are provided
- axis are clearly labeled
- elements within the figure are clearly labeled or explained
Use graphics software to create figures in APA Style papers. For example, use the built-in graphics features of your word-processing program (e.g., Microsoft Word or Excel) or dedicated programs such as Photoshop or Inkscape.