Consider the format of your paper to be the “rules” of how your words look on the page. At Post University, we follow formatting guidelines provided by the American Psychological Association. Using these formatting guidelines makes your papers easier to read so that the reader can focus on the content of your writing.
Basics
- Font: The APA Style Guide 7th edition allows for a wider choice of fonts. Their recommendations include: 12-point Times New Roman, 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode, or 11-point Georgia. For Post University students, 12-point Times New Roman is recommended.
- Line spacing: Double-space throughout title page
- Margins: 1-inch margins on top, bottom, left, and right of title page
- Place lone Arabic numerals in top right corner of the page, starting with “1” on the title page
Title Page #
Title #
- A summary of the main idea/content of the paper (avoid titles such as “Assignment 1”
- Recommended length is no longer than 12 words; no abbreviations
- Use “Title case” (i.e. Typed in upper and lowercase letters in which major words are capitalization)
- Bold font
- Centered between left and right margins
- Positioned in upper half of the page
Running Head (if needed) #
- Per the APA Style Guide 7th edition, a running head is only required for manuscripts being submitted for publication
- Upper left-hand corner of page, flush to left margin
- Abbreviated version of the title (maximum of 50 characters, which includes letters, punctuation marks, and spaces between words)
- Put this title in all capital letters
- Page number appears on all pages in top right-hand corner, starting with “1” on title page
Author Byline #
- Appears on the line below title of manuscript
- Include author’s first name, middle initial(s), and last name
- Do not include professional titles, such as “Dr.”, or academic degrees, such as “BA”
Institution Affiliation #
- Appears on the line below author byline
- Fully write out the name of the institution, for example “Post University”
- On following lines, you may include course name, instructor name, and due date of the assignment
Body Pages #
- Font: The APA Style Guide 7th edition allows for a wider choice of fonts; however, Times New Roman 12-point font is recommended. Use this font throughout entire paper.
- Line spacing: Double-space throughout all body pages
- Margins: 1-inch margins on top, bottom, left, and right of body pages
- On your first body page (i.e. page “2” of your paper), retype the title used on the title page on the first line. Center and bold the font just like on title page.
- Continue page numbering in top right corner with “2.” (Do not include an abstract page for student papers unless explicitly instructed to do so.)
Reference Page #
- Font: The APA Style Guide 7th edition allows for a wider choice of fonts. For Post University students, 12-point Times New Roman is recommended. Use same font throughout entire paper including this reference page.
- Line spacing: Double-space throughout reference page
- Margins: 1-inch margins on top, bottom, left, and right of reference page
Page number: Continue to include page number in top right-hand corner - Start your Reference list on a new page.
- The word “References” should be centered at the top of the page. Bold font of this “References” heading.
- Each reference should begin at the start of the left margin and all subsequent lines must be indented, called a “hanging indentation.”
Arrange each source in your Reference list alphabetically, by the last name of the first author, followed by the initials of the author’s first name.