APA style is a common format for academic writing, especially in the social sciences. To format an academic text in Microsoft Word according to APA, you need to follow these steps:
- Set your page margins to 1 inch on each side by clicking the Layout tab, then Margins > Normal.
- Use one of the Acceptable fonts (APA, 7th edition).
- Enable double-spaced text by clicking the Home tab, then the Line and Paragraph Spacing tool in the Paragraph section, and choosing 2.0 from the menu. Also, make sure there are no extra spaces between paragraphs by clicking the same tool and selecting Remove Space After Paragraph.
- Create a title page with the title of your paper, your name, and your institution by clicking the Insert tab, then Page Break. Center the title, your name, and your institution on separate lines, and use the same font and size as the rest of the paper.
- Use headings to organize your paper into sections and if necessary, sub-sections. APA style has five levels of headings, but you may not need to use all of them. Students studying with me, Benjamin L Stewart, will never need a level 4 or level 5. When writing a five paragraph academic essay will only require a level I. Writing a 5,000 – 6,000-word thesis paper will required two level headings and in some cases three levels. The general format for headings is:
- Level 1: Centered, Bold, Title Case Heading (main words are capitalized): Text begins as a new paragraph.
- Level 2: Flush Left, (left-Aligned), Bold, Title Case Heading: Text begins as a new paragraph.
- Level 3: Flush Left, Bold Italic, Title Case Heading: Text begins as a new paragraph.
- Level 4: Indented, Bold, Title Case Heading, Ending in a Period: Text begins on the same line and continues as a regular paragraph.
- Level 5: Indented, Bold Italic, Title Case Heading, Ending in a Period: Text begins on the same line and continues as a regular paragraph.
- The heading style for any of the different level headings listed above should be the same font type and size; the only difference will be that headings are bold – the only text that should be in bold – and italized if a level 3.
- Use parenthetical citations to acknowledge the sources of information, ideas, or quotations that you use in your paper. A parenthetical citation consists of the author’s last name and the year of publication, separated by a comma, and enclosed in parentheses. For example: (Smith, 2020). All citations should be paraphrased with the author’s or authors’ last name(s), comma, and year of publication. In rare cases, if you are quoting directly from a source, you also need to include the page number after the year, separated by a comma. For example: (Smith, 2020, p. 42). Place the parenthetical citation at the end of the sentence, before the period.
- Create a reference list at the end of your paper, on a new page, by clicking the Insert tab, then Page Break. Type the word References, centered, at the top of the page (level 1 heading), and use the same font and size as the rest of the paper. List all the sources that you cited in your paper, in alphabetical order by the author’s last name, using a hanging indent (aka French indentation) of 0.5 inches. To apply a hanging indent, select the references, click the Layout tab, then the Paragraph tool, and set the Special option to Hanging and the By option to 0.5. The format of each reference entry depends on the type of source, but generally includes the author, date, title, and source information.
- For all paragraphs prior to the References page (except when writing an abstract), include a 0.5 inch indentation by doing the following:
- Select the text that you want to indent, or click where you want to start typing.
- Click the Home tab, then the Paragraph tool in the Paragraph section.
- In the Indentation section, use the drop-down menu under Special to choose First line.
- Word will automatically set the indentation size to 0.5 inches, which is the correct size for APA style.
- Click OK at the bottom of the dialog box.
