Question: How do I format my student paper in APA style (7th edition) Using Word?

Font

APA guidelines call for the font to be accessible to all users, so check with your professor for their preferences.   APA changed their recommendations and added additional font options: 11 point Calibri, Arial or Georgia, or 12 point Times New Roman

1. Open a new blank document in Microsoft Word, then from the Home menu, click on the Font diagonal arrow
2. Select Times New Roman from the Font menu
3. Select 12 from the Size menu
4. Click on Set As Default
5. Click OK on the pop-up box

Line-spacing

Set up your entire document to ​double-line spacing, and make sure that you do not add lines before or after headings or between paragraphs.

1. From the Home tab, bring down the Paragraph menu by clicking on the diagonal arrow
2. Make sure that Spacing Before and After is set to 0 pt
3. Check the box for “Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style”
4. Select Double from the Line spacing menu
5. Click on Set As Default
6. Click OK on the pop-up box

.

Margins

​Make sure that the margins are set to one inch all around:

1. Go to the Layout tab
2. Click on Margins
3. Select or make sure that Normal (Top, Bottom, Left, Right) is set to 1”

Page numbers

The APA 7th edition now provides specific guidelines for student papers. Student papers do not require a running head, and only require a page number in your document's header.  The page number must be on every page, and it needs to be on the top, right corner.

1. Go to the Insert tab
2. Click on Page Number
3. Click on Top of Page
4. Select Plain Number 3 (aligns to the right)
5. Click on Close Header and Footer to continue setting up your document.

Title Page

The APA 7th edition now provides specific guidelines for the title page on a student paper.  A student paper title page should include the following elements: title of your essay, your name, course number and name, instructor name, and assignment due date. Students should follow the guidelines from their instructors or institution when determining which title page format is most appropriate to use. For more details on setting up the title page see: APA: Student title page.

No longer required for students papers, unless it is requested by the instructor:

• no running head
• no author note
• no abstract

After you set the font, line spacing, page header, and you have closed the Header (as indicated above): 

1. Go to the Home tab, and on your keyboard, press the enter key three times
2. Click the B for Bold button on the toolbar (to turn on the bold font tool)
3. Click on the Center alignment button
4. Type the title for your essay, capitalizing all the major words
   • Note* Titles should be no more than 12 words and must be clear, concise, and summarize the main idea of your paper.
5. Click on B for Bold button again (to turn off the bold font tool)
6. Press enter twice
7. In regular font (not in bold), enter the following elements:
   • Type your first and last name, press enter
   • Type the college name followed by any other requirements from your professor, these could be the professor’s name, course name, date, etc 
8. After you complete all the required elements for your title page, you will need to break the page to move on to the second page.  You can do this by using your keyboard and pressing the control and enter keys at the same time, or you can use the features in Word going to the Insert tab
9. Click on Page Break

Second Page

After you have entered all the elements from the title page and inserted a page break, you can then set up the second page.  APA does not require student papers to include an abstract, so check with your instructor for specific instructions.  

On the first line of your second page you will enter the title of your essay in bold and center-aligned: 

1. From the home tab, make sure that the Center alignment button is still selected, if it is not, go ahead and click on the it
2. Click on Bold to activate the bold font feature
3. Enter the complete title of your essay, and capitalize all the major words
   • Make sure that this title matches the title from your title page
   • Make sure that it is centered and in bold
4. Press enter
5. Click on the Left align button to align the rest of your essay on the left side
6. Click on Bold to turn off the bold font feature
7. Press the tab key to indent your first paragraph and begin to type your essay
   • Be sure to indent all the paragraphs in your essay
   • If you need to use headings and subheadings, be sure to follow the instructions from your professor, or see APA Headings and Seriation from Purdue OWL.

Reference Page

After your essay, the last section is the "References" list. This is where you list all your sources alphabetically and follow strict APA citation guidelines. APA calls for double line spacing and requires hanging indentation. A hanging indent is where the first line of an entry extends out to the left margin, and the rest of the entry is indented.

To set up your References list:

1. Place a page break after your essay, if necessary, to start your references list on a new page
2. In bold, and centered, type: References
   (Bolding the "References" label is new in the APA 7th edition)
3. Press enter to move the cursor to the next line
4. From the Home tab, align the text to the left by clicking on the Left align button, and turn off the bold font option by clicking on the Bold button. 
5. Click on the down arrow in the Paragraph group
6. Under the Indentation section, select Hanging from the Special menu
7. Make sure that line spacing is still set to double, that you are not adding spaces before or after paragraphs
8. Click OK
9. Start typing your citation entries following APA guidelines. Notice that all entries are in alphabetical order and that each has hanging indents.
   Not sure about the format? Contact your professor or librarian.

For examples and instructions on how to cite your sources in APA style, see: https://libguides.lasc.edu/lasc_library/citations