Question: How do I format a Word Online doc in APA Style (7th ed)?

It is possible to use Word Online to properly set up and follow the APA Guidelines for student research papers.  See the instructions on this guide. 

Click on this link to see sample papers from the APA Style website. 

Start the Document

1. Log into your LACCD student OneDrive account.  
   Note*  For instructions, see: How do I access OneDrive?
2. Click on the Word icon
3. Click on New blank document
4. Name your document by:
   1. clicking on the Document Filename button
   2. in the drop-down type the name for your document and press enter   

Margins

The default should already be set to one-inch all around, but it is always a good idea to double-check. 

1. Go to the Layout tab
2. Click on Margins
3. Make sure that all the margins are set up correctly to one inch from top, bottom, left, and right. 

Line Spacing

Line Spacing needs to be set up to double, this means that there is a blank line between each line of text in your essay. 

1. From the Home tab, click on the "More Options" button 
2. From the drop-down menu, click on Line Spacing
3. From the side-pop up menu, click on Line Spacing Options
4. In the Spacing area, set the Before and After spacing to zero points: "0 pt"
5. From the drop-down menu for Line Spacing, select Double 
6. Click on OK

Header and Page Numbering

Most academic work, unless your professor indicates anything different, requires you to add the page number onto the header of every page, and it is usually aligned to the right margin.  Word Online can configure the page numbers for you.

1. Go to the Insert tab.
2. Click on Page numbers
3. Select the button that shows all pages to be numbered, and aligned to the top right of the page.  
   This creates a function < # >.  Do not delete this, this is the function that will number all of the pages in your document.
4. Use your mouse to highlight the function
5. Select Times New Roman as the font
6. Select 12 as the font size
7. Press the Esc key to exit the header, or click anywhere outside of the header

For the page numbers in the header, we recommend changing the font to Times New Roman and the font size to 12.  APA allows for flexibility of the font and font sizes, however, the font needs to be consistent throughout your document.  We recommend these settings because they are widely accepted for most academic writing. 

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

We recommend the font "Times New Roman," and the font size "12" for most academic work, unless your professor indicates anything different.

1. Go to the Home tab
2. From the Font Name menu, select Times New Roman
3. From the Font Size menu and select 12.

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 press the sec key on your keyboard or click outside of the header to exit it and to set up your title page:   

1. Go to the Home tab
2. Click on B for Bold button (this activates the bold font tool)
3. Click on the Alignment tool
4. Select the Center option
5. On your keyboard, press the Enter key three times to move the cursor down the page
6. 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.
7. Press the enter key on your keyboard twice
8. From the toolbar, click on B to un-bold the rest of the text from the title page
9. 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

After the title page elements have been entered, add a page break to start on the second page.  

1. Go to the Insert tab
2. Click on Page Break

The cursor is moved to the second page so that you can begin to work on the rest of your document.

Begin your Essay on Page 2

After you have completed your title page and added a page break, you are ready to begin with page two.  

1. On the first line on page two, align the cursor to the center
2. Activate the Bold font
3. Enter the title of your essay 
   • Make sure that the title is in bold, centered, and all major words are capitalized
   • For the rest of your essay, you do not list the title
4. Press the enter key
5. Align the cursor to the left
6. Click on the B to turn off the bold font
7. Press tab key (on your keyboard) to indent your first paragraph, and start typing your essay

Follow your professor's instructions, and remember to indent each paragraph within your essay, unless indicated otherwise.  From here on, you just type your paper.  There is nothing different in the rest of the pages (unless you have to include headings and subheadings throughout your essay, check with your professor) until you get to the References page.  You do not have to worry about the right margin, Word Online, like Microsoft Word, has a function called word-wrap that automatically moves your content to the next line when you reach the right margin.   

References List and Hanging Indents

After you complete your essay, the last part is where you list all of your sources into a References page. 

The References section needs to start on a separate page in the same document.  After you type the last paragraph, place a page break by pressing the control and enter keys on your keyboard at the same time, or by going to the Insert tab from the menu bar, click on Break, then click on Page break.  

After you have added a new page, as per instructions above, then you are going to title this page with the word: References

This needs to be centered, in bold, and you must use the same font and the same font size from your essay.  

1. Align the cursor to the Center
2. Activate the Bold font 
3. Enter: References
4. Then press the enter key to move the cursor to the next line
5. Align the cursor to the Left align by selecting the Left align button from the alignment tool
6. Turn off the Bold function by clicking on the B

• The rest of the text in the citations are not in bold.
• Now you are ready to set the hanging indentation setting and start typing or pasting the citations for your sources.

After you have pressed the enter key, now is time to start listing all of the sources that you used according to APA style. 

Each entry needs to:

• follow the guidelines from APA
• be listed in alphabetical order
• have a hanging indentation

To manually enter all of your citations, first set up the hanging indentation option: 

1. From the Home tab, click on the "More Options" button
2. Click on Line Spacing
3. Click on Line Spacing Options
4. From the Special Indentation options menu, select Hanging
5. Click Ok

Instead of manually entering your citations, you can use a citation generator to create the citation.

• Once the generator has created the citation, you can copy it, then go to your Word Online document and paste the citations into your References page. 
• For instructions on how to access a database and use the citation tool, see: How do I access a database?
• Then make sure that there are no errors from the generated citation
  • make sure that all the formatting is correct like the font and font size
  • make sure that each citation has hanging indents. 
• If you need to make any changes to the citations that you just pasted, then highlight them all, then use the tools from Word Online to make the changes, such as changing the font to "Times New Roman" and the font size to "12", and add the hanging indentations by following the instructions above.  

After you copy the citation from a database citation generator tool:

1. Paste the citation in the References list by pressing the Control and the V keys at the same time on your keyboard.
   After you paste the citation, keep in mind that the citation that you just pasted will need to be modified.  When we paste the citations from generators, we will need to change the font and the font size, and check the citation for errors.
2. To modify the font, use your mouse to highlight and select the citation
3. From the Home tab, select Times New Roman  (be sure to use consistent font throughout the document)
4. Select 12

Your References List 

• All citation entries need to be in alphabetical order
• They all need a hanging indentation and double-line spacing, no extra line spacing
• The entries must follow proper APA style guidelines

Tips

Explore some of the tools from Word Online to help you create a better document, these can be found in the Tools bar:

• Use the spelling and grammar tool to help you catch errors. 
• Use the Word Count tool if you need to provide that information to your professor.
• If you are using Google Docs with Google Chrome, you can also dictate text in addition to typing.

1. Go to the Review tab
2. Click on Word Count

1. Go to the Review tab
2. Click on the Editor button
3. Use the tools from the editor to review spelling and grammar issues
4. To check on spelling issues, click on Spelling
5. Correct any issues identified by the tool

Sharing Your Document 

• You can create a link for your Word Online document to share with your professor or download it as different file types (Word, PDF, and more) to submit on Canvas.  
• Check with your professor to see how they would like your essay to be submitted.

Go to the File tab to see different download and print options:

1. Click on the Share button
2. To get a link that anybody can open in your class, under "Send Link", click on the top button to change the permissions of the people who can open the document. 
3. Select the option for "Anybody with the link"
4. Click on Apply
5. Click on the Copy link button
6. Then you can paste the link in an email, or in Canvas.   Be sure to follow instructions from your professor.