CiteFast › APA format

APA format (7th edition)

How to set up a student paper in APA 7 — title page, page layout, headings and the reference page — based on the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (2020).

Page setup

  • Margins: 1 inch (2.54 cm) on every side.
  • Font: a legible font used consistently, such as Times New Roman 12 pt, Calibri 11 pt or Arial 11 pt.
  • Spacing: double-spaced throughout, with no extra space between paragraphs.
  • Paragraphs: indent the first line 0.5 inch; align left (ragged right, not justified).
  • Page numbers: top right, starting with 1 on the title page.

APA title page

For a student paper, centre these on the upper half of the first page, each on its own double-spaced line:

Title page1

Sleep Duration and Memory Consolidation in First-Year Students

 

Maya R. Hernandez

Department of Psychology, University of Example

PSY 101: Introduction to Psychology

Dr. Samuel Okafor

October 14, 2026

Headings

LevelFormat
1Centered, Bold, Title Case
2Flush Left, Bold, Title Case
3Flush Left, Bold Italic, Title Case
4 Indented, Bold, Title Case, Ending With a Period. Text begins on the same line.
5 Indented, Bold Italic, Title Case, Ending With a Period. Text follows.

Don’t label the introduction “Introduction” — the paper title, repeated at the top of the first text page, does that job.

APA reference page

  • Start on a new page; write References centred and bold.
  • Alphabetise by the first author’s surname; works by the same author go in date order, oldest first.
  • Double-space every entry and use a 0.5-inch hanging indent (the first line flush left, the rest indented).
  • Every entry must match a citation in your text, and vice versa.
ReferencesAPA 7

Kahneman, D. (2011). Thinking, fast and slow. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

Watson, J. D., & Crick, F. H. C. (1953). Molecular structure of nucleic acids: A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid. Nature, 171(4356), 737–738. https://doi.org/10.1038/171737a0

Use the APA citation generator to create entries, save them to your card drawer and copy the whole list alphabetised with hanging indents.

Sentence case vs title case

The most common APA mistake is capitalisation. In the reference list, article, book and web page titles use sentence case; journal names use title case. Try it with your own title:

The effects of social media on teenage sleep: A longitudinal study in norway

APA reference lists: capitalise only the first word, the first word after a colon, and proper nouns (Norway stays capitalised).

APA format questions

Does an APA 7 student paper need a running head?

No. APA 7 dropped the running head for student papers; you only need a page number in the top-right corner. Professional (journal submission) papers still use one.

Which fonts are allowed in APA 7?

Any widely available, legible font: Calibri 11, Arial 11, Lucida Sans Unicode 10, Times New Roman 12, Georgia 11 or Computer Modern 10 are the examples APA gives.

Is APA double-spaced?

Yes — the whole paper, including the title page, block quotes, and the reference list. Tables may be single-spaced.

Does the reference list start on a new page?

Yes. Start References on a new page after the main text, with the label centred and bold at the top.

What goes on an APA 7 student title page?

Page number, then (a few lines down, centred) the paper title in bold, a blank line, your name, your department and university, the course number and name, the instructor’s name, and the due date.