
An APA Guide for College Writing
Updated By Staff Writer on August 5, 2020
Are you prepared for the first day of college with a solid grasp of college writing in APA format (American Psychological Association)? Here’s a quick-and-dirty APA format writing guide!
General Guidelines: APA Format for Writing College Papers
In general, APA format guidelines for writing a paper include:
- Standard 8.5” x 11” page size
- 1” margin on all sides
-
Font choices:
- Calibri 11-point
- Arial 11-point
- Lucida Sans Unicode 10-point
- Times New Roman 12-point
- Georgia 11-point
- Computer Modern 10-point
- Header on each page, with title/topic on the left, page number on the right
Included Sections
The following sections are included when following the APA Format Writing Guide:
-
Title Page:
- There should be a running header on the top-left of the page which is where your topic is placed.
-
At the top-center should be your:
- Title (bolded)
- Name
- School
- Course number and name
- Instructor name
- Assignment due date
-
Abstract:
- This is on your second page and is a 150 to 200-word summary of your paper.
-
References:
- On a new page, write “References” centered at the top.
- Cite anything you refer to in your paper.
- Cite the sources you used for your research.
APA Format for Citations and APA In-Text Citations
When listing sources, use the following APA format for citations:
- Website Reference: Editor, author, or compiler Last Name, First Initial if available. (Year, Month, Publication Date). Name of site. Name of the institution/organization/sponsor/publisher affiliated with the site. Date of resource creation (if available). Date of access.
- Book Reference: Last name, First Initial. (Year of publication). Title of book. Place of publication: Publisher.
- In-Text Citations: Write the author’s last name and the year of publication in parentheses. For example, (Smith, 2019) should be written immediately following the material you are referencing.
Here are a few basic rules for APA citations formatting:
- Each entry should have a hanging indentation (indent all lines after the first one of each entry).
- All authors’ names should be written with the last name first and the first and middle names as initials (for example: Anderson, J.A.).
- Capitalize only the first letter of the first word for articles, webpages, etc.
Conclusion
Now that you know the APA format for writing college papers, you’ll be turning in high-quality reports in no time!
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