APA (American Psychological Association) style is most commonly used to cite sources within the social sciences. This resource, revised according to the 6th edition, second printing of the APA manual, offers examples for the general format of APA research papers, in-text citations, endnotes/footnotes, and the reference page. For more information, please consult the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, (6th ed., 2nd printing).
There are five distinct level headings for research papers.
1. Centered, Boldface, Uppercase and Lowercase Heading
2. Flush left, Boldface, Upper and Lowercase Heading
3. Indented, boldface, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.
4. Indented, boldface, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading ending with a period.
5. Indented, italicized, lowercase paragraph heading with a period.
Refer to Table 3.1. p. 62.
Publican manual of the American Psychological Association. (2016). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Typeface: Times New Roman
Font size: 12 point
Line Spacing: Double-space
Margins: 1 inch at the top, bottom, left, and right of the page
Line length and alignment: Do not adjust lines
Paragraphs and indentations: Every first line of a paragraph and first line in footnotes, if footnotes are included should be a five to seven space or 1/2 inch (tab). Remaining the lines should be uninformed to the left-hand margin.
- Exceptions to indentation rule:
If included:
**Note, not all professors require all of the pieces of a research paper that is listed here. Requirements set forth by your professor will always supersede instructions provided in these general guidelines.