Many sans serif and serif fonts can be used in APA Style, including 11-point Calibri, 11-point Arial, 12-point Times New Roman, and 11-point Georgia. The default font of your word-processing program is acceptable. This is usually how papers are automatically set. margins on all sides of the page (top, bottom, left, and right). However, you may need to make a few adjustments before you begin writing. This means that, for most paper elements, you do not have to make any changes to the default settings of your word-processing program. Most default settings in programs such as Academic Writer, Microsoft Word, and Google Docs already comply with APA Style. Seventh edition APA Style was designed with modern word-processing programs in mind. Students should always check with their assigning instructor or institution for specific guidelines for their papers, which may be different than or in addition to APA Style guidelines. Because these are general aspects of paper formatting, they apply to all APA Style papers, student or professional. Perform these steps when you first open your document, and then you do not have to worry about them again while writing your paper.

The guidelines for basic setup apply to the entire paper. Information on paper format and tables and figures and a full sample student paper are also available on the APA Style website. Tables and figures are covered in Chapter 7 of both books. Chapter 1 of the Concise Guide to APA Style and Chapter 2 of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association describe the elements, format, and organization for student papers. The guidelines for student paper setup are described and shown using annotated diagrams in the Student Paper Setup Guide (PDF, 3.40MB) and the A Step-by-Step Guide to APA Style Student Papers webinar. Finally, it concludes by describing how to organize student papers and ways to improve their quality and presentation. It then covers formatting for the major sections of a student paper: the title page, the text, tables and figures, and the reference list. This article walks through the formatting steps needed to create an APA Style student paper, starting with a basic setup that applies to the entire paper (margins, font, line spacing, paragraph alignment and indentation, and page headers).

The start of the semester is the perfect time to learn how to create and format APA Style student papers.

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