These directions are for use by students for formatting your Microsoft Word 2010 (remove any visual references to Office 2007 software in images also) documents using APA (American Psychological Association) 6th edition format. Directions for a References page are also included. If you follow these step-by-step instructions, you will learn how to format your papers properly. Elements to be discussed are margins, default font, paragraph spacing, alignment, the first page (including header), the second and subsequent pages (including header), and references.
Margins
• On the Ribbon, click on the Page Layout tab.
• Click on Margins, and then click on Normal, which sets Top, Left, Bottom, and Right at 1 inch each.
Default Font
• On the Ribbon, click on the Home tab.
• Locate the Font group label and click on the arrow in the right corner. This will open the Font Dialog box.
• Scroll down and click on Times New Roman.
• For font style, choose Regular.
• For the size, scroll down and click on 12.
• On the lower left side of the dialog box, click on Default, and then Yes so that Times New Roman regular 12 is set as your default setting. Times New Roman 12 font is the type of font and size used for all APA-formatted papers, so you will save yourself time by setting this as your default. Some Reference entries may require use of italics, but otherwise, regular font will be used for your papers.
Paragraph Alignment and Spacing
• Locate the Paragraph group label and click on the arrow in the right corner. This will open the Paragraph dialog box.
• General Alignment should be left. All text will be aligned left except for information in the first page, the header, and the title References on the References page. Do not justify.
• If spacing is not already at 0, use the small arrows to change the Before and After spacing to 0. This means that no extra spacing will exist between paragraphs. This is a very common mistake for students and will result in too much spacing between paragraphs. Be sure you see the digit 0 for Before and 0 for After.
• Then, check the box to the left of the line that reads, “Don’t add space between paragraphs of the same style.” • For Line Spacing, click on the down arrow and select Double. When you do this, the At to the right of Double will not show any numbers. Please double-check to ensure that spacing is Double, not Multiple or Single, and also that spacing is 0, not Auto, 6, or 10.
• Click OK, or Default and Yes.
First Page, Including Header
• At the top of the page, click twice and you will see a perforated, horizontal bar pop up that says Header.
• In the Design tab, check the line that reads Different First Page.
• Next, in the Heading area of the document, type the exact words Running head followed by a colon and space, and then followed by your paper’s title in ALL CAPS. This is a shortened version of your paper’s full title. Don’t exceed 50 characters. For example, type in APA 6th FORMAT. Excluding the header is a common student mistake. The words Running head with a capital R and a lowercase h are required for all first-page headers, no matter what document is being written. Always start your header with these two words. The colon is the punctuation mark that
ENG135: APA 6th Edition Format for Word Documents Transcript looks like a period on top of a period, and is found to the right of the l key on your keyboard. Be sure to have the colon after the word head, and leave one space after the colon. Also, be sure that your paper’s title is in ALL CAPS rather than just capitalized. • Next, press your tab key to put the cursor to the far right of the page; you will press the tab key once if you have a longer title and twice if you have a shorter title. • While still in the Design tab, go back to the Ribbon and click on Page Number.
ENG135: APA 6th Edition Format for Word Documents Transcript
• In the drop-down menu, choose Current Position, and the plain number 1; the page number 1 will then appear. Be sure that the digit 1 is aligned right, 1 inch away from the right side of the page.
• Exit the header by double-clicking anywhere in the main document under the header.
• Then use the Enter key to go down to the 2-inch position as indicated by the left side ruler (about one third of the page). To see the 2-inch position, go to View on the toolbar and click on it. At the top of the page is the word Ruler with a small box to its right. Click in the box, and a check mark will appear. When you do this, you’ll see a vertical and horizontal ruler that frames the document, and it’s easier to see how far to go down to start your title.
• In the Home tab, click on Paragraph and then click on Center to have the information centered on the page.
• Then type in your paper’s full title in uppercase and lowercase letters, capitalizing each important word. It should not exceed 12 words. Do not capitalize prepositions such as of or at, and don’t capitalize a, an, or the unless they begin the title. Your title will look exactly like the one in the header, unless it’s more than 50 characters. In that case, your title may be longer than the header’s title because it will be the entire title, not to exceed 12 words. Be sure that this title is not in all caps like the header title is. Then press Enter and type in your full name. This will be your first name followed by your last name, with each word capitalized, not in all caps. Press Enter and type in your school’s name with each word capitalized, but not in all caps.
Second and Subsequent Pages, Including Header
• Once you’re finished with the first page, press Control and Enter to start a new page, which will be page 2.
• For the header for page 2, which will be different from page 1, click twice in the header area, and the word Header will appear along with a perforated horizontal line. Click on the words type text, which appear in the header. Then type in your shortened version of your title in all caps.
• The only difference between this second-page header and the first-page header is that in this second page, you’re not typing in the words Running head. So your second page header will also have the title in all caps, just as the first page header had the title in all caps. Again, the only difference between these headers is that the words Running head and a colon will exist in the first-page header, but not the second-page header. Also, the first-page header will have the first digit aligned right, while the second-page header will have the second digit aligned right.
• Press your Tab key to put your cursor to the far right.
• Click on the Insert tab, and then select Page Number.
• In the drop-down menu, choose Current Position. The page number 2 will appear. This way, all page numbers will automatically appear in the header in the correct order.
• Then exit the header by double-clicking anywhere in the main document under the header.
• You should be back on the Home tab and you’ll notice the Paragraph group; click on Center alignment.
• Then type in your paper’s title again in uppercase and lowercase letters, using no more than 12 words. At this point, the title should be at the 0 position if you look at your vertical ruler on the left side of the page. If you’re starting your title at the ½ or 1 inch position when you look at the vertical ruler, you’re too far down. Do not capitalize prepositions such as of or at, and don’t capitalize a, an, or the unless they begin the title. Thus, this second-page title will be identical to the first page title because each will be centered and will have the important words capitalized rather than using all caps.
• Then go back to Paragraph group and choose Left alignment to use for the rest of the body of your paper. Do not use Justified. Also, do not put any extra space between the title and the text. Everything should be double-spaced, not single- or triple-spaced.
• To indent the first paragraph and every paragraph, click on the Tab key once. The cursor will be positioned half an inch to the right of the left margins, which is about five spaces. Then start your first paragraph.
• At the end of each paragraph, click on Enter once, and then hit the Tab key once to start a new paragraph. Everything should be double-spaced, without any space between paragraphs. You’re indicating there is a new paragraph by the indent at the start of each paragraph; do not put three or four spaces between paragraphs.
References
ENG135: APA 6th Edition Format for Word Documents Transcript
• When you’re done with the text of your paper, you will need to add References if you have any researched ideas. The References page is the longer version of the information contained in the intext citations that appear throughout your paper.
• Pressing Control and then Enter will allow you to start with a new page.
• Type in References on the very top of the page, and do not include any other words. It is simply the word References that appears at the top of the page, with a capital R and an s at the end. Do not put the word page. You must have the word References centered at the title of the page. Be sure that the References title starts at the 0 position if you look at your vertical ruler on the left side of the page. If you’re starting the word References at the ½ or 1 inch position when you look at the vertical ruler, you’re too far down. . Then highlight the word and in the Ribbon at the top of the page, click on Center alignment. Thus, the word References will appear at the top, centered without being underlined, in bold, or italicized.
• In the Ribbon at the top of the page, click on Left Alignment, because the rest of the page will be aligned left, not centered. On this page, you will arrange each source that was cited in-text by alphabetical order of each author’s last name, or the first word of the title of the article if no there is no author. Every in-text citation must have a corresponding entry in the References page. The in-text
ENG135: APA 6th Edition Format for Word Documents Transcript
citation is the shorter version for the same source that appears as a References entry. For example, if the in-text citation for a source is (Rabbitt & Coyne, 2012), then the References entry for this same source will begin with the following.
Rabbitt, A. & Coyne, I. (2012).
This corresponds to the author’s last name and first initial, then the date of publication. Additionally, for articles from journals, magazines, or newspapers, the month and day appear after the year. Continue with the rest of the information for each entry; check the correct format in your textbook. For example, the entire entry would be as follows.
Rabbitt, A., & Coyne, I. (2012). Childhood obesity: Nurses' role in addressing the epidemic. British Journal of Nursing, 21(12), 731–735.
• The first line of each entry should be flush left. Flush left means that the first word will be exactly one inch from the left side of the page. If you look at your horizontal ruler at the top of the page, the first word will start at the 0 position. If it starts at the ½ or 1 position, it’s too far to the right. If the information continues on to a second or third line, go to Paragraph, and look for Special in Indentation. In the drop-down box, click on Hanging, and By should then appear at .5”. This way, the first line of the entry is all the way at the left side, exactly 1 inch from the edge of the page, and each subsequent line of the same source is hanging indented half an inch from the left margin. Thus, the second line starts at the ½ position if you look at your horizontal ruler at the top of the page. If your course continues with a third or fourth line, then those lines also will be hanging indented ½ inch from the left side, also at the ½ inch position if you look at the horizontal ruler at the top of the page.
• Continue with the rest of your sources by starting each new source in alphabetical order at the left margin. This is in alphabetical order according to the author’s last name, or the first word in the title is there is no author. Think of the overall format for each reference entry as being “reverse indented,” with the indent being the second and each subsequent line rather than the first line. Also, be sure that everything is double-spaced; do not add space between each entry, and do not triple or quadruple space between entries.
• Use the e-textbook for more information on different sources, because the format for a source entry for an online magazine article differs from a source entry for a print magazine article. Do not guess, and do not make up your own format. Be sure you know it’s APA 6th edition format, not APA 5th, which is the older version.
• Ask your instructor about citationmachine.net and Noodle Tools, which are also helpful in setting up your References page. Please do not use MS Word 2010 References, which may give you incorrect information. Thank you for your time and attention. If you have any questions, please ask your instructor. Good luck!