This guide is representative of the 7th edition Publication Manual of APA and focuses on a student paper structure.
APA examples are not exhaustive and focus on referencing and citations. Assistance from your professor and/or Writing Centre is suggested for clarification.
Users are responsible for interpretation of APA style guidelines and to seek further assistance when necessary.
Effective September 2020.
Follow the instructions provided by your Professor for their specific requirements. Below is the APA overall requirements.
APA formatted paper includes:
Title page:
Text or body of the paper:
References page:
Appendices:
For more information:
Student paper elements include:
See Publication Manual Sections 2.2-2.15
Student paper format includes:
See Publication Manual Sections 2.16-2.25
What is title case capitalization?
In title case, the following words are capitalized:
Use title case for:
What is sentence case capitalization?
In sentence case, the following words are capitalized:
Use sentence case for:
Fonts: (always verify with your Professor)
Italics are used for:
See APA Style website, Grammar Guidelines and select the Mechanics of Style section.
See Publication Manual Sections 2 and 6.
Tables and figures are used to:
Formatting:
In-text citation:
See Publication Manual Section 7 or APA Style website, Tables and Figures
Journal titles may appear abbreviated (shortened), instead of the entire journal title being provided. Most often, the word "journal" will be abbreviated to "J" and other words that are not significant may be omitted, eg. the, or
Some examples of abbreviated journal titles are:
Typically, journal titles are abbreviated in science and medical or health fields of study. Check the database's journal listing or the National Library of Medicine's Catalog of Journals.
Proper APA reference list entries require that the full journal title be provided.
Always check your assignment for specifics about your annotated bibliography. Clarify expectations with your professor for best results. Here are a few examples of annotated bibliographies that may help you get started.
Formatting:
Some assignments are not in the form of an essay, report or research paper.
Always check with your professor for exact details on how they would like other assignments to be formatted.
Examples of other assignment types: