Introduction
The American Psychological Association (APA) has been publishing research and professional materials since 1892. The organization publishes many of its own journals, as well as providing standards for other publications in the behavioral sciences. If your paper is on a scientific topic, you’ll most likely use APA format.
APA Style
APA stands for the American Psychological Association. The APA style guide is a set of rules that help you write papers in psychology and other sciences, like sociology or biology. It’s called a “style guide” because it tells you how to format your paper in various ways (like which font to use), not because it tells you what content should go into your paper.
Although APA formatting has its quirks, following the guidelines can make your writing look more professional and organized. For example, using Times New Roman 12-point font aligns with the wider margins and smaller headers preferred by journals like Journal of Abnormal Psychology (JAP).
The most widely used style guide in social sciences such as psychology is APA 7th edition (7th ed.). In our experience this guide is also adopted by many graduate students within business administration programs who need help with their research papers.
APA Format: For When You Need to Be Scientific
You’ll most likely use APA format if your paper is on a scientific topic. Many behavioral and social sciences use APA’s standards and guidelines, including psychology, sociology, anthropology, and education. If you’re not sure whether to follow APA or another style guide like Chicago Style or MLA (the Modern Language Association), we recommend that you ask your professor which one they prefer.
If you’re writing an essay in history or philosophy, however, chances are good that the instructor has chosen a different type of formatting rules for their class.
One Tab Per Paragraph: The Right Way to Indent
Each paragraph should be separated from the others by a one half inch indent (one tab) at the beginning. Indents are used to create visual separation between paragraphs and help readers follow the flow of your paper.
Indents are also used to create visual separation between sections, such as introductions and conclusions, or each section within those two larger groupings (e.g., subheadings).
12 Point Size: What’s the Point?
Use 12 point size. The APA style guide recommends that you use 12-point font, which is the standard for APA papers. You should avoid using any font smaller than 10 or larger than 18 when writing your paper in APA format, but it’s important to be consistent throughout your paper when using different fonts and sizes.
Using different sizes can make it difficult for readers to follow along with your argument, and will also distract from how well-organized your paper is as a whole. For example, if one section of your paper uses 10-point font while another uses 12-point font, readers may have trouble distinguishing between them based on their size alone.*
Times New Roman
Times New Roman is the standard font for APA-formatted papers. If you are not using this font, make sure to use a different one that is at least 12 point size and in the same font family and style.
If you’re writing your paper on a Chromebook or using Linux, Times New Roman may not be available to use. Because of licensing reasons, Microsoft owns the Times New Roman font. However, you can use Tinos instead. Tinos is open sourced (100% free to use), and was designed by the same person who worked on Time New Roman release for Microsoft in 1992.
You can download Tinos here.
Once you have chosen your font style and size, be consistent throughout the document. If you pick Times New Roman for some sections of your paper but not others (or even within one section), it will look unprofessional and may confuse readers or distract them from what they came to read.
Double Space: The Best Way To Write Your Research Paper
Double-spacing is the standard for APA papers. Double-spacing makes a paper easier to read, and it’s easier on the eyes of readers who use screen readers (which read text aloud) or have dyslexia. It also makes it easier for visually impaired students or researchers to access your work.
One Space or Two?
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t think much about the space after periods and other punctuation marks. But if you’re writing in APA style, there are a few things to keep in mind:
There should be one space between each period and the next word of your sentence. Do not use two spaces after a period! This is just a personal preference based on how old-fashioned some people feel about this issue, but it’s also possible that some instructors might want their students to adhere to certain formatting standards for their classes.
If you’re asked by an instructor or professor to follow some specific guidelines for formatting your paper, then go ahead and do so—but only when it comes from them! Otherwise, feel free to ignore this step entirely; it’s not necessary and won’t actually affect how well your paper will be received (by anyone other than someone who really cares too much).
Following the APA Standard for Your Finished Draft
It’s time to get your finished draft in order.
Your draft should follow the APA style guidelines, which means it should have headings and subheadings, accurate page numbers, and a consistent format for references throughout the document. This will make your work easier to read and understand, as well as more credible.
The following are the basic components of APA:
Author’s Last Name, First Initial. (Year). Title of Article. Title of Journal, volume number (issue number), page numbers.
Follow these tips to make sure your work is ready for publication:
1. Use the APA style guide for formatting and language conventions. This ensures that your writing will be clean and consistent. This is important for readers who may not have time to figure out whether you’re using the right format for citations or whether you used “that” or “which” correctly in a sentence.
2. Review your research again before submitting it. You may notice a few typos or other mistakes that slipped through during the editing process—now’s the time to fix them. And don’t forget to check over any code samples or references; if anything needs to be changed, do it now.
3. When writing up a new version of your draft, write out each section from scratch, rather than just changing things around by cutting and pasting text from old versions of your paper. This way, you can make sure everything reads clearly with new content added in places where necessary without accidentally leaving parts out of one section but not another (which could lead readers astray).
Conclusion
As you can see, APA formatting is pretty easy to learn. Once you have these basics down, the rest comes naturally. We’ve covered all the major points here, but if there’s anything else we missed or that you still need help with, feel free to leave us a comment below!