APA Format - Citations, Formatting Guide & Examples

What is APA format?

The APA format is the writing style introduced by the American Psychological Association. It provides guidance on how to properly format your paper and credit sources when writing about psychology, education, and other social science subjects.

The APA style was first developed in a 1929 article and has been updated periodically since then. The American Psychological Association released the 7th edition of their Publication Manual in 2019.

This new edition is different from the old APA 6th edition format, with updated guidelines for citations, text formatting, and language usage in papers. It also introduces differentiated guidelines for a student paper and a professional paper. 

APA Format General Guidelines

Follow these guidelines below for a properly formatted APA-style paper:

• APA format margins should be 1 inch on all sides.
• APA format line spacing should be double-spaced.
• Each paragraph should be indented 0.5 inches.
• Every page in your paper, including the title page, should have a header or running head.
• APA header format includes the title of your paper on the left and the page number on the right.
• The title name should not exceed more than 50 characters in the header.
• APA format font size and typeface should be legible. Some recommended fonts are Calibri; 11-point, Arial; 11-point, Lucida Sans Unicode; 10-point, Georgia; 11-point, Times New Roman; 12-point.

How to Write in APA Format?

Here are the main elements included in an APA format essay or paper with proper formatting guidelines:

APA Format Title Page

APA title page format includes the following information:

• The title of the paper
• The name of the author(s)
• The name of the institute or department affiliated with the author(s)
• The title of the course (only for student papers)
• The instructor or supervisor’s name (only for student papers)
• An author’s note (only for professional papers)
• The date

APA Format Abstract

The abstract is written after the title page in APA format, on a separate page. It should comprise 250 words and give a brief summary of your whole research.

You can also include keywords in your abstract. To do that, indent the line after your abstract paragraph. Insert ‘Keywords:’ in italics and add your keywords, separating them with commas.

APA Format Main Body

An APA format paper has the following sections in the main body and follows the formatting guidelines mentioned prior:

• Introduction
• Literature Review
• Research Methodologies
• Results of the Research
• Conclusion of the Research

APA Format Heading

In APA-style format, follow the following format for your headings:

APA paper format requires a separate page at the end of your paper for a list of citations for all the sources you used. This page is labeled "References."

When you list your sources on the APA Reference page, keep these things in mind:

• All of your sources should be listed in alphabetical order.
• The first line of each source should be left-justified, and the rest of the lines should be indented a few spaces.
• Include the author's surname followed by his/her first name initials.
• Mention the year of publication and the source name after the author's name.
• The names of books, journal articles, magazines, etc. should be italicized.

Check out these templates below to know what an APA format paper should look like:

How to Cite in APA Format?

In APA citation format, there are in-text citations and a reference list at the end of the paper. The following explains how to cite references APA format-style in both places.

APA In-Text Citation Format

In-text citations are used when you want to reference the work of another author or quote from them, or use information from some other source. Use quotation marks when directly quoting someone, or paraphrase in your own words.

In APA in-text citations, you use the format below:

(Author’s Surname, Year of publication, Page number)

For example,

….. (Pearson, 2006, p.16)

APA Reference Format

To make proper reference entries in your APA reference list, follow the formats below for different sources:

• How to Cite a Book in APA Format

  Use the format below for referencing a book:

  Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year). Title of book (ed.). Publisher Location: Publisher

• How to Cite an Edited Book in APA Format

  Use the format below for referencing an edited book:

  Author Surname, Initial(s). (Ed(s)). (Year). Title of book (ed.). Publisher Location: Publisher

• How to Cite a Chapter from a Book in APA Format

  Use the format below for referencing a chapter:

  Author Surname, Initial(s). Chapter Title. Editor’s Initial(s), Surname (Ed(s)). (Year). Title of book (ed. Page number(s)). Publisher Location: Publisher

• How to Cite an E-Book in APA Format

  Use the format below for referencing an e-book in APA format:

  Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year). Title of E-book (ed.). URL

• How to Cite a Journal Article in APA Format

  Use the format below for referencing a journal article:

  Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year). Article Title. Title of Journal, Volume number, Page number(s). DOI or URL

• How to Cite a Newspaper in APA Format

  Use the format below to cite newspaper references:

  Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year, Month, Day). Title of Article. Title of Newspaper, column/section, Page number(s). URL (if online)

• How to Cite a Website in APA Format

  Use the format below for referencing a website:

  Author Surname, Initial(s). (Year, Month, Day). Title. URL

APA Citation Generator

People use APA format citation generators to quickly create references. However, there are some things you should take notice of when you use an APA format generator:

• Ensure that the generator includes all the details in the reference list.
• Check the date.
• Make sure that the structure of the format is not flawed.

APA Format Example

Below is an example of an APA format research paper for your guidance:

In conclusion, APA format is a style of writing that is used in academic and research settings. It provides a structure for writers to use when formatting their papers, and it also establishes standards for how sources should be cited.

In order to ensure your paper is properly formatted, it is important to understand the basics of APA style. 

The guidelines that we have summarized in this blog post are a great starting point for ensuring your next paper follows this formatting standard. Other than APA, there are several other citation styles as well. 

If you struggle in writing APA format citations, try getting in touch with an expert essay writing service that can help you out.