APA Formatting (7th Edition)

A - About APA Formatting

APA (American Psychological Association) style is widely used in psychology, education, social sciences, business, and nursing. It provides a standardized way of formatting academic papers and ensuring proper citations.

📌 What’s New in APA 7th Edition?

✅ No running head for student papers
✅ DOI is formatted as a URL (https://doi.org/10.xxxx)
✅ “They” is accepted as a singular gender-neutral pronoun
✅ Et al. used for 3+ authors in in-text citations from the first instance
✅ More flexible font choices (Times New Roman, Arial, Calibri, Georgia, Lucida Sans Unicode)

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B - Basic Paper Formatting

📌 General Layout

✅ Margins: 1 inch on all sides
✅ Font: Times New Roman (12 pt), Arial (11 pt), Calibri (11 pt)
✅ Line Spacing: Double-spaced throughout (including references)
✅ Indentation: First line of every paragraph indented 0.5 inches
✅ Alignment: Left-aligned (ragged right margin)
✅ Page Numbers: In the top-right corner starting from the title page

📌 Example of a Student Title Page

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The Effects of Sleep on Memory

John Doe
University of California
PSY 101: Introduction to Psychology
Professor Smith
March 10, 2025

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C - Citations (In-Text and Parenthetical)

📌 Basic Citation Rules

• Paraphrasing: (Smith, 2023)
• Direct Quote: (Jones, 2021, p. 45)
• Two Authors: (Smith & Jones, 2022)
• Three or More Authors: (Taylor et al., 2022)
• Citing Multiple Works: (Brown, 2019; Miller, 2021; White & Green, 2020)
• No Author: ("Effects of Climate Change," 2020)

📌 Examples of In-Text Citations

✅ Paraphrasing Example:
Research suggests that excessive social media use is linked to anxiety (Smith, 2023).

✅ Direct Quote Example:
According to Brown (2021), "social media addiction can lead to sleep disturbances" (p. 45).

✅ Citing a Source with 3+ Authors:
Social media impacts anxiety levels among students (Taylor et al., 2020).

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D - References Page Formatting

📌 General Rules

• Title: "References" (bold, centered, capitalized)
• Alphabetical order: By author’s last name
• Hanging indent: 0.5 inches
• Double-spaced throughout

📌 Common Reference Formats

📖 Books

Format:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the book (edition if applicable). Publisher.

✅ Example:
Brown, J. (2021). The psychology of social media (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.

📄 Journal Articles

Format:
Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the article. Journal Name, Volume(Issue), Page numbers. https://doi.org/xxxx

✅ Example:
Smith, R. (2022). The effects of TikTok on student attention span. Journal of Behavioral Studies, 34(2), 45-60. https://doi.org/10.xxxx

🌍 Websites

Format:
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of the webpage. Website Name. URL

✅ Example:
Johnson, K. (2023, August 12). The rise of social media trends. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/123456

📜 Newspaper Articles

Format:
Author, A. A. (Year, Month Day). Title of the article. Newspaper Name. URL

✅ Example:
Davis, L. (2022, March 5). How social media affects sleep patterns. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/articles/345678

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E - Elements of an APA Paper

📌 APA Paper Structure

1️ Title Page
2️ Abstract (if required, max 250 words, no indent)
3️ Introduction
4️ Main Body (with Headings & Citations)
5️ Conclusion
6️ References
7️ Appendices (if applicable)

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F - Formatting Tables & Figures

📌 Table Format

✅ Table Number: Bold, above the table
✅ Title: Italicized, title case
✅ Column Headings: Bold
✅ Font Size: 10-12 pt

✅ Example Table

Table 1
Social Media Use and Anxiety Levels Among College Students

Platform	Daily Use (Hours)	Anxiety Score (1-10)
Instagram	3.5	7.8
TikTok	4.0	8.2
Twitter	2.1	6.3

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📌 Figure Format

✅ Figure Number: Bold, below the figure
✅ Caption: Italicized, below the figure

✅ Example Figure Caption
Figure 1
The relationship between social media use and depression symptoms (adapted from Jones, 2022).

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G - Grammar & Writing Style in APA

✅ Use Active Voice

❌ "It was found that students experience anxiety."
✔️ "Researchers found that students experience anxiety."

✅ Avoid Biased Language

❌ "Old people" → ✔️ "Older adults"
❌ "He/she" → ✔️ "They"

✅ Use Clear and Concise Language

• Avoid wordiness: “Due to the fact that” → “Because”
• Use precise words: “Increase” instead of “Go up”

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H - Common Mistakes & How to Fix Them

Mistake	Fix
Forgetting hanging indent in references	Select references → Ctrl + T
Using "et al." incorrectly	Use for 3+ authors, NOT for 2 authors
Capitalizing article titles in references	Sentence case (capitalize only the first word & proper nouns)
Forgetting DOI in journal citations	Always include DOI or URL

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I - APA Quick Reference Cheat Sheet

✅ Basic In-Text Citation: (Author, Year)
✅ Direct Quote Citation: (Author, Year, p. #)
✅ Title of References Page: Bold & Centered
✅ Book Reference: Italicized Title
✅ Journal Reference: Italicized Journal Name, Volume(Issue)

Done