Setting Up Your Paper: APA
How do I set up a paper in APA format?
- Open up a blank Word document.
- In the font section of toolbar, change font from Calibri to Times New Roman.
- In the font section of toolbar, change font size from 11 point to 12 point.
- In the paragraph section of toolbar, click on double ended arrow and change spacing to 2.0.
- In the paragraph section of toolbar, click on double ended arrow and click on “remove space after paragraph.”
What's on my Title Page?
Unlike a paper written in MLA, a paper written in APA may have a title page with the following info included:
- Paper title.
- Name of each author (also known as the byline).
- Affiliation for each author.
- Course number and name.
- Instructor name.
- Assignment due date.
- Page number 1 in the top right corner of the page header.
How do I insert my page numbers?
To get the page number in the upper, right-hand corner do the following:
- Click on the “insert” tab at the top of your toolbar.
- In the header & footer section, click on page number icon.
- Click on top of page.
- Click on “plain number 3.”
- Page numbers will automatically appear in right-hand corner.
Now, your paper should be set up in APA format and ready for you to begin writing!
Helpful Videos
APA In-Text Citations
Anytime you quote OR use information from an outside source, you include an in-text citation, or sometimes referred to as a parenthetical citation, at the end of that sentence to signify where that information came from.
Basic APA In-Text Format
Paraphrasing Information: (Author(s) last name, year published) ⮕ (Fisher & Bishop, 2015).
Direct Quote: (Author(s) last name, year published, page number) ⮕ (Fisher & Bishop, 2015, p. 21)
Citing Authors In-Text
Use the author’s last name, a comma, and the year published.
(Guo, 2020).
Connect both authors' last names with & (ampersand), a comma, and the year.
(Dresang & Koh, 2009).
If there are 3 or more authors, use just the last name of the first author, use et al. in place of other authors, a comma, and the year.
(Vardell et al., 2020).
If you are using a source that has a group as an author, like the CDC, the first time you cite them, use the entire group name, the abbreviated name in brackets, a comma, and the year.
(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2019).
All subsequent citations will look like this:
(CDC, 2019).
APA Reference Page
What is a Reference Page?
Whereas the in-text citation is a small snippet of information, each Reference entry contains the rest of that bibliographic information. The reference page is it's very own page, at the end of your paper, and it will include one citation entry per outside source that you use. So, if you used three outside sources, you'd have three citation entries on your reference page. Each reference entry is going to be different depending on the source you are citing.
Citation Examples
A PAGE ON A WEBSITE (WITH AUTHOR)
EXAMPLE:
Weitkeamp, M. (19 Dec. 2019). How Star Wars revolutionized entertainment. National Air and Space Museum,
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/how-star-wars-revolutionized-entertainment.
PATTERN:
Author last name, author initial. (Publication Year, Month Day). Title of article. Website name. URL.
A PAGE ON A WEBSITE (NO AUTHOR)
EXAMPLE:
5 reasons to go to Star Wars celebration for the first time. (21 Feb. 2023). Lucasfilm.
https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-celebration-reasons-to-go.
PATTERN:
Title of the article. (Publication Year, Month Day). Website name. URL.
A PAGE ON A WEBSITE (ORGANIZATION AS AUTHOR)
EXAMPLE:
NASA. (2024). Meet 8 ‘Star Wars’ Planets in Our Own Galaxy.
https://science.nasa.gov/universe/exoplanets/meet-8-star-wars-planets-in-our-own-galaxy/.
PATTERN:
Organization Name. (Publication date). Title of the article. URL.
A SCHOLARLY JOURNAL ARTICLE FROM AN ONLINE DATABASE
EXAMPLE:
Dresang, E.T., & Koh, K. (2009). Radical change theory, youth information behavior, and school libraries. Library Trends, 58(1), 26-50.
https://doi.org/10.1353/lib.0.0070
PATTERN:
Author last name, author first initial. (Publication year). "Title of article." Title of the Journal, vol. #, issue #, pp. page range, Database, DOI.
BASIC PRINT BOOK
EXAMPLE:
Stover. M. (2005). Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Del Rey Books.
PATTERN:
Author last name, author first initial. (Year). Title of the the Book. Publication.
eBook
EXAMPLE:
Estelle Frankel, V. (2021). Star Wars and the Hero’s Journey : Mythic Character Arcs Through the 12-Film Epic. McFarland. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2888623&site=ehost-live&scope=site
PATTERN:
Author last name, author first initial. (Published year). Title of E-book. Publisher. PERMALINK.
MAGAZINE ARTICLE FROM A LIBRARY DATABASE
EXAMPLE:
Crewe, Dave. “Cinema Science: Using the Force of Star Wars.” Metro, no. 204, May 2020, pp. 86–91. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f6h&AN=142970444&site=ehost-live&scope=site.
PATTERN:
Author last name, author first initial. (Year published). Article name. Title of Web Magazine, issue number, URL.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE FROM A WEBSITE
EXAMPLE:
Brown, T. (3 May 2024). 'The Phantom Menace" built the way forward, but it took time. Los Angeles Times, , https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2024-05-03/the-1999-project-star-wars-episode-i-phantom-menace-franchise
PATTERN:
Author's last name, author first initial. (Year of publication, Month Day if Given). Title of article. Name of Newspaper. URL.
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE FROM A LIBRARY DATABASE
EXAMPLE:
Godfrey, C. (23 May 2022). Redemption is a powerful concept: Hayden Christensen on Star Wars and daring to return as Darth Vader. The Guardian.
PATTERN:
Author's Last Name, First Initial. Second Initial if Given. (Year of Publication, Month Day if Given). Title of article: Subtitle if any. Name of Newspaper.
