Open a word processor and start with a blank 8.5-inch-by-11-inch document. Change your margins to one inch on all sides. Use double spacing for your text lines and change your font to a 10- to 12-point Times New Roman font. Ask your instructor if they want you to put one or two spaces after punctuation between sentences, like after a period or question mark. Articles that are going to be submitted for peer review need to have two spaces after sentences according to Augusta State University's "Changes in 2010 Sixth Edition of APA Guidelines."
Create a header for each page of your paper. Look for a headers and footers section in your word processor so you don’t have to type them in manually. Each header includes a flush right page number and the paper title flush left.
Create a title page. Some word processors have title pages already created, or you can insert page break and then create a title page. You want your header to appear on the title page per APA style, so leave the header alone. Center your paper title underneath the header followed in the next line by your name. Under your name, add the institution where you did the research. Use upper and lowercase letters, do not abbreviate and do not use titles like Mr. or degrees like PhD, according to Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (OWL). Add a page break to go to a new page.
Create your abstract. Type the word “Abstract” in the center of the first line underneath your header. Do not change the font or use bold or italic letters. Do use upper- and lowercase letters. Press “Enter” to go to the next line and type your abstract. Do not indent the abstract. Your abstract should be one double-spaced paragraph, according to OWL, highlighting the key points of your research including the research topic, questions, results and conclusion.
Type your paper. Follow your instructor’s guidelines for your paper format. If you did not receive guidelines from your instructor, Hamilton College’s J. Borton recommends starting with an introduction followed by your method, research participants, materials used in the research, procedure used, results found and a discussion of the results. As you write, add your references as parenthetical in-text citations, such as "(OWL, 2010)," and put your complete reference list at the end of the paper.
Add your complete references at the end of your paper. References are complex in APA style, and OWL recommends following sample reference pages and mirroring what is there. You can find sample pages at OWL or at the APA-style website. In general, all references are indented one half-inch from the left margin (hanging indents). Your reference list should be alphabetized according to the author’s last name. Capitalize all major words in a journal title and italicize titles of longer works like books and journals.