Type your essay on standard 8.5" x 11" paper, using double spacing and 1" margins all around the page. Times New Roman is preferred for writing in the APA style.
Type the title of your work, your name and the institution you are affiliated with on upper half of the title page of your essay in centered, double-space text. In the header of the title page, include the text "Running Head:" followed by the title of your paper in all capital letters. Use the title of your paper in capital letters as the heading for the rest of the pages throughout your paper.
Write an abstract for your paper. Titled simply as "Abstract," this should be a single paragraph written with double-spacing. Use the abstract to briefly discuss your work. In a concise manner, include your research topic, methods used, findings and conclusion. An APA abstract should be between 150 and 250 words.
Follow the APA formatting established in Step 1 when writing the body of the paper, while utilizing the style's standard for all headings. First level headings are centered in boldfaced text. Second level headings, found within sections designated with a level one heading, must be left aligned and boldfaced. Third level headings are indented boldfaced with a period. Fourth level headings are indented with italicized boldface and a period. Finally, fifth level headings are indented italicized text with a period and no boldface.
Place parentheses at the end of a sentence that make reference to another author's work.
Enter the author's last name inside the parentheses, followed by a comma.
Write the year of publication in the parentheses for the work you are citing. If making general reference to the work, and not including a direct quote, the citation is complete. An example of in-text citation of a general citation would be (Smith, 2011).
Include the exact page number in your citation when using direct quotes from another author's work. An example of in-text citation of a direct quote would be (Smith, 2011, p.100).