Use a 10- to 12-point serif font such as Times New Roman for the main body of the text, and a sans serif font such as Arial for figure labels throughout your draft.
Ensure that your essay has 1-inch margins. Double space the entire draft and include a page header at the top of every page. Place page numbers in the top right hand corner of every page.
Indent the first line of every paragraph by 1 inch.
Align the text to the left-hand margin. Leave a ragged right margin.
Ensure that your writing is free of biased language. Make adjustments to labels that describe groups of people by using alternate descriptors and avoiding gendered pronouns.
Ensure that all in-text references have been cited according to the appropriate APA citation format.
Create a list of references to the work you have cited. All citations should be listed, with the exception of personal communications and classical works. List each reference according to its specific APA style format. For example, an article from an edited book would be listed this way:
Chow, T. W., & Cummings, J. L. (2000). The amygdala and Alzheimer’s disease. In J. P. Aggleton (Ed.), The amygdala: A functional analysis (pp. 656–680). Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Note that in APA style, the book title should appear in italics and all references should have a hanging indent.
Put the references in alphabetical order according to the author's surname. Use the first author's surname if a reference has more than one author.
Indent each entry after the first line and double space the entire list.
Put the pages in the following order: Title Page, Abstract, Beginning of Text, References. Make sure that each table, figure and appendix begins on a new page.